Got $25? Make More Money with These Five Low Cost Business Ideas

Making money is not as easy as it sounds. Our parents tell us we need to earn it as we are growing up, that money does not grow on trees or other colorful allegories. It is true, money does not just fall into the lap of anyone. You may have also heard throughout life that it takes money to make money. Another good one that is only partially true. Especially today.

A bit of background on myself. I started a public relations company that has provided substantial financial and professional rewards over the last eight years. I started my PR company with about $2 (plus tax). I bought a pad of paper and some Bic pens from a local Dollar Tree. Other than gas to visit the local library and use their Internet for a bit I was only out a few bucks to get started. Keep in mind, I just woke up one day and decided I wanted to start a public relations company, a week or two later I bought the above materials and studied up. As I look at less than 600 days left of having to have a job outside of my home (due to reasons detailed here).
Here are five low cost, or even free, methods of making money.

Let's define "low cost" first

I consider low cost to be less than $25 total. Most of us reading this can easily find $25 without resorting to selling plasma (though that does pay well if I remember correctly). Besides, $25 is a low cost to start a business making money for yourself, right?

Lawn care

First, notice I did not say "mow lawns" in the subheading? That is because anyone can mow lawns. There is not a lot of money in it due to so much competition. To be a lawn care specialist is going to require a bit more work on your part and a bit more expertise as far as getting things done. Nothing that is out of the realm of anyone reading this.

Lawn care specialists might offer to trim hedges, clean gardens, lay walking tiles across a yard, etc. Really, your services here are only limited by your imagination and what the customer wants to hire you for. What is nice about being a lawn care specialist is that you can even offer to mow their lawn as a bonus for hiring your company.

How can this be free or low cost to start? If you are a lawn care specialist the most expensive item, a lawn mower, is not required to get started (unless you wish to offer lawn mowing from the start). This business will require some flyers by made (about $2 to have a few printed - can be simple, no need to hire a graphics artist or anything, just use big bold letters to catch people’s attention). That leaves $23. For about $16 you can get a pair of long blade plant clippers and a pair of long handle, short blade, clippers. That leaves about $7 for work gloves, knee pads if you desire them and some gas to drive around and put up the fliers and hit your first job.

What can I expect to earn as a lawn care specialist?

I cannot guarantee your earnings as everywhere is different. I live in central Arkansas and have talked with lawn care specialists about helping us kickstart a little flower bed and lay some walking tiles across the yard at our land. The cost was quite a bit, enough that I decided that it will be a series of family activities for us. For the record, a flower bed that was about three feet (36 inches) deep by seven feet (about 84 inches) and 10 walking tiles was going to run about $450. Keep in mind, that is with me buying everything. They wanted $450 for what they estimated to be less than 8 hours of work. That works out to about $56 an hour for one person. Not a bad kick back for a less than $25 investment.

Be a life organizer

This one is often confused with “house cleaning” but much like the previous entry, your earning power is based on how your services are offered. Life organizers often help busy people develop methods of staying on track, getting more done, and freeing up a bit of time for relaxing or other activities. Just remember, much like the first entry on this list, you can always expand your offerings to earn more money and take on the more general work option.

Cost to start as a life organizer?

Other than gas to reach your clients, flyers, etc you are not going to be out much with this one. Maybe some paper, pens, a clipboard, and the like to look more professional. Still quite a bit under $25 and you can command a very lucrative lifestyle as your client base grows.

Computer repair/services, travelling even

This one is going to require a bit of tech savvy on your part to do well. Honestly though, a lot of the problems you will encounter can be diagnosed via a simple search on the Internet. You may be thinking no one will pay you to work on their computer since computers are so cheap. Well, they are not that cheap yet – they are far from the “paper towel” of technology.

Think about the clientele you are more likely to encounter here. It probably won’t be people that are going to be your fellow tech heads. Rather, you are more likely to be spending your time helping older computer user’s setup e-mail, their Internet service, etc. You may even get the occasional computer build job so keep your options open in your advertising.

Cost of computer repair/service?

Pretty much flyers and the like. Maybe time on Google freshening up your computer skills. Seriously, this is one of the cheaper jobs you can start as most people reading this have a basic understanding of computers, the Internet, and how to troubleshoot errors. If you don’t know how, Google it.

Physical labor is not my thing, can I still start a business for less than $25? Yes. Yes, you can.

The next two businesses you can start for less than $25 are all “solitary” type jobs that do not require you to physically meet your customers. Don’t worry, I am not going to recommend you start a public relations company (though I hear those cost about $2 to start).

Selling on Ebay, seriously, think about this one

We all know about Ebay, it is a popular auction site where people often unload junk they no longer want, but want bad enough to want money for it. Your mileage here is going to be a very true statement. Me personally, I resell clearance items from big box stores so I am constantly changing what I offer. I also offer Perler Bead hand crafted products that are more stable.
You don’t have to sell junk on Ebay. I have used Goodwill and yard sales as sources for items. I picked up a Nuon for $10 at Goodwill, listed it on Ebay before we left the parking lot, had it sold for $119.75 (best offer) plus shipping before I completed the five-mile drive home. Same thing happened with a Fairchild Channel F (plus 11 of 21 games and official carrying case). $15 turned into $165 before I got home.

The point is, Ebay can be a lucrative, if not all that steady, income and viable if you manage your money right. I spent $25 (over two purchases) and got nearly $285 back. Can’t really complain, but of course, your mileage may vary.

Write, not just here on Steemit, but for others too

Writing is how I make probably 90% of my money off the Internet (the other 10% or so is Ebay reselling). I am here on Steemit and you can see from my content wall, I am a writer. I make money with words. You can too. If you have a knack for stringing together a series of words then you can make money writing for others.

How can I make money writing?

Simple. Sign up for sites like Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer. Don’t forget social media too. All of those sites offer a chance to make money with your talents, in this case writing (though other talents are well represented). Fiverr requires you start with offering something for $5 (I suggest 500-word articles) but as you level up you can charge more. I am a level 2 seller there and can charge as much as $160 per gig for instance (at one point I offered press releases at this rate and still had more work than I could handle).

Upwork is my biggest online earner where I work with a couple of clients that keep me too busy to look for more work.

Upwork and Freelancer have you apply for jobs so you have an idea of what you are getting into. Fiverr is the reverse, you offer your services and customers come to you – much more of a crapshoot as far as what you are going to get asked to do.

Got a business you can start on the cheap? Is it legal? Let’s discuss it, or these I listed, in the comments!