Key takeaways:
- There are plenty of ideas for small business from home, so pick one that matches your skills.
- Separate personal and business finances and open up a business bank account once you start.
- Starting a small business with $1000 is entirely possible, depending on what you choose to do.
Starting a small business from home can change your life entirely. You skip the drive to work, spend less on expenses like lunch or gas, and gain more freedom in your schedule.
There are business ideas for all types of people. You might be surprised to learn that many don’t even need much money to begin. Here you will find 20 small business ideas that work well online and offline.
How to Choose the Right Home-Based Business
Finding the best small business idea isn’t easy. You’ll have to think about these key points:
- Skills and interests. What tasks do you do well? What work do you like? Figuring this out is crucial for the longevity of your business.
- Investment. How much can you spend to start? Are you seeking a business with low investment or the other way around?
- Demand and market. Make sure to do your research and figure out if people will buy what you plan to sell.
- Scalability. Do you want a business that scales around the world, or do you prefer a local small business?
Be sure to create a business plan before you start and answer the questions above. You don’t need it to be perfect, just clear enough to set you on your path. You’ll figure a lot of things out along the way, like many business people before you.
20 Profitable Small Business Ideas From Home
1. Freelance Writing
Freelance writing is creating high-quality content for various platforms like blogs, websites, ads, ebooks, emails, and more. Since companies are always on the lookout for good content that captures their audience, they pay well for those who write well.
It could be considered a profitable business because most companies care about their brand and online presence. Especially now that AI has taken over everything. Businesses want more humane content that doesn’t sound robotic and repetitive. It’s often mentioned that AI would replace copywriters, but that doesn’t seem very likely.
Sign up for online platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer, and reach out to companies that might need your help. Build connections with whoever you can, show your skills, and you’ll be on your way to finding clients.
2. Social Media Management
Another small business idea is running social media for brands, which includes planning, creating, and posting content to help them stand out online. With companies always looking for ways to talk to their audience, social media management is a very profitable small business idea. Especially when social media surely isn’t going anywhere
You can help with making posts, setting up when they are published, communicating with the audience, and checking how well your posts perform. Start by showing what you can do on your own social media accounts. After all, potential clients rarely choose a personal trainer who looks like they haven’t lifted a weight in their life.
3. Online Store
An online store lets you sell real or digital items right from the comfort of your home. Platforms like Shopify, Etsy, and WooCommerce help you set up your store without breaking your bank.
It’s one of the small business ideas that, with the right marketing, is bound to make money because web sales keep growing fast, as people like the convenience of shopping online instead of going to the supermarkets.
Begin by picking what to sell, make a website, and tell people about your store on social media and paid ads. You can grow by adding more items or using dropshipping to skip storing your goods.
4. Tutoring Services
Giving tutoring services is a small business idea that can earn you good money from home. It doesn’t matter if you teach online or face-to-face, everything works. Many people, especially students, seek help with difficult subjects like math, new languages, coding, and others.
To start, share what you offer through friends and family, or use relevant social media groups to promote your services. Create a strong work profile and ask for feedback from your students to boost trustworthiness and bring more clients your way.
5. Consulting Business
A consulting business lets you share your know-how with companies or people that need it. You might guide them on business plans, ads, finances, or scalability. You’d be asking for money just to give your professional opinion. If you have the expertise, this small business idea could turn into a highly profitable business model.
However, you must build a clear business plan yourself and promote your business on your website or social media. Talk to other people in your field if you can and get feedback from your clients to boost your name.
6. Virtual Assistant Services
Virtual assistants help small business owners and busy professionals with simple tasks. That may include handling emails, setting up calls, doing data entry, or managing social media accounts.
It’s a smart small business idea as more people want to hire help so they can focus on driving revenue. To begin, write up a business plan, share what you do on platforms like Upwork, and earn trust by asking for reviews.
As you get more clients, you can start focusing on one field like bookkeeping, running ads, or handling projects.
7. Online Course Creation
Creating an online course is a great way to make money from your knowledge. This small business idea could also turn into passive income. Sites like Teachable and Udemy now make it easy to build, host, and sell your courses.
It’s a profitable business model since you make the course once but can sell it many times with little extra work. Pick a topic you know well, craft a clear lesson plan, and tell people about it on social media.
8. Personal Trainer
As a personal trainer, you can help clients reach their health goals with custom workout plans and nutritional tips. As more and more people start taking care of their health these days, many seek out professional help.
You might work with clients in person, coach them online, or do both. First, get a personal trainer licence, then start building yourself up on social media. Also, you could create your own website or team up with your local gyms.
However, this small business idea could probably work better if you focused on building your social presence and selling digital products, such as workout and meal plans.
9. Graphic Design
Graphic design is all about making eye-catching visuals for brands, ads, and communication channels. This work could include creating logos, illustrations, banners, brand books, social media visuals, and more.
Companies always need skilled designers to help them visualize their products. And it’s very likely the trend will continue upwards. That’s why this could be a decent small business idea for you.
Begin by building a portfolio of your best work so potential clients can see your style and quality. Promote yourself on social media and online marketplaces where people look for services. As you get better, you can ask for more money and work with bigger clients.
10. Pet Sitting and Dog Walking
Taking care of pets when the pet owners are away is a solid small business idea that could make you some money. Many people will pay for safe and kind care of their pets.
This job includes daily walks, meals, grooming, and could require you to stay the night. Tell people about your new side hustle on social media, local ads, and pet apps. Earning trust is essential, so be sure to rack up good reviews and names for satisfied pet owners.
11. Dropshipping Business
A dropshipping business allows you to sell goods without keeping a warehouse, which makes it a great business with low investment requirements. You team up with companies who store, pack, and ship items, while you handle the marketing site on your end to find buyers.
This way works quite well since you avoid storage costs and shipping issues. To realize this small business idea, you’ll need to build an online store using sites like Shopify, pick what you’re going to sell, and connect with manufacturers.
Share your online store on social media and use paid ads or organic traffic to bring in buyers. However, it’s worth noting that it’s been a long time since dropshipping’s dawn, which means you may face a lot of competition and find many saturated niches.
12. Print-on-Demand
With print-on-demand, you can sell custom items like shirts, cups, wallpapers, and phone cases. You make the art, add it to sites like Printful or Teespring, and when someone buys, you make the item and send it away.
It could be a profitable small business idea due to low starting costs and room to try new designs. Start by setting up an online store, share your art on social media, and use paid ads to find your audience.
13. Blogging
Blogging means writing about a field you choose: food, trips, money, parenthood, or anything else. It’s not a profitable small business idea if you’re looking for quick cash, since it could take a lot of time to gain some traction.
But after you wait it out with consistent work, you can earn quite steadily via ads, paid posts, affiliate links, or selling what you make. To start, pick a topic that won’t get boring after 2 months, then build a website, and keep posting good, informative, high-quality content.
Share your blog on social media to gain more traction and find more readers. Once your blog becomes more popular, making money gets simpler and pays off more. Before starting, you may want to take a course about on-page, off-page, and technical SEO.
14. Landscaping Business
A landscaping business is about gardening work such as mowing lawns, planting plants, trimming trees, and making people’s yards look tidy. If you live in a rural area where people mostly live in houses, it could be a profitable small business idea.
Let people know about your services by putting up signs, making a simple website, or joining local groups. Later, you can grow by hiring help or providing more work.
15. Handmade Crafts
Selling handmade crafts means making one-of-a-kind items like jewelry, candles, home decor, and clothing. Since people love having things that no one else has, this can be a very profitable small business idea, albeit time-consuming.
You can sell your goods through an online store on sites like Etsy or your own website. To begin, write up a clear business plan, create some items, and share about it on social media or relevant craft-related events.
Adding new items every now and then and making custom goods can bring in more buyers who keep coming back.
16. Transcription Services
Transcription services are about turning voice files into text. This small business idea could be high in demand, especially in law, health, and education industries. However, it’s very time-consuming, so if you’re looking for something less demanding, you may want to look elsewhere.
If you feel like it fits you, then all you need to start is a computer, headphones, and typing tools. You could also research AI tools that could help you. Also, make sure to get feedback from your clients to boost your trust.
17. Digital Marketing
While not exactly a small business idea, digital marketing helps companies boost their online presence through SEO, ads, content, and social media, among other things. Companies usually look for marketing professionals that could improve their revenue and online presence.
Starting a digital marketing business will cost you some money since you’ll have to invest in marketing tools, but if you attract clients effectively, those will pay off significantly.
You can offer SEO audits, social media services, email marketing, paid ads, content marketing, and more. Make sure to get reviews from your clients to build your trustworthiness.
As your name grows, you can add more services and charge more money.
18. Photography
Photography is likely one of the most popular small business ideas out there. It provides many ways to earn, like capturing memorable wedding moments, doing personal photoshoots, taking product pictures, and selling pictures for stock sites. Good photographs are always in demand, since people want to have something to remember things with.
Start by taking pictures on your phone, and as you get better, buy a professional camera and photo-editing tools. Make a portfolio of your best shots on social media so people can see how well you work.
You can also sell your pictures on stock sites like Shutterstock or iStock.
19. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing consists of selling items for other companies and getting a commission for each sale that comes through you. This small business idea can make you some passive cash consistently if you market the links correctly.
The most important thing is to build yourself a following on social media, blogs, or YouTube. Once you have enough followers, you can start doing affiliate marketing and sell promoted goods that are relevant to your niche.
However, make sure that the items are relevant to what you preach. Otherwise, people will notice and they may stop following you and consider you a sell-out. It’s a fine line.
20. YouTube Content Creation
If filming and editing is your thing, you may want to try creating a YouTube channel. There is a lot of automated content nowadays, so showing your face and uploading genuine content about things you care about might just be the refreshment that people want.
Pick your niche, invest in decent recording equipment since viewers do care about the quality of videos, and produce high-quality, engaging content consistently. Once you grow your channel, you can do affiliate marketing, partner with other creators, and monetize your channel in other ways.
What’s the Easiest Small Business to Start?
The simplest small business idea would be something that requires little to none investment and minimal skills. That could include freelance writing, transcription services, or starting a small online store.
You can even go for a consulting business if you have expertise in a certain field. These ideas usually only require a laptop, internet, and some hustle.
How to Start a Home-Based Business With Low Investment
- Create a business plan. Brainstorm small business ideas and lay out your goals, marketing plan, and budget.
- Register your business. Depending on where you live, you may have to get some permits or licensing.
- Open a business bank account. Make sure to keep your personal and business finances separate.
- Market your business. Use social media, SEO, paid ads, email marketing, and other marketing solutions to boost your visibility.
- Scale up. Once you gain some traction, you may want to consider growing your services or products.
You will face some challenges, such as time management, work-life balance, and marketing issues, but if you stay consistent and keep your focus, you will eventually succeed.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for small business ideas, you must have found something useful to you in this list. If you haven’t then make sure to think about things that you like doing. Otherwise, you most likely won’t become a successful small business owner.
Business ideas are only ideas unless you start putting some real work into it. But if you don’t have any passion for the niche, then online marketplaces, comprehensive business plans, and online courses won’t save you because you’ll probably feel like quitting in a couple of months.
So, before you take the step and put your time and effort into it, make sure it’s something you honestly like and find interesting. This way, it’s a lot more likely that your small business idea will pan out and make you a successful small business owner.
