We have all heard the saying, "It takes money to make money." While that may be true in some cases, the idea that you need your own capital to create a profitable product is a lie. In fact, it can be advantageous to sell a product you haven't even created yet. I'll explain.

Too many people in business attempt to solve problems by throwing money at them. Often times, this results in an expensive prototype that bombs because the product was never actually validated. The MVP model's philosophy is at the opposite end of the spectrum.
With a "minimum viable product", you are launching a VERY basic version of your "thing" (no bells and whistles) so that you can get critical feedback early in the game. The goal here is to reduce wasted effort and finances, while simultaneously delivering what your customer actually wants.

This lean model can be taken a step further. Here is how you can create your own MVP with no capital.

#1. Identify a pain point. Choose an industry (or audience) and survey its members. What problems are they currently facing? What solutions do they wish existed?

#2. If you start to see a theme developing in the responses, you may be on to something. Ask these people if they would be willing to pay for said solution. This doesn't mean hypothetically pay, it means literally pull out your checkbook. Offer them a discounted rate as an incentive for being a part of your "beta" version.

#3. Repeat step two until you have raised enough money (pre product creation) to execute the production of your solution. You can even use some of these funds to outsource portions of the labor to local help or virtual assistants.
This is 100% possible, i've done it. The end result is a product that has been validated, cost you personally no money at all to build and most importantly helps provide much needed value to your new customer.