Types of new business ideas you should consider
So, you want to work for yourself? You want to start up a business, and you believe you have a talent or idea that you can leverage. Good for you – it takes a lot of guts and hard work to get such ideas off the ground. As long as you are resilient and willing to put in the effort, you could become one of those single-person enterprises that make up over 75% of UK businesses.
Starting a business in 2021 is not going to be easy. The global pandemic has sent the world’s economies into difficulties, and people lack the confidence to spend money. However, there is also more acceptance to work with people who run businesses from their home. Therefore, while the conditions might not be the best for business start-ups, there is an opportunity to pull yourself back into the workforce by working for yourself.
Let’s start by looking at five areas where you might start your new business.
Online tutoring
The pandemic offers an exciting opportunity to teach online. There are tens of thousands of young people who have fallen behind and need help to catch up. The government has released a large amount of money for tutoring companies to fill the gap. To access this, you will likely need a teaching qualification. However, there will probably be plenty of people in your network who would appreciate the support for their children.
eCommerce using drop-shipping
Setting up an online store might feel risky, as you might feel you need to manufacture your product to be sold or buy in an extensive inventory that needs to be stored somewhere. Both these factors require a large upfront budget, which you may be unwilling to risk. Drop-shipping is different because you work with suppliers who send the products directly to your customers from their warehouses.
You will need to work out what product you want to sell and to which market. The research you will need to do to find this niche will take some time, but it is time well invested. Many other people sell in this way, and you will somehow need to stand out. Standing out also means having a high-quality website that looks good and funnels the buyer to a sale successfully.
Cleaning company
For most of us, the idea of setting up a cleaning company sounds like a nightmare. Cleaning your toilet is a pain; cleaning someone else’s is plain gross. But weirdly, there are people out there who gain great satisfaction from cleaning, which can take advantage of the fact there a whole load of others who would pay anything not to do it themselves. The cleaning sector increased its revenue by 28% in less than ten years. There is money to be made in domestic and commercial cleaning, and it doesn’t take much budget to get started.
Freelance graphic design
For people with talent, the internet has freed up opportunities. You no longer need to be part of a large agency to make your mark. You can build your portfolio with small client work, gathering testimonials and reviews. You should then create a website that shows this work or advertise your services on a freelancing site such as Upwork.
Content writing
If you have the talent to write, then you could set up as a freelance copywriter. There were 85000 businesses set up in Lockdown 1, and each of these required content for their websites to claim a piece of prime internet real estate. There are freelancing sites where you can bid for work and begin to build your client base, as with graphic design.
Getting started and keeping going
Once you have chosen the business that suits you, you can get started and keep going to see what happens. You will undoubtedly hit barriers, and a common mistake is to view this problem as terminal to your dreams. It takes persistence and resilience to build a business, and there will be moments when it feels hard.
A common mistake to avoid is over or under-pricing. You might find yourself having to work too many hours to make your way in the world or never landing a client because you have priced yourself out of the market. Another common mistake is to go ahead without a plan. While you will have to be agile, you need to have a clear outline of how you are going to build your business before you get going. Think of it like entering Dragons Den and having to brief one of the Dragons on your project – you need to be so well-informed of your plan that you could answer any question.
