The best online and low-cost small business ideas are born at the point where passion, skills, strategic thinking, and timing come together.
Indeed, it might have looked like a great time to open that fancy beauty shop last year. But good thing you didn’t, as you’d have been limited for most of 2020.
Work culture is changing rapidly as businesses move online. In fact, social distancing and COVID-19 pushed the growth of online shopping by nearly 4-6 years ahead of time.
That’s especially why many of the small business ideas in this article are low-cost online businesses that you’re able to start from home.
It goes without saying that this blog you’re reading was created out of the same circumstance. I started this blog as a small business to promote knowledge and also to make passive income online.
In this guide, we’ll cover 10 small business ideas to help you start thinking about your next entrepreneurial move. Whether you want to start a full-time operation or a side hustle, this article is for you.
Let’s get started.
1. Sell Custom Printed Shirts On Printify
Printify is one easy way to start an eCommerce business by creating a brand and selling custom products like t-shirts, bags, mugs, stickers, and more. On the platform, logistics hassle is not on you as there are a lot of online networks that close that gap for you.
For example, here’s how the process goes:
- Pick one of the products you’d like to sell on the platform
- Use a mockup generator to apply designs and images to your chosen item
- Order samples to make sure your products have your desired quality and feel
- Publish your products
- Sync them automatically with an eCommerce platform like Shopify
- When you make a sale, your product is put into production and you don’t have to manage any manufacturing, inventory, or shipping.
Excellent designs, a strong brand, and good marketing skills are recipes for sales and success in a custom printed product business.
2. Become a Graphic Designer
Companies (small businesses and large corporations) are always on the lookout for graphic designers to help them with eye-catching promotional materials, but not so many people have an eye for what looks good.
With the availability of graphic design courses online, it’s really easy to learn from scratch. If you’ve got artistic skills and know-how to organize content into a visually pleasing format, starting should be a piece of cake.
Getting new clients should be relatively easy if you already have some knowledge in the field. You can join freelance websites like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, and Flexjobs to find relevant work.
You can also pitch your design skills to small business owners or individuals to start your own business. That was how I started Tpr Brands, my graphic design business.
You can start a graphic design business by providing logos, flyers, digital ads, and other engaging visual materials – the opportunities are endless.
One good thing about this business option is that it requires just a few physical tools like a laptop and a desk. To make a good head start, you can look up Fundamentals of Graphic Design (Coursera)
I recommend you get started with Adobe Photoshop as part of Creative Cloud.
3. Render SEO Services
According to a recent study, over 94% of people who use Google only look at the first page of search results, and most people only click on the first three results. So what will you do if you have a small business in the 20th position?
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the process of increasing your site position and page rank organically through quality backlinks and effective keywords. SEO is the most effective way to increase traffic to your website.
It lets you focus your efforts on the exact people you want to attract to your website, exactly your target audience.
There are thousands of businesses seeking SEO; thus, your workflow will be consistent as a specialist. It’s among the top-paying jobs and it requires less training. Learn more about providing quality service to your clients as an SEO expert.
4. Purchase a Website
If you have some funds and an eye for spotting the right business for investment, then you can look for an existing website to purchase. Several websites listed for sales on the internet have great potential but need an expert to make it possible.
Today, it’s possible to buy a website at a reduced price, build its audience and business to sell at a larger premium later.
Here are the places where you can seamlessly buy a website:
Website trading is a real thing, and people make a lot of money through it. The prices of a website usually depend on its traffic, domain name, revenue, and potential to scale up.
5. WordPress Site Consultancy
WordPress as a content management system (CMS) has over the years been the go-to platform for small businesses and budding bloggers to start a website of their own. It’s easy to learn and once you become well-versed in setting up WordPress websites, you can use the skill to build a high-income business for yourself.
To diversify you income stream, you can also offer digital marketing services to your clients.
If you build a successful small business as a WordPress website consultant, you can even transform your business into a full-fledged digital marketing agency with time. You can learn more about building websites on WordPress through courses on Skillshare.
6. Start a YouTube Channel
Starting your own YouTube channel can offer a variety of ways to generate income. Following the increase in live streaming and video-on-demand, YouTube has evolved from just a video platform to a content-on-demand platform.
There are still plenty of opportunities to make money on YouTube though; the market appears to be drenched.
First, pick a niche you’re passionate about to create engaging and unique videos. And most importantly, the more entertaining content you post, the more views and subscribers you’ll gain over time.
Many prominent YouTubers earn millions by posting videos alone. Typically, an average YouTuber earns around $3 to $5 per 1,000 views. Before starting your YouTube channel, learn ways your content can be monetized on the platform. Also, invest in a good camera and microphone to make quality videos for greater earning potential.
7. Begin Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing has been a buzzword in the marketing space for quite some time. This is as a result of several Brands that want to sell products online creating new affiliate programs and allowing affiliates (bloggers and publishers) to promote their products in exchange for commissions.
Simply put, it’s a business model where bloggers. influencers or publishers recommend services or products they like or find useful and earn a percentage of profit for each sale that follows.
It is a great form of passive income and the perfect earning stream for bloggers.
According to a recent blog income study, middle-ranking bloggers make between $7,500 — $25k per month and 38% of their income from affiliate marketing.
With the growth of your website, the income will gradually increase along.
Start making money from the type of content being published on the website by registering with platforms like ShareASale, Awin, Rakuten, Clickbank, or Skimlinks.
To get more pertinent insights, check out this blog post about the the best affiliate programs to join today.
8. Start a Blog
You can always find readers who are willing to research and read about the topic you are passionate about. For instance, if you start a blog about lifestyle, then you can write valuable content about your lifestyle journey that readers find useful.
You need to invest time in doing market research to identify whether your proposed niche is a feasible money-making gig or not in the long run. Make it engaging and informative to offer value to your audience.
Browse through the internet to search for ideas to build a profitable niche website.
Here are the easy steps you need to follow:
- Find a niche by picking a slice of the internet you want to target. Typically, this should be about choosing and building on a topic you’re passionate about
- Choose a blog name. Keep it short and simple, usually a descriptive phrase relevant to the topic of your blog
- Choose a blogging platform or host. There are a lot of free platforms to choose from
- Pick a domain name. Your domain name is the address of your site on the internet. Mine is savvyacts.com. Having a domain name similar to the blog name has been a common practice among bloggers
- Choose a hosting platform. The host provides the storage space for your files on the web.
To learn more about niche website or blogging, read the next article on Starting a Niche Website.
9. Become a Ghostwriter
Ghostwriters sure make a lot of money though; they might not get the credit for what they write.
You can secure ghostwriting gigs on Grandeur Inkslinger, Upwork, Flex Jobs, and many others. Beginners can expect to earn anything between $15 to $30 per hour depending upon their quality of work.
Once you gain experience and develop a portfolio, your remuneration can increase exponentially. Learn the ethics and rules of ghostwriting before entering the arena.
10. Start a Freelance eBook Writing Business
Access to free self-publishing tools or cheaper facilities has made it easy to write and publish a book. With several millions of people reading e-books, it’s a lucrative opportunity.
You can leverage it as your side hustle for passive income until you hit the sweet spot. Meanwhile, keep researching the right strategies to write an eBook. The sky is your limit.
