Stress, boredom, low-pay, or having an entrepreneurial spirit may all be causes for wanting to leave a 9 to 5 job and become self-employed. Having a goal to become self-employed starts with figuring out what it is you can do to start your own business. Not everyone who wants to work for themselves know exactly what to do and where to start. Below are some low-cost start-up ideas that may get your creative juices flowing.

Freelance Work – If you have a skill such as web programming, copywriting, or other technical skill, then freelance work will be an easy transition. You can simply market yourself and as you get more clients, word of mouth will soon work in your favor. Sooner or later, you will have more work than you can handle – this of course depends on the level of service you provide and the quality of your work. Start-up costs should remain low as you will need at the most: business cards, a web site, software (depending on your skills), hardware (computer), and office supplies.

Drop shipping – I’m sure you have heard of drop shipping before. If not, it is a very low-cost way of selling physical goods without having to buy a ton of stock up front. Most people who use drop shipping have online stores, collect payments from customers, and forward on the orders to the drop ship company which fulfills and ships the products directly to the customer. Most businesses utilize eBay to take advantage of their huge customer base. The costs for this remain relatively low since there is no up front stock to buy. You may have to purchase shopping cart software for your web site, a merchant account, or pay fees if you go with eBay.

Self-publishing on the Internet – Do you have a love for writing? Do you have a skill or talent that you can turn into a how-to guide? You can begin self-publishing your own information products and market them over the internet. What makes this low-cost is because the most you would need to purchase is a web site, web hosting, and possibly some advertising. You could begin this business around $100 or so.

Out of the above examples of low-cost self-employment ideas, my favorite remains self-publishing. Information will never run dry and as long as you are able to help solve someone’s problems, there will be a customer base ready to purchase your products.

Setting up a business can cost a lot of money. Websites are the best way to go for a lot of reasons but even websites cost money. You need a good programmer to make sure your website functions right, you need good hosting, a good domain name and so on. It is important to make your business profitable. Here are some low-cost or free ways to advertise your business.

Here are some free advertising methods. Put your business on Google maps or any other maps from other search engines like Yahoo, MSN and more. This way people will know where you are located. Naturally if people know where you are and what you offer they will be able to get to your business and you will make more sales. You can also find free email templates at Lyris.com/Email_Advertising. Don’t spam people’s email. I know friends that have got in a lot of trouble for that. Look for people who may be interested such as friends, family, etc. You can also ask customers to give you referrals or pass on the good word about your business. I live in a small town so word of mouth is a great way to advertise. It works even in the big cities and is a great free way to build up your business credibility. You also need to optimize your online business so it will attract more targeted traffic and rank higher in the search engines. Do some research on how to do your own SEO. This will help your business greatly.

Here are some low-cost effective advertising methods. You can buy business card templates and design your own business cards. I did this and my cards turned out nice. You can also have someone make the cards for you for a little more money. Pass the cards out to friends, family and link to other businesses. I have exchanged business cards with several businesses and it works great. You make new friends and get more customers too. Don’t try to steal other business customers. This will give you a bad reputation but there’s no harm in sharing customers. You can also post your card on bulletin boards in your community.

Get involved in your community. Attend meetings and be a member of different groups. This will help more people to know you and help your business to be known. This will make people feel like you care about the community and are connected to it. This will help increase your credibility. Article marketing is another great way to advertise your business for free or very low-cost.

Run a contest or have a drawing. People like to win things or to get something for free. I sell soap so I had a drawing and gave a gift basket with my soap and bath products away. The lady who won really liked what she got and happened to be a fellow business woman. This helps to increase your product credibility. You can also do workshops or speeches on your expertise and offer your services for free. This sounds like a sacrifice but it is worth it. People are willing to try free things and this can get them hooked. They may like what you offer so much that they will say it’s worth the money they spend on it.

Be sure that you are friendly and helpful. If you use any of these ideas be patient. Businesses don’t usually boom overnight but don’t get discouraged. Keep trying things until you find what works best for your business.