A business model familiar to our realities is a classic enterprise. In order to start a business, you need start-up capital; after that it is necessary to build up a customer base for such a business, to develop it. At the following stages, the enterprise begins to bring its income, providing its founders with profit after a certain period of time. Such a model was almost the only sufficiently long period of time.
With the advent of information technology, much has changed. Business processes have also become much simpler, they are often installed using the Internet, making it easier to work. In general, the ability to do everything faster and more efficiently led to the fact that there was even a completely new, revolutionary business model called a startup. Today it is a very fashionable phenomenon, which is commonly called any entrepreneurial venture (although this is not entirely correct).
In this article, we will examine in more detail what startups with minimal investment can be, what is needed to launch them and what can make them successful.
General designation
You probably know the term “startup”: today it is often mentioned in the news, noting some successful product or another new development. Initially, the startup was called a technological enterprise, which, when launched with a minimum investment of funds and resources, greatly increases its capitalization. As a rule, startups with minimal investments in America appeared, after which the fashion for them came to our country.
Ideal examples of such enterprises are considered to be Google, Amazon, Facebook, PayPal, Shazam, Uber, Pocket and many others. All of them started with minimal investments (or even without them); a small team worked on them (or even just one person); after which the project, in the course of development, became the millionth (or even billionth) corporation.
Very soon, generating and implementing ideas for a startup with minimal investment became a fashionable activity. Many entrepreneurs have appeared in this industry who want to create a “second Google” - to develop a product that would become very popular and in demand. However, as you know, this is not so simple. Due to the fact that attempts to create something famous and profitable were made in all areas of business, start-ups with minimal investments began to appear both in the form of the next studio of mobile applications, and some innovative hairdresser, open in a neighboring yard. The initial attachment to high technology has blurred.
Sign of success
In fact, dozens, if not hundreds of some new projects enter the market daily. All of them want to be positioned as startups with minimal investment. A house cleaning company, a photocopy and printing center, a mini-plant for growing flowers - all this is created regularly and on a fairly large scale: dozens of such enterprises arise in various fields. They are launched on the basis of some idea, which in the future can become profitable and bring the authors a lot of money. But, alas, in practice everything is completely different.
The very startups with minimal investments (in Russia or in the USA - there is no difference) that were supposed to bring millions, suddenly turn out to be unprofitable, insufficiently polished for the market, or even completely impossible to implement in the current conditions.
Figures
According to statistics, which are regularly voiced by various business trainers at their seminars, about 70% of all startups close.Based on this, we can say that at least the performance of such an enterprise, its real activity in the market is already an indicator of success.
The second point is capitalization. Many business creators hope that their brainchild (in the future) will be able to bring millions, gain fame in the country and even, possibly, reach the international level. However, in practice, this awaits only one of several thousand companies. The chance of a particular business to become truly successful is simply miserable.
Spheres
As noted above, it is possible to find new enterprises that start their activities with minimal investment in all spheres of human activity. Both trade and production, services and B2B - all these and other areas have some kind of projects that could be classified as startups. Therefore, it is not surprising that all these enterprises differ significantly in scale and in terms of income and expenses, also. There are successful business models that have earned a million by investing $ 100; as there are companies that started with tens of millions. Of course, we are interested in startups with minimal investment. We will talk in more detail about them and the ideas from which they are born.
Idea generation
However, first of all, it is worth mentioning the very procedure for launching this kind of business. It all starts, of course, with an idea. It can be something abstract (for example, launching a network of laundries), or you can more clearly formulate the task of the future enterprise - to create an online store for hearing aids and advertise it on a forum for people with low hearing levels, for example.
As experience shows, the best ideas for startups with minimal investment can even sound unusual and wild (remember at least the idea of the creators of Google - to develop a search engine from scratch at a time when the giant of sorting and searching for information Yahoo already existed). But this, again, does not mean that such a business will be unprofitable.
If an idea occurred to you, the first and most important rule is to try to formulate it as clearly as possible. You must understand and see what your business will be like, how you implement a website, what advantages your model will differ from those that are already on the market. All this needs to be characterized as specifically as possible, in order to prevent such a situation in the future when you simply do not know what to do next. And, of course, in order not to regret in the future that we spent our time and efforts on this or that project.
Risk calculation
The next thing that comes after the idea is formulated is a dry but very important job of identifying the risks of your model. Think about where you get the money for your project. Ask about your potential customers. Find out how your competitors solve problems. All startups with minimal investments (in St. Petersburg, Moscow or some small town - geography does not play a role) should not be based on a beautifully sounding concept, but exclusively on the numbers included in the business plan. Remember this rule constantly!
Training
Next, you need to prepare to launch a business. Check out the options for where you get the right materials and equipment. Learn how to get the skills you need for a business. Check out other startup examples with minimal investment. All this will help you concentrate on your main task - to launch an interesting and successful product that can make money. When preparing, remember that all steps must be taken into account as accurately as possible. Do not let these or those tasks go by chance - believe me, in the future this can lead to problems with them. Try to calculate everything several times.
Implementation
As you launch your business, be prepared for something to go wrong. All startups with minimal investment are somewhat unpredictable.You do not know how many visitors your site will have in a month; how many people are interested in your product. All you can do is calculate the possible number of customers and try to maximize it. For this, of course, you must also know where and how you will attract customers and what you can offer them. After all, it may be that in this area there are already solutions that other startups offer with minimal investment.
The rules that we presented above are basic. They are not a guarantee that your project will justify itself - with their help you can only improve its performance, bring the product to a new level, get more chances for success. In addition to them, there are many more nuances that you will learn to pay attention to in the process of launching your business.
Examples
Finally, for clarity, I would like to provide examples of projects that managed to start with minimal investment. The first one is a Japanese solution implemented in the field of trade. The project is called “One Book Store”. Its essence is that in a regular book salon, instead of a large assortment, one book is presented, placed in the center of the shelf. The design of the store is carried out in a minimalist style, which is why the attention of the buyer is focused on only one product. Every week the book changes, which attracts the attention of buyers.
The second example is the launch of a business for the production of hand-made things. You can see the implementation of such a model in any shopping center that sells handmade soaps, accessories, and linen. All this is done by masters, and then exhibited on store shelves with souvenirs and gifts.
The third example is the creation of a website or application for a smartphone. Here, the imagination of the developers can be limitless, and investments can be zero if you yourself learn to program and draw design. An application or website can solve any problem in our daily lives, the main thing is to think carefully about how to get them to help people.
Motivation and mood
If you want to have your own startups with minimal investment, the main thing is not to despair. Surely your first attempts will be unsuccessful. This is natural, because you have no experience. The main thing is not to give up and try again and again. Sooner or later, you can really create a profitable, interesting and useful business!