Had you been planning to start up a business and then Covid-19 happened? You may have faced setbacks, but 2021 could finally be the time to put your great idea into motion. By following the steps in this article, you’ll be launching your new business in no time.
:Launch a new business
Business Plan
First and foremost, you need a business plan. Perhaps you drafted one last year. Now is the time to return and reassess it. What are its weaknesses and how can you strengthen them? You need to spend time researching how you’re going to get funding. There are lots of grants opportunities out there. You also need to figure out your budget and how you’ll spend your money. You want to cover all areas: from start-up costs to a marketing strategy.
On that note, you’ll want to thoroughly plan your marketing strategy. How are you going to present your brand? You’ll want to think of a strong, catchy, name that people will remember. Then you need to think about how you’re going to spread this name both on and offline. Printed banners are a fantastic solution if you’re looking to make an impact. Remember: the more people paying attention to your brand, the better. Organic word of mouth is key to spreading your business.
Research
Although it’s important to get the attention of as many people as possible, you also want to make sure you’re attracting the right kind of people. Who is your target demographic? Remember you can make this target as small or narrow as you want. Check out your competitors and see what they’re doing. What can you do better? You can figure out your unique selling point (USP) Find a hole in the market and implement a way to fill it.
Before you officially launch your business, it’s a good idea to test it. You want to find a fast, cheap, and robust way for testing. These methods can vary depending on your type of business. Whether it’s setting up a trial website, or selling goods in a market: use the test as a way of communicating with customers and see what works and what doesn’t.
Starting a new business is a daunting task, but it’s also full of opportunity. You’ll get out what you put in, so you’ll need to work hard to help yourself succeed. What do you think is the best strategy for a new business?
This post will cover a few side business ideas you can execute from the comforts of your home in 2020. You will be able to supplement your existing income or even rebuild one from scratch. It’s all about using one’s entrepreneurship skills and existing abilities.
Regardless of where you’re, thanks to the conveniences afforded to us by the internet, making money is no longer a constant and never-ending struggle. With the proverbial world at our fingertips, as long as you are aware of how to take advantage of the chances found in the computerized ether of the internet, you can earn money through these side business ideas, even if you’re in a tight bind.
If you’re nice with kids and know how to explain complex topics to them, you can generate a side income by teaching kids. There are several online platforms that pay well for tutoring small children.
You don’t need high-end knowledge and expertise as it’s going to be a simple curriculum. You need to follow a set of templates and course related material. If you are a native English speaker, you’ll be in more demand since modern-day parents want their toddlers and children to be fluent in English. Here are some platforms where you can teach kids:
Vipkids.com
Vipkids.com offers fourteen to twenty-two dollars an hour for teaching in English. The platform is similar to video calling on Skype.
Vipkids.com covers 35 countries, 60,000 plus educators, and 500,000 plus learners.
Sayabc.com
Another platform to teach kids, Sayabc.com pays for both hourly and minute based sessions. It offers a video conferencing platform to connect with students and teach them.
Sometimes, it’s economically feasible to get a loan from an individual rather than a bank or commercial organization. You can be that individual.
You decide the interest rates to be levied. Don’t expect people to take money from you if the interest rates are abnormally high. Start by offering small or medium level loans and establish your reputation as a lender. The aim is to build a loyal customer base and then watch the magic of word of mouth publicity.
Graphic Design
Graphic Designer
If you have knowledge about graphic designing, why not turn it into a source of side income? This one’s a great side business idea for someone who has a knack for creativity and ingenuity. There are thousands of freelancers who make big bucks through graphic designing. You can become one of them. And if the stars are in your favor, with hard work and perseverance, you can turn your stint as a graphic designer into a full-time business.
99 designs
99 designs is one of the decent graphic designing platforms where you can persuade prosperous clients as a freelancer.
Design Crowds
Design Crowds is another immediate alternative to 99 designs. It has all sorts of programs and is created mainly for graphic designs and web design.
99 designs and Design Crowds are two platforms which will help you evolve in your graphic designing journey.
Blogging is the full-time profession for many. If you know how to write well and can spare some time, why not start a blog as a side business? Blogging isn’t a path to overnight success. Nor will you start earning hundreds or thousands of dollars immediately. It will take serious time and efforts to come up with a successful blog.
There are two kinds of blogs: generic and niche specific. A generic blog doesn’t restrict itself to one topic and is generalized. A niche specific blog targets one particular domain or topic. It’s your call as to which kind of blog you want to start.
Once you have launched a blog and start seeing considerable traffic, you can enable advertising (AdSense for example) and affiliate marketing posts. To earn even more money, turn your blog into a brand.
Sell courses or content through your blog. You can perform a bunch of different stuff with a blog. Hence, a blog is a high-potential small business idea that can churn profits in the long run.
It’s all about digital presence today. Having a website is an essential commodity to remain feasible nowadays. Three factors decide the popularity of a website: user-friendliness, relevance, and design. If you have knowledge about coding and have worked with developing websites, web designing is an awesome small-scale business to implement.
Just see the number of freelancers who make a handsome amount through web designing freelancing. Use them for inspiration. Unlike earlier times, web designing is not just about knowing HTML and CSS. You need to know Javascript, Angular JS, Node JS, etc.
In case you don’t know coding at all, you have to first learn how to code. Otherwise, it’s impossible to indulge in graphic designing. Solo learn is one such app to learn coding.
Solo learn
With this app, you can learn various coding languages. You build a profile and earn accomplishments by completing different tasks. You also get a diploma if you complete the entire learning track for a language. There are games where you contend with others and earn bragging rights.
While having a computer is necessary, it’s even more important to know where to get your computer repaired if it breaks down or malfunctions. Computer repairing is an evergreen business. In case you don’t know about internals of a computer or laptop, there’s no dearth of people who know how to repair electronics. Partner with one. He or she will take care of the repair aspect while you’ll be responsible for bringing in sales.
Remember, the number of computer users outnumber the ones who know how to repair them. Take advantage of this demand-supply discrepancy and start thinking of computer repairing as a small business idea to implement.
Cleaning Business
Everybody wants their homes or offices to be professionally cleaned sometime or the other. They do it themselves which eats up a lot of time. They will readily pay for someone to clean their place. You can take advantage of this requirement. Starting a cleaning business doesn’t require rocket-science kind of knowledge. It’s more about knowing what materials are useful for cleaning depending on the requirement.
For example, you can’t use a solution that corrodes interiors. Similarly, you should know which cleaning detergents or materials may leave permanent stains if not used correctly. Here are some requirements to start a cleaning business:
• Mops and brooms.
• Cleaning solution(s) like detergents.
• Tape and cloth to cover areas that need to be left out.
If you have a knack for mixing and music mashup, you can think of becoming a disc jockey (DJ). Whether it’s marriage, birthday festivities, clubs, or concerts, DJs are in constant demand. As far as the equipment is concerned, an essential setup for every DJ consists of monitor speakers, a mixer, turntables, headphones, vinyl records, laptop/computer, and DJ software.
This side gig will take you to places once you gain experience. Start with small events, and gradually move to higher-level and larger audience festivities.
Uber or Lyft Driver
This is a nice side business to earn some cash if you have a valid driving license and know how to deal with customers. Anyone can drive, but to keep calm and hold your nerves while dealing with different customers is essential for an affiliation with cab-hailing providers.
Just like you are asked to rate delivery service boys (Swiggy, Zomato, etc.) or drivers from Uber, customers will also rate you based on your driving and other factors. The target as an Uber or Lyft driver is to ensure you constantly receive great feedback and 3+ stars.
Niche Website
Start a specialized website as a side business and earn money along with reputation. How many resources on the internet deal with embroidery on rice beads? Not many, right? Though niche domains don’t have too many followers, they have their own place and irreplaceable standing.
But the concern with niche websites is that you need to have expert level knowledge. If something is specialized or rare, it means only few gurus exist in the domain. You need to have solid understanding of the domain, and more than anything else, your experience in years and visible portfolio will bring traffic to your website.
You can review different websites on the internet. Review here includes how user-friendly the website is, its design and layout, and whether it’s beneficial or not.
There are several ways to perform your review services. You may set up a profile on the website concerned and provide comments. Or you could set up a survey oriented website where you post the review question and others tell their opinion through polls.
There are tons of categories of reviews. Some of them are Amazon consumer reviews, Yelp, and TripAdvisor. You can also setup a blog where each post is a review on something. However, you’ll have to come up with creative and intellectual ways to differentiate yourself from other reviewers. You need to show your opinions are worthy.
Invest In Real Estate
You can finance in real estate for as small as five hundred dollars. However, you need to be aware of the risks that come with real estate investment. The returns are well-documented, and you can make up to about eight to twelve percent annual return or more. This is equal to, if not more, than what you can make on the stock market.
You can modify your portfolio. Notice all sorts of properties and decide what’s in your budget. Having a foresight of the expected returns is essential so that you don’t dream the impossible.
If you scour the internet, you will find platforms dealing with wholesale and bulk purchases. Alibaba is one example. In the flipping business, you purchase stuff for cheap from one platform and sell it at a higher price on some other platform. One example is eBay.
And this business idea is known to be effective and profitable. Several individuals are making serious money through flipping.
Sports Coaching
If you’re a state-level athlete or have won laurels in some sport, you can offer coaching services to beginners. No, your aim need not be to help people qualify for the Olympics. Say, you are a good table tennis player and have won events and tournaments at school-level. You can thus help a kid or absolute beginner to grasp the basics of table tennis.
New generation parents won’t their children to be active in different sports. Take advantage of this demand. The biggest factor here is to not lose patience. Beginners ask all kinds of questions and take time get the technique right. You have to keep calm.
Transcription Services
Transcription assistance is simple to fulfill because all you have to do is listen to audio and have it written somewhere. People want transcriptions for blog posts, journalism, and naming. You can visit transcribeme.com to get an idea on how to become a transcriptionist.
This job requires attentive listening skills and proof-reading. Proof-reading because the content needs to be accurate and in sync with the audio. You don’t want any kind of knowledge or mastery to initiate this small business.
If you know about any other side business idea that’s worth implementing, do comment below.
Yash Gupta
