With the unfortunate onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses were forced to look for alternative ways to survive. Understandably, a number of organisations had to downsize in order to buck the trend of businesses closing shop during the pandemic due to financial difficulties.
But as they say, when one door closes, another opens up. So, during the pandemic, many people that found themselves out of work and jobless had to turn to online businesses and remote work to stay afloat. However, when the effect of the pandemic subsided and countries opened up, many people who previously had jobs refused to go back to the office, instead preferring online businesses and remote jobs.
If you are on this page, chances are that you want to get online business ideas that you can start. In this post, I am going to be sharing 10 easy-to-start online business ideas that anyone can start from anywhere in the world. But before we delve into that, let’s talk about online businesses and what they are.
What Are Online Businesses
Online businesses are those types of enterprises that you can run entirely on the internet. Typically, you will need a computer or smartphone, an internet connection and a will to succeed to start an online business.
10 Online Business Ideas
E-Commerce
According to Shopify, the global e-commerce market was expected to hit $4.89 trillion in 2021. That prediction was before the global COVID-19 pandemic which led to a further boom in the industry. Today. The eCommerce sector is flourishing even with the huge number of players in the sector.
If you are looking to start with an online business idea that is almost guaranteed to give you success, eCommerce is a viable place to start. However, you need to have a great team working on your supply and transport to make it a viable business model.
Typically, the area most eCommerce entrepreneurs find difficult to handle is in sorting for goods and products to sell. But you can circumvent this by studying successful eCommerce websites to see their best selling products. Alternatively, you can do keyword research vis-a-vis the geographical location where you live to see the products that people in your target market are searching for. Armed with this information, you can stock products that will generally do well.
What You Need To Start An Ecommerce Business
This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but here are some key things you will need when starting your own eCommerce business online:
- Business Plan
- Products
- Warehousing
- Website/Software
- Marketing Budget
- Logistics
Blogging
Another easy-to-start online business idea that you can start immediately today is blogging. According to Shoutmeloud, “A Blog is an online journal where people write about things that matters to them. A lot of people use it as a diary and a lot of people who blog to make a profit out of it.”
Typically, people start blogs focused on certain topics of expertise, then build a community around the blog from which they monetize and make an earning.
One of the biggest worries that people have when starting a blog is how to attract website traffic to their content. The truth is that when it comes to blogging, you can only start making money when you start attracting website visits, so attracting website visits is a core aspect of blogging. To help you attract the right audience, consider investing in keyword research tools and link building tools and services.
Blogging Niches
According to WP Beginner, the 7 most profitable blogging niches include the following:
- Health and Fitness
- Personal Finance
- Fashion
- Lifestyle
- Business and Marketing
- Technology and Gaming
- Travel
What You Need To A Blogging Business
Here are some of the things you need to put in place before you start a blogging business:
- Web hosting
- Domain Name
- Web Design
- Writers and Editors
Digital Marketing
Since the advent of digitisation and globalisation, most businesses have had to go online. Additionally, with the proliferation of smartphones and computers, more and more consumers are logging on to social media and other online platforms. As a result of these, a lot of organisations need digital marketing services to be able to reach their target customers. Starting a digital marketing agency is a fantastic way to reach and serve this growing niche.
If you are looking to execute on the digital marketing online business idea, you can either start a 360-degrees agency or start a niched agency like a social media agency or an SEO agency. Whichever kind of digital marketing agency you opt for, make sure that you have the necessary pool of talents to execute.
What You Need To Start A Digital Marketing Agency
- Business Plan
- Specialists
- Marketing Budget
Online Consulting
If you are highly skilled in any area of expertise, you can offer your skill as a consultant online. Today, you can find various consultants online offering various services. However, to succeed as an online consultant, you need to prove your expertise typically through personal branding. One of the biggest platforms you can use to demonstrate your expertise is LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is a social media platform for professionals and businesses. By demonstrating your expertise on LinkedIn, you can easily attract businesses and individuals who need your services.
Freelancing
People typically look at freelancing as a solopreneur enterprise, but it can easily become a business if you play your cards right. Freelancing is a great online business idea that you can implement anywhere in the world by simply offering your skills online. To grow your freelancing business, you can look for other individuals that are skilled in the same area, then sublet jobs to them and charge a commission.
What You Need To Start A Freelancing Business
- A PC or smartphone
- Internet connection
- Freelancing platform
Top Freelancing Platforms
- Fiverr
- Toptal
- Upwork
- Freelancer.com
- Flexjobs
- SimplyHired
- Guru
- LinkedIn
- Behance
- 99designs
- Dribbble
- People Per Hour
YouTube Channel
Many people don’t realise that YouTube is a platform that one can use for business needs. Yes, it is a platform where millions of people go for their entertainment needs, but there are hundreds of thousands of creators on the platform earning a living by creating content and earning revenue from ads and other avenues.
If you are a good entertainer or if you are knowledgeable in a skill that is in high demand, you should consider starting a YouTube business.
What You Need To Start A YouTube Channel
- Video recording equipment (a smartphone or webcam can do the magic in some cases)
- Audio recording device
- Editing software
How Do You Make Money On YouTube?
- Through YouTube ads
- Through sponsorship deals
- By selling merch
- Through donations and subscription deas
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a form of eCommerce in that it involves the selling of products, but unlike regular eCommerce where you need to source for products, with dropshipping you typically sell other people’s products and earn a commission from the sales you make. As Shopify defines it, “Dropshipping is an order fulfillment method where a store doesn’t keep the products it sells in stock. Instead, the store purchases the item from a third-party supplier and has it shipped to the customer.”
With dropshipping, you don’t need a huge startup fee to start your online business. The major thing you will be spending on is your website. When your website is live, you can use platforms like Oberlo to curate products and the platforms you are curating from will handle logistics and other necessities.
Software Development
If you have coding skills and can develop websites and software, then you should strongly consider starting an online software development company.
With globalisation rapidly growing buoyed by the pandemic, many companies around the world now regularly hire software developers from all around the world. Therefore, if you can build world-class software and websites, you should consider starting a software development agency, and pitching it to companies around the world.
Please note that software development is a very vast field, so, if you are looking to start an agency, it would be advisable to hire other developers skilled in areas you aren’t skilled in.
Sell Photography Online
Another online business that you can is start is online photography. Online photography typically entails taking good pictures and selling them online. You can decide to start your online photography business as a solopreneur or work with other photographers as a full-blown business.
Platforms Where You Can Sell Photography Online
- Alamy
- iStock Photo
- Shutterstock
- Dreamstime
- BigStock
- CanStock Photo
- Fotolia/Adobe Stock
- Getty Images
- Stocksy
- Photocase
- Photoshelter
- 500px
- Canva
- EyeEm
- Etsy
- SmugMug
- Instaproofs
- Snapped4u
- GuruShots
- Fine Art America
- Fotomoto
Podcasting
Podcasting is another online business idea that you can start and grow. All you need to do is to find a good niche and create excellent content but that is not where it ends for you and your team. An important aspect of building a podcast business is marketing. Starting a podcast without a marketing plan is like going up the creek without a paddle- you probably will not succeed.
Best Podcast Niches
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Tech
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Health and fitness
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Personal Finance
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News
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Sports
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Motivational
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Business
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History
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Facts or trivia
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Stories
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Culture
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Music
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Animals
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Politics
ConclusionStarting an online business is often simpler than starting a brick and mortar business, but it is no way less daunting. With the ideas listed above, you can start your own business right away. But if you read through the list and still do not find something that you can do, you can check our list of professional courses to reskill, then start your online business.
IMAGE SOURCE: Pixabay
