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    Home-Businesses Ideas You Can Start Fast for No Money

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    By Leslie Truex
    Updated December 05, 2018

    There is a saying that states you need to spend money to make money. With a home business that isn’t necessarily true, although as your home business grows, you’ll want to invest some of your profits back into the business.

    Using the knowledge, tools, and resources you already have, you can start a home business today. History is littered with a successful business that got started with little or nothing, except a giant desire and the commitment to make it work, no matter what. In fact, I would argue that commitment and tenacity are the most important assets in ensuring home business success. If you want the freedom and flexibility to work at home as your own boss, here are five ways you can start now for nothing.

  • 01
    eBay and Amazon

    A woman packing a box

    Allison Michael Orenstein/Getty Images

    One of the great things about eBay and Amazon is that you can start by selling the stuff cluttering your home and attic, and you don’t have to pay anything until after something sells and you’ve been paid.  The trick to success on eBay and Amazon is to find what sells well and at a good profit, and then find a resource for more inventory. For example, if you have name-brand children’s clothes from your kids that sell well, you can take the money you earn from eBay sales and buy more at the local thrift store or consignment shop.

  • 02
    Blogging

    Close up of a computer keyboard with a "blog" key

    Justin Allfree/Getty Images

    The most successful bloggers invest in a domain name and web hosting, which of course isn’t free. However, many started their blogs on free blogging sites such as Blogger (which is owned by Google, making it easy to add Adsense to it).

    Once they started making money, they bought a domain ($10-$15) and forwarded it to their free blog. And when they made even more money, they bought hosting and moved the site.

    Along with affiliate income, you can make money blogging by selling ad space, through a newsletter (you can get free email list service at MailChimp), and creating your own products such as ebooks and ecourses. All of these can be done free.

  • 03
    Service-Based Business

    a woman talking on the phone and typing

    Tetra Image/Getty Images

    You can take nearly any skill you have and start selling it simply by telling people you can help them.

    Are you handy around the house? Let your friends and family know you’re available to help them with repairs, painting, and other honey-do items. As long as you have the equipment already, it costs you nothing to access your network. 

    There is a ton of service business ideas you can perform, from pet sitting to organizing to tutoring.  Don’t want to leave your home to work? There are many service business ideas you can do from your computer, such as web design, tutoring (through video conferencing), writing, virtual support, bookkeeping, and more.

  • 04
    Writing

    A young woman sitting on a stack of books

    Yulkapopkova/Getty Images

    While you can offer writing as a service as mentioned above, you can also write and sell your own works. This includes writing books, information products, home-based courses, and more.  People go online for information and they’re willing to pay for it if it’s something they believe they’ll enjoy or that will help them.

    Amazons Kindle Direct Publishing and Createspace allow you to publish your books for free (or for a fee if you want more services). Plus you can sell them from Amazon's site. Through Createspace, your printed books can be distributed to other retailers such as Barnes & Noble.

  • 05
    Microwork

    A young person with his feet on a desk

    PJB/Getty Images

    Microwork isn’t a home business as much as it’s freelancing, but it still allows you to work from home on your own schedule, picking and choosing tasks you want to do. While microwork seems like a lot of work for little income, it’s free and I’ve read reports of people making $1,000 to $2,000 a month.

    What is mircrowork? Basically, businesses need small, time-limited projects done, such as researching, proofreading, writing, data entry, and more. There are many microwork sites, and to maximize your income, you’ll want to join and work at several.

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