Starting an online business can give you the freedom to choose where you work, what you do, and how you work. It can give you the time and resources to live a meaningful life. Building an online business is complex, and you want to make the right choices. When it comes to choosing an online business, timing, pricing, and market matters.
Why Should You Want to Start an Online Business
With today's market, there's no better time to start an online business. There are a lot of reasons why starting an online business can be beneficial to you. Some of the benefits include:
You can earn more because you don't have an income ceiling if you're willing to put in the work.
You can work from anywhere thanks to the normalization of remote work last few years.
You'll be safer in a freelancing career with fewer risks of being laid off.
Many independent businesses are in higher demand as these individuals show great skill at incredible price points without complex working relationships.
Freedom to choose the type of work and clients with better business management.
You have immediate access to a global audience with millions of traffic.
All you need to get started is a laptop and an internet connection.
It's easier to outsource work and scale your business via multiple sources of income.
While starting an online business can be a great way to earn an income, there are a few factors you need to consider before jumping into a fad market.
How Do You Decide Which Online Business to Launch?
There are a lot of different online businesses and industries that can consider. You should keep in mind four factors that can help you decide on the business that you can truly enjoy.
Skills
You want to choose something that you have the skills to perform and is easy to launch. Make sure the online business doesn't require a background, education, or experience that may make it difficult to gain traction in the field. You also want to ensure the business is easy to sell your product without having to use sleazy sales tactics. Think about if the business is easy to deliver results.
Time
When it comes to time, you want to think about how fast you can actually make a sale, how fast you can make a profit, and how long it takes to fulfill a purchase after you make a sale. Analyze your day to identify the time that could be used to start an online business. Most online businesses start as a side hustle - Something you do in the early mornings or late at night. We see many Stay-at-home moms starting successful businesses while being home with the kids.
Money
With any business, you have to consider the upfront costs and investment and whether it will be easy to maintain with low overhead. Research the market and determine whether a specific business type historically has high-profit margins. Often you can start by signing up for a 30-day free trial for software or other memberships which will give you a small headstart to get your first client before receiving the bill.
Fun
Fun is a non-negotiable aspect of building an online business. To build a successful business that you love, you have to do something that you enjoy doing. The industry needs to be a growing trend, and you have to enjoy the people involved. A perfect way to have fun while starting an online business is to join a community or Facebook group with people in the same niche - As a bonus, you will learn a lot too!
7 Online Businesses You Can Launch - Ranked
These seven businesses are ranked based on the factors you would use to determine how you would decide which one to choose. An online business should be beginner-friendly, low-risk, high-profit margin, and a lot of fun. The business you decide on needs to be in a growing market with the potential for a great future. And most importantly, you should be able to do it from anywhere. Based on a scale of 1-10 for ease of launch overall, here are 7 businesses that check all the boxes.
SaaS
Service as a Software (SaaS) is a trending online business that requires a lot of skill to start. Because of the complex nature of this type of business, it can take years to grow based on your current level of knowledge in this industry. It takes a lot of upfront costs to start, but it has the potential for significant returns. Based on these factors, this business ranks 5/10.
Rank: 5/10
eCommerce
The eCommerce industry is a very hot market right now where many sellers try to make a name. Because the market is extremely saturated, it's very hard to successfully start an eCommerce business.
The cost of starting an eCommerce business is also very high as you have to purchase the initial inventory and invest a lot in advertising before you can successfully make a profit, which typically is low in this space. Starting an eCommerce business is ranked 4/10 based on the amount of effort versus the low income.
Rank: 4/10
Course Creation
Starting a course business by creating a course can actually be challenging. Business owners in this space are consistently working on improving their production value, updating the course as industries and technologies evolve. They film a lot of videos for content creation to market and, of course, the actual teaching video modules.
Aside from video creation, the costs are between cheap and expensive. Still, the profitability is extremely high with the quick delivery of a digital product once it's complete and minimal monthly costs to maintain. Course creation ranks 6/10 on the scale of ease of launch.
Rank: 6/10
Ad Agency
With an ad agency, businesses are relying on you to bring in revenue through your ad creation. You have to be skilled in the marketing space with experience and background in marketing. It can be hard to break into because you need to show results in order to earn clients, and it can be hard to start.
You can launch an ad agency quickly, but fulfillment can take time and investment. If you are equipped with the right software skills, you can see high profitability. The ranking for starting an ad agency is 5/10.
Rank: 5/10
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing is a popular way to make a semi-passive income. It's relatively easy to get started by posting a few blogs, YouTube videos, and social media without ever needing to show your face. You have to have a general knowledge of simple sales tactics, and you are only compelling people to purchase a product as a third party.
You don't have to fulfill any products, and it is low cost to start, and this business can be high in profitability if you're able to sell. Affiliate marketing ranks at 7/10 and is better as supplemental income.
Rank: 7/10
Coaching
Coaching is challenging because you must create material yourself and work closely with clients regularly. You need to have a strong background in the market you're trying to coach with results, and selling coaching can be challenging because you have to market yourself.
Coaching can be a quick way to earn an income, and depending on what you offer, it can take days or months to fulfill. Starting is a relatively low upfront cost, and you can earn a lot. Coaching is a 7/10 because it can be fulfilling for the right person as you help people one-on-one, but it can be a lot of interactions and meetings, which can be draining.
Rank: 7/10
Freelancer
You can easily learn several skills through quick courses or guides offered on YouTube or Udemy to apply in a freelancing business. Skills such as graphic design, copywriting, funnel building, and more are frequently sought out by freelancers. It's an easy type of business to build, but you must build a portfolio to get clients.
Freelancing is a job that can allow you to work from anywhere and is scalable to higher potential earnings as long as you are willing to put the work in. You can charge based on the skill level and outcome of a freelancing business. Freelancing is the highest ranking as a profitable online business to launch at 9/10.
Rank: 9/10
Summary
These are all great options to consider if you're ready to launch an online business. It depends on your comfort levels, skill sets, and the amount of money and work you're willing to put in to gain the freedom to make money on your terms whenever and however you want.
Business | Rank | Summary |
Freelancer | 9 | Easy to start, small upfront costs, takes time to earn big money. |
Affiliate Marketing | 7 | Easy to start, small upfront costs, passive income. |
Coaching | 7 | Small starting costs, takes time to build a reputation. |
Course Creation | 6 | Small upfront costs, time-consuming with huge potential. |
Saas | 5 | Hard to start, huge long-term potential wins. |
Ad Agency | 5 | Small upfront costs, takes time and results to succeed. |
eCommerce | 4 | Saturated market, big investment to buy stock, low margins. |
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