When starting your first business, it’s not always the smartest idea to dive in head first, especially if you don’t have the money or expertise (yet) to dominate a brand-new industry. Luckily, there are great home-based businesses not many people take advantage of early on in their careers that can provide the perfect launch pad. Why not start out small to make it big?
To learn more, we asked eight successful entrepreneurs from the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC):
Q. What’s one home-based business idea that aspiring entrepreneurs can use as a jumping-off point for something bigger?
Their best answers are below:
1. Start a Service-Based Business
Service-based businesses are a great jumping-off point for newer entrepreneurs. In college, I began a digital marketing company out of my apartment. It was a great business to start with because there was minimal overhead, and I used my network of independent contractors to expand my bandwidth and service offerings as needed. Use your business to generate revenue and build your network.
- Kevin Tighe II
, WeBRAND
2. Sell Products on Etsy
If you’re crafty, make things at home and sell your handmade goods on Etsy. It’s free to set up an account and only costs $0.20 to list an item. If what you make is interesting, it can fetch a good price. It’s a great way to test the market for an item you make and want to turn into a real business. Clothes, jewelry, gifts and decorative items do particularly well.
- Matt Ehrlichman, Porch
3. Build a Following
Start blogging, and build a following with your blog and social media networks. Having a blog not only makes you more influential as an entrepreneur, but it also makes it easier for you to establish yourself as a thought leader in the industry. Where is your passion: education, technology, startups, payments? Learn about that industry and write about it. Your idea might just come naturally!
- Sarah Ware, Markerly
4. Clean Homes With Green Techniques
If aspiring entrepreneurs want to target a more specific niche, they should try green home cleaning. This is a business that can literally be launched out of the trunk of a car without a huge amount of startup capital.
- Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance
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