There are many different kinds of businesses that you can do at home that don’t require significant investment of money. That doesn’t mean that starting your own business will be easy, though. You will need to do a lot of market research and networking, and put in a lot of unpaid hours before you can start to see a reliable income.
You also need a business that has a reasonable chance of succeeding. Read on to learn about the eight best home based businesses you can do while stuck at home. You’re sure to find something that suits your talents and interests.
Stock Trading and Other Investing
There are a few different options for investing. An S&P 500 index fund is a good, low risk place to start for people with little investing experience. In general, mutual funds, which let you purchase a little bit of a lot of different stocks at a time, make for a nice, low-risk way to invest. If you are looking for something with higher returns, you can try investing in the stock of a single, or a few, companies. This requires a lot of research, though, in order to find a company that looks like a good investment.
You can also invest in the foreign exchange market, or forex market, where you can make money by trading currencies from around the world. This has the potential for high returns, but involves a little more risk.
If you want to invest in stocks and funds, you should open an online brokerage account. This will let you get into stock trading from the comfort of your own home. If you want to invest in the forex market, you will need to do a lot of research, and keep track of forex news and updates.
Social-Media Consulting
A lot of people are in the same boat you are right now. Many of them will be looking to do the same thing you are, so it’s not a bad idea to cater to their needs. Because everyone is on social media, a lot of them will be trying to monetize their social media accounts, or use social media to advertise or expand another business.
Most of them won’t really know how to properly capitalize on their social media channels. If you have a large following on your own social media accounts, you could be well set to go into business as a social media consultant and publicist.
If you do not have a large audience yourself, but really enjoy the whole social media thing, then the first step is to build one up, which will teach you some of the things you need to know for this business.
Next, you need to study the nuts and bolts of doing business on and with social media. Learn which channels are best for targeting what demographics. Learn what kinds of social media ads work and what kinds do not work. Learn the best ways to promote different kinds of business on social media. Learn the mechanics of how social media content attracts lots of followers. Once you have a decent level of theoretical knowledge in addition to some practical experience, you are ready to stand out from the thousands of other people proclaiming that they are social media experts.
Social media consulting is a very scalable business. You can target anything from struggling artists who haven’t made a name for themselves to major international corporations and anything in between.
Selling Stuff on eBay
Yes, a lot of people do this, but there is still room for more. There is an unbelievable amount of competition on eBay, in just about every category of product, but if you take the time to do some research you can carve out a decent niche for yourself.
You will need to put in a lot of time to sell well on eBay. You have to ship items quickly, and respond to customer issues promptly, no matter what time they come in. Especially at the start, you cannot afford a bad enough negative rating. Before you even start your business, you are going to need to do some research on how to respond to customer complaints politely and effectively, because you will have to work hard to make sure each customer is satisfied with your product and with you as a seller.
You also need to find something to specialize in. You can’t just sell a bunch of random junk and hope to have a high volume of sales. You need to concentrate on a single product, or a related group of products. You need something you can use to target a specific demographic of buyers. Once you know what your target demographic is, you need to research the competition. Who else is selling the same things to the same people? What are the prices used by the sellers with the highest sales volumes? What pitches or angles are being used by the top sellers in this niche? Which ones are being used by the low sellers? Use this information to craft a strategy that will not only appeal to your target demographic, but will be a little bit different than what everyone else in your specialty is doing.
Selling on eBay is another one of those highly scalable businesses. If you have very little money for investment, it’s easy to start small, funneling most of your profits back into purchasing larger inventories at first. If you have a decent investment stake, you can invest in a large inventory and take advantage of the economies of scale to buy low and sell a lot higher.
Medical Claims Billing
Most doctors use medical billing services because that’s the easiest way for them to get paid. Most doctors don’t really know how to get quickly paid by insurance companies and patients. After all, they have medical education, not business education, so there’s no particular reason they should know much about it. In the medical claims billing field, you will take over the tedious job of submitting bills for these doctors, allowing them to concentrate on doing what they do best.
If you have ever worked in the medical field before, that field you should target. You’ll already know the practice and the appropriate medical jargon. You may even have contacts in that specialty who can help you develop your business. If you haven’t, then start off by choosing a single specialty, like psychiatry, cardiology, or dentistry. This means you will only have to learn a few billing codes and can quickly master the skills and knowledge you need. Learn how to submit bills on behalf on doctors, and how the different insurance company’s billing and payment systems work. For instance, some companies give priority to bills submitted electronically. Some older ones might still process snail mail first. Knowing the inside mechanics of these companies will not only make your job go more easily, it can be a major selling point to potential clients if you show them you can get them their payments faster than they can do it for themselves.
Working as a Virtual Assistant
Many business people need secretaries and executive assistants, and thanks to modern technology, they no longer need to come into the office to be effective. A virtual assistant manages his or her clients’ email accounts, responds to phone messages, and performs other online, computer-related duties.
This business requires you to have a good knowledge of business-related software. You will also need to do a lot of networking to find clients. If keeping things organized and functioning efficiently appeals to you, this could be the business for you.
Teaching Language Lessons Online
If you speak another language fluently, you can teach it online with nothing more than a Skype account. You will need to do some advertising to find clients, but other than that, this business requires no investment to start.
You might also be able to teach English as a second language online. Native English speakers who are willing to teach it are in demand in many places in Asia. Freelance ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers can even make use of ESL tutoring websites to get started.
Designing Apps
If you have a good idea for a mobile app, this could be the perfect time to develop it. Once you have programmed an app, it is very easy to get it into one or more online app stores. If you have the programming skills, this could be an excellent opportunity for you. Even if you don’t have programming skills, there are a variety of drag and drop app making tools that can let you make one without knowing any programming language.
Writing an eBook
If you have an idea for a novel, or a nonfiction piece, this could be a good time to start writing. It’s relatively easy to publish an ebook on any one of a number of different online ebook platforms. The attraction of writing ebooks as a business is that, once you have created your product, you can sell it over and over again without need for an inventory.
The Takeaway
Just because you’re stuck at home doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about your finances. With the right business idea and a good attitude, you can start and run a successful business from the comfort of your home.
