Lifestyle

Four Home-Based Businesses That Are Simple to Start Up

Have you heard about the California couple who earned an easy $30K by reselling Trader Joe’s “Everything but the Bagel” seasoning on Amazon? Now, before you hop into your car and race to the nearest TJ’s, know that thanks to a video they posted online, detailing their method, the online bagel-seasoning market has been flooded.

That doesn’t mean you can’t take a lesson from their entrepreneurial vision, however, and come up with a brilliant business idea of your own! Thanks to the internet, women have more avenues for earning money than selling do TERRA essential oils, Tupperware, or LuLaRoe leggings — or standing behind a cash register for eight hours a day. To get you started, here are a few suggestions for home-based businesses that can be done in between the demands of daily life.

Use Your Shopping Savvy to Profit

Whether you love the adrenaline rush of scoring a bargain or just enjoy browsing through a retail store, there are plenty of ways to parlay your shopping habit into profit. If your fashion sense is on point, you can become a personal shopper for people who are too busy to do their own clothes shopping. Or stick to groceries and other sundries; while registering with Shipt or Postmates is an easy way to get started as a for-hire shopper, you can also go it on your own and maximize your pay.

Another option is scouring thrift stores, estate sales, and antique shops for items to resell on eBay or Etsy. Or hit up Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, and other discount retailers for items like designer yoga mats, specialty cookware, and beautiful textiles. 

Another great place to find items that may surprise you is uk pallet returns. Return pallets are pallets of returned goods that you can buy at a discounted rate and then sell them on – potentially making a really good profit. 

Become a Virtual Assistant

Detail-oriented, hyper-organized types, this one’s for you. A virtual assistant takes care of all the loose ends created by a busy professional; while she is focused on her core business, the VA tackles things like appointment setting and scheduling, email correspondence, invoicing, social media, proofreading and editing, travel arrangements, and website and/or blog management.

To succeed at this role, you’ll need a breadth of experience — or the ability to be a quick study — as well as superb time-management and communication skills. As a freelancer, you can take on several different clients and virtually assist them all.

Most of this work can be done on your own time and in your own home, as well, which means that you can work remotely. However, if you go after local clients, it’s also possible to add on errand-running and other IRL tasks to your menu of offerings.

School Supply or First-Aid Kit Service

You know how, when back-to-school time rolls around, parents are sent scrambling to acquire a specific collection of school supplies, like one folder in every color of the rainbow, two one-inch binders, one two-inch binders, wide-ruled loose leaf paper,

packages of glue sticks, and so on? Know what a pain it can be to put these together, especially if you have two or more children? See where we’re going with this one?

Most school-supply lists are online (or easily forward-able from your clients). If you invest in bulk items to create an at-home inventory, it’s easy to fulfill each order according to the list. Package each child’s supply in a reusable tote bag or cardboard box, hand it over to the grateful parent, and boom — you’re in business.

This fulfillment process also works with other collections, like first-aid kits. You can turn a tidy profit by buying in bulk, assembling the items, and reselling them.

Homemade Lunch (or Dinner) Subscription

People who love to cook are often asked why they don’t start a catering service or a food truck, but those ventures require a fair amount of upfront capital. Why not start a small business by making just a few meals per week and selling them to coworkers, friends, or family members who aren’t great cooks? Plenty of office workers spend $10 or $15 on takeout for lunch, simply because they don’t have time to throw together a sandwich each morning before they leave the house. You can charge much less than that and still make a profit, because you’ll be batch cooking (and sources your ingredients from big-box warehouse stores like Costco). If you specialize in certain types of food — gluten-free, vegan, paleo — you can drive up your rates even higher.

Spend the weekend cooking, then deliver a week’s worth of individually packaged meals to each client on Sunday evening, or develop a clientele that works in the same building or block and make a daily delivery. They get a delicious homemade meal, you get to feed people and make some money — everyone wins! Another bonus to this business idea is that it’s fairly easy to scale up as your reputation grows.

Just make sure to check with local ordinances about requirements regarding home kitchens, sanitation, and so on.

Inspired Yet?

Have we got your creative juices flowing with these business ideas? If you have ever dreamed of starting your own small business, maybe now is the time to put those dreams into action and become a successful solopreneur.

What would be your dream business to run? Do you have any friends who are making a killing working from home? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section!

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