How to Start a Business for Under $100

If this year is the year you want to start a business, you need to read this! Check out how to start a business for under $100 for tips on a basic business without stock.

It is easier than ever to start a business, get in front of your target audience, automate things with AI and have success but there is a lot to learn.

You either have to learn it yourself or pay someone to do it for you.

How to Fund Your Business

Some businesses require more than a shoestring to get started. You can do this either with a loan, your own savings, applying for business grants or if you are currently on Centrelink, there are options that help.

Another is having investors which means you need to learn the skills around pitching and will likely need to give up a percentage of your business. The investing usually comes with mentoring and connection to their networks too so it can be a great option.

Shark Tank is an example of this but not the only way to do it. There are accelerators/incubators in most cities that can help connect you and teach you how to pitch. They also usually have a workspace available and host events that are valuable for you.

Crowdfunding is another option and can work really well with a solid marketing plan.

Get creative about what you want to do, have a clear business plan including marketing and you will find getting funding is easier.

Get $100 from ING

If you are a new customer of ING you can get $100 for opening an everyday account with them by doing the following steps:

1. ​Open an everyday account, put the promo code CNW116 in the promo box (you must use the code to get the $100 bonus), and complete all the steps below in the first month.
2. Deposit $1,000 into the account such as your income or Centrelink payments
3. Make 5 settled transactions
4. Open a Savings Maximiser (current interest rate is 5.5%)
5. Deposit any amount into the Savings Maximiser

Then you get your $100 the following month. Valid until 30 November 2026.

Get $5,000 by the end of the Year

If you want a larger amount to get started, didn't find a grant and don't want a loan, use these tips to get $5,000 by the end of the year.

Business Ideas

What business should you start? That is entirely up to you, what you are interested in, what needs you can solve, your skills and how much time you have. There are 80+ suggestions for side hustles here.

Be aware though, if you really want to make it work, you have to treat it like a full time job. Dedicate time to it, create systems, look at what is working and what isn't. Outsource as you grow too.

What If It Doesn't Work?

Business is a risk and it might not always work out, especially if you haven't done your market research, rushed into things and not launched properly.

However, just because it's not working right now, doesn't mean it won't work in the long run.

Get some business advice, have others review it and offer suggestions. Review what is working and how you can maximise that.

Track how you are spending your time and if you are using it in the most efficient ways to achieve your goals.

Consider hiring a coach or business mentor and join some business groups to connect with others who might be able to help.

Stop taking advice from your neighbour or random people in your life. Have they done what you are doing? No. Then they are not the right people to be advising you.

Accept that statistically most people who are close to you won't support you in your business venture as much as you'd like but they will likely all have opinions and "advice". Learn to ignore it.

And if it truly is not working, there is no way to save it and it feels like a failure, look at what you can learn from this experience. Most successful people fail multiple businesses before they strike it big. That's part of the journey and each failure, if reviewed fully and learned from, can make the next thing you do work faster and better.

Marketing Tips

If you don't have much of a marketing budget, it is crucial you know exactly who your target audience is, where they hang out and how to connect with them.

Even if you can't be on every social platform to begin with, if you can learn to do one or two well, that you know are relevant to your target audience, it can be extremely effective.

Each platform has tutorials so go through them to maximise how you are using them and ensure you are not wasting your advertising budget.

Respond to callouts in SourceBottle to get free media coverage.

Learn how to pitch your articles, what you are doing and special things that happen to the media yourself or utilise a PR firm.

Be active in business groups, give advice and become known as the go to person for whatever your business is about.

Seek out events you can speak at and network in that are relevant to your business to get in front of different audiences and connect.

Enter business awards and learn how to create amazing applications, get your followers involved and share your success.

Have an email list where you send weekly or monthly emails with things relevant to your audience.

These are just a few things you can do but please do share your business this month so we can all support you within our community at least!

Meal Plan Discounts

One thing people do to free up time for their business is outsource things at home such as getting meal kits to reduce the time planning, shopping and cooking. Here are a few options:
​$50 off Delidoor where you choose exactly which meals, they come frozen and feed 1 to 4 people depending on what you choose.
Up to $140 off Dinnerly
Up to $200 off EveryPlate and HelloFresh
Up to $210 off QuiteLike and Marley Spoon

What I Am Reading

Here are highly recommended business books:

​Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine by Mike Michalowicz is the book to read if you want a great accounting system that ensures profit and makes business money management easy.

​We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman's Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth, and Gaining Economic Power by Rachel Rodgers is one of my favourite books.

​The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life by Steve Bartlett.

​Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It by Chris Voss sounds boring but it is fantastic and has valuable advice. After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a kidnapping negotiator brought him face-to-face with bank robbers, gang leaders and terrorists. Never Split the Difference takes you inside his world of high-stakes negotiations, revealing the nine key principles that helped Voss and his colleagues succeed when it mattered the most - when people's lives were at stake.
​
Rooted in the real-life experiences of an intelligence professional at the top of his game, Never Split the Difference will give you the competitive edge in any discussion.

​Chill and Prosper: The New Way to Grow Your Business, Make Millions, and Change the World by Denise Duffield-Thomas is a great look at how to do business differently so it's not all hustle and grind.

​Launch (Revised & Updated Edition): How to Sell Almost Anything Online, Build a Business You Love, and Live the Life of Your Dreams by Jeff Walker is the book based on his best-selling course Product Launch Formula and has great advice.

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