I Need Money Now or Soon

If you need extra money fairly quickly, the first thing to establish is how quickly you need it.

That matters because building an online business usually takes time. If you need £200 to cover a bill next week, starting an affiliate marketing business is unlikely to be the most sensible answer.

But if you have a little more time, there may be ways to use the internet to turn an existing skill, service or ability into additional income.

If you need money within days or a few weeks, concentrate on things that can produce money quickly using what you already have.

Starting a new online business is unlikely to solve an immediate cash problem.

If you have a month or two, you have more options. You may be able to use an existing skill or learn something simple that people will pay you for.

The aim is still to generate income relatively quickly — not to spend months building something before you know whether it will work.

If you need to generate income relatively quickly, it often makes more sense to start with what you already have than to try to invent a completely new business.

Ask yourself what you already have that somebody might be willing to pay for.

Skills — What can you already do reasonably well?

Experience — What have you learned through work, hobbies or life that could be useful to somebody else?

Things — Do you own things you no longer need that could be turned into cash?

Time — Are there jobs or tasks you could do for other people, locally or online?

Problems you can solve — Is there something people or small businesses struggle with that you could help them do?

Don't start by asking, “What online business should I build?” Start by asking, “What do I already have that somebody might pay me for?”

If your immediate objective is to make some extra money, concentrate on that first. You don't necessarily need a website, an audience, an email list or an affiliate business.

But if you discover something that people are willing to pay you for — a skill, service, knowledge or solution — you may have found the beginnings of something that could be developed further online.

The important thing is to prove that somebody wants what you can offer before spending months building a business around it.

If you've found something people are willing to pay you for, you may have the beginnings of a business. You don't need to build everything at once. Start small, test whether people genuinely want what you offer, and build on what you learn. If you're ready to explore how that could become an online business, the next page will help you think through the process.