Can you really start a successful business out of your home? Yes you certainly can!
Listed are real proven home business ideas in this article. Most of them are easy to start and require little experience. You can start them small and grow them at your own pace.
Here are the best home business ideas:
1. Landscaping Business
Landscaping is a perfect business in many ways. You can start small and grow it at your own pace. You have repeat customers which means steady income. And there is a terrific opportunity for making more money by selling add-on services.
You could start out part time offering just a simple lawn mowing service. All you need is a lawn mower which you can buy second hand. You don’t need to go buy a fancy truck to cart it around either. I have a friend whose landscaper transports his lawn mower in the trunk of his sedan.
If you are feeling ambitious you can add to the services you offer. Basic add-on services include edging, weeding, fertilizer application, and leaf collection. You could also offer bush, flower and tree planting services. In the winter you could offer snowplowing.
You can make some serious money with a landscaping business. Last year my landscaping service charged me almost $14,000 – and that’s for just one residence. Furthermore that was just for basic services such as grass cutting, yard cleanup and snow removal. For other work such as fertilizer application and lawn irrigation I hired still other service providers.
2. Subscription Box Business
The subscription box business is booming and there are plenty of big success stories with millions of customers including Ipsy, Dollar Shave and Birchbox. You too can have your own subscription box business!
This business has been around for a long time even before the Internet took off. I remember years ago for example that a friend subscribed to a monthly service sending her assorted chocolate candies. But digital marketing is what really helped these businesses reach the big time.
It can be a great business. You can choose a product space that you enjoy working in. Then you can add your own personal touch with the products that you choose to include, the design of your box, and your marketing. Plus you can skip the hassle of creating the actual products yourself – you can include items made by other companies inside your box.
A subscription box business is by nature a repeat customer, steady income business. Each month you ship out the product and the customer sends you money. Not only does it have great income potential but if you should get tired of the business you can sell it for even more money. In fact you may be able to sell a growing subscription box business for a healthy multiple, not just of profits, but of sales.
What can you offer in your subscription box? Just about anything! Some common choices include soaps, puzzles, makeup, socks, games, perfume, wines, cookies, candles, clothing and more. One of my friends offers a selection of coffees from around the world.
A cool option with this business is to work with a variety of product companies to get them to provide small amounts of their product as samples. They might even provide you these samples at no cost or very low cost. In addition you can make extra money by offering your customers larger amounts of these sample products.
So how do you succeed in this business? You need to totally nail down your marketing including defining your market niche, your product selection, your offer, your marketing message and your marketing channels. You’ll have to test a lot of options to find out what works best.
3. Home Tutoring/Online Tutoring
You don’t have to be a genius to tutor – you just have to know more than your students. So if your educational skills are a little rusty, you may want to stick to tutoring first and second graders.
If your skills are more advanced you can tutor at higher levels. But even if you can tutor almost any subject or level you will be better off emphasizing a specialty to be more credible and to catch people’s attention.
You can help out students by tutoring in your own home, at their home, at a local library or at a coffee shop. You can also tutor online via a video service such as Zoom. As you are getting started you may want to test marketing different tutoring specialties to see what gets the best response.
Home tutoring is another example of a very simple business that you can start. But like any simple business you are going to be much more successful if you start and plan it carefully. You should write up a business plan including what you will specialize in, who is your target market, what will be your marketing message and how you will reach your audience.
4. Freelance Writing/Content Marketing
This is perhaps the cheapest business to start in terms of overhead. If you’re reading this on a computer, you’ve got what you need to become a freelance writer—at least in terms of equipment. Expertise is another matter, but remember that writing can take many forms – from resumes to news articles to marketing materials and even thank you notes.
There’s probably some form of writing you’re qualified to do. Plus, if you’re good enough with grammar and punctuation, companies will pay you to be a freelance editor. One friend made good money editing posts on a popular travel site.
The key to freelance writing is to never stop selling yourself. Don’t get complacent once a project comes in – always look for the next one. Network like crazy online and in person. Ask for press passes to events in the field of your choice. Attend writing workshops and writer meet-ups; they happen everywhere.
There are loads of job listings for freelancers on major job boards, and you can always advertise your services (and look for work) on Craigslist or LinkedIn. Once the jobs start rolling in, don’t be afraid to go to previous clients and ask for more work. Steady work is the best work for freelancers. If all else fails at first, just write. Start a blog. Build clips. Get to writing!
Content marketing is writing designed to help businesses market themselves online such as through websites, blogs, emails and social media. The more you know about content marketing, the more marketable your writing services will be. So consider spending some time to study about SEO – that means “search engine optimization” or what you need to do to make content appear prominently in search engine results. And learn what makes for good blog posts, email messages and social media posts.
5. Car Detailing Business
I have a wealthy friend who is crazy about his cars. He had a six car garage built onto his house. On Saturdays he loves to wash, wax and then take one of his fancy cars for a ride. I did this with him once but at the high speed he took his Ferrari on the back country roads, I don’t need to do it again!
His older son also loves cars and worked at an auto dealership while in high school. He started washing cars, then later learned how to detail them. Next while still in high school he started his own car detailing business, servicing his customers’ cars at their homes on weekends.
This is a great niche business. Some people pamper their pets. Other people pamper their cars. Owners of high end cars are willing to pay good money to have their cars detailed. But they are a meticulous bunch. They are going to want the work done just so. So you’ve got to try hard to please your customers. But if they like you, they will have you detail their car regularly. And they will recommend you to their friends.
I’ve learned that with this kind of business it’s “OK” to start out with little or no experience. But you don’t want to hide that from your first customers. Give them a discount and keep their expectations realistic when you are getting started.
This is a great business for digital marketing because it’s easy to target your most likely customers – the owners of high end cars. You can also do some “guerilla” marketing such as putting a simple brochure or business card on the windshield of luxury vehicles you see in parking lots.
6. Personal Fitness Training/Sports Coaching
If you’re passionate about working out or playing sports, then this could be a great business opportunity for you. The key is to specialize—on a sport, a category of clientele or both—and to look the part.
I have seen all kinds of success stories in sports coaching and training. One soccer coach I know earned $50,000 a year just for coaching one high school student a few hours a week. I have seen other coaches successfully expand their businesses into sports camps, sports schools and in one case, his own indoor soccer league.
For this business the biggest success stories come from those who aren’t necessarily the very best coaches, but from those who are very good at marketing themselves. So spend a little time to create a kick ass website and learn how to do digital marketing.
7. Senior Companion Service
My father reached the point in time where his driving ability had deteriorated to the degree where it was best for public safety to keep his car in the garage. But he still wanted to get out around town so my brother and I hired a driver to take him out several afternoons each week.
It was a tremendous solution! My father was happy. His wife got a little quiet time to herself. The senior companion service made money. And the driver not only made money but also got to hear all of my father’s stories – most of them more than once.
Later when we moved my father into assisted living, we discovered he didn’t get a lot of attention for himself there. So we hired a couple of women to keep him company, encourage him to exercise and make sure he was eating well.
What a great business. You’re providing an extremely valuable service. And once you find a companion for a senior the money just keeps coming in – week after week. To get started, find out what the licensing rules are in your state. And do very careful background checks on your service providers.
8. Handyperson Service
One day when I was a teenager I was fixing something on my boat in my front yard. A middle-aged woman stopped by and asked “Are you a carpenter?” I hesitated for a second. Then, I rephrased the question in my mind to “Do you want to make money?” So I responded with a confident sounding “Sure!”
It turned out she owned a few rental cottages that needed some repairs including fixing broken windows. “Can you fix windows?” she asked me. “No problem I responded.” Needless to say, I had no clue how to fix a window pane. But I was sure I could figure it out – and that’s one of the key things to remember in business. Just because you haven’t done something before doesn’t mean you can’t do it.
At the local hardware store I asked the clerk how to fix a broken window pane. Three minutes later I left the store with both the knowledge and the supplies I needed to fix the broken windows. So that’s how my little handyperson service began.
Today I am the one hiring handypersons to fix things around my house to save me time to do more important things – like run my model trains. Living in a larger older house I often have handypersons doing work.
A handyperson is the classic “jack of all trades but master of none.” Customers should not expect you to be super expert at any particular skill or particularly fast at your work. And they will pay you by the hour. But as a handyperson you should be willing to do a large variety of work and be willing to do small jobs. However it’s also fine as a handyperson to say that you are not comfortable doing some work that is over your head.
9. Home Daycare Business
You can start your daycare business small with just one child for a few hours a week. Or you can grow it into a giant enterprise. For example, Bright Horizons based near me has grown into a $1 billion business with over 1,000 locations.
Daycare is a gigantic industry. In the US there are over 77,000 daycare locations providing revenue of over 40 billion dollars a year. But even if you have big growth plans there is nothing wrong with starting out by providing daycare in your home.
This is another solid repeat customer, steady income business. Plus if you have any of your own kids to take care of you can save the cost of hiring daycare for them.
To start out you’ll need to check the local regulations and get licensed. You’ll need insurance for liability and for worker’s comp for any employees. Then even for a small operation you will want to have written policies for issues such as sick children and late pickups. You’ll want to be up-to-date on CPR, first aid and other emergency procedures.
It might seem like a lot of little things to get in order to start this business, but it is very doable. Plenty of other entrepreneurs are starting daycare businesses every single day.
10. Podcasting Business
Some people are making very good money podcasting. Let’s take Joe Rogan for example. He licensed his podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience, in a multi year deal to Spotify for a cool 100 million dollars.
What’s also interesting is that Joe doesn’t just focus on one specialized topic but covers a broad range of subjects including neuroscience, comedy, culture and wealth or whatever else he feels like talking about.
The key to successful Podcasting isn’t just racking up listeners in big numbers. It’s getting listeners to engage. A small group of engaged listeners is more valuable than a large but passive audience. Specialize in an area of your expertise or area that you are passionate about.
To really engage your listeners you’re going to want to be authentic, vulnerable, deep, and super distinctive. You should also try to keep connected with them via social media and/or email, as well as your podcast.
There is free software online for Podcasting. You can use your home computer or laptop to start your Podcast. I do recommend that you get a high quality external microphone.
11. Consulting/Coaching Business
Consulting and coaching are both great businesses. If you don’t want to leave your house at all coaching is probably the better option. For example one of my friends is coached virtually over Zoom by his business coach every other week.
Another friend has not one – but two business coaches. One helps him with his business strategy and general direction. The other helps him with his sales skills. Interestingly both of my friends are extremely bright and savvy entrepreneurs. But then it’s not that surprising – because very bright entrepreneurs know that the way to get ahead is to always be learning.
I have a number of friends who offer consulting services and they do really well at it. One friend does organizational consulting for small to medium sized companies. Charging as much as $1,000 an hour he likes to work only 15-20 hours each month, saving the rest of his time for nonprofit work and for his outdoor pursuits.
If you have almost any business skill you can work as a consultant. Executive coaching, business strategy, digital marketing, social media, sales, international business, accounting and logistics are just a few of the specialties that people offer.
So how do you turn your skills into a consulting business? Historically people have only gone into consulting after years of experience and connection building in a particular industry. But today with digital marketing you can jump start your consulting business.
You’ll want to put together an awesome LinkedIn profile and an impressive looking website. You’ll want to optimize it to show up in Google searches. Some of my consultant friends also send out short newsletters and informative emails. I would suggest getting publicity on industry websites. Then you should reach out with email, on LinkedIn, and by phone.
Article Credit: https://businesstown.com/42-home-based-businesses-you-can-start-today/
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