Over the past decade, high-speed internet, an increase of devices and changing attitudes towards life and work have made working from home a preferred choice for millions of people around the world. While working from home allows you to be more flexible; it also allow you have better work life balance. The best part is, it is now possible to start almost any kind of business from home straightaway, though with varied degrees of investment and experience.
Here are 11 Work from Home Business Ideas with Low Startup Cost
1. Chocolate Making
Who doesn’t love chocolates? Almost everyone craves for them. And believe me, there’s nothing better than making your favorite dessert all the time. To learn chocolate making, you need not find classes for yourself. Just browse through YouTube and you’ll get everything you are looking for. The best part is that chocolate making does not require you to make huge investments or a great deal of effort also. You can start by serving your family and friends who will later place orders to you since chocolates are the perfect gift for colleagues, friends, or even during times of festivity. You can bring uniqueness in your chocolates by mixing some flavors, creating some unique shapes, and adding your creativity to it. This way, you can create your trademark.
Basic Requirement – Microwave, refrigerator and raw material
Skills Required – Fluency of the language you choose to write.Time Required – You can decide, how many hours you would like to put in for work and accept the assignment accordingly
Ideal for – Everyone
Investment – less than $100
2. eBook Writer (AKA Author)
Even though being an author can sound to be a great deal for any common man. – can be deleted or paraphrased. Initially, becoming an author meant carrying out complex tasks. These constituted writing, editing, putting together the manuscript, reaching out to publishers, talking to dealers and whatnot.
With the evolution of technology, there are numerous platforms where you can sell your eBooks. You are no longer required to reach out to publishers in order to get a print version of your book. Just pen down the thoughts in the form of content which come to your mind, be it fiction, non-fiction, cookery or any other genre which you are good at. You can sell your books to several platforms such as Amazon which also assists you in promoting your book. If promoted properly, it can be a source of passive income for you in the long run.
Basic Requirement – Computer with a good Internet Connection
Skills Required – Fluency of the language you choose to write.
Time Required – You can decide, how many hours you would like to put in.
Ideal for – Everyone
Investment – Nil
3. Recruitment / Staffing
Recruitment is another great option for those who are looking forward to work from home. In this domain, you can use your network of friends or you can link to professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, Naukri.com, Monster.com, Dice.com to get clients in the initial stages. You will get paid when you place the right candidates for your client’s company. This domain has a great deal of potential and as a matter of fact, companies prefer independent recruiters over recruitment consultancy on board. The sole reason behind preference being given to independent recruiters is flexibility, dedication, and comparatively lesser costs. The plus point can be former education of Human Resource.
Basic Requirement – Computer with a good Internet Connection and a telephone line.
Skills Required – Background of Human resources is an added advantage but not mandatory.
Time Required – You can decide, how many hours you would like to put in for work and accept the assignment accordingly. Generally 4-5 hours in a day is good.
Ideal for – Everyone
Initial Investment – Between $100 and $200
Reference Books – How to setup your Home- based recruitment business
4. Blogging
Bloggers are the new Celebrities! People follow them as much they follow their favourite film-stars. Again, this is one of the most flexible work opportunity which one can take up. You are required to choose your niche to write about and you are free to choose your own time and the number of hours you are willing to put in. There are innumerable platforms which allow you to write your own blog and publish it without any knowledge of technical skills.
If you wish to start a blog and successful career with it you should start from self-hosted websites such as WordPress. The investment required is in a domain and hosting service. Choose your niche, create quality content, publish, and invite people to read your thought/ideas.
There are several ways, through which bloggers can earn such as
- Running Ads
- Brand Collaborations
- Selling Digital Products
- Affiliate Marketing
“Blogging as a home business”: Nowadays, the blogging industry has evolved so much that it is difficult for newcomers to succeed in it. It requires excellent research beforehand & making sure you can efficiently target your ideal audience with content that interests them. Another thing to consider is that blogging requires so many micro tasks, creating & promoting content, building connections that are not easy to keep up with all of these if there is only one person working on it.
Further, patience & consistency are key factors for making an income through blogging, so it is by any means a quick way money. On average, it takes about 1-2 years until the majority of bloggers start generating an income. On the other hand, blogging is difficult because there is so much competition, but this is not a bad thing. More & more people & companies are investing in blogging because it’s a profitable business (if done the right way of course).
The final verdict? If you wish to create a profitable blog, get ready for countless hours of computer work, be patient, and always stay up-to-date with the latest trends. Before you start, make sure you have learned a lot about your niche & the blogging industry in general. Do not hesitate to reach other bloggers asking for advice. From my experience, you got to love blogging in order to succeed with it, so the only way to learn if it’s suitable for you is to try it yourself for a few months & see if you really like it or not!” – Chris K – Blogger at GoldenBloggerz
Basic Requirement – Computer with a good Internet Connection
Skills Required – Fluency of the language you choose to write.
Time Required – You can decide, how many hours you would like to put in for work.
Ideal for – Everyone
Initial Investment – $200 – $300 (you need to have a Domain Name and Hosting, some more setting up is also required)
Reference Reading – A To Z of Blogging
5. Start your YouTube Channel
Making videos of what you enjoy the most and later, earning money through it is still a dream of many. Now, this dream can be converted to reality with minimal effort. You can share anything, be it day-to-day information, fashion trends, cooking tips, to name a few-this list is endless. To start with, you can use your smartphone and then, later expand as you grow popular on YouTube. The best example for that is Bhuvan Bam, who started from nowhere and is now a renowned personality amongst the youth.
Through YouTube, you can earn through the ads and paid brand collaborations.
Basic Requirement – Computer with a good Internet Connection and HD camera (most of the smartphones come with great cameras these days)
Skills Required – Fluency of the language and confidence to face the camera
Time Required – You can decide, how many hours you would like to put in for work.
Ideal for – Everyone
Investment – Virtually Nil
6. Social Media Influencer
Influencer – Someone who has the power to change your opinion; someone who is followed by thousands and millions of people; just like the celebrities, who are followed by the general populace, they use their influence to change the mind of followers and convince to choose specific products. Today, a common person can become a social media influencer. As an Influencer, you will be establishing credibility in a specific industry on social media platforms. You will be having access to a large audience and can even persuade them by virtue of authenticity and approach.
Choose your niche, something you are good at; for example cooking. Identify social media platform, where you want to build your following – build your audience by sharing great recipes, nutritional values of the food and uploading tempting photos. Interact with your audience directly.
Once you have a strong following and good engagement with your audience, you get approached by a relevant brand to promote their products.
This is quite an interesting task. People who do it are enjoying being just themselves while earning big money.
Basic Requirement – Computer OR a Smartphone with a good Internet Connection
Skills Required – Whatever, you are good at
Time Required – You can decide, how many hours you would like to put in for work.
Ideal for – Everyone.
Investment – Nil
“People who are popular on social media and have a large number of followers are in demand by the marketers. Known as Social Media Influencers these people are part of the micro marketing world where marketers popularise their products to the target audience. Marketers pay social media influencers because they’re the gateways to their followers.
This is a very successful model these days as reach to the target audience is very wide through social media influencers. Influencers appeal to a wide audience within their niche.
This is a full time job for many these days. Homemakers, especially, are benefitting from this trend.” – Jyoti – Instagram Influencer @mom_captures_life”
Suggested Reading- How To Become Instagram Influencer
7. Home Day-care Provider
If you are someone who loves spending their time with kids then you can very well start a day-care at your home. You can provide an exciting home environment where you will be taking care of children in your own home.
Basic Requirement – Room or a hall for children, Day care set-up
Skills Required – Nil
Time Required – 5-6 hours every day.
Ideal for – Everyone! Especially for stay-at-home moms, who can take care of their kids, along with other kids.
Investment – $250-$1000
8. Gift Basket Arranger
If you love to arrange gift baskets for your loved ones, then you can think of starting this business at your home. Given the fact that people buy gift baskets all the time for their loved ones or for special occasions, this may be a fun and fruitful idea to consider.
Basic Requirement – A dedicated space for storing packaging material
Skills Required –No Special Skills
Time Required – Flexible. Depending upon the number of clients you have
Ideal for – Everyone
Investment –$200-$500
9. Wedding Coordinator
Planning a wedding means a lot of hard work and also, you need to have organizational and interpersonal skills. There are many couples out there who hire a wedding coordinator to help them manage all the aspects of marriage. You can do that kind of work from home if you have a knack for organizing and working with people.
Basic Requirement – Computer OR a Smartphone with a good Internet Connection
Skills Required –Interpersonal and negotiation skills
Time Required – Flexible. During Wedding seasons, you need to put in extended hours to the work.
Ideal for – Everyone
Investment – Nil
10. Florist
Enjoy creating beautiful flower arrangements? This can be a fun activity for everyone who has a knack for design and a love of plants. You can turn that interest of yours into a career by selling flower arrangements and other plants which you create in your home. This is one of several creative businesses that are taking the peak, due to the raising interests of people.
Basic Requirement – Raw Material for flower arrangements such as molds, flower stands, holders, wrapping papers and scissors etc.
Skills Required – Creative eye
Time Required – Flexible. It may or may not require working every day, depending upon the number of clients you have
Ideal for – Everyone
Investment – $200-400
11. Candle Making
Candles never go out of demand. In earlier days, candles were mainly used in the absence of electricity or religious and decoration purposes. But, in recent years, candles have taken a romantic turn. People go for candlelight dinner on a romantic date. Candles are wide used for aromatherapy and creating a soothing ambiance. All these make, candle making an extremely popular business option. During festivals, the demand of candles is really high. Demand for scented and therapeutic candles is also on the rise with many restaurants, households, and hotels for creating an ambiance. The candle-making business can be easily initiated from home with a low investment.
Basic Requirement – Raw Material such wax, wick, molds, thread, aroma melting pot, thermometer, pour pot, weighing scale, hammer, and an oven (to melt wax)
Time Required – Flexible. It may or may not require working every day, depending upon the number of clients you have
Ideal for – Everyone
Investment – $200-400
Wrapping Up on Work from Home Business Ideas
The era of the Homepreneurs is here to stay. With one of these top home based business ideas and the and an entrepreneurial attitude, you can start a successful home business with low startup cost.
Explore more Home based business ideas and resources check out
eBook: Become a Homepreneur
Top 10 Profitable Home Business Ideas for Housewives
6 Books That Will Help you to Start Home-based Business
Advantages and Disadvantages of Home Based Businesses
Top 8 High Paying Profitable Home Business Ideas
Still not sure? Start with downloading the Free checklist to start your home based business.
No Comments