50 Home Business Ideas

Many of us want to earn extra money from home. And, indeed, starting a home business can be a good way to cultivate additional income, and help you reach other financial goals that you might have. There are a number of ways that you can improve your situation by starting a home business. From creative business ideas, to the more mundane, here are 50 home business ideas.

Use Your Skills

One of the best ways to get started with a home business is to use your skills. A number of business startup ideas grow out of the skills possessed by the business owner. If you have the skills — or if you can learn the skills — here are a few ways to make money from what you’re good at:

    Online Store-If you are serious about starting a home business then an online store is an excellent place to start. The best part of an online store is that you do not need a large start up capital, with just a few hundred dollars you can start your own online store. Besides the low start up cost an online store has many other benefits, for example it does not require you to rent office space, it has low overhead costs, does not require long hours etc. If you know what you want to sell online great, however you don’t need to know right now. I know it may seem overwhelming and confusing at first, however I would highly recommend Steve’s course on Profitable Online Store.. Steve and his wife started their ecommerce store a few years ago and in their first year they made over $100,000! His wife was able to leave her day job and now only works 4 hours a week. Steve has extensive experience in the commerce business and has helped hundreds of students in successfully launching their business. He doesn’t just send you the material and leave you stranded, but he is there with you every step of the way with regular office hours (virtual office). If you are tired of your 9-5 job and want to break free then an online store maybe the answer. Check out Steve’s course and I would highly recommend you enrol in it, it will probably be the best investment you ever make.
    Writing: I always list this first because it’s what I do. If you write, and have reasonably good grammar, you can find gigs providing content, working for print and online magazines, preparing whitepapers (and doing other technical writing), and providing ad copy and press releases. All form the comfort of your home.
    home based business ideasGraphic design: Create logos, newsletter layouts, images for ads and other visuals for a variety of clients.
    Web design and development: Set web sites, and even maintain them. Develop different aspects of web sites, and design web sites for usability.
    App development: Those who know how to develop apps for different mobile devices, and even those who develop web apps, can make money with their skills. Create apps for others to use, or even for them to sell, and you can get your cut and make a profit.
    Social media/SEO services: If you are good online, and build social networks, you can leverage your skills to make money by providing your services to others. Help companies and web site owners build their brands in the social media space.
    Photography: Use your skills to take photos at different events, and even take portraits. Take stock photos and sell their use on stock photo web sites to create a tidy passive income stream.
    Videography: You can also make videos of special events, and put together montages for special events like birthday celebrations.
    Presentations: If you have skill at putting together presentations, you can create presentations for others.
    Make music: Those with musical skill can make money by hiring themselves out for events, as well as by playing in different venues. Many restaurants like to have live music at least some nights a week, and you could make money from the tips people provide for your playing.
    Consulting: Any skill and experience that you have in a number of areas can be used to help you start a consulting business. From knowledge of statistics, to communication, to image, to public relations, it is possible for you to put your knowledge and skill at others’ disposal and make money.

Share What You Know

Some home business ideas grow out of what you know. You can base a home business on your knowledge and expertise in a certain area. Some ideas that can help you put your knowledge to use can include:

    Tutoring: Start a tutoring business out of your home. You can approach by providing tutoring help in an area you specialize in, such as math, or English, or test-taking. You can also start a business that allows you to work with others, paying tutors and helping clients get the academic help they need.
    Music lessons: For a brief period, I taught piano lessons. (I discovered that teaching was not my forte.) If you know music, whether it’s playing a musical instrument or using your voice, you can share that knowledge, and earn some money.
    Art lessons: Teach children and others art. If you have a knowledge of painting or drawing, you can teach others.
    Online teaching: One of the growing areas of interest is in online teaching. If you have a college degree, you can teach college level courses in some cases. There are also virtual K-12 schools. You can, if you are ambitious enough, and get the right licenses, open your own virtual academy.
    Gardening: Many people need help learning to garden. You can offer your services in helping people set up gardens, and learn to grow their own food. Container gardening classes can help clients learn to grow food in small spaced.
    Preserving food: If you know how to can, bottle or dry foods, that’s something that others might pay to learn. You can teach classes and even sell small recipe booklets with ideas for what can be made using preserved ingredients.
    Guide: Do you know your local area? The best places to go for fishing or hunting? Do you know a stretch of river? You can start a business guiding people in the area. Even if it’s just a restaurant tour of the tastiest places in town, your guide efforts can be profitable.
    Technology: Start a business teaching others how to use technology. There are a number of people who need help setting up their computers, phones and gaming consoles. You can use your knowledge to your advantage.
    Craft classes: Hold craft classes in your home. If you know how to sew, crochet, knit, work wood, sculpt, or frame photos, you can teach these classes, earning some money and doing something you love.

Ten best (and real) work-at-home jobs

Searching for jobs you can do from home used to be a matter of scanning the Sunday classifieds for offers to get rich quick by stuffing envelopes.

Now, exposure to at-home employment opportunities has exploded, and a wide range of job ads are just a mouse click away. But so are the scams.

Two years ago, when The Rat Race Rebellion began tracking at-home jobs, there were 30 scams for every legitimate opportunity. Now, with 4,500 to 5,000 work-at-home job ads screened weekly, the Web site finds 57 phonies for every one that's for real, says Christine Durst, CEO of The Rat Race Rebellion.

Nevertheless, there's no shortage of people who dream of beating the odds and earning a living from home.

Durst, who is also CEO of Connecticut-based Staffcentrix, which develops home-based and virtual career training programs, says people interested in work-at-home jobs primarily are:

• Parents who say they want to spend more time with their children.
• Trailing military spouses who, according to Durst, by virtue of their spouse's career need to pick up and move every few years.
• Retirees needing supplemental income.
• People with disabilities.

It's difficult to be a good parent and simultaneously work well at home, says Durst, because most jobs require blocks of uninterrupted time to accomplish tasks, and children's schedules are less than predictable. For those who do choose to walk the tightrope between paid work and parenting, consider deadline-oriented work. Durst says it's generally better for those with younger children than schedule-oriented hourly work.

10 good stay-at-home careers

1. Virtual assistant.
2. Medical transcriptionist.
3. Translator.
4. Web developer/designer.
5. Call center representative.
6. Tech support specialist.
7. Travel agent.
8. Teacher.
9. Writer/editor.
10. Franchise owner.

Steven Rothberg, president and founder of CollegeRecruiter.com, says "an increasing minority" of entry-level workers, are attracted to these gigs. He says he believes social introverts make good candidates. "They like working with people (but) they like interacting by e-mail and by being on the phone. They dislike working in person with a lot of others," he says, due to meetings and other "time-sucking problems" at an office.

Self-motivation, discipline, job skills and independence are key characteristics for at-home workers, says Stephanie Foster of Poway, Calif., a former medical transcriptionist who runs the Web site Homewiththekids.com.

A growing number of employers appear to believe telecommuting is a good deal for them as well. It reduces overhead expenses, allows access to talented workers who may not be available locally, provides off-hours support and helps retain employees, says Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of FlexJobs.com, a Web site that aggregates hand-screened telecommuting/work-at-home jobs. "We've seen a real broadening of the audience of both employers and job seekers."

Consider these 10 jobs -- some rather traditional and others unexpected -- for interesting at-home work and good (if competitive) prospects.

Virtual assistant

This is a field with much potential, in part because the title description covers many things. "You can fit your offerings to what you know how to do," says Foster. One can own a virtual assistant business or work from home for a company that makes you available to other employees or clients. Homewiththekids.com, for example, currently features a dozen such companies. Small businesses hire virtual assistants to help when they can't justify a permanent employee. The International Virtual Assistants Association, which Durst co-founded in the 1990s, began with 28 members and has grown to more than 600, who charge from $15 per hour to more than $100 per hour.

advertisement

Medical transcriptionist

As Foster knows, being a medical receptionist is a demanding job, and nearly every company listed on her site seeks applicants with experience and/or training from certain schools. The work involves listening to and typing up dictation from doctors -- some of whom have difficult accents, slur words together, and even "eat, drink, chew gum (and) talk to other people in the room" while dictating, she says. But hearing about medical matters can be interesting, and good transcriptionists are in very high demand. Expect initial earnings of less than $10 per hour, but some transcriptionists earn $20 or more per hour.

How to Find a Work From Home Job


Finding a work from home isn't easy. It's going to take some work and research to find a legitimate job. First, review the types of work at home jobs that are available, along with job listings. Then, check out the lists of companies that are known to be "telecommuting friendly" and hire employees or freelancers to work from home. Most of these employers list work from home jobs online.

Work at Home Job Listings

In addition to companies that typically hire employees that work from home, there are sites where you can find work at home job listings. Carefully review the listings you find, because you will find scams can slip through the cracks and get posted on even the best sites.

LinkUp
Job search engine LinkUp.com searches only for jobs on company web sites, so it's a good way to avoid scams. Search using "telecommute" or "telecommuting" as a keyword to find legitimate work at home job listings.
SimplyHired.com Work at Home Jobs
Use Simply Hired's "telecommute" search options for find work at home job listings from job boards, company web sites, and other sources.
Work at Home Job Listings Work from home job sites that include just work at home job listings.
More Work at Home Listings From Job Search Engines
Job search engine sites allow users to search by keyword and location. If you have specific skills (i.e. insurance claims, customer service, web design) such by those skills and terms like work at home, freelance, telecommute, etc.
Craigslist
Search for work at home freelance positions by entering "freelance" or "work at home" as a keyword in the search box on the front page of the site. Otherwise, click on the city that interests you and review the list of job openings.
Job Boards
Monster, CareerBuilder, Yahoo! Hot Jobs and the other top job boards all contain work at home job listings. It takes some work just to weed through the postings, but, they are there. Search using keywords like "freelance" "telecommute" "work from home" and "work at home" as well as by the type of work you are interested in. Again, be specific.
A Word of Work From Home Warning
Jobs that promise you oodles of money with little investment of time and no experience aren't legitimate. Legitimate work at home jobs are going to require that you have skills relevant to the position. Many jobs require skills like writing, graphic design, programming or web design, for example. If you don't have any experience in the field(s) you are interested in, it's going to be difficult to find an employer willing to hire you. Most employers who are willing to hire someone to work from home want workers who can work independently and get the job done with little guidance.
Finally, please take the time to research every job lead you find and every site you visit carefully. Even sites that purport to be impartial sometimes aren't. I just visited a site that supposedly had general information on telecommuting. They recommended their top sites, all of which happened to be affiliated indirectly with the first site and all of which charged a fee.

Disclaimer:
You may see advertisements for work at home jobs on this page, because that's the topic of the article. Just because you see an ad here, that doesn't make it a legitimate company. Carefully investigate companies that you are interested in.