You want to start a business but have no capital and no idea where to start. No sweat! Starting a business with no money can be easy. The challenges come when building a loyal customer base and growing your startup into a resilient business that can withstand the changes in the market. However, to get started competing in the market, you’ll first need to start from the ground up. One way to overcome financial issues many startups face is with choosing a model that require little-to-no overhead costs and building your brand using a free video conferencing service made for small businesses. You may wonder, “how can a video conferencing platform turn my idea for a startup into a valuable business?” That’s what we plan to address here! In this article, you’ll learn what you need to get started with your business without any money and how you can leverage free video conferencing to build your customer base.
Begin with Your Startup Model
When launching your startup, all the beginnings of any business remain true: start with your service or product and develop your mission statement. Choose a business model that won’t cost much. Online service businesses are perfect because they don’t require a physical location or any inventory. Once decided, your next steps are to build your online presence and reach out to customers. Since most businesses operate online, a small business offering online services can be the perfect candidate to use free video conferencing to build their brand. What You’ll Need to Launch Your Online Startup:
- A Business Plan
- A Free Website
- Your Free Video Conferencing Service
1. Create your business plan
Your business plan is essentially your company’s mission statement and projected cash-flow analysis all rolled into one. A business plan can be as light as one page or as comprehensive as a packet. It can include a wealth of information, everything from market and competitive analyses to your marketing and sales strategies. Most importantly, your business plan should reveal how your company plans to operate and make money. Write down what you want to sell and how your business plans to maintain profits while sustaining and growing your company. You’ll also want to include any overhead costs you’ll have in the future, like expenses for upgraded equipment or services.
2. Launch your website
Once you’ve established your business plan, you want to build a website and develop your brand. A website is a digital space where your business’s online presence lives. Here, you can include all the information relevant to your business, like what your selling and who you’re selling to. On your website, you’ll also include contact information so your customers know where they can reach you. There are many options for free websites to get you started. WordPress.com offers complete websites, hosting and all, for no cost. The only downside is WordPress.com users have limits on what they can do with their site and must have “Wordpress” in their URL. Once you’ve earned a little profit from your business, you can easily move your free website onto a paid site that gives you complete control over your content. Any online traffic navigating to your website will know exactly who you are and what your business does. They’ll also know exactly how to reach you in case they want to work with your company or purchase one of your products.
3. Build your business with free conferencing services
After you’ve written down your business plan and built an online website, it’s time to start reaching out to your customers and building a loyal clientele using your free video conferencing service. As you earn more customers through your marketing efforts, you want to build strong relationships with those customers so they come back for future services or products. Schedule regular meetings with clients or customers to discuss your services, detailing how you’ll conduct your services, how you can better serve your customers, or how you’ve helped your customer’s business improve. Not only will the people you work with appreciate your attention to detail, they’ll learn about your personality and invest more time into working with your business.
Continuing Your Growth
As you take on more customers, make sure to maintain the same level of communication with every new and old client. With your personality backing every business interaction, your customers will be sure to come back for future services and products. Customers love to support businesses that share their values. When you can communicate with your customers using video conferencing, they learn about your personality and put forth more effort into becoming a recurring customer. Most importantly, don’t be shy! Confidence is key to succeeding in business. Remember, it’s your business, so you get to make the rules.
