When I was in my high-school I started my first business with just $100. The business was successful, well, for some time at least. I was working full-time at that moment and along with that I started my business because I was bored with 9-5 job.
The biggest problem I faced was, I had little or no money at all. Which was a serious problem at that time. With no money it seemed nearly impossible to sell things but as we progressed I learned ways to grow business without wasting money on advertising or marketing.
At that time there were not many resources available to us, so whatever was, we focused on that and invested time, money, to survive out business. I failed, again and again just because I didn’t have enough funds to market my product. But, as they say that every failure teaches you something. My failure taught me to rely on things which were free, but nobody bothered to take advantage out of them.
However, I would like to burst this myth. You don’t need money to start and grow your business. With the tips mentioned below you can grow your brand without spending a dime on it.
- What is the personality of your brand?
Just like humans, brands have a personality. Products are made in factories, but brands are created and remembered in our minds. The making of the product ask for money, you’re got mind, which is the ultimate source of powerhouse.
If only you can figure out the personality of your brand you can relate it to a real person. People don’t create bonds with bricks and mortar, they want a good personality. Your brand must act as a living person among your customers.
To do that ask the following questions:
- How does your brand personality act on a certain day?
- How does your brand get along with customers?
- How does your band take feedback from the customer?
If you ask these questions from yourself, you’ll know what type of brand personality you have. Nail down your brand personality traits and interact with people just like you interact with your friends.
- Build a Community
As a fresh startup I had smooth take-off. What I needed was opportunities to grow my business.
I realized that to grow further I need to network with people. Not just individuals, but with businesses.
Once I became part of a community, I was able to connect with people from all walks of life. We had access to experts from every niche. We had a treasure trove of information which can be shared with people and feedback which can be taken for people on a newly launched product.
The community should extend to your customers. Actively seek for people who want your product and pitch them without paying tons of dollars. And if you deliver great service people will start talking about you in the community.
When in the community, ask yourself the following questions:
- Which of the people can be your potential customers?
- Which of the business operations can you outsource and foster relationships?
- How can you create a customer experience which can ignite customer loyalty without asking for anything in return?
I started my business with just $100. But with the right tools I leveraged capital from social media. This is something which is hard to manage on the balance sheet, but small businesses can take a lot of advantage from them. Social media is something which you can use
- The Beauty of Barter
I am a huge fan of barter system, when it comes to growing a business. The best thing is that you can use people from any age bracket to help you with your business growth.
The thing with small business whether it be digital marketing companies or e-commerce stores they have the power to barter with each other.
This can be anything from placing products on a website or offering digital marketing services to companies in exchange of referrals.
You can get good deals to barter on Facebook and Craigslist. Consider what you have on with you and what you can give in return.
Both parties should benefit, otherwise the system won’t work. I was once out of funds when I needed to print cards. What I did was I offered a free website development service to the printing guy and he gracefully printed cards for free.
So, this is how you can drive and grow your business without spending a dime on anything marketing or advertising.
It is time for you to stop making all the aimless excuses about not getting enough funds to grow your business. The above methods are tried and tested and you can use them without feeling worried about not having any money.