SHOESTRING STARTUPS

Be your own boss with these 20 biz for just $100 or less.

If you dream of starting a business, but hold back because you’re afraid of a hefty startup cost, think again. We’ve rounded up 20 businesses you can start for $100 or less. With a home-based launch, you’ll save on overhead. We present these small business concepts as food for thought. Conduct your own due diligence research to determine if the enterprise could work in your region. A little research will pay off.

Junk Removal—A lot of people have junk and “stuff” in their homes and yards but can’t cart it away. They don’t have a pickup or the discipline to get the job done. You can do it for them. Call the local dump/recycling center and set up a schedule for pickups, etc.

Parking Lot Pickup—You contact local businesses and offer to clean their parking lots at night/weekends. Charge for the lot or by the hour. All you need is a broom and some garbage bags to get started.

Start A Website Biz— Go online and start learning how to develop your own website. Once you have it, you can sell things from it or just run interesting information and carry ads from others. If you can build a great audience, businesses will want to advertise on your site.

Apartment/House Cleaning— O.K. it doesn’t sound new or very different, but it works. It seems that no matter how many cleaning services pop up, there are always customers to jump on your bandwagon. Once you develop good word of mouth, customers will be calling you.

Holiday Decorating— If you’re handy with decorations, arrange some setups and take photos. Start a website promoting your holiday service to commercial and residential customers or make appointments to show them your photo portfolio.

Move-In Service—If you’ve ever moved, you know how tough it is to move in and clean up in just a couple of days. You can start a business offering to do the cleaning before folks move in; see if you can tie in with a couple of moving companies who would help you promote this business.

Assembly Service—Many people love to shop but hate to cart things home that aren’t already assembled. You start the business and ask local businesses to distribute your business cards. It will help the stores sell goods.

Delivery Service— There are many stores ranging from supermarkets to nurseries that don’t offer delivery service. They are losing customers by not providing this. You come in and offer to do the job with your own delivery service.

Meal Delivery— Plenty of people would pay to have the local fast food place, the local hero place or restaurant deliver a lunch or dinner. You can do it. Investigate food heaters and/or coolers to be state of the art or pack the meals in insulated bags. Start promoting your service and start pocketing the fees.

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