How to start a business for free

Too many ideas die quietly in Apple notes.

We're willing to bet you've said at least one of these about your ideas:

• “If only I had the money.”

• “If only I had the time.”

• “If only I could code.”

In the past, these were valid reasons to move on from an idea.

Today?

You don't need funding, coding experience, or years building a polished product to start a real business.

All you need is a clear idea, free tools, and a willingness to put it in front of real people. 

Here's exactly how to turn your idea into a business without spending any money.

Also, check out our full episode where we go deeper on startups, golf and our daily routines here. It just dropped this morning!

1. Start Building Your Audience for Free

Launch a simple newsletter around your idea’s core topic. Write it weekly. 

Don’t worry if no one’s reading. At first, no one will be.

Use tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity to help you do the research for your newsletter. 

Post on social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels or Youtube Shorts related to your topic and drive everyone back to your newsletter. 

Right now, the newsletter is your product.

If you do this daily for two months, you will have newsletter subscribers. 

You now have an audience to test your idea, refine your messaging, and build early demand. Now it’s time to build.

2.  Create a Lean Product

You don’t need to build the next Uber—but it‘d be pretty dope if you did. 

Don’t worry about your idea being fully formed, foolproof and “scalable.”

We’re trying to validate a simple idea. And that’s done through a minimum viable product (MVP), a basic idea that solves one problem.

So build your MVP asap. 

It doesn’t have to be pretty. It should clearly show how it solves one thing well.

Luckily for you, today, you can do this in less than an hour and without writing a single line of code. 

There are countless AI and no-code app building tools to help you do this. 

Here are a few we’ve used:

• V0.dev 

• Cursor 

• Lovable 

Now that you have your MVP, get it into people’s hands.

3. Engage with Early Users

The worst thing you can do is build in stealth—getting obsessed with perfecting your idea or product before ever putting it in front of people.

It wastes time and almost always leads to a bad product.

Instead, use your newsletter audience to get at least 5 people using it and giving you unfiltered feedback.

Take that feedback and iterate on the MVP until those same people say, “Yeah, I’d pay for this.”

You can also DM your ideal users on LinkedIn. Here’s a non-salesy way to do it:

"Hey, I built something quick around [your idea]. Would you be open to giving me your honest thoughts?"

We’ve seen a 50% success rate from that message and the insights you’ll get will be gold.

By this point, you’ve built an audience, confirmed a real need and proven someone’s willing to pay.

Now you’ve got a couple options, depending on your goals:

• Bootstrap it by charging early customers.

• Raise funding… yes you can raise funding.

If you want to raise funding, search for angel investors on LinkedIn and begin sending DMs.

Use the same DM script you used for early user feedback. Send those DMs every day and you’ll raise funding.

Whichever way you decide, you just started a business… for free!

Wrap Up

Getting unstuck and turning your idea into a real business doesn't have to cost anything.

• Build your audience.

• Get your MVP in people’s hands.

• Listen to their feedback.

• Tell your friends to subscribe to Two Dads in Tech.

• Rinse and repeat.

If you take action or think we missed something, hit reply and let us know!