The kind of flexibility and freedom that an entrepreneur enjoys cannot be even imagined by a working professional. Working for oneself, although requires a lot of focus and responsibility, yet offers many personal benefits as well. Starting a business means that you never ever get a pink slip, and that your income is directly proportional to the amount of work you are willing to undertake. When it comes to starting one's own business, arranging for finances may seem like an uphill task. However, there are some unique and different opportunities which require very low initial investment. Consultancy The recent economic downturn has seen many experienced people being given pink slips by organizations who find themselves in a financial crunch. So, if you are one of those people who has years of experience and expertise in any field, such as advertising, law, marketing, technology, etc., a good idea is to start your own consultancy. Many small companies are always on the lookout for experts who can suggest professional ways of handling things. A consultancy business can earn a lot by offering services to such clients. Cleaning Services A great option is to provide cleaning services to households. For this, you have to initially just invest in the cleaning equipment. Offer services such as window cleaning, vacuuming, yard cleaning, parking cleaning, and the like to households. Once you start getting more work or want to enter into commercial cleaning, hire a few people under you and take up assignments on your company's behalf. Online Seller One of the most popular and successful ideas today is to become an online seller. You can sell anything, right from clothes, shoes, jewelry, to books on the Internet. Buy stuff from garage sales and sell them at a profit online. This really works. Or alternately, if you are good at some art or craft activity, such as jewelry making, painting, etc., you can make and sell your own things online. Caterer If you are good at cooking and enjoy it immensely, you can very well make this hobby a business. If you have mastery over a specific cuisine, say Chinese or Italian, stick to providing only these initially. You can cater to birthday parties or anniversaries, before graduating to corporate events and full-fledged weddings. Tutorials If you have been good at studies throughout and can handle children well, a tutorial is ideal for you. The only investment that you would need initially is on advertising your business. For this, distributing leaflets around your neighborhood should serve the purpose. At the beginning, you can offer your services to your neighbors, friends, family, and acquaintances. If you are good at teaching, you will automatically get more students through word of mouth. Online Writing and Editorial Services For those of you who have excellent command over the English language, one of the most profitable yet low cost business startups can be an online writing and editing business. All you need to invest in is a computer and an Internet connection. You can provide services like content writing, resume writing, article writing, blogging, copy editing, proofreading, book doctoring, etc., on the Internet itself. Event Manager If you are known for your organizational and planning skills, event management business is the right choice for you. An event manager ensures that a party or an event is carried out smoothly without any hitches. Today, event managers are required to plan events such as birthday parties, anniversaries, corporate meets, weddings, etc. Pet Sitter People, these days, need someone who can take care of their pets while they are away at work or on a vacation. In addition to pet sitting, one of the best money-making ideas is to offer additional services such as pet grooming and training as well. Internet Affiliate Marketing Although, it may take some months before you actually start making profits with Internet affiliate marketing, but this small business opportunity idea is bound to reap profits in the long run, if carried out well. You need to register with an online affiliate marketing program. You will also need to start and maintain your own web page or website on which the online merchants will give advertisements of their products and services. The more interesting your website, the more traffic it will receive. The more traffic, the more hits on the online merchant's advertisements. You will get paid every time an advertisement on your website is clicked or a sale is made through it, depending upon the predeclared agreement between you and the marketer. To make a business profitable, your plan, finances, market research, and legalities should all be in place. Once that is done, hard work will eventually lead you to success.