40 Home Business Ideas for 2024 (Plus How To Get Started)
Most successful businesses today started at home. Starting a business at home is a very good idea for stay-at-home moms, disabled individuals and stay-at home dads or even young teenagers and adults who need a side or full-time job. You can start with a joke business either online or offline and gradually you can improve your business by taking it to a different location or you can better still keep looking at your home for convenience.
In this article, we will talk about some business ideas that you can consider if you want to start a side or main hustle in the comfort of your home.
Businesses to try in the comfort of your home
1. Buying Bulk Products and Reselling
Starting a completely new business model will be difficult if you are just starting, so you need to get an already existing business model and use it to then create your own business. Your business must not be the same as the model business you gave to make yours unique and different. You can look for a supplier of a well-marketable product and buy from them in bulk. After you buy them, then you can resell them and get your profits.
You can choose to sell products that are seasonal, like Christmas-themed wear and accessories during the Christmas period, and buy in bulk, then resell. You can also nom seasonal products and resell them. Non-seasonal products have an advantage over seasonal products because they do not go out of season and can be sold at any time of the year.
Before choosing a product, you should first choose the industry you want to go into. After thorough industry research, you have finally made your choice, then you can proceed to research the product you want to sell. When you have made up your mind on the particular product you want to sell, then you can go ahead to look for a reliable supplier to get your products in bulk from them.
2. Sell Homemade Products
You can make products in the comfort of your home and sell them out to buyers on your street or advertise them on social media. You can turn your hobby into a full-time job and earn income from doing what you love. Creating homemade items also allows you to create a unique brand of your own and customize it to your taste.
You can make homemade products ranging from soaps, hair care products, candles or snacks, all depending on what you can do and how well you can do them. You can also make handcrafted jewelry or crocheted wear for people, sell them and earn money from them. Homemade products do not have a specific industry, can be from one or different industries.
To start a homemade products business, you need to learn a skill and get to know how to make these products in the comfort of your home. Once you know you can make these products effectively without help or assistance, you can then proceed to market your brand and products and start receiving orders. You can choose to display your products at the front of your house or advertise and sell them online.
3. Dropshipping
If you want to run an online business as you find it suitable for your schedule or personality, you can consider starting a dropshipping business. For a dropshipping business, you don't need to have a high startup budget. Unlike other business models, you have to buy these products and store them awaiting buyers. A dropshipping business allows you to sell items without coming in contact with them.
In dropshipping, you have to promote products that are produced and shipped by a third-party supplier or wholesaler. When a customer purchases these products from your store, your supplier takes care of storing and shipping the products directly to the customer without you even handling these products yourself. You earn a commission for each sale you make and you don't have to worry about inventory management.
As a home-based drop shipper, focusing on a niche will help you attain success easily, so you need to get a specific niche and stick to it. You can create a website of your own and display these products on this website and receive a commission from sales of these products. You can use apps like Shopify which allows you to connect directly to suppliers you can purchase items from.
4. Print-on-demand Business
Starting a print-on-demand business is a good way for people who wish to start a business at home without getting to buy or store inventories. Print-on-demand business allows business owners to apply their unique branding and original designs to a variety of white-label products. When a customer places an order for a product, the print-on-demand company prints and shops the item or products directly to the customer on your behalf.
There are varieties of products you can sell through a print-on-demand company or business. Some of these products include books, hats, blankets, backpacks, pillowcases, mugs, shoes, hoodies, phone cases, and many other items. The different varieties of products allow you to sell to a specific market or target audience.
You can venture into many industries as a print-on-demand businessperson. You can go into pets producing customized collars or other pet accessories. Your industry will determine your target audience. If you are going for pets, then you target pet owners and if you want to specialize in surprises, your target audience will be adults.
5. Offer Online Services
If you are not interested in selling products online, you can choose to offer services for others online and get paid. A service-based business can be easier to set up compared to a retail business considering the cost of the products and creating and managing inventories for your business.
To start an online business, you need to learn a skill or leverage your skills if you already have one. If your contract of employment allows, you can become a personal brand of yourself and create a website where clients can go to see your portfolio and then hire you for your time and expertise.
There are various online-based businesses you can start from the comfort of your home. To get started in an online job, make sure to have a good internet connection and a good device to support my journey on your online business. Some of the online businesses you can engage in include monetizing your skills like DIY aspects, making YouTube videos, technical support, language tutoring or music lessons. You can also try out some service-based home businesses such as freelance writing, virtual assistant, marketing services, graphic design, translation and SEO consulting.
6. Teach Online Classes
If you're an educator, then you have an added advantage if you want to teach online courses. You can do what you love as an educator and still earn from it. Teaching is a very good way to earn money online, as you can share your knowledge and expertise with a larger audience. The high demand for learning and learning materials makes teaching online good and also suitable for those who have tight schedules or people who prefer virtual training.
For example, you can offer classes on video editing to people who wish to learn video editing. For classes like video editing, you can have both written and video lessons for your students and you also have the flexibility to choose the time you want for your classes. As an online tutor, you can also teach other lessons like cake baking and decoration, dressmaking and other skills you have. As long as you have a steady internet connection and a good device for your classes, you are good to go.
When setting off online classes, you also have the flexibility to choose between pre-recorded classes or live sessions for your students. It all depends on your schedule and preferences. Live courses can be offered at a premium rate which offers the students live and interactive sessions with their tutors.
Another option is to create a fully downloadable online course that students can purchase. This could include a variety of materials, such as video walkthroughs, templates, articles, and how-to guides. Using a screen-recording tool, you can capture your voice and computer screen as you guide students through the course content, providing a comprehensive learning experience.
7. Monetize Your Service or Expertise
One of the major problems of running a business at home and online major teaching is that you need to give most of your time into teaching. There is less time needed in cases where you have pre-recorded or available materials for your lessons. You can offer physical classes too, but your output is limited.
If you are good at what you do, you can apply your knowledge to create good educational material for others to learn from. Your learning materials must be easy to understand for your students. monetizing your expertise does not involve only educationists, but can also involve other people in other fields. You can create materials on how to bake and sell them off to people who want to bake and you can also hold classes on that.
Always make sure you advertise properly when you want to hold a class. Your marketing should be top-notch to cut across to the right audience.
8. Grow and monetize an audience
You can create a social media account and grow your audience. With time, you can monetize your audience by advertising people's products on your page or receiving tokens for publicity. You can open an Instagram account, YouTube channels, or podcasts that will keep people entertained and keep your audience increasing.
Take, for example, Jordan Ferney, the founder of Oh Happy Day Shop! She began by building an audience through her blog, sharing ideas and tips for throwing joyful parties. As her following grew, she transformed her blog into a full-fledged business, selling party items online. By creating her business around something she loved, she was able to spend more time with her family while running a successful e-commerce site.
Building a loyal audience requires patience, consistency, and dedication. It might not be the quickest way to start a home-based business, but it can be one of the most rewarding if you are passionate about your content. By consistently providing valuable, engaging, and authentic material, you can attract followers who share your interests and are eager to support your endeavors.
Monetizing your audience can take various forms. You can sell products, offer paid memberships, accept sponsorships, or use advertising. The key is to find ways to provide additional value to your audience while also generating income. With time and effort, growing an audience around something you love can lead to a fulfilling and profitable home business.
9. Buy an Existing Business
If your budget can take it, you should consider buying a small business, investing in it and watching it grow. Some entrepreneurs can choose to buy a business instead of starting a whole new business. Starting a new business comes with the steps of creation and other activities associated with company creation and incorporation.
The cost of purchasing a new business varies depending on location, age of business, size of business and other factors. Some businesses are sold even when they are still generating revenue, while others are sold after they've gone bankrupt. Buying an ongoing business is less risky since there is a high chance the business will blossom in the future.
Buying a dormant business that isn't trading at that moment is a higher risk since there's a lesser chance that the business will come back on its feet, because of this, investors tend to go for already existing and trading businesses. After buying a business, you invest in it and then, with time, you'll start having profits and some businesses can give you profit right away.
10. Start a Subscription Box Business
Starting a subscription box business is another good home business idea. The online subscription box industry is expected to grow at an annual rate of 14% between 2024 and 2032, making it a lucrative opportunity. This growth has led to the need for direct-to-consumer subscription brands and the adoption of subscription models by major companies like Sephora and Walmart.
To start a subscription business from home, you need to create a selection of desirable products that your customers will look forward to receiving regularly. For example, Ashley Reynolds created Cloth & Paper by bundling stationery products into subscription boxes and selling them on her e-commerce site. If you already run an ecommerce business, this can be a great way to make use of dead stock and generate additional revenue.
Subscription boxes do not necessarily have to focus completely on selling products. For instance, Haverdash is a subscription box company that rents out clothes. Customers rent the clothes, use them, and then send them back. Haverdash then rents these items out to other customers, generating more revenue from the same product.
11. Pet Influencer
There are pet influencers who make money by posting adorable pictures and videos of their pets on social media, thereby getting followers and traffic. The increase in followers can also help you sign ambassadorial deals with pet brands, which can be a source of income for you. To be a pet influencer, you need to have a good camera quality, which is essential for taking pictures and videos of your pet to post.
A good example of this is Bodhi, the Menswear Dog, also known as the most stylish dog in the world. Bodhi's Instagram feed showcases collaborations with big names like Booking.com, Spotify, and Poly & Bark, showing how a pet's social media presence can be monetized.
12. Sell Used Items
With the increase in the shopping population and also with the increase in the standard of living, people tend to patronize the secondhand market when they cannot afford new products. With this, you can consider selling out used items either yours directly or purchasing them from people who don't need them anymore.
These products can range from clothes, shoes, utensils, or some electrical appliances that you do not find useful anymore. You can sort out potential buyers on social media or even from your streets and sell your secondhand items.
13. Play Video Games
Video games are fun ways to earn money. You get warm money while doing what you love. If you are an expert in video gaming, then you can warm a lot. You can become a sponsored professional gamer by the company or any other company and sort from that you can also earn money by streaming your game experience on game streaming platforms like Twitch. Game developers usually pay popular game streamers to play and stream their games, thereby promoting the game.
As a gamer, you can also sell merchandise to your audience through the platform. Although Twitch is basically for streaming, some people have used it for laughing content, celebrating video game set directors and so on.
14. Sell Your Art
If you are an artist, your creativity can become a source of income. Whether you specialize in painting, digital art, sculpture, photography, or music, there is a market for your work. For example, Helen Levi, a potter based in Queens, turned her art into a business by selling ceramics through her online store.
Selling art from home requires more than just creating the art. You will need to spend time promoting your work, building a brand, and connecting with your audience. Social media, art fairs, and online marketplaces such as Saatchi Art are effective ways to showcase your work to potential buyers.
15. Become a Virtual Event Planner
Being a virtual event planner involves not just organizing schedules. It requires a natural ability to network, negotiate, and bring people together. These skills are important for marketing yourself to potential customers and ensuring the success of your events.
Finding a niche can help you stand out in the market. You might focus on specific types of events, such as conferences, meetings, and webinars, or on particular purposes, like personal parties, professional workshops, or industry-specific shows.
Becoming good with event platforms like Hopin and Whova will provide you with the technical know-how needed to impress your first clients.
16. Photography
Running a photography business at home can be in different forms. Ej8chball depends on the interest and skills of the person in question. An option is to sell stock photography by opening an online store or submitting the photos you take to an already-established marketplace such as Adobe Stock or Shutterstock. This market is very competitive, although high-quality and unique images are in high demand and can make you stand out.
If you want a personal brand, consider specializing in a specific photography niche. You can take wedding photos, portraits, fashion shoots or product photography. Focusing on a niche as a photographer allows you to become an expert in your niche and attract a good client base.
17. Beauty Business
One very popular industry is the health and beauty industry, which has been increasing in popularity day by day. Running a beauty business can be a good option for stay-at-home moms or any other person who loves beauty and would want to pick a business in that industry. You can create your own cosmetics or you can buy white label products and brand them.
Researching beauty trends and making use of them to boost your business is essential. Other than traditional cosmetics, there are dropshipping opportunities available in the beauty niche, which include massage guns to spa mirrors. Since beauty clients are frequently looking for convenience and confidence in their looks and well-being, your business will be more attractive if you give quality services to your clients.
18. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a business that involves a person or company, promoting a brand's products or services and earning commissions on sales made through their affiliate links. This business model can be done both at home and in the office, but it is suitable for people who stay at home and want to work from home.
To be an affiliate marketer, you need to think and strategies for how to effectively promote the product either by visual advertising or written advertisement. It all depends on your preferences and your resources. Some affiliate marketers use Instagram stories to feature brands while others make use of blogs and websites where they market the products on their blog or website with an affiliate link to the product.
If you consistently affiliate with other people's products, you can turn affiliate marketing into a full-time job and earn income from doing it.
19. Day Care
If you love kids and would love to be a part of the early development of children, then you can consider starting a daycare at your home. Most parents who work do not take their kids to work and even those kids old enough for school need someone to look after them after school hours, when their parents are away. You can start a daycare with any age group or children where you can look after kids till their parents are done with work and can come to pick them up. You can have a time for the opening and closing of your day care or your day care can be set to any time.
You can charge hourly, weekly, monthly or daily for your daycare and most daycares usually attract an extra fee for late pickup. To start a daycare, you must have effective learning materials for these children that will make learning easier for them rather than harder for them. You must be able to tolerate working with kids since they are not as mature as adults and can do things they do not want to. You must also have an environment conducive to learning to enable effective learning.
20. Sell on Marketplaces
You can sell items on Amazon, eBay or Facebook marketplace while at home. All you have to do is set up an account on any of these platforms and then you can list your items and begin with selling your items.
Although the market is competitive and challenging, which makes building a steady income difficult, you can also consider an independent online store to back up your marketplace accounts. For example, platforms like Shopify help you sync your storefronts and manage sales.
21. Social Media Management
You can learn social media management or use some self-taught skills to navigate the platform and become a social media manager. You can show your skills and expertise through your own personal social media accounts and invest in management tools.
For example, a Tikoker Rachel Pedersen who generated over 1 million TikTok followers used her account to transition from hairdressing into running a social media business. It all starts with finding your first client, which can be very difficult, so you have to use your networks and use your social media to market your services.
22. Virtual Personal Trainer
As of this day, the personal training industry has a value of about $14 billion, with social media platforms being the key marketing tool. If you have the necessary certifications and you promote your training packages for people who want to get fit while still at home, then you are on your way to starting a business as a virtual personal trainer.
You can use social media and promote your services and training alongside leveraging your network to reach more audiences.
23. Bookkeeping
If you are good with numbers, you can consider starting a bookkeeping business in the comfort of your home. You can work as a freelance bookkeeper and earn either hourly, daily, weekly or monthly and you are to charge the way you want, as there is no actual price for bookkeeping.
You can promote and advertise your services on social media to reach your target audience. You can also make videos talking about bookkeeping tips to show off your expertise.
24. Website Designing
If you can design good websites that offer a user-friendly experience, then you should consider using your skills to start up a web development agency from your home.
You can seek jobs from platforms like Upwork, Fiverr and Dribble to find clients as a freelance web designer or you can reach out to companies or networks and work as a remote designer. If you consistently keep on designing websites, your expertise will increase and projects and testimonials will help you to attract more clients.
25. Dog Grooming
If a guy has enough space in your home, and you especially love dogs, you can consider grooming dogs at your home and get paid. You can start by looking for local dog owners in your street and grow your client base. With time, you can also start selling grooming-related products.
26. Pet Sitter
You can reach out to owners who are workers or those who want to travel, to help them sit their pets for them. Pet sitting is a very underrated business. Though low paying, it can be used to generate income. You can use apps like Wag and Rover to find clients.
You can charge per hour or day, it all depends on you and the financial capabilities of your clients.
27. Freelance Writing
You can become a freelance writer and earn income remotely. You can write for blogs, websites, companies or brands and get paid. You can offer your writing in different ways and you can turn your writing into an active business by creating ebooks, newsletters or sponsored posts on your blog or social media accounts.
28. Property Management
You can become a property manager and help others manage their properties while they are away for other roles. You can also make money by listing your home on Airbnb. As a property manager, your role is to handle the bookings, cleanings and guest communication within the property. To start up this business, you need little to no capital allowance; you need a network of potential clients and advertising and marketing your services.
29. Landscaping
You can help others with gardening and landscaping and earn money. Whether it is mowing lawns or an organization of good and beautiful gardens, you can help people and get paid. Landscaping business can be a very good business if you consistently engage in it and, with time, grow your client base.
There is flexibility since you can choose the time convenient for your services and you can also choose to charge per hour, per day or job.
30. House Cleaning
You can help others clean their homes and get paid. People who are busy and rarely have time for cleaning and other house chores are your target audience when looking for clients for your services. You can clean personal homes, offices, malls, and public buildings and get paid.
You can charge hourly, daily or per job which all depends on the nature of the job and the location of the job. It also depends on how strenuous the job is. You can also form an agency with time as your client base increases and employ other people to work for you. By employing others, you are also creating job opportunities for other unemployed people.
31. Personal Chef
If you love cooking and have the necessary certifications and skills to become a chef, you can become a personal chef. You can help busy people with their cooking chores and get paid. Your role is to prepare good and healthy meals for your clients in the comfort of their homes, making their meals to match their dietary and health needs. As your business grows and expands, you can choose to offer other products or services, including branded supplements, meal kits or cooking lessons for others who want to learn.
You can even consider starting a food truck business or a restaurant business to complement your job as a personal chef.
32. Home Staging Business
Your home decor can tell a lot about whether you can design other people's spaces or homes. You can consider your talent as a home stager and help others to arrange their houses and places to suit their preferences and tastes. To be successful in home staging, you need to know how to combine shapes, sizes and colors to make a beautiful design that will be aesthetically pleasing to the brain and eyes.
You can use social media to advertise and market your home stage to serve as a model for your job. Using an empty and unattractive space to a good and beautiful space for your clients and get paid in return. Doing what you love and getting paid in return.
33. Mobile Spa
You can bring your clients the services of a spa down to their location without having to wait for them to come to you. You can get a truck and design it to house all the equipment to perform your services. You can offer services such as massages, manicures, and pedicures, providing a relaxing spa experience for your clients. You can also choose to perform these services at your client's houses and give them relaxing comfort at their homes.
You can also offer facials and other complementary services like giving of wellness lessons or any other lessons related to wellness and spas.
34. Therapy
If you want to become a licensed therapist, there are various paramedical treatments you can offer as a therapist from home. You can offer services like therapy, acupuncture or physiotherapy to your clients at home. Some platforms, like Zeel connect users with licensed therapists and offer home-based services.
Before you look forward to becoming a licensed therapist, make sure to comply with all the local regulations and professional guidelines and stay updated with the latest techniques and trends in your field.
35. Medication Sessions
As a medical instructor, you can choose to offer a variety of services which include live sessions, pre-recorded meditation guides or even a customizable meditation app. Making sure you have a specific certification is advantageous. It is not completely the main thing necessary to become a meditation instructor, you have to get a thorough understanding of the practice and techniques necessary for being an instructor.
As your business is growing, you can choose to offer sessions for different age groups and different people. For example, you can offer sessions for children, adults or the aged and get paid in return.
36. Teach Journaling Methods
If you are passionate about journaling and would love to teach others how to journal and stick to journaling, you can offer lessons on journaling methods and how to journal to people who want your services. Use your social media and network to get to your target audience.
37. Professional Organizer
As a professional organizer, you can help people organize their events, spaces or offices and get paid. You must have a good eye for details and arrangements to be able to be a professional organiser, and achieving a certification in that area or similar areas is an added advantage.
38. Podcast Editor
In recent times, podcasts have become a popular thing for people and you can earn money by editing these podcasts. You help these people to edit their videos to look good and presentable to the target audience.
39. Herbal Product Line
If you are good with herbal products, you can choose to start a herbal product line and sell your products. Branding these products is very important to ensure a unique identity and you should make sure you have the necessary certifications to run a herbal business line. You must comply with the rules and regulations governing that particular line of business.
40. Candle Brand
Making candles is a very simple job and you can earn from making candles not just ordinary candles but good-looking and customized candles. You can advertise them on your social media or network and get across to your target audience.
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Conclusion
The above businesses are good business ideas to try if you are looking for how to start a business and make money. To try out any of these businesses, make sure you perform good research and take into consideration the risk factors.
