Kimberlee Leonard has 22 years of experience as a freelance writer. Her work has been featured on US News and World Report, Business.com and Fit Small Business. She brings practical experience as a business owner and insurance agent to her role as a.
Kimberlee Leonard Small Business Expert WriterKimberlee Leonard has 22 years of experience as a freelance writer. Her work has been featured on US News and World Report, Business.com and Fit Small Business. She brings practical experience as a business owner and insurance agent to her role as a.
Written By Kimberlee Leonard Small Business Expert WriterKimberlee Leonard has 22 years of experience as a freelance writer. Her work has been featured on US News and World Report, Business.com and Fit Small Business. She brings practical experience as a business owner and insurance agent to her role as a.
Kimberlee Leonard Small Business Expert WriterKimberlee Leonard has 22 years of experience as a freelance writer. Her work has been featured on US News and World Report, Business.com and Fit Small Business. She brings practical experience as a business owner and insurance agent to her role as a.
Small Business Expert Writer Kelly Main Staff ReviewerKelly Main is a Marketing Editor and Writer specializing in digital marketing, online advertising and web design and development. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist c.
Kelly Main Staff ReviewerKelly Main is a Marketing Editor and Writer specializing in digital marketing, online advertising and web design and development. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist c.
Kelly Main Staff ReviewerKelly Main is a Marketing Editor and Writer specializing in digital marketing, online advertising and web design and development. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist c.
Kelly Main Staff ReviewerKelly Main is a Marketing Editor and Writer specializing in digital marketing, online advertising and web design and development. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist c.
Updated: Jul 26, 2024, 11:42am
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With businesses increasingly moving online, starting a home-based business is becoming more and more accessible. Whether you are looking to start a business as a side hustle or to replace your full-time job, there are thousands of ways to start a profitable business at home. So we found the top nineteen home business ideas to give you the inspiration you need to find a great idea for you and your skill set, interests and budget.
A virtual assistant (VA) helps other business owners and executives handle some of the tasks required in day-to-day operations. A virtual assistant business offers certain services to these executives for an hourly or package rate. Services might include blog writing, social media management, travel arrangements and appointment setting. To be an effective VA, you must be organized and have the skills to adequately meet your clients’ needs.
There are no upfront costs to starting a VA business. All you need is your computer and an internet connection. Many VAs get their first clients by joining popular social media small business groups and offering their services or through freelance marketplaces such as Upwork and Fiverr.
A recruiting or staffing agency is responsible for sourcing great candidates for open positions at other companies. Because recruiting and human resources can be a very time-consuming and therefore costly process, many businesses are willing to pay recruiters who manage to find them the ideal candidate for their open roles. For this service, recruiters typically earn a commission anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of the candidate’s salary.
For example, a recruiter who successfully places a candidate into a position that pays $70,000 will earn a $7,000 commission if their rate was 10 percent. Alternatively, recruiters may get paid on a per-hour basis, where they are paid for each hour a placed candidate works (typically the case for short-term contracted positions).
While recruiting and staffing agencies were traditionally brick-and-mortar businesses, many agencies are now fully remote meaning that it’s entirely possible to start from the comfort of your home. To get started, you will need to learn the ins and outs of recruiting and be prepared to spend a lot of time cold calling and setting up email campaigns to recruit businesses as clients and job seekers as applicants.
If you love animals and own a home with ample space, a good home business idea for you might be to start a doggy daycare business. On average, doggy daycares charge anywhere from $20 to $45 per day per dog. So, if you have the right space at home and a love for dogs, you could earn, say $100 per day by taking care of just four dogs at $25 per day.
On top of the daily daycare rates, many doggy daycare businesses earn revenue by offering add-on services, such as training, bathing or grooming. Depending on what you’re looking to do, it may be worth exploring relevant certifications and courses to help give you the credentials clients are looking for. Additionally, while it can be a low-cost home business idea, you may also want to consider potential costs such as fencing and home maintenance.
Like just about any home business, you’ll also want a website so that potential customers and clients can find your business online. Learn more about how to easily make a small business website with no web design experience.
If you live in an area where there are a number of vacation or second homes and you are well-versed in home services, you may want to consider starting a property watch business. Services vary by provider, however, many property watch businesses manage properties that are vacant, such as summer homes during the winter or while homeowners are away.
Though it is not entirely home-based, as you will need to check on homes to make sure they do not have any issues, such as frozen or leaky pipes or a security issue, it is a business that those with a knack for home maintenance and management can do largely from their home. This is because when an issue is found, the job involves delegating work to the right people, such as a plumber or electrician, making appointments and ensuring that any issues are resolved.
Similar to the property watch service, an Airbnb management service offers Airbnb owners with a fully managed service that handles everything from inquiries and bookings to check-in/out, home cleaning and reviews. Vacation rental management services are becoming increasingly popular as they give others the ability to own and rent out vacation homes without having to deal with the day-to-day operation of them.
Airbnb management services can earn an income in different ways, but the most common revenue model is through a commission on the total booking costs or a set monthly management fee. It’s not entirely home-based, but it does not require a commercial space and much of the work can be done from home–especially if properties offer self-check-in and you outsource cleaning to a professional service.
A print-on-demand business usually involves T-shirts, hats, other apparel and home goods. As the business owner, you don’t need to carry inventory because the items are printed when the item is purchased. They are made to order, which saves you the hassle and cost of buying and storing items for sale.
Most successful print-on-demand businesses have a niche that they serve with logos and designs that are attractive to that niche. For example, if you are an avid cyclist, you might create apparel that is designed for the cycling community. Because there is no inventory, your initial costs are getting designs produced if you can’t do that yourself and having a website where people can buy your products.
For more information, check out these step-by-step instructions on how to start a print-on-demand t-shirt business.
If you’re an expert at something, you may be able to create and teach an online course. This might be a marketing class or a yoga class. The course possibilities are endless. Those starting an online course should be an expert in that field with years of experience doing the thing they are teaching. However, you don’t need a special credential to teach an online class.
There are different ways to market the course. You can join online course communities such as Udemy or LinkedIn. Doing so lets you get the publicity and marketing from the platform but share in the revenue generated. Or you can set up a website just for your courses. This, of course, will cost you, but you then get 100% of the revenues generated.
Maybe you love to create unique soaps or have a recipe for a killer barbecue sauce. This might be your next business idea. Many business owners successfully turn a hobby into a business.
Keep in mind that there will be costs associated with your business as you will want to make products and have inventory to sell to consumers. The investment amount will vary depending on the costs of your products and how much inventory you want to keep. You may also want to create a website to market and sell your products.
One of the most popular platforms for those selling homemade products is Etsy. There, you can easily list your products for sale and connect with millions of online shoppers. Learn more about how to start an Etsy shop.
Perhaps you traveled to an exotic location and became a fan of the spices used in local dishes. Or you find a niche of selling small instruments (ukulele) popular in some areas of the world. These are great ideas to buy items at wholesale prices and sell them online.
Keep in mind that when you buy wholesale, you need to have the space to store the inventory, plus you’re laying out a sizable amount of cash to purchase the products in the first place. So be sure to do a market analysis to be certain that consumers want what you are selling. Create an e-commerce website that facilitates the sales.
