Top 5 Digital Business ideas for beginners.
- Launch your own handmade product:
If you’re particularly crafty, selling handmade products could be the easiest of the best online business ideas for you to start. Whether you start a jewelry business, make and sell picture frames, or offer handmade furniture, one business idea is to monetize your craft skills and sell products online.
While you can use platforms like Craigslist or Etsy, your own online store will give you more control and make it easier to track and fulfill orders.
Why sell handmade goods?
Devote as much or as little time as you want. It’s your choice on how big you want to grow. Create on your schedule. Make your handmade goods on a set schedule, when you have spare time, or whenever you want. Turn your passion into income. Like many of the online business ideas on this list, an entrepreneurial endeavor backed by passion leads to a more fulfilling experience.
- Dropshipping:
Think you need a warehouse full of inventory to run your own business? Think again! Dropshipping is one of the best online startup ideas for entrepreneurs on a budget. You can hit the ground running by sourcing a pre-existing product from a supplier and having them take care of things like packaging and fulfillment.
This process lets you skip over a lot of obstacles that might be standing in the way of you starting your own business. More importantly, it eliminates the risk of finding out there’s no market for your product after placing a huge order with a manufacturer or supplier.
Why choose dropshipping?
You don’t need to stock products in a physical location, meaning that your cash flow won’t get tied up in inventory. There’s less of an upfront cash risk.
Whenever a purchase is made, you place an order with a third party and they handle the rest of the process for you. Since you don’t have to deal with things like tracking inventory or mailing packages, dropshipping eliminates a lot of potential headaches for budding entrepreneurs.
No warehouse means you can run your business from anywhere. Whether it’s your living room or the café down the street, you decide where you want to work from.
If you’re interested in dropshipping, read our Ultimate Guide to Dropshipping to help you get started.
- Become a VA( Virtual Assistant):
Are you super organized and love working behind the scenes? If so, you might be the perfect candidate to become a virtual assistant (VA) as one of the best online startup ideas.
A VA helps entrepreneurs, businesses, and executives organize their personal and professional lives. There’s a broad spectrum of duties, ranging from appointment scheduling to basic marketing management and everything in between. And everything is done online.
Why become a VA?
Work with your ideal client. Even if you don’t know at the start, over time you’ll find out who you love working with and what you love to do for them. You can evolve your business to cater to those preferences.
Interact with people from all over the world. All you need is an internet connection to do your work, and you can have the chance to work with international clients and professionals. Grow your business into a network of VAs. If you become too busy or have growth goals, you can hire and train VAs to work under you and increase profits.
- Become a Freelance Writer, Designer, or Developer:
Maybe not the most innovative online business idea, freelancing is still a great option with a low barrier to entry. Writers, developers, and graphic designers can start a business based on their talents. As a freelancer, you’ll be able to put your skills to good use by helping people across the world with their projects (while making some money yourself, of course).
Freelancing doesn’t mean committing to months-long projects that eat away at your free time. You can easily pick up bite-sized tasks that fit your schedule.
To find people that need your help, try freelancing marketplaces, like Upwork and Fiverr.
Fiverr freelance online business.
It’s worth noting that Fiverr is a little different from a traditional job board. As the name suggests, a lot of the posted jobs pay $5. The key to making big money on Fiverr is carefully setting up your offers so you can easily upsell the client for more money. For instance, you could offer to write a 150-word introduction for a blog post as your initial $5 service. As an upsell, you could charge another $10 for every additional 150 words. You can tweak your services until you’ve found a combo that makes it worth your while. If you want total control over how much you charge, create a Shopify store. You can list your services as products and disable shipping, since you won’t actually be physically delivering anything to your customers. You can even use apps like BookThatApp and Events Calendar to give your customers the option to schedule appointments.
Why freelance?
When you freelance, you choose which projects you want to work on and set your own schedule and workplace. Getting paid to do something you’re good at is a rewarding feeling, whether you’re looking to strike out on your own or just want to make some extra cash on the weekend. If this is a new idea of online business to you and you don’t have much experience writing, designing, or developing, freelancing is an excellent way to build your portfolio and get some real experience in a wide range of industries. You might discover that you have a knack or passion for something you never expected.
- Start Blog Posting:
Blogging has come a long way since its inception. What was once a virtual journal has now turned into a marketing and even a monetization tool earning its spot on this list of best online business startup ideas. Whether you make money from publishing sponsored posts, hosting third-party ads, or selling your products, a blog is a great online business idea you can start at home. The key to starting a successful blog is to focus on building an engaged, loyal audience. When you start with an audience-centric approach, you’ll cultivate a community that trusts you. And when you can earn trust, you can start to drive revenue.
That’s how Mr. Money Mustache started his popular personal finance blog. What began as a movement has turned into a successful business that’s earned national media coverage.
Why start a blog?
Blogs have unlimited growth potential. You can expand into affiliate marketing, ecommerce, courses, and essentially any other online business venture. Some blogs even use a paid subscription model to drive revenue. A blog is a long-term play. While you won’t see overnight results, they are likely to be more sustainable. A blog lives on the internet forever or at least until you delete it. It lets you practice your writing, an essential skill to have in business and communication. Use tools like Writer or Hemmingway to improve your writing.
