Need Help Thinking of Business Ideas? Use These Examples to Get Started

I’ll spare you the sales pitch about being your own boss.

You’re likely bombarded with enough “life-changing business opportunities” as it is. Some may promise you can work from the beach while taking care of your kids — and maybe you’ll learn Japanese while you’re at it.What you need is something concrete. A real business idea you can build on that will gradually generate enough income to sustain you. That quick list article you just read, which rattled off about 100 random job titles, probably didn’t help you much.

So here you are, still searching for that perfect business idea.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD BUSINESS IDEA?

Solid business ideas should be able to withstand some scrutiny. Often, we hold a romanticized view of what it takes to come up with a business idea. Does it need to be a genius invention? A scientific breakthrough? A Shark-Tank-worthy smartphone app?

No.At their core, good business ideas identify existing problems and offer a solution. Could you solve problems with a scientific breakthrough, a smartphone app or a genius invention? Sure, but you could also take a more workaday approach.Business ideas don’t have to be glamorous, but they do need to be realistic.Kathyrn Gratton is the president of the Hagerstown, Maryland, chapter of Score, a free small-business resource network and partner of the federal Small Business Administration. In addition to practicality, she says that your business ideas should revolve around you.“Where’s your interest? Where’s your passion?” she says, noting that your ideas need to be more than potential moneymaking ventures: You should also enjoy the work to some degree.Once you think you’ve settled on a good idea, Gratton says, recruit a brutally honest friend to see if it holds any water.“We all have that friend that will tell you you’ve gotten fat,” she says. “They are the best to run things by. You know they will tell you the truth.”With that in mind, here are a few well-tested business ideas to get you brainstorming.

TURN YOUR CURRENT SKILLS INTO BUSINESS IDEAS

Take a moment to think about what you’re good at.

It could be something you create, niche knowledge about an interesting topic, an artistic ability — anything. Chances are, you’re a master of something, and someone else out there is looking for what you offer. Before you can teach them, entertain them or sell to them, you have to reach them.Thankfully, the internet has made that part much easier.Successful blogging is all about building a dedicated readership. Rarely do people stumble upon that by accident. It takes work to earn the trust and time of readers before you can start raking in profits from a blog. (More on that below).But what’s good about blogging is that it’s not only for professional writers. If you have an interesting skillset or knowledge about a niche topic, you can use blogs to teach others and launch an online business. For example, if you have a background in arts and crafts — bingo, that’s what your blog should be about.The most popular blog platform is WordPress, where you can start a blog for free to get your bearings. Once you’re ready to make it more official, you can pay as little as $3 a year to lock-in your domain name and unlock additional features like email addresses and traffic analytics.In our guide about making money blogging, senior editor Dana Sitar lays out exactly how to build a following for your blog by creating an email list, networking and guest blogging for other well-established publications.Another way to draw readers to your blog is through search engine optimization (SEO). This is basically writing quality content that ranks high in Google searchers. Coursera offers free online courses in SEO to get a better understanding of the writing techniques you can use in your blog.Once you have eyes on your blog, how do you monetize it?

Affiliate Marketing

Sitar is a proponent of affiliate marketing.In short, affiliate marketing works by paying you a commission on a product or service that you write about by using a trackable link that leads readers to make a purchase.Again, this really only works if you’re honing in on a specific topic. Returning to our arts and crafts idea,  through Amazon’s affiliate program, you could link over to a specific sewing machine listing on Amazon.The whole article probably shouldn’t be about the sewing machine because that’s too salesy, but the link would fit perfectly in a useful story about how to make your own clothes.When someone makes a purchase through your blog, you make money.

Where’s your interest? Where’s your passion?

Google AdSense

AdSense, which is free to set up, is a popular way to run ads on your site once you have a steady stream of readers. Based on your reader demographic and the topic of your blog, Google will automatically pair you with relevant ads, which you can tailor in size or decline altogether.How much you earn depends on the type of ad and how your viewers interact with it. (Did they merely see the ad and scroll past it? Or did they click through to the advertiser’s website and make a purchase?)Once your AdSense account earns $100, you can request a payout.

Patreon

Patreon works a little differently than other crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter or Indiegogo. The underlying idea of all crowdfunding is to connect with strangers all over the world and have them make a donation to your cause, or in this case, your blog.The difference with Patreon is that it incentivizes recurring donations from fans. This means, in order to monetize your blog with Patreon, you should create some kind of exclusive content for donors — a members-only newsletter, personalized articles, stickers and tees — anything that encourages their ongoing support.While making a Patreon account is free, the company takes 5% of all donations.

Sell Your Creations in an E-Commerce Store

As brick-and-mortar stores have been closing, e-commerce websites offer entrepreneurs a less risky way of selling their new products. You’re already familiar with Amazon, but there are tons of other ways to sell stuff online.Once you’re established, you can integrate an online store on your own company’s website, but for starters, try Amazon, eBay or Etsy depending on what you’re selling. These websites are great options for those who make products but don’t want the overhead of a storefront.

It’s free to create a basic account on each of these websites, but they do charge fees once you make a sale:

• Amazon: Charges a 99-cent fee for vendors who sell up to 40 items per month. Above that, you’ll need to make a Professional Seller Accountfor $39.99 a month. Paid accounts aren’t charged the 99-cent fee, but both accounts incur additional selling fees that range between 3% and 45% of the item’s selling price.
• eBay: eBay Stores are free if you make under 50 sales per month. After that, a membership is required, which runs between $4.95 and $29,999.95 a month. For each sale, a final-value fee between 2% and 12% is deducted from the selling price.
• Etsy: There’s no limit to how many sales can be made on a free Etsy account, but each sale is subject to a flat fee of 20 cents plus 5% of the listing price. Etsy stores in good standing are eligible for an Etsy Plus account that costs $10 a month. This membership includes website customization features, ways to promote your listings, discounts and other perks.Screenprinting duo Adam and Coryn Enfinger used to design and manually print T-shirts for fun. Then Coryn made an Etsy account to sell their shirts, and their hobby spiraled into a $350,000-a-year business called Dark Cycle Clothing.Coryn chose Etsy because the website caters to more handmade and artistic products. In addition to its online sales, Dark Cycle keeps a presence at several local and regional indie flea markets to make sales in person — an excellent, low-cost way to diversify income for businesses without a centralized location.

Become a Freelancer

When you think of the word freelancer, images of journalists or photographers might flood your mind. But in today’s economy, just about every professional skill can be freelanced ― clerical work, graphic designs, marketing advice. You name it. You just have to know where to find clients.

“Lots of freelancers know how to do their task but not how to run their business,” says veteran freelance business owner Laura Poole. She has more than 20 years of experience running a freelance editing business. In her free time, she travels the nation to speak at conferences and teach freelancers how to better market themselves.

First-time freelancers gravitate toward platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer and Guru. They can help you get a taste of the freelance life, but they shouldn’t be the basis of your freelance business in the long term.

Poole says the sites are extremely helpful in pairing you with clients, but “overall, I think they’re a mixed bag,” she says.

That’s because they charge fees upwards of 20% on each gig. That’s not sustainable. To skirt these fees, it’s going to take more work to gain your independence as a freelancer.

Joining a professional networking organization is a great way to meet people in your field and find clients. Some popular examples include:

• ACES Society for Editing, for editors in media and publishing.
• AIGA, the professional association for design, for graphic designers and illustrators.
• American Advertising Federation, for public relations, advertising, marketing and social media.
• Office and Professional Employees International Union, for clerical and administrative fields.
• Society of Professional Journalists, for journalism, media and public relations.
• Freelancers Union, for all industries.

Whatever your field, search for a professional organization in your state. Join it and use your membership wisely. These organizations typically offer discounts on products, services and software and maintain curated job boards that can help you find clients.But the events are perhaps the biggest perk. Take advantage of them by networking and presenting, when possible.“If you can present something useful, [clients] will remember you,” Poole says. “Better than handing out business cards. Better than even placing an ad.”

Build and Teach Online Courses

The online education industry is booming. By 2022, Global Industries Analysts predict that the industry will exceed $241 billion, and you can cash in on that without having any formal teaching experience. As with blogs, you can use online courses as a means to teach what skills you already have.

People, especially working professionals, are looking outside traditional educational institutions to learn. Udemy is one such place. It’s an online education platform that boasts over 30 million registered students. While it’s possible to create a profitable business solely off your Udemy classes, it works best when used in conjunction with your blog or website.

Creating an online instructor profile is free. You’ll need to answer a few questions about your teaching and video-creating experience (neither is required but both will help). Then, you’ll be able to attract students, create videos and upload course materials when you’re ready.Once you’ve prepared a video course, you can set the price based on Udemy’s scale. And depending on how your students register for the course, you’ll get paid various amounts of the listing price.97% of the listing price for students you recruited through a trackable link. (The link is why Udemy is best used with a blog or website.)50% for students who found your course through an organic search on Udemy’s website.25% for students who registered because you promoted the course on the website