Now more than ever, working from home has moved beyond being a mere wish or idea. No one knows when it occurred between the increasing lean of society towards capitalism and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it isn’t strange anymore to find people who work fully remote or freelance jobs.
What does this mean for the entrepreneur, though?
Are there whole businesses that can fit totally into the ‘home-based’ category without being glorified remote/freelance jobs? Of course, there are!
In this article, we explore the best business ideas that indulge your entrepreneurial heart while letting you work from home.
What are home-based businesses?
Home-based businesses are enterprises whose operations are conducted in your homestead. They may be run as full-time ventures or part-time hustles.
It’s fair at this point to mention the fact that these sorts of businesses (like other businesses) come with their share of challenges, along with the benefits they provide.
For example, while home-based businesses often require low investments, flexible hours, and versatility in market targeting, it also comes with challenges like loss of privacy, a blurring between work and home life, as well as excruciating loneliness and stress.
This is why we advise that before you decide to launch your home-based business, conduct adequate research so that you can count the cost before embarking on the journey. With all that said, let’s dive in.
Best Home-based Business Ideas
Become an Online Retailer
This may be the most rampant business idea that lets you work from home, but it’s a highly rewarding enterprise. Because the competition is steep, you want to ensure that you take extra steps to make your service delivery flawless and customer-centric.
You will need to invest in proper product packaging, photography, and marketing to stay ahead of the curve.
There are so many great eCommerce hosting platforms like eBay and Amazon that you can retail with ease.
Create & sell a knowledge-based product
Knowledge-based products can be anything from Ebooks to planners and online courses. You’ll agree with me that these are all the rage in recent times, and that’s great news for you.
It’s simply a question of finding a subject you’re established in and creating products that solve knowledge gaps. Again, it would be wise to carry out extensive research so that you’re sure to answer the questions that people want to be answered.
Ensure you get social proof (e.g., testimonials) to lend you credibility and exponentially explode your marketing efforts.
Become a Youtuber
YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google and has positioned itself as an unquestionable ally of the 21st-century entrepreneur, especially one with a home-based business. You can do this either as an addition to your other home-based ventures or as a stand-alone business.
However, for it to work, you’ll need to have defined your target audience and be producing timely and relevant content that resonates with your audience and position you as an authority on that subject.
Although it requires time, patience, and continuous growth, becoming a YouTuber with a large following can become a robust channel of passive income.
Become a social media specialist
Social media has become the hub of most social events, especially with the pandemic-inspired lockdowns of 2020. If you’re a guru in all things Social media, this is an awesome trend to jump on because
- Social media isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon.
- Every organization worth their salt knows that their Social media is a great place to connect with their customers and build loyalty.
Becoming a Social media specialist will require a love for the various platforms married with a keen understanding of best practices on Social media for various industries.
Furthermore, Social media specialization is a highly scalable enterprise because you can consult, train or employ others to work with you.
But, it’s also a reputation business, so you’ll need to ensure excellent work ethics and outstanding results are your trademarks. Also, invest in acquiring social proof to lend authenticity to your business over time further.
Start a digital advertising firm.
Building on the last point, the world of digital advertising seems to be ever-expanding, making it easy to transition from just Social media management to launching a full-scale digital advertising firm.
You will need to enlist the expertise of other key players like web developers, graphic designers, freelance writers, content creation specialists, editors, and advertising specialists, to mention a few.
With the new wave of freelancing and remote work practices, launching a fully home-based organization is not only possible, but it’s also almost expected. And to track productivity and ensure effectiveness, you can enlist the help of time tracking software like todoist timesheet.
Blog/Podcasting
Although both require years of consistent and patient production of building a community of engaged followership based on relevant content, blog writing or podcasting are low investment businesses that you can build and earn a comfortable income from.
Note that the competition is stiff, and you would need to stay unique, relevant, and determined to break through the noise.
Start a personalization business.
A personalization business involves things like making personalized gift baskets, trinkets, or branded gift items like pieces of jewelry and shirts. You can make a few samples available on your social media platforms and websites, so people have a feel of your creativity and work quality.
Also, testimonials work a lot in your favor in this line of work, so get as much as you can.
Sell Food Online
If you enjoy making treats and exotic delicacies, you might as well make money from it. It doesn’t have to be anything too fancy as you can start by selling to friends/family who are willing to pay and then grow from there.
There are so many different options in this business, so we caution you to pick a niche early enough and invest in great logistics for your deliveries.
Make and Sell Crafts
You can also make and sell art and craftwork online either as an autonomous business or an additional service for your personalization business. Esty and Pinterest are great platforms on which you can launch and sustain your craft business.
Consult/Teach Online
You can offer to tutor those who need extra academic help from the comfort of your home. It can be on any subject matter as long as you have value to offer and know how to communicate it effectively.
Investing in online tutoring or even consultation services may require a high investment in equipment, certifications, and the like. Still, it pays handsomely in the long run and can become a massive source of passive income when made into digital products.
Become a Virtual Assistant
Last on our list is becoming a Virtual assistant. A virtual assistant is a virtual administrator helping to handle work schedules, plan meeting calendars, and other such activities virtually.
As a business, you can offer these services to other small organizations in exchange for a retainer from the comfort of your home. Not bad, right?
Launch Your Home-based business today
Like any other business venture, a home-based business isn’t without its share of risks and setbacks.
But with proper research and planning, you can comfortably launch any of the business ideas we have recommended for you with much success.
So tell us, which home-based business would you launch today? We’d love to hear from you!
Author’s BIO: Lori Wade is a journalist from Louisville. She is a content writer who has experience in small editions, Lori is now engaged in news and conceptual articles on the topic of business. If you are interested in an entrepreneur or lifestyle, you can find her on Twitter & LinkedIn. She has good experience and knowledge in the field.