New Business Idea Help

hi im interested in starting my own business, just want to gather some ideas so if you guys can help out i would b gratefull. I have a low budget and need realistic ideas which require part time work.

thanks in advance

Probably best to start with answering some basic questions:

What are you good at
What skills do you have
Have you identified a market need for something.

The trick is having a good idea, finance is not a problem if you have a great idea as there's lots of VC money floating about the place.

Can't provide you with any great ideas, But you may get some businees ideas from
"TRADEDEE" "(URL address blocked: See forum rules)" You get all kind of information and help like if you want to know about e-commerce, Business Opportunity, marketing advertising etc. You get all these details in one place. But still you’ll have to do that for yourself, and remember there are lots of low capital, low time requirement potentials out there.

It depends on your interest, skill set and level of competence, unless and until you don't give a clue, it is not precise to give any idea.

I have started a number of businesses and always with no or very little "capital". In the model I have followed I have almost always dealt with work that allowed me to get a deposit, do the work, deliver the work and pick up the final payment. In other words, except for a few basic expenses like a phone and a way to get around to customers, there is no need for investment as long as the deposit is sufficient to cover the expenses of the job - such as materials, small tools, and so on.

However, I am assuming you are trying to think of things you can do in programming or web design or something like that. The same priciples apply, more or less. As long as you have a way of finding customers and communicating with them (where they can easily contact you, and vice versa), and a way of getting payment and delivering goods(code/applications/documents/designs/etc) you should be able to find a way to do this.

For example - if you are an expert in some technology that is in high demand and you can target people or companies who have an urgent need for what you do (and who value what you do enough to pay what you need to get for your time) then it is a simple matter of contacting these people and proving to them that you have what they want. For a very low budget operation, it is best to have some skills or product that is very speciatlized so that you can more easily identify your "ideal customer". An ideal customer is someone who absolutely needs what you provide, needs it repeatedly, and is desparate to get someone they can count on to provide it. This sort of customer will see value in what you do, and once they use your service/product, and are happy with it - they will be very loyal. All of this can be done on a very limited budget and allows you to grow as go instead of having to invest a lot of money up front.

It is a key ingredient that the customer has a recurring need for what you provide - and hopefully the need is also frequent. Otherwise, you are constantly looking for new customers, and that can easily be more work than doing the actual work. Unless your core compentency is generating new business, it is better to find customers who have a frequent, recurring need for what you provide.

So... what are your skills? Do you do something of value, or can you provide a product or services that people are willing to pay for?

There are many other approaches to low budget businesses - it depends on your knowledge, skills, determination, and interests. The possibilities are endless. This is just one way to look at things that has worked for me.

So what you're saying is that you want someone else to give you an idea for a business that requires little money, relatively easy work (or as you say, "realistic idea", but we all know that translates to "nothing too hard"), and little dedication...

First: you're going to find that it's VERY hard to start a business with little capital. It's not impossible, but it's hard nonetheless. Those who have done it (Google, Hotmail, etc.) did the opposite of "part time work". Many of them made their business their life, which is why they succeeded. Most startups that have quite a bit of capital still require long, long hours (20-22/day) to get off the ground. These are the ones that HAVE money. You have little capital to start with and you want to work a few hours? It will never succeed.

Second: What incentive is there for someone who thinks of an idea and gives it to you? If it's such a good idea, you can bet that I'm not going to give it to someone who has no money or time to invest in it. I'm either going to find a serious person or do it myself. No one in their right mind would say "Oh, I have an awesome idea that will make loads of money... would you like it?"

Sorry to be a jerk, but sometimes it's better to be honest than to see someone get hurt. I don't like seeing people invest time and money only to fail. I'd love for you to succeed, but that won't happen if you don't change some of these variables.

In a nutshell, I think the success of a business can safely be determined with the following, very simple, formula:

x*y=z

Where x is the amount of capital you start with, y is the amount of time you invest, and z is the relative outcome. You can start with BILLIONS of dollars, but if "y" is still 0, you'll end with nothing. The closer thar "y" remains to 0, you'll still make very little money.

The inverse is also true. You can have lots of free time but no way to start your business financially and still end with a low outcome.

The only way to really succeed is to invest time *and* money. Your forumla of "low budget" and "part time" will only result in something just as small.