When most people imagine starting a business they would probably think of renting an office or commercial space, hiring staff, paying rates etc. Well, the face of small startup businesses is changing and the era of the home based business has arrived. And let’s face it, given the lockdowns restrictions placed on us by Covid-19 there couldn’t be a better time to make the best of this.
More and more people are discovering ways to use remote work to pursue their business dreams – while working from home.
WIth little to no initial investment and lots of flexibility to work around your family and other commitments – anyone can start a business from home.
Here are some great ideas to get you started!
1. Start a Virtual Assistant Business from Home
Virtual assistants, as the name suggests, work remotely on a variety of tasks which are usually administrative. For example bookkeeping, customer support, order processing, writing jobs etc.
Starting a virtual assistant business is quick and easy to set up and does not require any training or special skills, but you will need to have drive to stay motivated.
You could start small, with just yourself and as your client base grows, you can hire other virtual assistants who are able to work from their own homes to help you meet your clients’ needs.
Running a virtual assistant business can be fun and rewarding for everyone involved, but we would recommend running your Virtual Assistant business as a Limited Company when you are ready to grow, to keep yourself protected.
Learn more about forming a company
2. Start a Home Tutoring business from Home
Starting an online tutor business is a great way to make extra money in a part-time or full time capacity. Online tutoring is not just for college students, a former teachers but also for a professional with any sought after knowledge to impart.
To start an online tutoring business you will need to choose the topics you feel you are in a position to teach to someone else you will need to choose the right online technology to facilitate your online tutoring business such as udemy or coursera.org.
Starting an online tutoring business can be a rewarding and low cost way use your skills.
Start an Online Tutoring Company >>
Start an Online Ghostwriting Business from Home
The need for fresh, relevant content is growing as content marketing is becoming a more defining factor in any business’s online success.
This is great news for you if you are skilled writer or knowledgeable in a specific topic, starting a ghosting writing business from home couldn’t be easier.
You could choose to be paid per article or per word count. Many ghostwriters advertise their businesses through platforms like upwork or freelancer.com or you could even create your own blog and website to showcase your writing skills and sell your services.
What is Ghostwriting? Ghostwriting is a service of writing and selling content which will not be credited to you and which once sold, you will have no commercial rights over.
Why would you do this? Well, Ghost writers could are selling the commercial rights to their work in a sense, so could potentially get paid a bit more than a regular article writer.
4. Start an Online Translation Business from Home
If you are lucky enough to be fluent in more than one language and if you have a passion for helping people – an online translation service could be a start up business idea for you.
People all over the world need documents, scripts and other types of content to be translated. More people are turning to online translation services as the need for translation grows. Offering your translation services online is a quick and easy way to earn good money with a skill you already have.
To start you could list your freelance services on sites like unbabel.com.
5. Sell on Ebay, Amazon or Etsy from Home
The increasing popularity in online shopping means that selling the right product on online platforms is almost guaranteed to land you with a comfortable profit. Platforms like Amazon, ebay and etsy come with little investment, no set up fees and include inventory management systems – so you could have a functioning online shop in minutes.
Whether you are reselling, importing or hand-making your products, selling online is a low risk business you can start from home today!
Some platforms like Amazon will require you have a company number and company tax number and sometimes be registered for VAT if you are not a UK resident. Read more about this>>
So there you have it!
Hopefully, you’re inspired with ideas to start a business from home that keeps you and your bank balance happy. With one of these business ideas and the careful preparation, you could be on your way to owning a successful business in the comfort of your home.