The Best Easy-to-Start Business Ideas — You’ve always wanted to start a business, so over the years your mind has been occupied with pie-in-the-sky ideas, or ideas so practical they put you to sleep. Starting a business is risky, so it’s easy to talk yourself out of it. After all, without startup capital, what can you do?

There are many ideas you can pursue. You can start some of them for nothing if you have the equipment and skills required. Some of the best ideas include home-based businesses, to keep expenses down. Keep in mind these are not get-rich-quick solutions, as you must work your way up gradually. If you want to get it going, here are some ideas of where to start.

Residential Cleaning Services

You’ve always kept a clean house and have learned a few time-saving tricks along the way. If you’ve got a way to get around and some cleaning supplies, all you’ll need to do is get the word out. A craigslist ad, or a post on nextdoor can go a long way for a little money.

Most households have every adult working 40+ hours, so they’re often willing to pay for the benefits of a clean home and the free time they get to do other things. Often, these services are provided once a month or on a weekly basis, and to start the business, all you need is to get cleaning supplies.

The Nitty Gritty

These online classifieds can’t really sustain a business, so you’ll need more of an online presence. You may want to hire a webmaster, Web designer, Webguru, or Web developer. It’s possible you’ve got Web skills as well as cleaning skills, but don’t be embarrassed if you don’t. A website is the face of your company, and that’s worth the investment.

Snow Removal and Grass Cutting Services

Your dad made you mow the lawn growing up, so you swore it off. But you were pretty good at it and you did like being outdoors. In many places, you can combine snow removal and lawn care to build a business that stays busy in the off season. The requirements for this project include edgers, power mowers, etc. You must be prepared to mow and trim, and you’ll also need a good snow blower.

The Nitty Gritty

There are so many lawn services out there. Most have no problem keeping a full schedule because of the demand. If you throw your hat in the ring there will be competition for clients. Despite this, any undercutting of competition doesn’t really drive the cost of services down, because businesses and homeowners know the going rate and they’re willing to pay. You don’t need to be cut-throat to get jobs. If you do good work the word will get around.

Tutoring Service

You were the class pet and always loved school. While that’s not at all who you need to be, you do need to know the subjects you tutor. There’s a demand for tutors who can provide services to students from first grade to post-doctoral level. For tutoring services, you don’t need to manage a class physically, as you can do this entirely online. You can use a freelance service to start out, but you’ll make more on your own, so you don’t have to split with the agency. After all, you’re doing this because you want to be your own boss.

The Nitty Gritty

The most important thing is to know more than your students and have good emotional intelligence. If you don’t love people as much as the subject, it may not be for you.

Start a Blog

You were that kid always writing in your journal.

Many people have become successful with their blogs. One example is the Huffington Post, which earned its founders $315 million. If you’re dedicated, you can be successful as you can share valuable information and get business partnerships that will bring in revenue.

Also, starting a blog will not cost much as you can begin with nothing. To make money through your blog, you need many readers, so you should focus on a highly monetized topic. Create an interesting blog, which will give you money in local advertising.

The Nitty Gritty

You don’t have the name recognition of Arianna Huffington, so it can take years to build a readership. Try starting out on a platform like Medium, and always blast your posts on social media.

Become a Personal Trainer

You always loved working out, and you were the one giving tips to your friends. Becoming a personal trainer is a natural fit for you. For this, you don’t need to open a gym, as you can also offer the training online.

Many personal trainers train their clients over zoom or their own apps where people can subscribe and find guidelines for a monthly subscription. Also, you can accept invitations to clients’ homes if they prefer to work with you more closely.

The Nitty Gritty

Lots of people want to be in better shape, but they don’t have the motivation. A lot of times, simply hiring someone, and paying them, is enough for them to want to work out. But you’ll also want to have either the stick or the carrot ready. If you’re not sure you’re ready to help people who hate working out even more than you love it, then pick a few clients to see how you like it before you jump all in.

Conclusion

We’ve tried to be honest and discuss the nitty gritty, but every business will have its own challenges. There’s more than we can cover here, so check out this easy guide on starting a new business.

Think positively, and with practical steps you can use to expand. The website, and social media are pretty much necessary for self-starters. But some of the new freelancer platforms can host you until you’re ready to go solo. Everyone is good at something that someone else would be willing to pay them for. It’s just a matter of taking the first step.

——

Ian Garza, a former hiring manager, is big on balance. After years of late nights and early mornings working for a large insurance company, in June 2020, Ian said enough was enough. Today, Ian is building a consulting business with a former colleague, working fewer hours, and making time for his favorite hobbies — reading, bouldering, and hanging out with his cat.

You can visit Ian at his website https://bigonbalance.com/ to discover more.