13 Great Business Ideas That Still Make Money in
2022
If you've got the
business itch but need clarification about which business idea to pursue,
looking at possible options may inspire you to make your next money move.
According to a recent
study by the Pew Research Center, low wages and a lack of career advancement
opportunities were the top reasons employees will leave their jobs in 2021.
Many professionals are looking for alternative career options. If you are one of
them, you may have realized that to enable the freedom and flexibility you need
in your career, your next step is to invest in starting a business for
yourself.
BYOB living (that's
"being your boss," of course!) can be a sustainable way to work
toward financial freedom. If you're
ready to take the next step in your entrepreneurial journey, here are 13
tried-and-true business ideas that will turn your wheels.
1. Create an online
course
E-learning was a $250
billion industry in 2020 and will become a $1 trillion industry by 2027. If you
have a computer and something that can help people, starting online courses
have lower costs and higher profit margins when you nail the margin on the
head.
However, to build an
online course, you need an audience of people who want to buy it, and building
an audience can take years. An online course marketplace like Skillshare can be
a great way to work around the "no audience yet" problem. According
to Liana M. Douillet Guzmán, Chief Marketing Officer of Skillshare, your online
course doesn't have to be as long as you might think to be profitable.
"Most of our classes consist of an
hour or more of pre-recorded video content divided into a series of short 2-5
minute videos. Rather than teaching a broad skill set, the most successful
classes Adopts a specific concept or skill."
"We found that most teachers love the
community on our platform and engage with students long after a class is
posted. As a teacher, you get paid from a royalty pool that Members view your
class regularly - and as the number of classes teachers post increases, so do
members with the opportunity to view your content, encouraging teachers to
continue building them. Build a presence on Skillshare and become a successful
online creator.
Guzmán notes that the
residual income generated from just one class or workshop can be substantial.
"Our top teachers
on the platform earn an average of $2,000 per month, some of our teachers can
pay their rent from the earnings of a single class."
2. Rent or lease
existing assets
When Airbnb hit the
scene in 2008, the idea of subletting a stranger's house for the weekend felt
foreign and strange. Nearly 15 years later, the "sublet economy" is
now everywhere, and there's a whole crop of "Airbnb for X" startups
that help people turn existing assets into money-making opportunities. Among
the recent "sublet economy" options:
- Ringo, a platform for renting
your RV (or booking for an upcoming road trip)
- A marketplace for spacers,
garages, and parking spaces
- Simply, a sub-platform for
renting one's pool
Sitting on an unused
yacht or private jet? call me Just kidding – but you can use Boatsetter or
Jettly respectively to earn some extra residual income.
3. Start a 'Volume
Photography' Business
With cameras on
smartphones being so good these days, most people only hire a photographer for
special events like weddings or parties. To get more bang for your buck, look
for photography gigs that involve taking lots of photos in the same setting
throughout the day. This is known as volume photography.
Volume photography can
quickly become overwhelming if you don't have a good workflow. In recent years,
management platforms for photographers and creators have become increasingly
popular. photo day, a sales and workflow platform for photographers, is
designed specifically to help professionals who plan to take many photos in
sessions.
"My wife and I work
together, but we spend all our time working together," says Robin Johnson,
a professional photographer. "Now we make more in less time, so we can
focus on our marriage and family. Photo Day was a game changer, whether volume
photography is your full-time job or your side gig.
4. White-label beauty or
wellness products
Developing a wellness or
skincare product from scratch can be a huge and expensive undertaking. If your
next great idea falls into this category, have you looked at all the FDA
regulations? Multi-year timelines for new products are not uncommon in these
industries.
White labeling a product
can be an intelligent compromise if you're just starting. JBK Wellness Labs, an
Inc. 5000 company, notes that white labeling is a great addition for salon or
spa owners, hairdressers, and beauty influencers who want to apply their
branding to proven formulations.
"Choosing
high-quality white label formulas provides an opportunity for increased revenue
in retail sales with these products," says Dr. Janelle Kim, founder and
chief formulator of JBK Wellness Labs. The products they sell to their clients
can't be repurchased on e-commerce sites, which increases visits to your
location."
5. Start Freelancing
Online job marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr have helped millions of freelancers supplement their income or earn a living by working remotely.
Present your skills online where
people are looking to get hired and you may be surprised at the results.
Attention to detail and a particular area of expertise also work. Virtual
assistant work is in high demand, and your clients will tell you exactly what
they want you to do.
Freelance work is also a
great compromise if you want to supplement your income, but aren't ready or
interested in quitting your 9-to-5 job just yet. Contrary to popular belief,
many successful entrepreneurs first try out their idea as a side hustle and
validate their value proposition before leaping.
6. Start a Car Rental
Business
The sublet
economy has opened up opportunities to rent your car, and some entrepreneurs
are starting their own car rental companies.
Popular platforms
include:
- Toro: List and use your car for customers.
- Hagerty DriveShare: A marketplace specifically for renting classic,
custom, or luxury cars.
- HyreCar: A marketplace for listing your vehicles for short- or
long-term rental to others, such as driving for Uber or Instacart, to
doing contract work on your own.
BHPH dealerships offer in-home vehicle financing for customers who may not otherwise qualify for conventional financing. Burgett says the opportunity to join the extra income stream is what drew him to sign up for HyreCar in 2020. He made a list of ten cars, worked up to 15 cars, and then measured the results.
“I realized that my
HyreCar portfolio was generating more revenue per unit than my BHPH portfolio,”
he says. Burgett now lists 70 cars on HyreCar and says building a relationship
with his drivers is key to success. Building rapport at this stage helps build trust
and, in general, As a result of long-term rent.”
7. Vandalism in the
Economy of the Creator
Many online platforms have recently set aside funds for creators, including Facebook, Instagram, and Snap.
Most platforms require a
certain amount of traction before monetizing. On YouTube, for example, the
partner program requirements state that channel owners must be "in good
standing with YouTube, have 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12
months, and at least 1,000 subscribers." These barriers help ensure that
new accounts don't come in and try to game the system from day one.
Adam Earhart, a marketing strategist with more than 100,000 subscribers on YouTube, notes that the time it takes to achieve these benchmarks varies from industry to industry and platform to platform.
"For simple math, let's say you need to publish 30 videos on your channel to target certain subscribers and watch time criteria. You have control over how fast you reach that threshold. Want to. It could take a year, six months, or even 30 days if you want to get crazy with it."
Earhart also notes that a common mistake new creators make is to focus too much on creating content that people want to see.
8. Host a group event
When marketing a group program, discuss how a group environment is more friendly (and often more cost-effective) than working one-on-one.
Pro tip: If your online
course idea isn't fully baked yet, try it first as a group program or live
workshop series. This helps you troubleshoot and see for yourself what
customers want and need and how they implement the tools and ideas you present
to them. are It also saves you from creating and launching an online course
that no one wants (which I've done before – trust me, it's not fun).
9. Start a Vending
Machine or Commercial Equipment Business
Want to ditch the rental
economy altogether? Consider buying an asset like a vending machine, then ask a
public place with a lot of foot traffic to put it on their property. You'll be
responsible for stocking the machine yourself, but can mark up the products
more or less, a reselling technique known as retail arbitrage.
Marcus Gramm, 31, is the founder of Joyner Vending, a company that has 25 vending machines in four states. Gram bought a vending machine because he needed something to make money with little management while he worked his day job at a nursing home. After finding his groove, the entrepreneur bought another machine, and then another, gradually growing what would become his full-time livelihood.
10 Become an affiliate
for your favorite brands
If designing your
service, program, or product seems daunting, consider pitching someone else's
proven offering instead. Affiliate marketing gets a bad rap because of
multi-level marketing schemes and pyramid schemes, but many products and
software ethically rely on referral links to build their customer base.
When exploring affiliate marketing approaches, think about how you can differentiate your promotional efforts.
11. Start a paid
newsletter or subscription
If you
can quickly create content that is valuable or exciting to others, then you
need an Internet connection to start your own niche media company.
The business model has Silicon
Valley buzzing. Last year, The Information published its Creator Economy database,
which noted that US-based creator startups will reach several billion dollars
in funding in 2021.
12. Offer home delivery
services
The past couple of years
has made many of us accustomed to staying at home and having things delivered
to our doorsteps. After that, a whole new world of home delivery services
opened up.
Do you see a need in
your community to bring goods or services to some people in their own homes
regularly? If the answer is yes, you may already have your next profitable
business idea.
The sky is the limit
here. I live in a fifth-floor apartment in Los Angeles. Our dog refuses to take
the elevator or stairs, so we have a sod delivery service come and drop fresh
grass on our balcony every two weeks. Yes, it's real - and it's worth every
penny. There is a saying in pricing psychology: "The premium you charge is
the value you create." Don't be afraid to get creative here.
13. Enter e-commerce
E-commerce companies are so in demand that
venture-funded aggregators like Thraceo and Perch have sprung up with the sole
intention of acquiring your product-based business. Creating a product yourself
also allows you to build a brand identity along the way.
A word of caution here:
e-commerce sometimes leans heavily on smooth global supply chains, and the past
two years have been a logistical nightmare. If you choose this approach,
educate yourself about the manufacturing and shipping requirements your company
will be responsible for. Getting the hang of any physical product takes time,
but once you get your marketing and shipping efforts dialed in, revenue and
profits will start to add up.
Start your business
today
If you've got the
entrepreneurial itch but aren't quite ready to quit your day job, consider
trying your hand at one of the business ideas listed above. You can pivot into
a whole new career.
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