While there are numerous business opportunities available for entrepreneurial efforts, starting up a business with no or minimal cash requirements could be a very challenging proposition. Five business that could be started with no or minimal money are a writing services company; a dog-walking and pet-sitting service; a personal-shopping service; a personal fitness training service; and a residential cleaning service.

1. Running Head: JAMES ROTHAAR – NEW BUSINESS VENTURES, WEEK 3— NO
MONEY DOWN
Five No Money Down Business Opportunities
James Rothaar
New Business Development/ MBA 7604
Wilmington University

2. NEW BUSINESS VENTURES, WEEK 2—NO MONEY DOWN
While there are numerous business opportunities available for entrepreneurial efforts,
starting up a business with no or minimal cash requirements could be a very challenging
proposition. Five business that could be started with no or minimal money are a writing services
company; a dog-walking and pet-sitting service; a personal-shopping service; a personal fitness
training service; and a residential cleaning service.
Each of these service-oriented enterprises would require a certain level of expertise.
However, the commonality threading through each of these five business models is that minimal
overhead would be required to get these ventures up and running.
A firm that offers writing services would require the service provider to understand
grammar as well as how to present written communications effectively and efficiently. A
business needing writing services may need writing on a product or a service to communicate to
its marketplace. Whereas an individual seeking writing services may need a well-written résumé
and several types of introduction- and skill-presentation letters based on purposefulness.
A dog-walking and pet-sitting service would require the service providers to be able to
handle different size animals and the various breeds of dogs.
A personal shopper may need to be able to suggest different gifts, retailers, and pricing of
goods. A residential cleaning service may need to know which products to use on a per
household basis and how to schedule the work around their specific clientele needs.
All five of these low-cash requirement business models do rely heavily upon labor
expertise but have little or no overhead expenses. Anyone one of these organizations could be
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3. NEW BUSINESS VENTURES, WEEK 2—NO MONEY DOWN
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started up as a home-based business. There are risks to consider from both the entrepreneur’s and
the venture capitalist’s view.
An entrepreneur has limited resources, especially in the early going. A failure to
recognize the time it takes to become viable within a market could shutdown a business before it
has time to get started. Unexpected environmental factors, such as the state of the economy, the
arrival of more competitors, new technology, a change in zoning regulations could negatively
impact a business’ model.
There are risks associated with a business that can be classified as having either major or
minor consequences. Risks with minor consequences can be safely ignored, as many of those can
be addressed making simple changes in behavior. A minor risk for a personal service provider
could be en clement weather or a car breaking down. Clients may feel as if they are not receiving
adequate service. A dog-walker could be spending only 15 minutes walking a dog and customers
feel that they should receive a 20-minute walk instead. Solution: add five minutes to each walk.
Two clients may require your service at the very same time. Solution: hire another person to
handle the overflow or try to change the appointment time for one of the patrons.
Risks that have major consequences are far more troublesome. There are insurable risks
and company killers. An insurable risk could be losses resulting from fire, theft, or a natural
disaster. A house cleaner may use an emollient on a piece of furniture that strips the finish off it.
Examples of company ruining risks would be that no market has been identified for your service.
Another killer risk would be the failure to accurately assess the size of the market. What happens
when your competition expands its coverage and lowers it prices? What happens if you run out
of money? The last two what-if scenarios impacted my own writing-services severely.
Actually, larger companies offering similar services dropped their prices to point where I

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could not compete directly without revising my income expectations and services provided. The
time it required to service a customer satisfactorily resulted in my income dropping
precipitously. It was a lose-lose situation that could not be resolved. Focusing on quality made it
harder to obtain the quantity of work required to earn an acceptable wage.
Sweat equity means very little to investors, because they are not certain how to evaluate
it. It likely would be preferable for an entrepreneur to substantiate it to an investor instead of
vice-versa. Quantifying commitment, unique contribution, and hopes and dreams would be a
hard sell. Market value and sweat equity could be disproportionate as well. In regard to a writing
business, the value of the amount of time spent writing a business plan and building a website,
while it could be substantial, has no bearing on market value.
Sweat equity is comparable to sunken costs. It is time and/or money spent that have no
measurable market value. Another problem arising from trying to determine sweat equity is that
it is subjective. The perceived value could change and be argued depending upon a point of view.
Quantifying such variables would be sketchy at best. It is hard to use a formula (quantifiable) to
substantiate an opinion.

5. NEW BUSINESS VENTURES, WEEK 2—NO MONEY DOWN
References
Katz, Jerome, Green, Richard. 2014. Entrepreneurial Small Business, Fourth Edition. New
York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Advani, Asheesh. (July 30, 2007). What Is Sweat Equity Worth? Entrepreneur.com. Retrieved
from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/182440.
Hirai, Akira. What Kills Startups? Cayenne Consulting. Retrieved from
http://www.caycon.com/what-kills-startups.php.
Wagner, Eric T. (September 12, 2013). Five Reasons 8 Out of 10 Businesses Fail Management.
Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericwagner/2013/09/12/five-reasons-
8-out-of-10-businesses-fail/
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6. NEW BUSINESS VENTURES, WEEK 2—NO MONEY DOWN
References
Katz, Jerome, Green, Richard. 2014. Entrepreneurial Small Business, Fourth Edition. New
York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Advani, Asheesh. (July 30, 2007). What Is Sweat Equity Worth? Entrepreneur.com. Retrieved
from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/182440.
Hirai, Akira. What Kills Startups? Cayenne Consulting. Retrieved from
http://www.caycon.com/what-kills-startups.php.
Wagner, Eric T. (September 12, 2013). Five Reasons 8 Out of 10 Businesses Fail Management.
Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericwagner/2013/09/12/five-reasons-
8-out-of-10-businesses-fail/
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