Starting a Business without a Capital

Many of us have business ideas, or may have had business ideas. But one monster has kept staring us on the face, eventually leading to the abortion of our brilliant ideas. And that big monster is capital or money. I was once in that position until the light on the right thing to do came, and everything now is a story. That’s the knowledge I want share with you here. (Maybe it could be helpful).

Without any gainsaying, one can hardly start a business, let alone run it without fund. T. Harv Eker was right when he remarked that, ‘Any one who says money isn’t important doesn’t have any’. I see it as the lifeblood of any enterprise. Money indeed is power, whether in life or in business. But often times for most start-ups, the capitals is not forth coming, even when we may have made some calculated moves, or try to get assistance from financial institutions. (You may have found yourself in such situation).

What do we do then? Surrender our priceless ideas at the mercy of lack of capital? It gives me much concern whenever I see entrepreneurs struggle in business because of inadequate fund. And dozens have given up because of it.

Let’s look at the other side of the coin. Like a popular saying goes, you can use what you have to get what you want. You may not get started by the virtue of your wealth (capital), but you surely can by the wealth (capital) of your virtue. Did you get that? You can re-read it again.

The question now becomes: what are those wealth (capital) of your virtue that you can leverage on? Leveraging is the key to great wealth. We are going to take them one by one.

Use your Mental Capital
The capital of any institution or nation is literally the head of that institution or nation. That invariably means that the capital you need for your business is your head. (Simple logic, isn’t it?). So, the first capital we should talk about is your head; every other thing flows from there.

An American industrialist by name Harvey Firestone once taught, ‘Capital isn’t so important in business. Experience isn’t so important. You can get both these things. What are important are ideas. If you have ideas, you have the main asset you need, and there isn’t any limit to what you can do with your business and life.’ Very remarkable. It’s folly to doubt the man who has done. I want to here that good ideas reside in good heads. I want to believe that you already have a marketable idea.

If you have ideas and the knowledge of what to do with the ideas, you already have a business. Ignorance is the major barrier to starting a business. When you understand the main ingredients businesses are built, and follow through, building yours becomes much easier.

There are several definitions of wealth (as it were), and find two of them very interesting. ‘Wealth is a way of thinking and not a dollar amount in the bank. Money is not a thing but an idea created in the head’. Those were the words of Robert Kiyosaki. And Ayn Raud added, ‘Wealth is the product of man’s capacity to think’. Both points to one direction: your mental capacity to think.

The process of building a business is first a mental process than a physical one. Entrepreneurship is the art of finding profitable solution to problems. And it now begins in your ability to find answer to the issue of your capital. That I think is the first proof of your possessing the right spirit to starting and running a business, and it is a very important hurdle to jump.

I formulated a business law known as the Law of Capital. It states that your most valuable asset, in terms of cash-flow is your physical and mental capacity, your earning ability. So, starting your business depends mostly on you than on any other thing. However, at the start of any business, finding a way of getting the cash-flowing is the most important thing. This launches us into another point.

Use your Reputation
The entrepreneur is the system to keep the money flowing in. And every business system succeeds or fails on trust on trust and not on cash. Having integrity and to be trusted are fundamental to securing assistance and support in starting a business. That’s worth millions of dollars.

Your reputation could be an asset or a liability, depending on the direction the pendulum swings. A good reputation is a credit facility. Before you seek for fund, ask yourself: am I person of character? That answers other financial questions. That could be why Brian Tracy taught, ‘Guard your integrity as a sacred thing. Your character and reputation are perhaps your most valuable assets in your career’. Trust and integrity are the very substance businesses are built on. If you don’t have them, you short-change yourself.

Use your Network
When you’ve got reputation, then use your network, your contact, or your connection. There is a saying that says: your network will determine your net-worth. My question now is, do you have the right network? If you are a man of character and still find it difficult to raise money from your circle of interactions, you are probably in the wrong company. My best advice is, change your network.

Poor network would always yield a poor net-worth, and vice versa. Nothing can be further from the truth.

Communicate Well your Idea
Having a strong network is not enough. You can be in the midst of right company and still die of dearth. You’ve got to know how to communicate your ideas. Cast it as a vision and create the right perception that would appeal to them, and also inspire them to action. You attract money faster when the person you want it from sees that your proposition (idea) is worth investing in.

It has been said that the secrets of riches and wealth are other people’s money (OPM), and other people’s time (OPT). But you have to prove that you have the necessary character, skill and experience to attract those investors, and also guarantee their investments. If not the response you’d receive would be very discouraging.

Everything you have done, especially the one you are doing now could make or mar your starting your business. I mean everything. So, be careful on the image you are projecting about yourself. Like Leke alder, a senior colleague said, ‘If you don’t have history, your idea is incredible, if not incredulous. Until time, performance and consistency prove otherwise’. And I want to add, if you have bad reputation be sure of spending more time looking for fund because no one would be willing to support you.

What are you waiting for? Engage all your wealth (capital) of virtue and get that business started. I will be having an intensive business development session on turning your ideas into wealth during recession. For details get my attention. It’s not so much about a great idea, but a great person who is well informed on how to give meaning to those ideas. Your ideas and business depend on nothing but you. It’s up to you to make them happen!

Tony Ajah is a Business Growth Strategist, and the Principal Strategist, TA Strategic Solutions, a Lagos-based firm that is into business growth and development.
www.ta-strategies.com tony@ta-strategies.com ajahxt@yahoo.co.uk 08051403056