Nowadays, more people are considering starting their businesses for a variety of reasons. While some are looking to have more than one career path, others need another income source to survive.
Also, some decide to give their jobs to pursue being their own bosses.
With these among other reasons, the good news is that starting a business at our homes’ comforts is possible.
Now, the question will be, “what business can I start from home?”
Table of Contents
Best Business To Start: Real Estate or Online Business
The best business models from home are looking at real estate and online businesses.
These give you the potential to make a lot of money and flexibility.
Depending on your interests, I would recommend looking into land investing and content creation.
Land Investing – Real Estate Investing
Land investing can be done in your home. You can purchase property inexpensively and sell it without seeing the parcel.
It’s strictly a numbers game. If you buy a land for super cheap, you don’t even have to see it. You can look on Google Maps and get the terrain and access.
Look to sell it for cash or owner financing.
Read: Land Investing: Land Flipping 101
Content Creation – Business Model
Content Creation is increasingly looking like a great business model. The more content you create, the more it will show up in search results and be recommended.
The greatest problem for people is that they don’t have traffic. It doesn’t matter if you have the best product or service. If people don’t know about it, you won’t make a profit.
Traffic is the reason that influencers are able to make money. They don’t have a product or service. They basically recommend different products and services to get a commission.
Some platforms will allow them to get money through advertising.
Consider creating content on WordPress, YouTube, and Podcasts. These platforms will allow you to keep on growing and build up a strong base.
Read: Ultimate Guide On Making Money On YouTube
E-Commerce Business
If you want to go right into making products, you can leverage the traffic of other people and businesses.
You can look into paying for influencer marketing or leveraging a platform like Amazon.
Read: Influencer Strategy For Brands: How To Sell More Of Your Product
Look into Various Products for Your Shop
Developing an online shop where you can sell various products is a good starter in a home-based business. It allows you to offer products or services without putting any physical store.
Moreover, it provides freedom for potential customers to check and buy your products at their most convenient time. Unlike traditional stores, the online shop has a broader audience since most people have access to the Internet.
Here’s what to remember when starting to become an online seller:
- Identify who will be your target market and the products that will be suitable for them.
- You can set-up a website, social media account, or both where your target market can access your products. Make sure to update these from time to time.
- Plan carefully for your regular content, pricing, your inventory, and methods for payment.
- Create shopping, transaction, and other related policies to ensure smooth transactions.
Be sure to be always available to cater to your customers’ inquiries and concerns.Create a section where customers can send their feedback.
The Concept of Home-Based Business
A home-based business is either a full or part-time venture that was conceptualized and established at home from the term itself.
It can be any size or location, as long as your home will be its place of operation. Moreover, businesses that do not require an inventory or something that can be on-the-go can be considered home-based.
Pros and Cons of Home-Based Business
Before getting your sleeves up and considering the million-dollar question, “what business can I start from home?” let’s check some of the benefits and risks you’ll be facing.
Just like other ventures, starting a home-based business has its advantages and disadvantages.
The following are some pros and cons of having a home-based business, which can help you decide if this journey is for you:
Advantages:
Lesser Commute time (and the commute stress)
One of the things that drain our energy as employees is the time and hassle we encounter when we step to our doors. With a home-based business, you do not have to face the daily struggles of being a commuter. It means spending more time focusing on the venture and be more productive.
Fewer Overhead Costs
Since this venture usually doesn’t start big, it also doesn’t require you to invest too much. One factor for this is that you are not paying for expenses like the office rent and facilities. This advantage can give you more freedom in your pricing decisions.
Freedom to explore a different lifestyle
If you are paying expenses like rent, water, and electricity, you always find yourself urging for profit, most especially to cover these.
Unfortunately, these obligations limit you to explore for the business.
Businesses at home save you significant time from these commitments and give you more freedom in expanding the venture.
Flexible working hours
Working on your ideal or preferred hours is one of the fantastic perks of a home-based venture.
Especially for those with children and other obligations, the working hours required in a home-based business is not restricted.
Besides having a better quality time with family and doing other responsibilities, it will also be possible to interact with customers even at any time of the day.
Disadvantages:
Difficulty to separate work and personal life
One essential requirement in a home-based business is to set a portion of your home to delegate for your business.
It means you have to set boundaries between when to work and when for family and personal life.
Unfortunately, just because you are working at home doesn’t mean you are excused for either not working or doing home obligations.
Isolation
Owning a home-based business saves you from the toxicity of working with other individuals.
However, feelings of isolation can always occur. Being a home-based entrepreneur will make you miss the enjoyment and camaraderie in an office environment.
When the business is in its complicated stage (which sometimes can happen), a strong support system is the first and last thing you need.
Procrastination
Procrastination, or the act of delaying or postponing something, is another temptation in work-at-home set-ups like a home-based business.
Because of our comfort, we often see ourselves letting every single second pass by without doing anything.
Distraction
From the noises brought by children or neighbors up to the television’s sound, distractions are very prone in home-based ventures.
It can sometimes affect our productivity, which can also affect business operations and management.
How to Overcome the Disadvantages of Owning a Home-based Business
With the disadvantages presented, is there any way to resolve this and pursue owning your business and do it at home?
Fortunately, there are ways to solve the significant disadvantages of being a home-based entrepreneur.
Read: What Do I Need To Start A Business?
Some of these are the following:
Before anything else, inform your household first- Along with your initial plans of establishing a home-based business is telling your family members about it.
Be open about your goals and the support and consideration you will need to make it happen. This is to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings that can affect your relationship.
Save money wherever you can- One of the problems at home entrepreneurship is losing money early. Solve this by seeking advice from financial experts, forecasting the costs, and making sure you have sufficient funds.
Inform your friends and loved ones that you mean business- Set limits and boundaries to your friends and loved-ones wherever possible. For instance, inform them to contact you on your business phone when they want to avail of your services, and shouldn’t be given special attention.
Invest for the equipment you need- Another way to set you and the business more operational by exerting efforts to invest in equipment you’ll need. Failing to do this means trouble for your venture.
Always set a professional image- The image that the people will see while doing the business lies in your hands. You will never be credible if you still act as an ordinary household.
Consider doing what other entrepreneurs do- print business cards, create websites, and have separate contact details for business transactions.
Anticipate the stress that you may encounter- Do not neglect to take care of yourself. Owning a business isn’t exciting and rewarding all the time, and you must set some time for you to rest and to have some quality time.
Different Business Ideas that you can Start from Home
If you think that being a home-based entrepreneur is something you can pursue, this is the perfect time to consider what businesses you can start.
Fortunately, the rise of digital advancements and networks provide more opportunities for us to dive into this field.
There are numerous ways to start having your home-based business. From these ideas, the following are some of the practical paths that you can consider to start exploring:
Blogging
From the concept of information and knowledge dissemination, blogging nowadays is a potential business. Online articles can drive traffic to the site to improve online marketing efforts, attracting more online customers.
Read: Blogging As A Side Hustle
Some of the blogging options you can choose are:
- Traditional blogs– these are the usual write-ups we see online.
- Photo blogs– Social media networks like Tumblr allow users to post and share various pictures and placed some descriptions about it.
- Video blogs, also known as vlogs, allow sharing information and knowledge by creating and posting videos.
Here’s what to remember to become a successful blogger:
- Post consistently
- Always opt for relevant, useful, and informative content.
- Encourage people to share, ask, and send feedback.
- Be focused on the content, yet be willing to go off-topic.
- Make subscription easy and convenient.
- Feel free to share a little something about you
Service-based online business
The power of online platforms never fails to bring opportunities even at our homes. As it lets anyone in the world be reachable and accessible, it also connects businesses around the globe.
Online services that cater to entrepreneurs and professionals’ needs can be another profitable home-based business.
Compared to an online shop, service-based businesses do not require acquiring too many customers. It may be hard to get a client, but the best thing here is that these clients can be long-time ones. Depending on the services you will provide, a few clients can sustain you for a longer time.
Some of these online services you can consider are:
- Website content writing
- Website creator
- Graphic designer
- Virtual assistant
- Digital marketer
Handmade Goodies seller
If you have a creative hand and mind, you can have your brand by creating handmade products. Regardless of the craft you are good at, the concept here is to generate money and start a business using your skills.
Here, you can also create an online store, post it to other websites, or both.
Compared to selling other products, with developing and marketing your brand:
Lets you introduce another brand that people can try;
Gives you the opportunity how big you want to grow or expand, and;
Turns your hobby or passion into a potential passive income
Here are some tips that will help you with this venture:
- Develop the product (a full-packaged prototype)
- Test the product for your family and loved ones and get their reaction. Use this feedback to refine the product.
- Find your target market and get to know about them.
- Choose how and where to distribute the products.
- Consider doing a marketing plan.
How to Start the Home-based Business
From identifying the perks and risks in a home-based business and some ideas you can start working on, your preparation is another thing.
Here are some ways to be more equipped and confident in putting up your home-based business:
Read: How to Start Up A Small Business At Home
Decide on the idea of your business.
All of your preparations will be useless if you haven’t decided first what your business will be. Here, you can consider your talents or skills, your existing resources, or even the necessity of your locale. It can help you create the foundation of the venture you want to pursue.
Create a business plan
It may sound complicated and technical, but writing a business plan can be your tool in making your venture successful. Your business plan should contain all the details about your business along with the potential rooms for growth and other projections from this perspective.
Choose the Business Name and Entity
Your business name will serve as your venture’s central identity. It should reflect the product or service along with the value and commitment you’re willing to give to your customers. Meanwhile, a business entity will provide you with a concrete focus on your business structure.
Register the business and get a business license.
Besides saving you from future problems legally, securing your business’s legalities can assure your potential buyers that they are dealing with a real business or company.
Make sure that you separate your business and personal finances.
Just like how you separate your personal life from your business life, doing this to your finances can help you discern your venture’s financial aspect.
Frequently-Asked Questions
How much capital should I need?
Like in other businesses, there isn’t a definite amount of how much you can spend when starting a home-based venture.
Regardless, starting a business will require you to pay more, with little to no profit in the first few months.
How can I come up with a great brand name or store?
It is one of the most challenging parts of putting up your own business, probably because you either have too much or too few options.
Yet you can start by listing business names that will come to your mind. From there, choose which of these are catchy, easy to spell, and sounds interesting.
What are the mistakes that I should avoid when establishing a home-based business?
Focus on quality. If you don’t focus on quality, people will start dismissing your brand and business.
