I think the great thing about the internet is that it does allow the little man to compete and sometimes beat the high street. You only have to look at businesses like Woolworths to see how big stores are being affected by competition from the internet.

Where I think the little man does really well though, is the niche areas of the internet where the returns are too small for big business to bother with, but very nice for a small one man band or husband and wife team.

I really like the idea of people making money from their hobbies, and you only need to think a little creatively in order to do just that. A friend of mine has just turned her photography hobby into a stream of income by becoming a wedding photographer - I did a quick website for her and she’s got listed on Google, so she’s already generating leads from little extra outlay. She’ll need some more photography kit, but that can be built up gradually from her extra earnings.

Some ideas are less straight forward than that example, but I’m sure if people talk it over with their friends and family (or shoot us finance bloggers an email!) then they can get some ideas on generating a side income from their pastimes.

The internet may be killing off high-street businesses left right and center but it’s a real enabler when it comes to starting home-based enterprises.

You’ve reminded me that I must make some myself, although the chances are they’ll be the same as last year, as they are every year!

If you have no capital at the moment then you have have few options, however, you do have some options.

The hardest is probably going to be saving some money up, but this will depend on your income and other financial circumstances.

You say you own your own property, how much equity do you have? If you have sufficient equity, you can remortgage, thereby releasing some capital that can be used to fund your deposits. Only do this if you are comfortable with the risks and are sure you know what you are doing!

Another strategy you can pursue is to bootstrap the deposit through other unsecured borrowings, however this is going to be very expensive. I wouldn’t consider this option myself as it can leave you too heavily geared with the cost of the debts being greater than the rent received on the property.

Another idea is to negotiate a “gifted deposit”, whereby the vendor agrees to sell the property to you with, for example, a 10% gifted deposit, meaning you can buy it “no money down”. Lots of lenders won’t allow this with new properties, but with a good solicitor and the right lender, you may be able to do this on a 2nd hand property where the values are more settled.

I would like to start my own property business but with no initial capital to invest, I do not know how to get started.

I have my own property (on a fixed mortgage and ending next year) and I am in full time work. I would appreciate some ideas to get it going or pointers?