30 Profitable Home Based Businesses
With the economy being what it is, layoffs all around us, and an increasing desire for many to escape the rat race and work from home, many are trying to start a home-based business.
Related Post: Four impressive home based businesses
Working from home not only offers independence and freedom but there are also some great home-based business tax deductions as well.
As I sit and write this, I am reminded of the years I spent in jobs that I didn’t like, and am now so thankful that I get to work from home and do something I love.
If you are longing for that situation, I encourage you to work to figure out what it is that you would love doing and keep at it until you reach that goal.
For my business, it took a long time before I started making any money blogging, let alone enough to pay the bills each month. I didn’t really know anything when I started and still feel like I do a whole lot more wrong than right, but the one thing I have had going for me is that I have been persistent. Great ideas and business degrees only go so far. It is persistence and determination that, I believe, are the true sources of success for most businesses.
Starting A Home-Based Business
Even though I wasn’t making very much at the time, when I got laid off a couple of years ago I was very happy that I had started a side business that was another source of income. Even if you don’t have aspirations of working full-time from home, having a little supplemental income would be nice — wouldn’t it?
Below are a bunch of home-based business ideas that you can peruse to see if any would work for you. Oh, and also as an aside, I am defining a home-based business as one that can be run from home, not necessarily a business that you would work from home all the time.
Also Read: Why does your business need SAP?
1. Sell A Product Online
A friend of mine had a baby and didn’t like the style/design of any of the baby products at the stores, so she started making her own. After getting some compliments, she realized that she could turn her idea into a business that she could run from home (with the babies). She just created an online store and sold all of her products via her website. If you aren’t creating your own product you can always find a product to dropship — that way you don’t have to store any inventory in your home.
2. Start A Woodworking Business
Do you love woodworking? Even without a huge workshop, you can create some of the more popular crafts and sell them. And like most things, your success in business isn’t necessarily related to how skilled you are as a woodworker. So if you can figure out which products consumers want and just create those, you could have a good business plan. Etsy.com and farmers’ markets are great place to start selling.
3. Cleaning Out Foreclosed Homes
With there being as many foreclosed homes out there as there are, the bankers (who now own the houses) don’t want to clean them up and they are willing to pay hefty sums for those who will. So it is fairly easy to start a Foreclosure cleanup business and get paid pretty well in the process. If you are interested here is a course you can take to learn more.
4. Freelance Writing
Since I started blogging a few years ago, I have seen the freelance market explode. There is a huge demand for content and so there are a lot of ways to make money writing it. Jonathan wrote a great article about a few legitimate work-from-home jobs — most of which were freelance writing.
5. Goodwill/Garage Sale Reseller
There are a lot of items that can be purchased very inexpensively at garage sales or thrift stores and sold for higher prices elsewhere. A few years ago I discovered that I could purchase good hardcover books at my local thrift shop for $1 or less. I realized that some of them could be sold on Amazon.com for $15-$20, which turns out to be a pretty decent profit. Find and sell enough items and you have a fun home business.
6. Blogging
I find a lot of people are interested in the idea of blogging as a business. You really can make some money blogging, but it is hard work. Not hard like digging ditches, but hard like it requires so many different skill sets and requires a lot of creativity and mental energy. It also is kind of the opposite of get-rich-quick. I only made $100 in my first 6 months of blogging, but now I make a living doing it.
7. Build Websites For Small Businesses
I feel like I have people asking me to build them a website all the time. If this is a business you would like to start you can learn how to make money building websites here. You may build an e-commerce website with these few steps.
8. eBay Business
A few years ago I started an Ebay business kind of as an experiment, just to see if it were something I could do if I needed cash. I wrote step-by-step instructions about starting an Ebay business if you are interested. Ebay is a pretty crowded market, but it still is one of the most popular home-based businesses.
Also Read: Why Government Agencies Should Adopt E-payments System
9. Home Inspector
This one will require certification, find out more about getting certified here.
10. Real Estate Agent
This one isn’t technically a home-based business, but with the flexibility it allows you would be able to likely do a lot of work from home. Find out about getting your real estate license.
11. Tutoring Students
What subjects do you have a good working knowledge of? Math, Science, History, Baseball, Soccer? Parents will often pay to see Johnnie or Sally excel at _______. If you can help, then it sounds like a business.
12. Start A Christmas Light Hanging Business
If you aren’t afraid of heights and can handle being out in the cold, this is a pretty great business opp. Some people earn a full-year’s salary just hanging lights for 2 months each year. Here is a course that provides some more info.
13. Car Mechanic
Do you know how difficult it is to find a good and trustworthy mechanic? Maybe it is just me, but I feel like I have had way too many experiences with mechanics not being truthful with me that I would gladly pay more and give all my business to an honest one. If you know your way around a car and have a few tools, this could be a great business idea for you..(more)
