Having a home-based business of your own is an attractive option for many people who don’t want to work for others. While most businesses take some time to generate a generous income, many can grow to be profitable. Some businesses are fully online, while others require personal contact but are run from home.
Do you dream of being your own boss, creating your own hours, and working from your own home? Owning a small business can be very rewarding and can provide you with time freedom, financial freedom, and work-life balance. Keep reading to learn more about the top work-from-home business opportunities.
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What Kind Of Jobs Can I Do From Home?
You can do almost any job from home. With a good internet connection and hard work, you can build a great business from the comfort of your home.
If you want to start a home bakery, you might have to obtain a state license, but if you want to sell your Easter potica, birthday cakes and cupcakes, or cheesecakes, you can cook and bake your way to success. You might even start a food blog – and another stream of income.
Some jobs might involve in-person work as well. If that’s something you want to avoid, keep that in mind when selecting the job you want to do from home.
How Do I Start A Home-Based Business?
To start a home-based business, follow these steps.
- Determine what kind of business you want to pursue. You could pick a skill that you already have and use in your current job, or you could start with something else.
- Start your home-based business as a side hustle. While you’re still working your full-time job, start building your own business on the side. This may start as very part-time work. But over time, this will allow you to grow your business, build your savings and start earning income before you quit your job.
- Learn about the different types of business entities and taxes. Being a business owner comes with a lot of responsibility. There are many apps like Quickbooks that can help make managing a business easier.
What Are The Best Home Business Opportunities?
There are endless options for home business opportunities. Most businesses require some start-up money, although there are some options if you are starting from scratch without much initial investment.
If you need income to live on while your business gets started, you might consider doing it part-time or as a side hustle until you can afford to live on the profits.
Here are some of the best options for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Bookkeeping
Do you have the know-how for bookkeeping? You can work from home managing the books for other businesses. This is a low-cost opportunity if you already have a computer and if you’re good with numbers.
Blogger
Blogging isn’t a home business that you can make money from right away. However, it can be a very rewarding and flexible startup. Bloggers make money in a variety of ways, including sponsorships, affiliate marketing, on-site advertisements, and more.
Many popular sites and brands have affiliate programs that allow bloggers to earn money. Amazon is one popular affiliate program used by many bloggers and influencers.
Dropshipping
According to Shopify, dropshipping is defined as “an order fulfillment method where a business doesn’t keep the products it sells in stock. Instead, the seller purchases inventory as needed from a third party—usually a wholesaler or manufacturer—to fulfill orders.”
If you don’t have the desire to ship packages or hold onto inventory, dropshipping may be of interest to you.
Unfortunately. some dropshipping ventures are scams, so pursue these opportunities with caution.
Digital Marketing
Digital marketing can encompass a wide variety of tasks from search engine optimization (SEO) to helping a business promote their products. If you enjoy marketing and a variety of projects, this might be up your alley.
E-commerce
E-commerce is a great business model to explore. You could choose to sell physical or digital products. If you don’t want to start a new business from scratch, you could also explore purchasing an existing ecommerce site.
Virtual Assistant
If you are organized and enjoy planning, you may enjoy working as a virtual assistant. Virtual assistants do everything from organizing email accounts to scheduling meetings and appointments.
If you are new to being a virtual assistant, you can explore Upwork or other gig sites to find your first opportunity.
What Kind Of Business Can I Start From Home?
Here are some successful business ideas that you can start from home. All of these businesses can be started from home, but some do involve leaving your home.
AirBnB
Do you have a spare bedroom or a guest house? You could consider listing your home as an AirBnB. If you prefer not to share your space, you could also list your full home on AirBnB.
Daycare Business
If you have enough space in your home and you enjoy children, you could start a daycare business. Be sure to check out your state requirements as licensing may be needed to be a daycare provider.
Ebay Flipping
Do you love scoring deals on clothes or shoes? You could consider flipping items on Ebay. To turn a profit, you would need to find items at a discount and then sell them for a higher amount on Ebay.
Landscaping
If being outside in nature is appealing to you, you could start your own landscaping business. While this would require leaving your home, you can manage incoming calls, scheduling, and more from home. After you assess a client’s needs, you can do your design work at home. If you start your own landscaping business, you will need funds to purchase some equipment.
Pet Sitter
Are you a pet lover? Working as a pet sitter can be rewarding and is a great business for beginners. Pet sitting doesn’t require much in terms of supplies as the pet owners should have everything you need to care for their pets.
Real Estate
Do you love searching Zillow and exploring houses? If so, you may love being a real estate agent. While this job does require leaving your house, a lot of your work as a real estate agent can be done from home.
What Kind Of Online Business Can I Start From Home?
Do you crave working fully online from home? If so, here are a few more options for online businesses.
Online Course Creation
Do people always ask you for advice on a certain topic? If so, you could consider creating an online course. Online courses are a great way to generate passive income. You can sell your online course via Shopify on your website, or you could create a simple landing page.
Online Personal Trainer
Are fitness and health something you are passionate about? You could offer online personal training sessions to clients or groups of clients online. There are a lot of small business ideas that you could pursue as an online personal trainer. You could also create a YouTube channel and record your workouts and eventually monetize your YouTube channel.
Freelance
If you have specific skills like web design, podcast editing, flipping websites, graphic design, writing, etc. you could offer your skills as a freelancer. Freelancing is flexible and allows you to choose your own hours and schedule. This would be a great option for stay-at-home Moms as well who are looking to bring in some extra income.
What Kind Of Business Can I Start From Home With LIttle Or No Money?
What type of business can you start without startup costs? There are actually a variety of work-at-home options that won’t cost any money to get started.
Etsy Shop
If you enjoy creating things, you might enjoy running an online store on Etsy. You could sell handmade earrings, t-shirts you designed, or anything else you enjoy creating.
Freelance Writer
As a freelance writer, you could do a variety of writing projects such as blog posts, copywriting, ebooks, etc. If you are willing to learn, you don’t have to have any experience with freelance writing.
There is no cost to start writing and building a portfolio. You can then start reaching out to potential clients. You could find work on Fiverr or through your LinkedIn connections. Additionally, you could do cold outreach to brands or companies for additional options.
Social Media
If you have a knack for social media, you could consider social media content creation or social media management. You could start by contacting local businesses in your area to see if they need help with their social media presence.
Once you land your first client, you can always ask for referrals to start growing your client base.
For more businesses without startup costs, check out our guide to home-based business ideas.
Which Home Business Is Most Profitable?
Any home business has the potential to be massively profitable. There are bloggers that bring in $50,000 per month and course creators that make $500,000 per month. These figures are far beyond what the average business owner makes, but the sky is truly the limit when it comes to making a profitable income with your home business.
