by Elizabeth Ducie

Created on: December 09, 2007   Last Updated: January 13, 2011

The assumption behind the title "how to start a small business with no loan" is the word "successful". Anyone starting a small businesses hopes that it will be successful, but only a small percentage actually succeed. So let's start with the belief that we are starting a business that will survive.

For a business to survive, there are ONLY three things that need to happen: we need to get customers; we need to satisfy the demands of those customers; and we need to get paid. Everything else is window-dressing. So, lets look at how we can do each of the above without taking out a loan.

Getting Customers

For people to become our customers, they need to know we exist. So we must get our name and contact details out there. We should spend as much time as we can networking. We all know people who know other people. It's important not to underestimate the size of our indirect network.

Let's look at an example: We've just started to set up an electronic network using one of the free Internet tools. We've only got 3 contacts in our network so far. But each of those 3 contacts has their own network (these would be our second level contacts).  Again, each of these second level contacts has their own network (these would be our third level contacts). It is quite possible that our third degree network is something like 100,000 people. (Try checking out the maths via one of the online contact databases like LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com); the numbers are huge.)

I'm not necessarily suggesting that we have to use an electronic network, although, depending on the type of business, that could be the best way to reach people. Just talking to everyone we know, telling them what we are planning to do starts the ball rolling. Next time someone says to them "I wish I could find some one who could.." they will think of us and pass the word on. We can run off some simple flyers or business cards and leave them with local shops, restaurants and bars. With today's technology, we can do this ourselves, without incurring huge printing costs and still put over a professional image.

We need to make sure we are contactable at all times. The best ways to do this are by email and mobile phone. When we are starting out, we can't afford to be choosy over when we work or when we talk to people. We are there when they need us - or we are not there at all.

We definitely need a presence on the Internet. That doesn't mean spend huge amounts of time or money

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