7 Business Ideas
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Interested in starting a business but need inspiration on what to actually do? Maybe you read my article on 3 passive income ideas and reached the conclusion that option 3, starting a business, was the one that suited you best? Well, good news, this article is just for you.
I will present seven business ideas, where hopefully at least one resonates with you enough for you to take action. Let’s start!
1. Consulting
The easiest way to start your own business is by continuing what you are doing at your current job, but as a consultant. This means, instead of one company paying you for your services, you land clients and thus become a consultant.
If you don’t have a job, or you don’t like what you do right now, ask yourself: “What am I really good at?” Examples of consulting careers are management, IT, accounting, marketing etc. Maybe you are excellent on social media, then choose to become a social media consultant.
Remember, landing a first client is the most difficult. The best tip I can give is to offer your services for free in the beginning. This builds your portfolio — previous work, essential for landing clients in the future — and you generate positive word of mouth (hopefully) from the company.
2. Buy & Sell things
This idea is great if you are looking for a side income. It is also the easiest one to see immediate returns. The basic idea is that you find value arbitrages on items, for example: Buy an iPhone from a seller on eBay, and relist the same item and make money on the arbitrage.
To do this effectively, you need to learn the prices of the market, and supply and demand for different products. I’d recommend going narrow initially, i.e. focusing on one product line, e.g. iPhones. Then, after having done a few profitable trades on iPhones I would move on to other phones, computers, cameras etc. Preferably, start with something you are interested in — you can find anything on eBay!
3. Freelancing
Have a certain skill but feel frightened by the idea of becoming a consultant? Start small and instead become a freelancer. If you are a graphics designer, web developer etc. use sites like Fiverr and Upwork, register for an account and offer your services.
I would actually recommend starting like this, and then gradually moving over to becoming more of a consultant. You will realize that sites like Fiverr and Upwork usually don’t pay the big bucks, but we all need to start somewhere.
4. Start a YouTube channel
Yes, starting a YouTube channel can be seen as starting a business. Do you have a hobby? Great. Utilize it, meaning: start a YouTube channel revolving around this hobby. Do you love walking dogs? Make a dog walking channel teaching people how to walk their dogs. Do you love reading books? Make a YouTube channel where you talk about and review books. The possibilities are endless, all you need to do is start.
5. Dropshipping
Although not my personal favorite, it would be unwise to remove it from the list. Dropshipping is an incredible opportunity to make an income. To make a long description short, you market a product you don’t have in inventory on retail sites like Amazon. Then, after an order is placed, you place a corresponding order to a supplier, who ships directly to the customer, putting the arbitrage money in your pocket.
The only problem I have with dropshipping is that you are forcing long delivery times — read “weeks” — on your customers. I would rather buy 100x of a product, store it in my bedroom, and offer substantially shorter delivery times. Although, this removes the benefit of $0 down, since it requires you to purchase an inventory.
Do whatever you feel suits you best.
6. Affiliate Marketing
This is another great idea if you want to avoid large upfront costs. Becoming an affiliate marketer, in essence, means you promote other people’s products and receive a commission when a sale is made.
For example, you can start a blog and write about something you are interested in, and link to a good book you feel would provide value to your readers. Sign up for Amazon Associates, get a product link, and start earning commissions!
Instead of starting a blog, you could also start really specific websites. E.g. If someone searches “How to become a police officer” you could have a website named “howtobecomeapoliceofficer.com”, focused solely on teaching the reader how to become a police officer. On this website you can link to books, products and other things you feel the reader would need — earning a commission every time, of course.
7. Writing
Do you love writing? You can make money doing that too. I’d suggest starting like I do, on medium, and write some articles about something that interests you. For me, those topics are programming, business and personal finance. You’ll realize that the medium partner program starts paying you immediately, boosting motivation to keep going.
You can also write books. Specifically, eBooks. They are easy to distribute, provide passive income and require little to no maintenance. Although, before writing eBooks, I would try to build a following on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc. so you can promote your book without having to pay for ads.
Final thoughts
And that’s it! However, remember: These ideas are worth nothing unless executed on. I hope one of the ideas above resonated with you enough to result in execution.
If you have any thoughts or ideas, please leave a comment. I will make sure to reply!
