Startup Business Ideas #1: Buying Websites
Just like stocks and property, in our interconnected world thanks to the internet, websites also have a really high value. Even as you read this, websites are constantly being purchased or sold for hefty prices. There are several factors that will affect the value of a site online, such as the domain name, the amount of traffic it receives, general popularity and profits that the site earns amongst other factors. While this business can be really lucrative, it requires an in-depth understanding of the market, however, once you understand how it works, you could potentially be sitting on a goldmine.
Startup Business Ideas #2: Online Coach
If you are passionate about something and have a big knowledge base about the topic, you could start a career as an online coach. Setting up a YouTube channel with tutorials, setting up a blog to help people understand concepts, creating online courses – there is a multitude of things that you could be doing. Online coaching can be a lucrative way of making money, however, make sure you don’t oversell yourself online or to a client as their success depends on many different things that may not entirely be under your control.
Startup Business Ideas #3: Online Assistant
Are you organized, can multitask and are meticulous about your work? Chances are that someone out there is looking for a virtual assistant with your skill set and would be willing to pay quite well. To start off, you can look for assistant jobs on platforms like Upwork or on remote working websites such as Jobspresso. This job is also a great way of making contacts in an industry that you want to eventually end up in. Furthermore, as an online virtual assistant, you decide your hours, can have a flexible schedule and you won’t be tied down to any location due to the remote nature of the work.
Startup Business Ideas #4: English Teacher
If you are a native English speaker or are bilingual but proficient in English, you could look towards teaching English as a second language to people online. This is more than just a summer of “ESL”. There are people willing to pay up to $50 dollars depending on your experience and skills and it can all be done online – which means you could potentially set up a company and even hire others to expand your client base. Just be sure to remember that while knowing English is a requirement for this job, it’s not the only requirement – you need to be patient and have the ability to explain and simplify the difficult language and cultural concepts.
Startup Business Ideas #5: Vocational Consultant
If you are leaving behind a corporate job with a fair amount of experience to start your own venture but have no idea where to begin, this one may be for you. There are several people out there who want to learn how to ace a promotion interview or ask for a raise, or simply land a high paying job. If you have useful tips for them, you can just start your own consultancy and people will be willing to pay you good money to learn the tricks of the trade. If you aren’t ready to start up your own website or just want to test out the waters, you should look at signing up to platforms such as The Muse or Coach Me where others are looking for people like you to mentor them.
Startup Business Ideas #6: Real Estate Valuation
Real estate valuation is a great job to have because you can decide how much you want to work, where you want to work from and these parameters will decide how much you earn. You don’t necessarily need a degree in this field but you should check if you require some kind of certification in the country or state that you want to operate in. Of course, apart from the certification, you also need to have a solid understanding of the market to be able to make a living for yourself in this field.
Startup Business Ideas #7: Graphic Design
There is a huge demand for graphic designers in the market today. If you already have the existing skill set and knowledge of design platforms such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop or Sketch, then you can literally just sign up to Fiverr or Upwork or find remote jobs on websites such as Jobspresso. However, if you don’t have the required skills, you can always sign up to Skillshare and enroll in a graphic designing course and then practice through smaller gigs. Businesses need graphic designers to create logos, banners, social media posts, design campaigns, products and packaging and so many other smaller processes that we don’t even realize – so keep practicing and before you know it, you may be snapping up clients with the utmost of ease.
Startup Business Ideas #8: Ui/Ux Designers & Specialists
UI/UX or User Interface/User Experience designers and specialists have a unique skill set that is extremely important in the today’s world. A lot of consumer psychology is based on how the customers interact with a website or app interface and how pleasant or easy the experience is. UI/UX designers can literally build the face of the company or brand and they often get paid a large sum to do so too. As with any other job, the experience and work portfolio plays a big role in the future work prospects, so if you are interested in starting your own UI/UX business, keep hustling and take up even the smallest gigs, even just for the experience.
Startup Business Ideas #9: Presentation Design
Believe it or not, there are entire businesses set up for people to hire someone else to create their powerpoint presentations. For those who are not well-versed in technology or have a tough time getting around Microsoft Office, creating a presentation can be a major challenge and even a hurdle in their professional career. Familiarize yourself with different types and formats of presentations, such as Pechakucha or Prezi, and you can widen your customer base even more.
Startup Business Ideas #10: Web Development
Web developers are highly valued due to their specific knowledge of a complicated subject. If you can master the basics of HTML, Python, CSS, Ruby and/or Javascript, and get some experience for your portfolio, you are all set to start your own successful web development business. You can further hone your skills or learn a new language on Treehouse.
Startup Business Ideas #11: App Development
3.8 Million apps on the Android store, 2 million apps in the iOS store and every single day more new apps are being created and released. You can find an app for nearly anything: Some are useful, while others aren’t so much. Creating an app and launching it is a tedious process with a lot of hard work going into it – from the coding and development phase to creating a beautiful interface and providing the best user experience possible. Furthermore, you might also want to market your app on social media. If your first app is a success this may launch you into a career in app development with some great projects in the future.
Startup Business Ideas #12: Online Journalism
If you have a degree in a communication field or in journalism but don’t want to work in a traditional newspaper or broadcasting atmosphere, you could look into online journalism. Build your portfolio with online companies such as HuffPostand then work your way to creating your own medium of news; be it a blog, youtube channel, social media channel, etc. Then you can add sales funnels by looking into advertising revenue.
Startup Business Ideas #13: Affiliate Sales And Marketing
This is a great idea if you are running a channel on YouTube and have decided that you would like to turn the views into revenue. The same can be done with a website that is generating plenty of traffic. All you have to do is join one of the big affiliate networks such as Clickbank or ShareASale and you can turn your existing content mediums into a source of passive income.
Startup Business Ideas #14: Podcasting
Do you have a hobby or passion that causes people around you to constantly ask you for advice in that field or tell you that you should teach or spread your knowledge? Well, you should listen to them! You can start your own podcast about niche topics that you have a solid knowledge base about; the more specific the topic is, the better. If you already have a podcast that you are running for free, you can crack some sponsorship deals to turn it into a source of income. All you need to be sure about is whether you are creating consistent, valuable and relevant content for your audience.
Startup Business Ideas #15: WordPress Websites
Many small business owners, especially ones that are foraying into the ecommerce world, like to create a basic website, usually hosted on WordPress. If you have a working knowledge of WordPress or have the time and resources to invest in learning about the platform, you could be earning hundreds of dollars just to launch a website. Investing your time in learning about WordPress will pay off in the long run as well because it is an important skill to have these days.
Startup Business Ideas #16: Outsourced Customer Service
There are several businesses out there that are looking for individuals to fulfill customer service positions. This requires a fair amount of experience, good people and management skills and should be familiar with organizational structures. Platforms like Upwork and Jobspresso provide many opportunities and the best part is that if you are good at what you do, you can even hire a team to scale your business and take on bigger clients.
Startup Business Ideas #17: Online Courses
Online courses are awesome! Whether you are learning from them or the one doing the teaching, there is a great opportunity here. If you are good at anything, chances are that there are people out there who would like to know how to do exactly that, no matter which field it is. People are willing to pay big sums of money to learn things online without having to get them from traditional educational institutes such as schools and colleges simply because they will still be paying a whole lot less and they can learn at their own pace. There are several platforms such as Skillshare that you can teach such courses on.
Startup Business Ideas #18: Blogging
While people still don’t think of this as a business, bloggers can be some of the highest earners on the internet as they diversify their portfolio once they have established themselves and have a sizable audience base. Your blog can be about literally anything you want and chances are that there is an audience out there for it. If you are planning to start a blog, you need to constantly work on honing your writing skills and come up with fresh and engaging content ideas. Listen to what the audience wants and provide them with that, all while maintaining your unique voice. Once you learn how to perfectly straddle the line, you can get sponsors involved, use affiliate marketing and use social media channels to drive traffic to your website to monetize this process. Some bloggers are now traveling the world for free, have media empires of their own in their respective fields and are considered influencers with a high value.
Startup Business Ideas #19: Domain Name Trading
In 2009 a domain called “insure.com” was sold for $16 million. Let that sink in for a minute. This business is nothing new but there is still money to be made in this sector. Buy low, sell high and you can do it from literally anywhere with an internet connection. Of course, this requires some amount of initial investment on your part, but once you get the hang of it and learn to analyze what a good domain for this purpose is, you can be making a whole lot of cash really soon!
Startup Business Ideas #20: Youtube Channel
With 300 hours of video being uploaded to the website per minute and 3.25 billion hours of video content being consumed each month, YouTube is currently the 2nd largest search engine and the largest video site in existence. (Brandwatch.com, 2016) The website boasts an impressive one billion users, which is just about over one-third of the entire population of internet users, yet only 9% of small business owners in the U.S are known to use YouTube as a marketing tool. Since YouTube is owned by Google, videos that are uploaded on YouTube rank better in the search engine results and even more so if the video and the accompanying text is keyword-rich. Besides, you can manipulate video content to best showcase your brand’s personality. You can get as creative as you want and, contrary to popular belief, great video content can be made on a small budget. It’s all about your vision! So instead of just using YouTube as a marketing tool, you could make it a career! There’s a reason why so many people aspire to become YouTubers – there is a lot of growth potential if you capture the right audience and manage to monetize your channel.
Startup Business Ideas #21: Commission Sales
If your skill set involves having great sales and marketing skills and you enjoy building professional relationships to grow your network, this may just be the field for you. Many companies are looking for someone like you who has their own sales consultancy with a great technical know-how. The more you sell, the more you make and you never have to worry about things like inventory because it’s not even your product! The better you get at this, the higher your commission goes.
Startup Business Ideas #22: Music Teacher
Are you passionate about music? Do you have a love for teaching? Do you enjoy attending theatre and plays often? If so, you could be a music teacher or consultant. You don’t necessarily have to travel for such a job as your classes and sessions can be attended over Skype. Private music sessions can help you make anything between $20 – $200 per lesson, depending on the type of sessions and the level that you would be teaching at. This is great for any music lover; to be able to make money doing something they are truly passionate about.
