When COVID-19 forced so many people to work from home, some were hit harder than others.
After all, you can do your job from home, but what about those who are solopreneurs or don’t have a job that they can perform from home?
That is where the need for home businesses arose. A lot of people are now looking for home business ideas with low startup costs to survive in this new reality.
If you are someone who needs home business ideas that you can realistically make money from, then this post is for you. Keep reading to find nine easy-to-setup home business ideas with low startup costs.
9 Home Business Ideas That You Can Realistically Earn From
In this section, you will find a curated list of the best home business ideas that require low or zero startup costs.
Some of these home business ideas require setting up an actual business entity, while others can be done without registering a business. Registering a business in the US can take time and involves numerous steps.
Hire the services of GovDocFiling to make things simpler for yourself and expedite the processing time to register your home business.
1. Content Creation
An easy home business to start without any startup costs is to start creating content for clients. Your clients could include anyone with a website who wants high-quality, SEO-friendly content that helps them rank.
You can create optimized content for service and product pages of eCommerce websites and earn a decent monthly income from doing just that.
2. Online Tutoring
Are you good at something and teach it in an easy-to-understand way?
If yes, then this home business idea is just what you need to start earning money without any startup costs.
All you need to do is register for an online teaching portal or create your own website. You can even use word of mouth to find students who would be interested in online tutoring through video calls.
3. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is another easy-to-implement home business idea with low startup costs.
It requires you to generate sales and take orders on behalf of a third-party business and then send those orders to them for fulfillment. Your entire role is simply to act as an intermediary between the customers and a manufacturer.
4. Blogging
It may sound like a cliche as so many people go for this option, but it is still one of the best ways of earning money from home.
All you have to do is:
- Pick a niche
- Choose a name for your blog
- Buy hosting and create a website
- Optimize it to make it SEO-friendly
- Start posting high-quality content
- Be consistent and build an audience
- Monetize your blog through ads, affiliate links, etc.
5. Home Bakery
If you have a knack for cooking baked goods that can tempt anyone into trying those, then this is a great home business idea for you.
What about the startup costs?
Well, all you need to invest in are the ingredients, an oven, and the right tools to craft amazing baked goods. Other than that, you will also need to establish a marketing and sales channel to take orders and let people know about your home business.
One simple way to do that is to promote your business on social media and take orders via phone calls. You can post product pictures on Instagram to tempt people and win more customers.
6. Social Media Management
Social media marketing requires daily content creation and posting customized content for every channel. Most businesses are active on social media or want to be, but don’t have the in-house resources and time to maintain this frequency.
That’s where you can pitch your services.
Simply create social media posts for a business and publish those according to an agreed-upon schedule. You can also interact with other accounts and help businesses get more followers on social media.
Once you do a good job for one business, you can start promoting your home business and get enough clients to make it a sustainable business.
7. Arts and Crafts
Do you have a knack for creating unique, artistic things that people might be interested in buying?
Well, then this home business idea is for you.
Whether you create home-embroidered clothes or beautiful paintings, you can sell your creations online. You don’t necessarily need to create a website, as social media selling is a very real and feasible option for many small home businesses.
8. Online Courses
A lot of home business owners have used this idea to create digital products and resources, and sell them online.
Unlike online tutoring, you don’t need to take sessions every day, but can create an online course and sell it. Students will enroll for it and listen to your teachings at their own pace, from anywhere they want.
There are numerous online courses portals where you can post your course and get registrations.
You just need to pick the right topic, something that you’re really good at and can actually provide value to others. Then, design an interactive, easy-to-learn course that helps students learn and apply your teachings in real life.
You can also create other digital products like ebooks and sell those online as well. Needless to say, this doesn’t really require any startup costs except for your time and effort.
9. Influencer Marketing
The most popular home business idea with low startup costs is to be a social media influencer.
Actively post content on social media, about a specific topic or niche, and build a decent following. Once you have that, brands will be interested in reaching your followers and taking your help to do that.
You can collaborate with brands in your niche and promote their products, write reviews, run promotions, create sponsored content, and more.
Concluding Thoughts
COVID-19 pandemic put the entire world on lockdown and forced people to work from their homes. However, people who don’t have a full-time job can’t exactly do that unless they come up with home business ideas with zero or low startup costs.
This post lists nine of the most realistic and feasible home business ideas that can actually help you earn a steady income.
Take your pick from these ideas and start your home business right away. All the best!