How to Support a Friends Business for Free

Friends often help each other out, but when one of your friends needs help, it can be hard to know where to turn. It can be tempting to try to figure things out on your own and save money, but that may not always be the best option. 

As a friend, it’s hard to support your friend’s business. You want them to succeed, but you also want them to be happy. While you, or them, may not have the capital or the experience to start your own business, there are plenty of ways to help a friend’s business without putting in much effort.

You can offer to buy inventory, help with marketing and social media, or help with bookkeeping and accounting and many other things that we’ll explore in details below.

Doing a little bit of work for a friend can go a long way and will help you develop a network of people who can help you when you’re ready to launch your own business. Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. 

List of ways to support your friends business for free

1. Buy them Inventory

When your friend is starting out, buying inventory can be one of the easiest ways to help without spending money. As a friend, you can offer to buy inventory when your friend is starting out. This can range from small items like t-shirts or stickers to larger items like wholesale products or a franchise location.

The easiest way to buy inventory when your friend is starting out is to buy small items like t-shirts or stickers. This can help your friend build a customer base, brand, and inventory without breaking the bank. It can also be a great way to build a relationship with your friend and help them build their business without being too hands-on. You can also buy larger items like wholesale products or a franchise location and help your friend expand their business without investing too much.

2. Help with Marketing and Social Media

When your friend is starting out, marketing and social media are often the most effective ways to reach customers. As a friend, you can offer to help your friend with marketing and social media. This can range from offering to help with social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram, to offering to help with marketing efforts like SEO or paid advertising. It will often require a small amount of effort on your part, but when you offer to help, it will show your friend that you are a friend who will go above and beyond to help.

3. Help with Bookkeeping and Accounting

When your friend is starting out, bookkeeping and accounting are often the most critical functions of a business. As a friend, you can offer to help your friend with bookkeeping and accounting. This can range from offering to help with the day-to-day bookkeeping like balancing a checkbook or entering receipts, to offering to help with the more advanced functions like payroll or financial reporting. This will often require a small amount of effort on your part, but when you offer to help, it will show your friend that you are a friend who will go above and beyond to help..

4. Finance Your Friend’s New Business

As a friend, one of the easiest ways to help without spending money is to finance your friend’s new business. This can involve starting a business loan, providing working capital for a loan, starting a micro-loan or straight-up pay all the expenses for them. It can also involve offering to purchase your friend’s business, especially if your friend has a small business loan that they are struggling to pay off. This is a great way to help without spending money, but it will require your help.

5.  Help with Business Management 

When your friend is starting out, one of the most important aspects of a business is managing it. This can include setting up systems, running sales, and managing cash. When you offer to help your friend manage his business, you are helping him build a strong financial foundation for growing his business, which can often translate into additional revenues later on.

6. Volunteer at Your Friends Business

After your friend sets up her new business, you have the option of volunteering to help out with the business. This is a great way to help your friend with the day-to-day operations of the business, without investing much in the process. This also gives your friend the chance to learn new skills like bookkeeping or accounting.

7. Promote Sales

When your friend is starting out, promoting sales is one of the most important things they can do to ensure their business is successful. As a friend, you can offer to promote your friend’s business and help them grow their business without spending money. You can offer to have a professional market their products and then provide the services and support that they need to be successful, like helping them set up a website, advising them on social media management, or providing SEO assistance. But remember that small businesses often don’t have the budget to provide professional services.

8. Help your Friend Get Press Coverage for Their Business

The best way to help your friend with press coverage is to help them get press coverage for their business. This can involve helping your friend get the right type of press coverage, like a press release or a blog post. It can also involve helping your friend get the right type of connections, like who to connect with at a local newspaper or who to connect with at a local business publication. This will help your friend get the press coverage they need to get the word out about their business, which is one of the most impactful things you can do for your friend as a friend.

9. Pitch Your Friend’s Business to Social Media Influencers

How your friend can get more press coverage by reaching out to a social media influencer is covered in a previous chapter, but the easiest and most obvious way to get press exposure for your business is to reach out to influencers about your business. The influencers may include podcasters, journalists, bloggers, vloggers, Instagrammers, and so on. To pitch your business to influencers, your first task is to identify the influencer you are targeting and follow her or him.

10. Give Your Friend a Loan

If you can’t buy your friend’s business, the next best thing is to give them a loan. This can be a great way to help your friend, but keep in mind that you are putting a significant amount of risk on your friend’s business. Loans are one of the most impactful things you can do for your friend as a friend, but it’s also a decision that your friend will need to make.

11. Buy your friend Business

When the time is right, the most obvious way to help your friend with their business is to buy it. This can be a great way to help your friend, but keep in mind that you will be taking on a significant amount of risk. This is a decision that your friend will need to make, but it’s one that can have a significant impact on their life.

This is a great way to help your friend build a strong financial foundation for growing their business, which can often translate into additional revenues later on. This also gives your friend the chance to go full-time and build a team, which can be one of the most rewarding things you can do for your friend as a friend. When you are ready to buy your friend’s business, be sure to find a buyer who will allow your friend to continue to run the business, keep the employees, and maintain the culture.

Conclusion

There are many ways to support your friend business. Anything you can do for them, they can do themselves, but their business will grow much faster and better with your help rather than letting them do all the work single-handedly, which can sometimes be too much for one person to do.