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It's no secret: It takes money to start a business or expand an existing operation. But as a growing number of Kiwis are discovering, it IS possible to start or grow a business using none of your own cash…

There are street-smart (but absolutely legal) ways to get the money you need when you don't have it yourself (or don't want to use your own cash).

In some countries it's called 'shoestring financing'; others talk about 'bootstrapping.' But whatever - the words mean exactly the same thing: getting started with small amounts (or none) of your own cash.

I'll give you a couple of easy examples in a minute, but first let me put you in the picture:

• When you buy real estate using "nothing down" techniques, you're not buying property without cash - you're buying without your own cash.

The simplest example would be if you could borrow the total amount of the purchase price. You'd end up owning the property without having to lay out one cent of your own cash, but the seller gets the full price.

• You can use no-cash strategies to buy an existing business (usually called a 'leveraged buy out' or LBO) without using your own money. It's done quite often.

A typical LBO deal might involve the buyers borrowing against the assets of the business being acquired - yes, the loan can be arranged before they buy! The proceeds of the loan are used to purchase the business, if necessary with a top-up using other no-cash methods.

In this technique, the buyers take over the company without having to put up their own money, and the cash receipts of the business being purchased are used to service the debt. No cash outlay, no on-going payments out of their pockets.

In these dealings the sellers get cash. It's just not YOUR cash. And you get to own the real estate or the business. Okay?

• Likewise, no-cash startup and expansion strategies don't involve your own cash.

Sometimes you can use just one strategy to get your business started; more often it will require a mix. When you know what the possible options are, you choose the one/s that will work for you.

Simple No-Cash Strategies
I can't even begin to outline all of the no-cash possibilities here - it took me 972 pages to cover them in my No-Cash Startups course - but let's look at a couple of the very simplest one-step nothing down approaches:

• When you buy goods on credit, obviously you can sell them before they have to be paid for. You make the sales, take your profit, pay the supplier. That's a no-cash deal.

Can't get credit? What about selling from a sample, then paying for and supplying the goods after you've closed a sale? Again, you take the profits but require no up-front cash.

Will you need premises to sell the products or operate from? There are a lot of ways to get into possession of the right space before you have to pay.

• "Customer financing" is another straightforward way to get cash to pay for what you need before you have to supply the goods or services.