海角大神

When I started my computer consulting business, I spent about $150 in startup costs. I printed some flyers, had some business cards made, and had a lawyer check over a few documents. That鈥檚 it.

When I started The Simple Dollar, I spent even less. I spent somewhere around $40 launching the site, all told.

In both of these cases, it was not a big initial investment that led to success. The ingredients for success were found elsewhere.

This isn鈥檛 just my experience, either. Recently, I was reading Chris Guillebeau鈥檚 book The $100 Startup and it was loaded with stories very similar to mine. People launch side businesses all the time with very little money.

Chris draws a lot of conclusions about starting such side businesses, but from my perspective, success with a side business comes down to a handful of things.

Wanted
聽With each side business I鈥檝e found success with, I鈥檝e started with one simple question: what do I want?

If you look at any business out there that works, large or small, they鈥檙e all doing the same thing. They鈥檙e taking care of something that someone wants.

If I find myself looking for something and not finding it, that means I want this thing but, for some reason, it鈥檚 not easily available to me. If there鈥檚 something I want enough that I鈥檇 be willing to pay for it 鈥� even a little bit 鈥� but it鈥檚 not something I can get right now, there鈥檚 a side business waiting to happen.

For example, if you love reading fantasy novels but you wish you could find a good one with a truly independent female protagonist, you鈥檙e probably not alone. Why not try writing one?

If you鈥檇 love for someone to come to your door, pick up a bag of laundry, wash and fold it, then return it to you, you鈥檙e probably not alone. Why not start this business?

Think about items and services you would like to have but don鈥檛. That鈥檚 the start of any business.

Time
聽More than money, the biggest investment that a person can make in their side business is time. If you want to succeed, expect to put in a lot of hours early on with very little return on your money. Think pennies per hour for a very long time.

Many people simply aren鈥檛 willing to commit a lot of time and effort without much return. For some people, they have to be passionate about what they鈥檙e doing beyond merely running a business. Others will get by purely on patience. Many others simply won鈥檛 make it.

Assume you鈥檒l be spending a lot of hours at this without making a lot of money. You鈥檒l be doing things like creating content, networking with others, promoting your business, learning a new skill, learning about a particular supply chain, managing a Kickstarter project, or something like that. These things won鈥檛 earn you much money at all (assuming they earn you anything, which is a big 鈥渋f鈥�).

If you鈥檙e not about to spend time without an immediate financial return on that time, then starting a side business probably isn鈥檛 for you.

Reevaluation
聽No matter how good your idea or how much effort you put in, sometimes things just don鈥檛 launch. You don鈥檛 have customers. You don鈥檛 have readers. You have a giant creative block.

Can you step back and look critically at what鈥檚 going on? What鈥檚 wrong with the situation? Can those things that are wrong be fixed? Can they be incorporated into the plans for what comes next?

Sometimes, the best solution is to try again. Sometimes, the best solution is to walk away and try something new. Sometimes, the best solution is to keep plugging away.

In each of those cases, re-evaluating the situation for problems and solutions is key. You have to step back regularly and ask yourself what鈥檚 going right, what鈥檚 going wrong, and whether the wrongs can be fixed.

Many (if not most) modern side businesses do not need money. They need an idea, they need time, and they need the willingness to re-evaluate. If you bring those things to the table over and over again, you can start something of your very own, whether it鈥檚 just a small side business to bring in a few bucks or the birth of a big enterprise.