Free NothingDown.com helps you start or buy a business with little or nothing down.
Find a Business You Can Start With What You Have.
Tell us how much you can invest, what you’re good at and how much time you have. Discover business opportunities that fit your situation, with realistic costs and practical next steps.
Every record separates cash to start from ongoing costs, lists the risks and shows where the information came from. Business types are estimates; buying and franchise entries are labeled example scenarios, not listings for sale.
Clean homes on a recurring or one-time basis using your own supplies. Customers usually pay per visit, and recurring clients make scheduling predictable.
Cash to start
$200–$600 + unverified items
Ongoing / month
$30–$100 + unverified items
Part-time?
Yes, from ~4 hrs/wk
Model
Local service business
Equipment or requirements
Cleaning supplies · Vacuum or access to clients’ equipment
Buy underpriced used items at thrift stores, yard sales and estate sales, then resell them online or locally. You can test it by selling things you already own before buying inventory.
Cash to start
$20–$380 + unverified items
Ongoing / month
$10–$50 + unverified items
Part-time?
Yes, from ~4 hrs/wk
Model
Online business
Equipment or requirements
Smartphone with camera · Shipping supplies
Key risks and sources
Inventory that does not sell ties up cash and space.
Buying counterfeit or recalled items can lead to refunds, account bans or legal trouble.
An illustrative pathway, not a listing: buy an established local service business and pay part of the price over time through a note to the seller. Seller financing is negotiated case by case and is never guaranteed to be offered. Even a deal marketed as "no money down" still needs cash for closing costs, working capital and reserves.
Cash to start
$10,000–$27,000 + unverified items
Ongoing / month
Not verified
Part-time?
Usually 30+ hrs/wk
Model
Existing business acquisition
Equipment or requirements
Whatever equipment and vehicles are included in the sale (inspect each item) · Bookkeeping system
Key risks and sources
Revenue tied to the previous owner’s relationships can leave when the owner does.
Seller-provided financials may overstate cash flow; numbers that do not match tax returns and bank deposits are a red flag.
Your budget, time, skills and goals. About two minutes, no sign-up.
Compare opportunities that fit
Ranked by fit with your answers, with a plain explanation of why each one matched.
Pick one and take the first step
Each opportunity comes with a low-cost first step to test it before you spend real money.
Built to be honest about money
Matches based on your actual budget, time and skills
Itemized startup-cost estimates, not round numbers
Upfront costs and ongoing expenses shown separately
A practical first step for every opportunity
Sources and review dates on every record
Honest risks, and no promises of earnings
A match score tells you how well an opportunity fits what you told us. It is not a prediction that a business will succeed. See exactly how scoring works.
Why we’re called NothingDown.com
What “nothing down” really means
“Nothing down” usually means no down payment to a seller, not no money at all. A few businesses can truly start with almost nothing down, using tools you already own and customers who pay first. Most still need some cash for licenses, insurance, supplies and a buffer until customers pay. When you buy a business with nothing down, the full price usually becomes debt.
NothingDown.com shows you how close to nothing down each opportunity really is. Every cost is itemized, upfront costs are kept separate from monthly ones, and anything we can’t price is flagged, not counted as free.
Yes. Everything on NothingDown.com is free: the matcher, opportunity pages, guides and calculator. There’s nothing to buy or subscribe to, and no account or credit card.
Can I really start a business with $0?
Sometimes, if you already own the tools and sell a service, but “$0” almost always excludes things like your phone, transportation, licenses, insurance and taxes. We show those costs separately and never list an unknown cost as $0. Our guide “Can You Really Start a Business With $0?” walks through what is and isn’t realistic.
How are business opportunities selected?
We pick business types that people commonly start or buy with limited cash and write an itemized cost estimate, the requirements, risks and a first step for each. Every record shows its sources and the date it was last reviewed. Buying, franchise and partnership entries are labeled example scenarios, not live listings. Nobody pays to be included or ranked.
Are startup costs guaranteed?
No. Most figures are estimates and are labeled that way. Prices vary by location and change over time, and items we couldn’t price defensibly are marked “Not verified”. Get local quotes before you spend money.
Does NothingDown.com provide financing?
No. We don’t lend money, arrange loans, broker businesses or collect loan applications. Our guides explain how options like seller financing work so you can have informed conversations with sellers, lenders and advisors.
Do I need business experience?
Not for many of the opportunities here. The matcher asks about your skills and favors options where people commonly start without special experience if that’s your situation. Some opportunities require a license or certification; we say so and won’t call them a strong match if you don’t have it.
How does NothingDown.com make money?
Right now it doesn’t. There are no paid products or subscriptions. We may add clearly labeled affiliate links for tools that help you run your business, and they would never change how opportunities are ranked.
Are affiliate links used?
Not currently. If we add any, they will be labeled right next to the link, and commissions will never affect match scores or rankings.
Is my information stored?
The matcher runs in your browser. Your answers stay in this browser tab and are cleared when you close it; they aren’t sent to us or to our analytics tools (Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity), which see how pages are used but never the fields you type in. We don’t ask for your name, phone number or address.
Can I buy a business without a down payment?
Occasionally a seller agrees to finance most or all of the price, but it is negotiated deal by deal and is uncommon. Even then you usually need cash for legal and accounting review, closing costs, working capital and the monthly note payment. Read “The Difference Between a Down Payment and Working Capital” before you start looking.