How I STARTED a SMALL BIZ with $0 UPFRONT

Hi Zesties! 🍋 This is a true account of how I have STARTED (with a stroke of luck) and SUSTAINED my small business with $0 upfront?! ✨

1. Interest is a key factor 💡:

- I started purchasing crystal/alashan agate bracelets back in 2022, back then an average bracelet was $6x-$1xx and felt it was not sustainable. Then, I began to source for my own materials to DIY! Some supplies came with freebies and what you see on 2nd pic - are bracelets I made with excess materials/freebies I got from purchasing for myself ✨🤩

- I set up an Instagram account (cost= $0) and posted the 3 bracelets while sharing with my close friends circle, went to work wearing mine and my colleague said “Wow! I want the pooh bear!” My best friend supported and it was nearing CNY (Jan 2023), another friend purchased it for her mum, and there you go I sold the first 3! 🥳 Having earned $1xx from those I grew ambitious and decided to use it to purchase more materials + a wooden holder with my small biz name (em.Bracesg) carved (pic 3)! 💫

2. Word of mouth 🗣️:

- With that, I am back to $0 + extra stocks hence I brought it to family gatherings (it was CNY so quite relevant) Thankfully, my partner’s relatives were really into crystals/jewelry and supported - we even went to his aunt’s house to design a few bracelets for their family of 5! 🏡 Am truly grateful for the support at this point was back from $0 to $3xx-$5xx in a short span of 2 months! Initially I was afraid but my partner’s mum affirmed: “Your things so nice, don’t be scared to share!” Also attributed it to timing - end and start of the year meant people are willing to spend more 💡 #smallbusinesstips

3. One platform, ads to gain traction 📢:

- While you may be tempted to grow your biz by expanding on different social media platforms: IG, Tiktok etc., having to juggle multiple platforms (while holding a FT job) can be difficult and you may end up not being able to focus/feeling overwhelmed/mixing up orders! 🤯

- I grew mine solely on Instagram (at the start), spending an average of $5x/monthly (within the profit I gained) on ads to gain traction and posting frequently: rotating btwn reels, posts and stories! If you are willing to invest into your biz, why not spend more on ads? 💸 As for me, I wanted to keep my biz profitable hence I usually only spend within what I earned! ✨ Now (2024), with increased orders and profits my average expenditure on IG ads is $1xx!

💖 Will be back on another post to elaborate on how I SUSTAIN my small biz with $0 (still)! 🤣

*Each small biz model varies, in case you guys say i “niao - stingy” and refuse to fork out money from my own pocket!*

#MyFreeTime #SmallBusiness #smallbusinessowner #smallbusinesstips #smallbusinesslemon8 #AdultingTips #Lemon8MadeMeBuyIt #GirlTalk