When I started my first
company, I was17 years old and still in
university. I had absolutely no money. If I did
have any money, it instantly got spent on
video games. (Didn't I just say I was a 17 year-old
college student?)
Fast-forward three short years, and I now run
one of the top five fitness services on the
Internet. I've got all the money I need, and I
spend my time either working on innovating
new products, or traveling and experiencing
everything the world has to offer. I never got
VC or angel funding, and I never got a giant
cash infusion from an investor, a bank loan or
anyone else, in any capacity. So how did I get
here?
The answer is simple: I stopped focusing on
the money, and I started focusing on building
something that people wanted to buy.
There are a ton of things you can do to build
your company without any money. In fact, you
can get pretty darn far with just Internet
access, time and a clear vision. Here's a list
of 10 steps you can take to help you build the
business of your dreams, without spending
more than a few hundred bucks:

1. Clarify your concept. What is the problem
you want to solve? Outline, from start to
finish, exactly how your company will function
from a user's perspective. Then, outline
exactly what you need to do to create that
reality from the company's perspective. Be as
detailed as possible, and ensure your outlined
strategies don't require a crazy amount of
cash to pull off. Chances are, you'll find a
number of holes in your initial strategy that
you'll have time to think through and solve–
which you will want to do before you spend a
dime on anything anyway.

2. Do market research. Walk people in your
target market through your vision. Take their
feedback into account and look for patterns.
Your concept may make a ton of sense in your
mind, but it may not make sense to
customers. If they don't "get it" or see value
in it, chances are they won't give you money—
which is what you're typically after.

3. Wireframe. Come up with a detailed map of
your company. If you've got an app idea or
Internet business concept, map out every
single screen. Where are all the buttons, and
where do they take you? What does the copy
say? What graphics do you need? If it's a
brick-and-mortar store or a physical product,
detailed designs and maps of the store or
product are going to be necessary before you
can develop your idea further. You can use
programs like Photoshop for this, but you can
also do this using paper and pencil. As you do,
new issues and ideas will arise that will help
you develop your concept even more.

4. Do a competitive analysis. What companies
are using a similar business model, and how
do they structure their company and their
service? What companies are in your space
currently, and what differentiates your
company from theirs? Do as much research as
you can, and use that knowledge to
springboard your concept forward so you're
not playing catch-up later.

5. Educate yourself. You may not have gone to
business school (don't worry, neither did I),
but you can still learn from the best. Services
like Udemy offer low-cost or free resources to
learn about business, entrepreneurship and
various facets of marketing and sales that can
help cut months or even years off your
development time.

6. Research the reduction of costs of
operation. In order to spend as little money as
possible early on, compare costs of all the
services that you need to employ in order to
turn your concept into reality. Don't overlook
sites like Elance , oDesk and Zirtual when it
comes to hiring developers, designers, or
various staff members. They can save you
thousands of dollars, and can potentially
provide you with a much more responsive and
helpful service.

7. Start leveraging social networks. You can
build your following without spending money.
Get all your friends and family to start
following your social networks, and give them
regular updates on your progress. Give them
incentives such as promo codes for your
upcoming product. If you've already got a
following, even a small one, it can help drive
your initial sales.

8. Network, network, network. Go out and
meet other entrepreneurs. Tell them and
people in your space about what you're doing.
Get them excited about the concept, and ask
for their help if you think they can provide
value. If you've already got a clear direction
once you've launched, build an advisory board
of five to seven fellow entrepreneurs
with relevant success in your space. Give a
percentage point of equity or two in exchange
for advice, strategy and connections.

9. Find a mentor. One of the most powerful
assets you can have in entrepreneurship is a
mentor. This should be somebody you look up
to who has already achieved a level of
success you hope to someday reach yourself.
Ask that person flat-out if he or she would
consider mentoring you. Chances are the
person will feel flattered and will say yes.
From there, learn all you can.

10. Get a professionally designed logo. I
saved this one for last because, even though it
won't be your most powerful step, it will be a
strong symbol of your progress for you
personally and it may drive you to further
action. Some services charge a few hundred
dollars for a good logo, but I always love
using LogoNerds.com . You can get a pretty
solid logo done for $27!
Are these all the tasks you need to undertake
to reach the level of success you want?
Definitely not, but they are 10 powerful and
necessary things that don't require any
significant amount of money up front. Focus
on getting these all done before spending
more, and you'll be well on your way.

be creative... have a business plan today.

This piece is useful but it is on joke section,please make efforts to get it on business section.

This is what they call inspiration.

Good one