Starting a business can be a scary venture. Many (falsely) believe that you need a boatload of cash before you can get off the ground running.
That might have been true back in the day, when brick and mortar businesses typically required lots of high upfront capital.
Nowadays, especially with the internet, starting a business is actually easier and less risky than ever. It’s so easy, in fact, that you can actually test your business idea in a weekend.
Below are 3 business ideas that you can use to do just that.
Service Business
Service businesses are the easiest to start and are perfect for those just testing the entrepreneurial waters. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to be the best at something to start a business – you just have to do the job well enough to serve others.
There are a ton of service businesses that you can start based on skills you already possess.
Do you own a home? Do you mow your own lawn? If so, you could probably start a lawn care business. Do you fix your own appliances when things go awry? Perhaps a handyman business would work for you.
A few other examples here would be teaching others guitar, tutoring high school or college students in math, or maybe providing home-cooked meals to busy parents.
Once you decide on an idea that works for you, then you can test it out this weekend by simply calling or texting family members, friends, or coworkers and asking if they would be willing to pay for your services. If they are, congratulations! You just validated your service business and can start thinking longer term.
Mobile Apps
Another possible business idea for you to test this weekend is a mobile app. If you or someone you know has a problem that you think could be solved by software, specifically on a mobile phone, then you may want to pursue it.
You could go through the process of determining app development costs and planning out the full blown app, but that would probably take longer than a weekend.
Instead, you could just create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
An MVP could be a pen and paper sketch, or a small-scale, but workable raw version of the app itself. Once you have something tangible, show it to anyone you think might be interested. If you can get them to pay you ahead of time, you know you have an idea that could work. Then, time to pursue further!
Consulting
Last but not least, if you possess some knowledge on a topic or have your own process for something, you can teach others how to do the same.
For example, let’s say at your day job that you have a ton of experience hiring new talent. You could start a consulting business based on that.
Or perhaps you became internet savvy and figured out how to build a large email list, you could absolutely consult about that.
There is a vast array of topics people are willing to pay money to learn, and the bottom line is you just need to pick one that fits your skillsets.
Time to Test
You just learned about 3 different business ideas that wouldn’t take long to try out this weekend. What’s your upcoming calendar look like? If you don’t already have plans, there’s no better time than now to take your knowledge or skills and test the waters.
