When you consider acquiring and running a business, you may consider renting commercial property, commuting to an office, or managing employees.
However, with the increase of home businesses, an increasing number of people are exploring ways to use remote work to pursue entrepreneurship from the comfort of their own home.
Home-based businesses come in a huge range of forms in today’s globalized world, where technology allows us more opportunities in how and where we work.
Some require you to turn a spare room into a mini-warehouse for products, whereas others can be run entirely online. However, in general, you can start different businesses online with your existing space and resources.
A home-based business is a project that you can start and run from the comfort of your own home, whether full-time or as a side business. A few home-based businesses, particularly those that sell online and don’t require a large inventory, can even be run on the go — you don’t have to be confined to your home.
Naturally, there are advantages and disadvantages to consider when deciding whether a home-based online business is a good fit for you.
Why to start a work from home business?
Advantages of an Online Business:
- A low-cost business plan has fewer production expenses (such as warehousing fees), as well as potential tax deductions.
- The ability to sell goods or services both locally and internationally.
- Work/life balance that is flexible, which is ideal if you are a stay-at-home parent or a retiree, for example.
- You can start a family business in which your relatives or spouse can pitch in as required.
Disadvantages of an Online Business:
- To meet the needs of your home business, you may required to convert space in your home (e.g. holding inventory, creating a home office, or storing equipment). The challenge can be doing it without interfering with your daily life at home.
- You must still follow any rules that apply to the type of business you want to start (for example, if you plan to sell food, you may need to rent a commercial kitchen or obtain a license/permit to store inventory).
- Your business may outgrow your home, necessitating the rental of additional space and the hiring of employees.
- Working from home provides a lot of flexibility, but it can also be lonely. If you enjoy being around other people, this may be difficult.
8 home-based online business ideas you can start today
While there are numerous approaches for starting a home-based online business, the following are some of the most approachable routes to establishing a home business for yourself.
1. Buy Products in bulk to Sell
Many businesses are based on importing products in bulk and selling them separately for a profit.
Perhaps you recently traveled abroad and discovered innovative products that are not widely available in your market despite popular demand for them. Or maybe you’ve identified a market niche and the ideal products to serve its customers.
If these goods are simple to store and ship, you may have a feasible home-based business idea. Blue light-blocking glasses, for example, are small and reliable enough to keep at home.
Your house can even be used as an initial showroom to sell locally, as Artemis Design Co. Got its start to sell locally, offering you the chance to expand with additional storage space and employees as you validate your idea and sales begin to increase.
Another best way to start a work-from-home business is Dropshipping!
2. Start a Dropshipping Store
So far, we’ve discussed business ideas that necessitate the storage of stock in your apartment. However, there are many options to consider that will allow you to offload inventory and shipping.
These companies use a dropshipping model, in which a third party produces, stores, and ships your products on your behalf, leaving marketing and customer service to you.
Your dropshipping provider can be local or international, but you must find one you can rely on to provide a consistently excellent customer experience after the sale. Always do your due diligence or you might put your business’s reputation at risk.
You can start building your own dropshipping store by hiring an e-commerce professional. You can also hire an Digital Marketing Agency for the same for managing your dropshipping store online.
There are even Shopify apps, such as Oberlo, that can link up you with suppliers in order to import goods into your store while streamlining order fulfillment.
Dropshipping, at its core, entails becoming a distributor of a third party’s products, incurring marketing costs (both time and money), and being rewarded with margins when a sale is made. In many cases, this can turn your products into commodities, with few chances to brand your customer experience. Fortunately, there are a few various ways to compete even when there is no shortage of your product in the market you’re selling in:
- Collect products from various suppliers to create a store that caters to a specific niche.
- Compete by providing high-quality content and excellent customer service that adds value beyond your products.
- Select a world region that is underserved (be sure to pay attention to your shipping costs).
- Use the same products to reach a new audience (e.g. LED shoes can be marketed to music festival goers or runners).
Platforms that can help: Shopify, Oberlo, Woocommerce (Free).
3. Sell Homemade Products
If you are a maker (or know someone who is), you should think about turning your hobby into a business. Even if you must establish your brands elsewhere (in a studio, commercial kitchen, or workshop), you may be able to store and sell them in your own home.
With the ability to manage nearly every aspect of the products you sell, you can make them more cost-effective, improve their quality, or target market demand by catering to a specific audience.
Whether you begin on a marketplace like Etsy or want to establish your own branded storefront, selling your creations is a great way to share your interest with others while also making money online. Just be wary of regulations pertaining to products that customers consume or apply to their skin.
Examples of handmade products you can sell include:
1. Candles
2. Jewelry
3. Cosmetics
4. Art
5. Food
6. Apparel
Best of all, creating your own products does not have to be difficult. When you’re ready to scale, you can create a process and hire new workers to assist with production.
Platforms that can help: Etsy, Amazon Seller Central.
4. Start a Print-on-demand Business
A print-on-demand business, which uses a similar dropshipping model, does not require you to keep any stock or ship it yourself. Print-on-demand even allows you to customize white label products with your own unique designs.
Depending on the supplier you choose to work with, you can sell books, t-shirts, hats, backpacks, blankets, pillows, mugs, shoes, hoodies, phone cases, watches, and more.
Many print-on-demand companies specialize in a specific niche or, better yet, a shared identity.
You can produce your own designs if you have design skills. However, if this is not the case, you can always hire the necessary talent.
5. Sell your Service or Expertise:
Services are even easier to begin selling at home than products, but the challenge is allocating your limited time. When it comes to running a service-based business, the phrase “time is money” is never more true.
MUST READ: How to start a freelancing career online?
Designers and marketers, for example, may freelance or consult with other companies, juggling multiple clients from their own home office with occasional travel. Others may rely on appointments and bookings to provide their services to individuals directly.
Service-based home business ideas include:
(a) Tutoring
(b) House cleaning
(c) Freelance writing
(d) Personal training
(e) Virtual assistance
(f) Dog-walking
(g) Marketing
(h) Designing
Service-based businesses frequently need a lot of networking and word-of-mouth referrals to find appropriate clients, but satisfied clients will most likely retain your services and continue to give you their business over time.
As a result, unlike a product-based business, you don’t necessarily require a huge number of customers to succeed. Depending on the service you provide, a small number of high-quality clients can be sufficient to support yourself full-time while working from home.
Platforms that can help: Webdabster, Upwork, Fiverr, Udemy.
6. Productize your Service or Expertise
As previously stated, one of the most significant disadvantages of running a service-based business is that you are paid for your time, skills, and effort.
Productizing your service—creating digital or physical products that package up your expertise and streamline or complement the service you provide—can help your business generate additional revenue streams. You can cater to your existing customer base or find a new target customer in the same space.
Some ideas for adding products to your service-based business include:
(a) Courses
(b) Designs
(c) Licensable assets (stock footage, music, etc.)
(d) Downloadable reports
(e) Digital templates
(f) Merchandise
(g) eBooks
As you can see, the majority of these concepts involve digital media packaged as products, which means no stock to keep on hand. If you run a Shopify-based home business, you can sell digital products with ease by using the Digital Downloads or SendOwl apps.
Get a Shopify powered Digital store for just $199 in 5 days, I will personally provide 30 minute consultation also.
Platforms that can help: Envato elements, Webdabster, Freepik, Fiverr.
7. Grow an Audience you can monetize
If you are a content creator, already have a substantial online audience, or have always wanted to start your own blog, YouTube channel, Instagram account, or podcast, you can potentially grow and then commercialize your following by utilizing any of the previous ideas on this list.
In addition, you can consider becoming an affiliate (selling other people’s products or services for a commission) or accepting payment for sponsored posts to allow brands to communicate with your audience.
Developing a loyal audience necessitates perseverance, consistency, and focus. This is not the simplest way to start a home-based business, especially in the short term, but if you can create a following around something you enjoy, it can be one of the most fulfilling and long-lasting, allowing you to undertake multiple revenue streams at the same time.
The ability to monetize your audience is frequently determined by the niche you select to serve. If you’re starting from scratch or are in the process of growing your own audience, be sure to read the guides below to learn how to best grow and monetize the most famous channels:
(a) How to Make Money on Instagram
(b) How to Make Money on YouTube
(c) How to Start a Podcast
(d) How to Start a Blog
Platforms that can help: Youtube, Tiktok, Dikhayo.
8. Buy an existing Ecommerce Business
Last but not least, if you prefer to simply put money in a source of income that you can keep while at home or on the go, you can consider purchasing an established ecommerce business.
Prices can vary greatly depending on a number of factors, including total revenue produced, profit potential, available assets (such as an email list or social following), inventory, and more. Some sellers will even onboard you and teach you how to run their business.
Exchange is a Shopify-powered marketplace for buying and selling ecommerce stores. You can look through the listings to find businesses that fit your budget, level of experience, and needs. Perhaps you want to buy a validated business and are willing to invest more money in order to do so. Perhaps one catches your eye as having enormous potential that you’d like to develop.
Just make sure to thoroughly research each listing and consider everything that’s included in the sale. Shopify can verify revenue and other data, so you can be confident that the figures are correct.
9. Freelance Designer
If you are more of a visual person, the freelance lifestyle can still be beneficial. Try your hand at creating posters, flyers, or online advertisements for businesses that don’t have the time or talent to do this work themselves.
As a freelance designer, you’ll establish an online presence and eventually gain control over the projects and timelines you manage.
Platforms that can help: Webdabster, Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer.
10. Online Tutor
Whether you’re an expert in a particular subject, such as calculus or biology, or you’ve achieved high scores on standardized tests, such as the SATs or MCATs, you may be able to share your knowledge with present students looking for an advantage.
So, if you have a passion for teaching, are knowledgeable about the formats and policies of the tests you intend to instruct students on, and are comfortable handling the content, it may be time to start an online tutoring business.
And, as with the other online home business ideas, you can easily service customers over the phone or, in this case, a video conferencing program such as Skype or Zoom.
Platforms that can help: Skype, Zoom, Udemy, Skillshare.
I hope these ideas will help you start a work from home business easily. In case you need any help, you can comment below and i will try to guide you properly. Keep reading this blog! 😇
