In that case, here arefour businesses you’ve got the option to start with nothing.

Youll promote clients websites or blogs with frequent posts and tweets that link to them.

Start with friends who need help promoting their businesses or organizations.

Image: Small Business Ideas

Line up enough clients like that, and those little streams of income will start to add up.

To really grow big youll eventually need a staff to handle the day-to-day work while you find new clients.

Used Book Seller

Starting a used bookstore takes lot of books and a place to sell them.

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But thats old school.

Nowadays,most books are bought online, and not just from large companies.

Individuals can easilysign up to sell books on Amazon, for example.

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But how do you start this business for nothing?

Justsell the books you already have and use the money you make from those to purchase your future inventory.

Probably not as good as youd like.

It always seems like an uphill battle to build (and keep) a decent amount in savings.

But what if your car breaks down, or you have a sudden medical bill?

Thats enough to buy a lot of new inventory!

She says nonfiction sells better than fiction, but it’s possible for you to experiment inexpensively.

To get an idea of what your books are worth before listing them, check them out on Amazon.

Weve talked before aboutusing BookScouterto sell used textbooks.

(Click to tweet this idea.)

They loaded up and 30 minutes later were on their way to sell the stuff at a salvage yard.

The potential may seem limited, but consider the story of Stephen Greer.

How do you start for nothing?

store your aluminumsoda and beer cans, for starters.

For advice on where to look, try hanging out in anonline scrap metal forum.

For more information, see our previous post onscrap metal recycling.

ClickBank hasover 100,000 affiliateswho can help sell your product for a commission.

I offered 60% of my net to motivate affiliates to sell my Secrets Course.

After the fees, I made $9.59 on each sale and the affiliate earned $14.38.

In my first month, one affiliate sold 17 copies.

ClickBank handled the processing and automatically deposited the money from my sales into my checking account.

Your Turn: Have you ever started a business for nothing or close to it?

(Can you sense my millennial sarcasm there?)

You know which ones were talking about: rent, utilities, cell phone bill, insurance, groceries…