Are you tired of your boring 9-5? Ready to tell your boss that you’ve had enough? Well, you could do it tomorrow and start working on one of these businesses instead — though we can’t guarantee that you won’t end up working just as many hours (or more) as at the job you have now. Still, the upside will be it might be on something you actually like.
We’ve got 10 easy ideas for businesses that you can start tomorrow. They’re all things that have really low setup costs and that don’t require many complicated technical know-hows to pull off. That doesn’t mean there’s zero barrier to entry, and it certainly doesn’t mean that they’re all easy and simple, but it does mean that you really could be doing something totally different tomorrow if you decided to take the leap.
1. Virtual assistant
Being an online virtual assistant is just one of so many jobs that the internet has opened up. You can provide professional support remotely to clients to help their business keep up and running. Some virtual assistants work for an undermined period of time; others work on a specific project or task until it’s finished. They might do social media work, edit articles, help research a target market, respond to emails — basically, whatever the business needs.
LinkedIn can be a great place to start finding virtual assistant work, as well as websites like Zirtual.com that are specifically for finding virtual assistants.
2. Dog walker, groomer or sitter
Love animals? Then you may be the perfect person to start a business centred around helping people take care of their furry friends. There are lots of things you can do to pitch in, whether that’s becoming a dog walker or groomer or offering pet sitting services for when their owners are out of time.
Come up with a clever name, get some nice business cards done and start spreading the word about your new services.
3. Consulting service
You can offer consulting in lots of different fields. Think about something you already know about that potential clients might need assistance with. You could do social media consulting, management consulting or operation consulting — and that’s just to start! What useful advice might you be able to give people?
4. A clothing line
Think you’ve got the best ideas for what people should be wearing? You can actually set up a clothing line fairly easily. You’ll need some good ideas and a website that shows off your stuff, and there are a few tricks you can use to get images of a clothing line up quickly. If you design T-shirts, for instance, you can use mockups and templates to create an instant image of your design as worn on a real person. You also don’t have to print those tees until people actually order them thanks to print-per-order technologies.
If you want to find out more about launching your very own online apparel business, then check out this article we wrote on the subject.
5. Freelance writing
As a freelance writer myself, I can attest to the fact that you can start a freelance writing business almost instantly. You’ll need to send out pitches and probably set up a portfolio or website, but there are lots of opportunities to write. Just think of all the websites out there that need content! You can also try traditional media, like magazines and newspapers, as well as online sources. If you have a particular niche or speciality that you’ve picked up somewhere, then you should take full advantage of that.
6. Messenger or delivery service
There are so many companies and people who need things delivered or need a bit of help to do the running around. If somebody needs something fast, you could be the person to get it to them! This is another job you can set up on your own or you can try doing through an existing platform, like Glovo or Appy Pie.
7. Etsy seller
Are you a creative type? Then you might be able to channel your creative energy towards running an Etsy store. Maybe you can do beautiful watercolour paintings, or perhaps you’ve got a talent for making handcrafted jewellery. Whatever it is, choose something you like and think people will want to buy, and start selling! Setting up a shop on Etsy is fairly quick and easy. One thing you will want to have here are nice quality images to help your products stand out.
8. English teacher
Is English your native language? Then there are definitely lots of people worldwide who want to hire you! You could teach English classes, take care of people who want their children to speak perfect English, correct essays and papers, help students with exam preparation or do conversation sessions. There are always plenty of students and businessmen looking to improve their English, both online and in your local community.
9. House painter or window cleaner
These are two jobs that often don’t require any sort of licensing or qualification to do, and they also have pretty minimal setup costs. If you’re handy around the house, then take advantage of that and start a business by offering services to people who don’t have time to take care of their home. Of course, do keep in mind that you will actually need to know how to paint a house or properly clean a window! This can be a bit trickier than it looks.
10. Join a platform like Uber or TaskRabbit to run errands
If you don’t mind running around all day, then you could do something like become an Uber driver or do tasks for people via TaskRabbit. Both of these platforms make it easier for you to find clients than if you were on your own. The disadvantage is that you may end up making less money. If you don’t like the idea of using one of these apps, could you use the idea to launch a service of your own?
One last benefit of these ten jobs — your setup costs are fairly low, as are the risks. No new venture is ever zero risk, but as these jobs are pretty easy to set up, they’re also pretty easy to stop doing if you decide they’re not quite the right fit for you. But give it a go, and you may be surprised! You might actually find out being the owner of your own business is exactly the change that you were looking for.
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Printsome is an online t-shirt printing UK agency providing printed T-shirts for events big and small, all across the UK from Hull to York and everywhere in between.
