16 Home Based Business Ideas to Start in 2021

Reaching this article means you’re one of those people who like to control their lifestyle and work schedules, not to have their lifestyle decided for them according to the full-time job they’re stuck at.

You’re in the right place because today we’re going to present 16 hot new and thriving home-based business ideas that you can start planning for in your new year’s revolution

Working from home has always had this appeal to a lot of people who aren’t interested in waking up at fixed times and getting unreasonable penalties for deciding to manage their work in different time schemes.

Table of Contents: 

• What Makes a Successful Home Based Business [Pros & Cons]
• How to Start a Small Business at Home Ideas
• 16 Online Business Ideas From Home [home-based business list]

What Makes a Successful Home Based Business [Pros & Cons]

The work from home experience may sound great at first considering you’ll have full control and manage your time. But the other side of the coin may not be very promising. Why?

Starting a home-based business may not always be the best option for some people. Those who have time management problems would prefer a system that has fixed work schedules instead of one that is flexible with bad timing habits.

Before the digitalizing of life takes root, a very low percentage of artists and architects were able to work and run a mildly successful home business.

Digital life and modern technologies caused a boom in the work culture and gradually allowed people the new concept of being able to work from almost anywhere with only one essential element: A WIFI CONNECTION.

PROS

• Tons of low-cost business ideas with high profit to choose from— minimum investment with fewer tax fees.
• You can sell whatever you want from whichever place in the world and ship to the whole world if you’d like!
• Ability to manage your work-life balance as suits you best. This is a better business option if you’re a parent or retiree who’d like to spend most of his work hours at home with family.

CONS

• Just like any other business, it requires effort. Despite the smoothness of not having to go wake up early to the office, you might still need to wake up at 5 am to mind your business in the next room.

• You’ll need to create a working space in your home that supports your new business. like an inventory, home office, or needed equipment. The good part is you determine all this by yourself.

• Commitment. Commitment. Commitment. Starting a home-based business is harder because you manage and control everything yourself, so it might not bear the slight slackness that you may feel after being at home for a while. Consider taking long walks and working out to keep yourself out of depression. Working from home doesn’t mean imprisoning yourself in it.

• Good news but also bad: Your home-based business may outgrow the workspace you set at home and require an additional place or maybe requires some employees to help you succeed. So you need to be sure you’re capable of sticking to the hot new business idea you’ve adopted till the end.

If you’re looking for home based business opportunities with no startup cost then here’s your solution. Check up this list of business ideas and pick up the best that suits you.

How to Start a Small Business at Home

Easy!

• Get on board with ExpandCart.
• Utilize our Launch My Store service and let a team of eCommerce experts create your store for you and get it up and running in a few days! All you have to do is come up with the business idea you want to stick to and expand with it.
• Let EpandCart help you land your first sale and generate revenue from home.

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Enjoy a marketplace full of apps & services tailored to every eCommerce business.

Create your store for free

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Just because you’re staying at home, especially if you’re a mother or a stay-at-home parent doesn’t mean you can’t make yourself some cash.

Check out these first steps to start your small business at home:

1. Start with a working corner: A small professional office to run your business and let the house know you’re working and would prefer little or no distractions at all until you finish.
2. Keep your spending to the minimum: The whole idea behind working from home settles on increasing your income and minimizing your outcome whether it be money or effort or time wasted in transportation. So, keep your spending low and learn when and where to invest your time and money.
3. Invest in a team: It would be foolish to depend on yourself in areas out of your expertise and expect to succeed in the business world. Hire specialists to help you with your start and establish your growth.
4. Don’t underestimate branding: Branding is the most vital aspect of growing your business. You could have a great brand image from the outside, with only 3 employees running it from the inside. That’s the magic of proficiency.
5. Study tax lawns early up in your journey: Sooner or later you’ll need to pay your taxes. Learn the laws before you have to deal with them.
6. Make sure to study business management: No matter how great you think your business will be. Without proper management, you’re planning your fall before you even start.
7. Invest in business insurance: Your landowner doesn’t cover your business losses. Make sure to cover that in your beginning.

16 Online Business Ideas From Home

You may not have a particular work from home idea you would like to start with. You’re probably now just overwhelmed by all the options available around you.

Don’t worry, we’ve summarized the best home business ideas 2021 that will allow you to work conveniently from your home.

Take those small profitable business ideas 2021 and let us know what you think in the comments below:

List of business ideas for 2021:

1. Subscription business ideas 2021
2. Start giving online classes
3. Print-on-demand business
4. Homemade products
5. Productise an experience
6. Programming
7. Web developing or designing
8. Graphic design
9. Freelance writing
10. Sell with dropshipping
11. Get involved with pets
12. Start a blog
13. Become a virtual assistant
14. Offer events catering
15. Affiliate marketing
16. Social media management

1# Subscription Business Ideas 2021

What Is a Subscription Business?

It’s a business model built on offering a product, or multiple products, or service on a regular basis. Subscription businesses like Netflix and Spotify and Amazon Prime are the most popular examples.

Buyers instead of purchasing once and leaving your store can subscribe to get a monthly delivery of certain or changing multiple products or services that are delivered monthly/annually according to the subscription.

There are 3 models within this business; membership-based model, subscription box model, subscribers only model.

Read more here: eCommerce Subscription Business Models: What And Why?

In the case of product-based subscription boxes, customers are offered the ability to customize their subscription box how they want or choose from various already prepared boxes.

Subscription business facts:

• By the year 2022, 53% of all software revenue will be derived from a subscription business model.
• News websites offer subscriptions for readers to view their articles. You no longer buy hard-paper journals, you subscribe to them.
• Turning your audience into paying subscribers is your biggest challenge in the subscription box business.
• Email marketing is your salvation and only companion to thrive in this business.

Kali here is a perfect example of this eCommerce business model. The brand offers customized monthly menstrual products for women to help take care of their hygiene during their period.

Note:

To thrive in this business or, to be honest, any business, you’ve got to customize your packages, and a creative, personalized thank you note is essential. 

The subscription business model has been thriving for the past 5 years and even COVID19 hasn’t affected it. You saw what happened with all online-based businesses when the crisis hit. Thrived right up, didn’t it?

2# Start Giving Online Classes

Right from the essence of your home, you can teach online classes. This can actually serve as a very profitable business for ladies sitting at home. Think of any educational content you can provide from home requiring only your skill, an internet connection, and an online platform where you can serve those skills in online classes.

Start your own platform to sell and serve and store those online classes under your umbrella (brand). Use ExpandCart to create an online store, set up every detail, start recording and uploading your classes, and promote your service using social media!

Check this guide to making engaging content for your online store and mobile app.

OR. Record your classes from your home office and upload them on any online-courses platform like Udemy.

Create an online store on ExpandCart and use the subscription business model we talked about earlier. Make promotion videos to your online classes and make the full content only available for subscribers.

Create Your Own Subscription Home Business
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Not only this can be a simple business for ladies to work from home, but men too. You can start off by thinking of teaching your college major, cooking your traditional recipes, origami, or online Yoga classes. Millions of ideas for home business and the main essence is your skill!

Read this article to inspire profitable passive income small business ideas.

3# Print-on-demand Business

Starting a print on demand business allows you to work from home at the lowest costs. An integration at ExpandCart allows you to do exactly that.

Printful is an online platform that gives you unlimited products to sell online from home. No worrying about the storage, products, or shipping. You can set it all up from your dashboard at ExpandCart.

Here’s how to start a print on demand business from home with steps:

• Enter your dashboard in ExpandCart. If you don’t have a store on ExpandCart yet make sure to sign up for free.
• Below on the left panel click on (Apps & Services) to enter the marketplace full of apps.
• Choose Printful, and click install.
• Now go to Printful.com and create an account there.

• Scroll in the settings to find your API code.
• Copy it and go back to ExpandCart.

• Enter the apps marketplace and click edit on Printful integration. Enable it.
• Paste your API code and save.
• Voila! Now your store on ExpandCart is integrated with Printful.

Your next steps are easy — choose your products, insert your designs, upload those products to your store, and start selling!

4# Homemade Products

Are you a handmade crafter? Do you spend time in your workshop creating wonders that take lots of time and effort to send to friends and family or just store them behind the others? Why not sell them!

Handmade home based business list of ideas:

• Sell scented candles
• Start a jewelry business from home
• Sell makeup online
• Sell your art online
• Sell homemade food online
• Start your own clothing line
• Craft enamel pins

Instead of having side hobbies that no one knows about or just using your crafted handmade goods for personal use, show the world what you can create!

Start selling your handmade goods from home!

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5# Productise an Experience

There’s a lot of home business ideas that you can start in 2021. But lays amongst the easiest to start is making a product out of something you’re already very good at.

Take the full-time employment under some management to your own management and productize your skill from home.

Are you good at programming? Why not open your own business where you offer programming service for a cheap price and beat the market.

6# Programming

As the future is becoming more dependent on technology, programming has cemented its position as one of the most valuable skills anyone should learn. While programming may take more time than other skills to learn, it’s definitely worth it, especially when you start making $50-60 an hour.

The first challenge would be deciding on a language to learn first. You should always look for a relatively new language that allows you to settle a good reputation in the programming community in little time.

7# Web Developing or Designing

Web development is also at its peak among so many other markets that tend to make our digital life easier. Be one of those angels and offer web development or designing and expand with an online website where you can productize your experience and get the cash flowing while working from home.

With a little determination and commitment, you can learn web development from scratch as long as you’re willing to see it through the end.

Web developers handle the functionality of websites and the development of applications. You only need a laptop and an internet connection to make a good amount of money with an online business that you can easily run from anywhere in the world.

Web designers do a complementary job to the developer which is handling the graphic designs and representation of the website. It’s considered the creative side of the web developing process.

It best suits those who like jobs that require a colorful vision. An artistic background would be helpful but you can easily learn enough on your own before you start freelancing.

8# Graphic Design

Graphic designing is broader with its uses and applications when compared to web designing which only involves crafting designs for websites.

Expect to work with online and offline advertisements, logos, posters, and even website designs. You’ll find many free courses and tutorials online that can get you up and running in a very short time.

9# Freelance Writing

Freelance writing involves many forms of writing; content writing, copywriting, editing, ghostwriting, and many others. While you may not feel that you are the next Mark Twain, that doesn’t mean that you can’t research and write about subjects you’re interested in.

It’s quite easy to find freelancer jobs and even stable ones like online magazines and editorials.

But, what if you’re not interested in productizing your experience? Keep reading for more business ideas with low investment and high profit.

10# Sell with Dropshipping

Dropshipping is considered one of the most profitable small businesses 2021. You wouldn’t need to buy products or packaging and delivering, nor worry about buying storage or what would you do if these products don’t sell.

To start selling with dropshipping, you need to create an online store on ExpandCart and connect your store with one of the many dropshipping enablers on the platform like Printful, AliExpress, or Knawat, etc.

Once your customers order a product, you order it from your supplier and have it delivered to them. This doesn’t require a lot of upfront costs and you won’t need to worry about the hassle of renting a space and buying bulk shipments.

What you sell should depend on what you think the market needs based on your market research and location. There are other business models for eCommerce stores which are manufacturing, wholesaling, subscription, white-labeling, and yet dropshipping is the fastest and most recommended way to get started.

11# Get Involved with Pets

Either you offer pets walking, sitting, or feeding. You can easily do this by starting an online store and start selling pets related products and services from your home.

Once you have launched your online store, you’re up for improvement. Try expanding with social media and email marketing to win every prospecting customer out there.

And don’t stop there, create quizzes to collect feedbacks and know what else pet lovers are looking for. Offer every pet-related service you can from your house and grow your online business in the most lovable industry.

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12# Start a Blog

While many people use blogging as a simple way to express themselves, it’s not the only use for blogging. A blog can quickly become a great marketing machine that can provide you with sustainable income if you have what it takes.

A blog with enough audience can make a lot of money off advertisements, affiliates, and sponsorships. It may take some time at first if you don’t have a popular blog to create one and start getting it known with quality writing.

13# Become a Virtual Assistant

Just like it sounds; you’ll help a company or an individual with numerous tasks that can include writing, scheduling, providing customer support, data entry, and many others.

You’ll get to charge your client by the hour and your price can considerably increase as you gain experience. The best thing about being a virtual assistant is that you pick up new skills and hone old ones which can raise your hourly rates easily.

14# Offer Events Catering

The internet has made it quite easy to deliver your services and get them known by others. You can turn your passion for cooking into a real moneymaker by opening up a catering business that can either provide big events with food or provide healthy food options for a niche market. You can sell your cooking to online customers, friends, and local markets.

15# Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing boils down to marketing for a third-party using your own channels. It’s one of the very profitable home business ideas and a popular method of creating a good source of income from home. You’ll promote the third-party using links and promo codes.

Once your visitors click on the link, they’ll be directed to the advertiser’s channels to buy products, and when they do, you make a profit as well.

There are different payment schemes depending on the medium of advertisement and the deal you have with the advertiser; it can be profit per click, sale, or a fixed rate.

Those with websites, blogs, Youtube channels, social media pages, and even podcasts can gain a lot from affiliate marketing.

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Create a free store on ExpandCart and start your affiliate business from home!

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16# Social Media Management

A lot of organizations and individuals are unable to take care of their social media accounts, especially when there are a lot of interactions and they just can’t keep up.

Social media management can also develop into social media marketing which would increase your price in the market.

You’ll mainly take care of posts and develop strategies that align well with the organization or individual’s image that they want.

Everyone at some point in their lives would like to leave their routine job and start working from home. But only those who are truly able to see the bigger picture manage to pull it off. It’s not easy leaving corporate or traditional jobs behind as they’re considered safety nets to many people.

The transition to a home business would require not only courage but also careful planning to ensure that you don’t waste any precious time before you get everything in order.

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