No excuses, no shame
How to start a business when you're broke.
Broke is a number in a bank account today. It is not a description of you, and it is not permanent. Plenty of real businesses were started by people with empty pockets and a reason to move. You do not need money in the bank to begin. You need to start from exactly where you are, and this page shows you how.
The truth first
Being broke is temporary. Being stuck is a choice.
When you are broke, the loudest voice says wait: wait until you have savings, wait until things settle, wait until it feels safe. But the money does not show up while you wait, momentum does not build while you wait, and the idea just gets older. Starting from where you are is not reckless when you start small and free. It is the only honest way to change the number. You are not behind. You are at the starting line, and the starting line is a fine place to be.
First move
Get your first $100 from what you already have.
Bootstrapping means taking whatever you have and putting it together to make something. You have more to work with than you think. Here are a few honest ways to raise a first $100, none of them schemes, none of them promising a number.
Sell what you are not using
An old phone, an old laptop, gear in a closet. Cash sitting still can become your first bit of working capital this week.
Trade a few hours for cash
Deliver with a car you already own, pick up a weekend gig, or run a fish fry or a car wash. Ordinary work, pointed at a real goal.
Ask one person who believes in you
A small, clear loan from a friend, with an honest plan to pay it back. Being broke does not mean being alone.
The bootstrapping playbook lists every one of these moves in full, plus exactly where that first $100 goes once you have it. See how to get and spend your first $100 →
Momentum
Small wins are how broke turns into building.
When money is tight, the win you need first is not a big check, it is proof that you can move the needle at all. Find an idea today. Validate it tomorrow. Make one small offer this week. Each little win pays you back in something money cannot buy when you are broke: belief that this is going to work. Stack enough small wins and one day you look up and you are not broke anymore, you are in business.
Free to use, right now
The tools that do the work you cannot afford to hire out.
Idea Marketplace →
Vetted ideas with real startup costs, so you pick one you can actually afford.
Idea Validator →
Prove the idea before you put a single dollar behind it.
Business Name Generator →
A brandable name with an available domain, free to generate.
Social Media Studio →
Show up in public without a marketing budget.
SEO tools →
Get found in search instead of paying for ads.
Business Calculators →
Turn tight money into real numbers you can plan around.
Questions, answered straight
Questions
Good to know.
Can I start a business if I'm broke?
Yes. Broke means today, not forever. The first stretch of building, finding an idea, proving it, naming it, and showing up in public, can be done free with the tools here. And the small amount of money the business does need, you can raise from what you already have. Broke is where you start, not where you are stuck.
How do I get my first $100 when I'm broke?
By putting together what you already have. Sell an old phone or laptop, download legitimate get-paid apps, deliver with your car, run a fish fry or a car wash, pawn something you own, or borrow a small amount from a friend with a clear plan to repay. Pick one. The bootstrapping page lists the moves in full.
What if I have bad credit too?
Start with a business that needs no credit and no capital: a skill or service where the product is your time. You do not need a loan to clean, tutor, do handyman work, write, or run errands for busy people. Bad credit only matters when you go looking for borrowed money, and you can build a real business before you ever do.
Where do I actually begin tonight?
Create the free account, pick one idea from the marketplace that fits what you already know how to do, and run it through the validator. That is a real first step, it costs nothing, and it turns 'someday' into 'started.'
You are not broke forever. You are one honest start away.
Create the free account, pick an idea, and take the first small step tonight. Kenny will walk the rest with you, one move at a time.