So you’re bored with your job and day dreaming about something more….
Something exciting ….
Something you can really be passionate about and love building ….
It may appear to be difficult to come up with a good idea for a business, but with a little bit of planning and preparation, you can easily launch a small business to supplement your income or become your own boss and work for yourself full-time.
It’s possible that you already have a concept in mind for the kind of company that you’d like to launch. But despite the fact that you may feel prepared for a new venture and that you are enthusiastic about your idea, you may still be looking for some guidance.
I’ve compiled this list of the top 10 easiest businesses to start to help spark your creativity and lead you down the path to freedom.
- Freelance Graphic Designer
You are free to determine your own hours, select the projects you want to work on, and construct a business and portfolio that you are pleased with. Numerous businesses look to seasoned graphic designers for assistance with a variety of projects, including the design of websites, the creation of graphics for blogs, and other tasks.
There are no specific educational requirements to become a freelance graphic designer; however, we recommend pursuing a credential (such as https://www.saic.edu/academics/departments/visual-communication-design SAIC’s graphic design certificate or RISD’s graphic design certificate) or an Associate’s degree in design so that you can confidently present your portfolio and complete your first few projects. There are no specific educational requirements to become a freelance graphic designer.
If you are just getting started with graphic design, give these pointers and suggestions a shot because they are perfect for novices. If you have more experience but are looking to build your portfolio in order to attract clients, using these prompts will get your creative juices flowing in no time at all. Reviewing the work of other people on portfolio websites is another thing that we recommend doing so that you can get a sense of what is “trendy” and receive feedback as you grow your small business.
- Landscaper
The neighborhood requires mowing, tree trimming, and seasonal decorating at the very least. A landscaping business has the potential to be very profitable if the owner already possesses or is able to acquire the necessary equipment. If you have a good eye for landscape design and enjoy doing it for your own home, this is another fantastic option for you to consider.
The encouraging thing is that your beginning efforts need not be massive. You could, for example, offer seasonal planting services to your neighbors and begin with a few perennial plants, or you could simply offer mulching services to your neighbors.
https://www.ccac.edu/workforce/landscaping.php
- Photographer
To get started, have photo shoots with your immediate family and close friends. Request referrals and read reviews as you build up your portfolio of work. It is common for photography businesses to expand through word of mouth, so it is a good idea to create a Facebook page on which you can tag recent customers. Photos in which you tag specific customers will appear in the newsfeeds of those customers’ friends, allowing those customers to view your work. You also have the option of requesting that they leave reviews on your Facebook company page.
You’ll want to focus on a particular area if you run a small business related to video production. Will you be taking portraits or photographs of products? What about fashion photo shoots or wedding photo shoots? After you have decided to focus your efforts, you will be able to produce a body of work that most accurately reflects your capabilities.
Although there are no educational or licensing requirements for beginning a small photography business, we strongly suggest that you enroll in a few photography courses, particularly if you haven’t used your camera in a while. This is especially true if you plan to sell your photographs.
- Car-detailing Specialist
You too can be a slave to the details if you put in the effort. Convenient for busy people who are unable to find the time to run through the car wash, mobile car detailing services come to the customer’s location to clean and detail their vehicle. Your customers will only be responsible for making the payment for this service, as the rest of it will be completed for them before they even realize it. Be sure, however, that you not only have the ability but also the means of transportation and the necessary equipment to take your business on the road.
Even though formal education is not required to work in the auto detailing industry, it is still a good idea to get some basic information and education such as this course from Courses For Success. Courses like these can help you get a solid foundation.
You will need a website that is optimized for search engine optimization (SEO) and a way for customers to book appointments with you online in order to get your business of auto detailing off the ground. However, before you take that step, you should think about listing your services on websites such as Angi, Thumbtack, and even Nextdoor.com in order to get your first clients in your immediate area.
- Sell products online with dropshipping
The costs associated with manufacturing, acquiring, and warehousing inventory are significant in traditional retail business models. So are the costs associated with packaging and shipping your products to customers. The elimination of start-up costs for eCommerce businesses is being accomplished through dropshipping by forming partnerships with third-party suppliers who are responsible for managing inventory and order fulfillment.
Dropshipping is a very low-cost way to test whether or not a product is a good fit for the market. It also enables business pivots without the sunk costs of wasted inventory, which is beneficial for entrepreneurs working with a limited budget. As a result of the ease with which one can acquire a product catalog through dropshipping, this mode of conducting business online makes for a rapid launch of a new venture.
- Pet Sitting
Businesses that provide pet sitting services provide clients with a variety of animal care options, including the option for their pets to get exercise while their owners are at work. In addition, they are a more cost-effective alternative to boarding a pet at a kennel while the owner is away on vacation or on business. Both pets and their owners can benefit from being able to remain in the familiar surroundings of their own homes in order to alleviate the symptoms of separation anxiety.
It is possible to run the vast majority of pet sitting businesses from the comfort of one’s own home, which means that starting this kind of business requires fewer financial investments than many others. You won’t need much more than a good computer, some professional software, an open schedule, and a passion for animals to be successful in this field. If you want to find work outside of your immediate area, you will also need a vehicle that is properly insured and always has gas in the tank. Experts in the field also suggest that you invest in general liability insurance that is tailored to the needs of pet sitters. This coverage is reasonably priced, costing between $200 and $300 per year, and comes highly recommended.
- Tutoring
One of the businesses that you can get started with for less than one hundred dollars is tutoring. Marketing your tutoring services used to be much more challenging than it is today, but platforms available online have made it much simpler.
Sign up with a website such as Tutor.com if you are able to provide assistance to students with various academic topics. Try Wysant.com if you’d rather teach people about a wider variety of topics, such as chess, sports, cooking, or singing, than a specific subject area.
Even though these websites take a sizeable cut of what a tutor earns (usually between $25 and $50 per hour), they still offer a way to get started completely free of charge. You can then begin to cultivate a local clientele and begin hiring others to work for your company once you have reached this point.
- Flea Market Vending
You can use an online guide to find the flea markets that are located in the vicinity of where you are located. These markets are thriving in many parts of the country.
Find a market that allows you to pay for space on a daily basis (usually for less than twenty dollars), as this is the best way to get started on a limited budget. While you’re there, look around for low-cost niches that you can invest your profit in. There are plenty of opportunities out there.
Where is the benefit? This is the amount of money you made by selling everything in your house that you would have otherwise donated to charity or dumped at a garage sale if you had not sold it.
- Errand Services
The delivery of groceries to customers’ homes can be a natural business to tie into errand running services, and vice versa. To reiterate, if you already own a vehicle, you are in a position to get started right away. People frequently require the assistance of another person to check on their pets while they are away from home or to run errands on their behalf.
Signing up with TaskRabbit.com, an online platform that connects people who need errands done with those who are willing to do them for an agreed-upon price, is a good way to get started with little to no initial investment and to get a sense of the type of work that the business might involve. Because of this, there is no longer a requirement that you spend money on marketing yourself (at least at first).
You might find a particular subfield that not only appeals to you but also offers lucrative opportunities. For instance, if you get a lot of calls asking you to bring pets to appointments with veterinarians, you might reposition yourself as a service that provides transportation for pets.
- Newborn and post-pregnancy services
Despite the fact that many millennials plan to put off having children for even longer than their parents did, many are still interested in doing so in the long run. As of 2018, according to an analysis of data from the government conducted by the Pew Research Center, more than half of all millennial women have already given birth to at least one child.
Now that millennials and members of Generation Z are considering having children, there is an increased demand for businesses that cater to the needs of children, beginning with services related to post-pregnancy and newborns. As a consequence of this, a report that was published in 2018 by Research and Markets forecasts that the market for maternity care in North America will exceed $3 billion by the year 2023.
Particularly among new mothers, there has been an increase in demand for doulas and lactation consultants, and both of these business options require relatively little in the way of overhead expenses in addition to education and certification.
With a little creativity the ideas are endless! Think about your own life and what problems or issues you have that you might be able to solve for other families just like yours.
If you’d like to share some ideas of your own please comment below.