You want to start a business, because you know that you want to work from home, be your own boss, or move away from a 9-to-5 schedule.

The problem is, you don’t know what to do yet!

In this article, I’m giving you more than 200 creative ideas for businesses that you can start this year. Some can be done online from the comforts of your home, while others require equipment, storefronts, and specific qualifications.

I’m sure you’ll find some ideas that resonate with you, and you can start looking into next steps to make it happen.

DISCLAIMER: These are meant to jumpstart some ideas for you so you can continue researching them. I cannot guarantee that any of these ideas will lead to a successful or profitable business. Many of these business ideas will require specific training, licenses, and adherence to safety regulations. Please research your idea thoroughly and make sure you are doing it legally, safely, and correctly.

If you need more help finding a business idea, here are some other articles I recommend:

• How to Find a Profitable Business Idea So You Can Work From Home
• Should You Become a Freelancer? (Honest Pros and Cons)
• The 4-Part Writing Framework That Will Get More People Interested in Your Business

Without further ado, let’s dive into the list!

Table of Contents

1. 49+ Online Service Ideas
   1. Business Services
   2. Personal Consulting & Coaching
2. 47+ Creative Business Ideas
   1. Writing & Editing
   2. Graphic and Video Creation
   3. Coding and Development
   4. Marketing Services
   5. Art
3. 50+ Physical Service Business Ideas
   1. Events and Entertaining
   2. Children-Focused Services
   3. Pet-Focused Services
   4. Beauty & Fitness Services
   5. Other Creative Services
   6. Business-Focused Physical Services
   7. Local Tourism
   8. Other Physical Services
4. 14+ Food-Based Business Ideas
5. 38+ Product-Based Business Ideas
   1. Physical Products
   2. Digital Products
6. 12+ Teaching-Based Business Ideas
7. Conclusion

49+ Online Service Ideas

These businesses are done online. Through the power of the internet, you provide general services to people that need your help. (If you’re looking for creative service ideas, for things like writing and designing, those are in the next section!)

We’ll look at online services that are aimed at helping businesses, then services for everyday people like you and me.

Business Services

• Virtual Assistant – Anything an assistant would do for a business, you do online!
• OBM – This stands for Online Business Manager. Basically you keep everything running and organized for an online business owner.
• Coach (Business, Performance, etc) – This is someone who provides coaching services to business owners to help them move forward in business. This isn’t recommended unless you have coaching training and a business background already.
• Social Media Manager – Creating content, posting, and engaging on social media to help grow a businesses’ accounts.
• Voice Over Artist – Recording your voice for businesses to use. You’ll need some good recording equipment for this.
• Tax Preparer / Consultant – If you have a background in tax prep, you can provide that service to businesses on a freelance basis.
• Accountant / Bookkeeper – Providing accounting services on an as-needed basis.
• Guest Post Consultant – If you know how to get guest posts, you can provide a service for bloggers to help find, pitch, and prepare guest posts to increase traffic and links to their blog.
• SEO Specialist – Helping bloggers and businesses plan and write articles that get more traffic from search engines.
• Self-Publishing Consultant – Advising authors and business owners on how to self-publish a book.
• Email Marketing Consultant – Helping businesses develop an email strategy or create emails for their audience.
• Legal Consulting – Providing legal consultations and services to business owners.
• Etsy or Shopify Setup – Setting up these shops for online businesses as a paid service.
• Pinterest Consultant – Teaching business owners how to use Pinterest or managing Pinterest for them.
• Etsy or Shopify Management – Running, maintaining, and updating an Etsy or Shopify store for clients.
• Blog Management – Posting blogs, keeping them updated, managing WordPress, updating articles and links, etc.
• Social Media or Blog Engagement – This is a specific service for engaging with a businesses’ online audience, like responding to comments, reviews, or generally building engagement on their accounts.
• Facebook Group or Private Community Engagement – Managing a Facebook Group or Discord server for a business.
• Public Speaking Consultant – If you have a background in public speaking, you can help business owners prepare for speaking engagements or launch a speaking career.
• Blog Setup (Wix, Squarespace, WordPress, etc) – Ugh, I wish I had someone to help me in the beginning with this! You can help business owners set up their blogs, install themes, troubleshoot, and more.
• Podcast Producer – Podcasts are still blowing up. You can help plan, set up, record, edit, or other tasks needed to produce a podcast for a business owner.
• Grant Writing – Businesses often need help applying for grants, which they sometimes hire people for.
• Transcription – Nowadays there are AI transcription services to do this, but you can help edit transcriptions, manage them, or transcribe a more niche language that’s not available with software.
• Tech Support – If you’re good with coding or software, you can be a freelance help desk for businesses to troubleshoot problems.
• Business Website Setup – Helping businesses set up websites, whether custom-built or with a template, from hosting to design to launching.
• Website Management – Similar to blog management, you can help keep the website up-to-date, improve pages, and fix any problems that occur.
• Data Entry – One of the simplest jobs out there, but a great place to start since it doesn’t need any special skill! All businesses want is someone who’s easy to reach, doesn’t make mistakes, and finishes work on time.
• Project Manager – You can come on board for businesses that need someone to manage a project from start to finish, communicate with each team member, and make sure things are done on schedule.
• Lead Generation – Your job is to help businesses gain leads, whether that’s through digital marketing, cold calling, or other methods.
• Job Board – If you can create a unique job board site for a specific niche or locale, you can charge businesses to list their job openings. You’ll need to make sure you have traffic and actual job seekers coming to the site to make it work.
• CRM Specialist – Maybe you love Hubspot, SalesForce, AirTable, ClickUp, or another software that helps business manage their customers (and tasks, projects, or anything else you can think of). You can become a specialist for that software and help business find unique ways to implement these softwares into their workflow.
• Social Media Consultant – Different from social media management, which is creating and posting content for the client, a social media consultant teaches businesses how to use social media for themselves to build an audience and increase revenue.
• Press Release Distribution – Many businesses want to have media coverage, and in order to do that, they typically need to submit a press release. If you know how to submit press releases or build the right connections, you can create a valuable business in creating and submitting press releases to the right places for them.

Personal Consulting & Coaching

• Baby Sleep Consultant – A specialist that helps families help their babies to get better sleep, so the entire family can be better rested.
• Organization / Decluttering Consultant – Helping individuals organize or declutter their spaces.
• Online Paid Membership / Community – You could charge a monthly fee to join an online community of like-minded people, where you share helpful information, resources, or simply allow people to network.
• Travel Consultant – Helping people book travel packages at no extra cost to them.
• Homeschool Consulting – Teaching families how to start homeschooling, recommending resources, or troubleshooting problems for them.
• Dietitian – Putting together meal plans or ideas based on people’s needs. (Must be qualified for this.)
• Meal Plan Subscription – Instead of prescribing people a diet (which needs a qualification), you could also share meal ideas or recipes for a subscription fee.
• Financial Advisor – Advising individuals on financial decisions. (This requires qualifications.)
• Singing Coach – Teaching people how to sing or improve their voice with online lessons (could also be in person).
• Budgeting Consultant – Helping people to create budgets or spend their money more wisely through online consulting.
• Productivity Consultant – Helping people increase productivity in their daily life or manage their time better through online consulting.
• Private Consulting on an Area of Expertise – Whatever you’re really good at, you can help others with through online consulting.
• Toilet Training Consultant – Helping parents with toilet training through online consultation.
• Parenting Consultant – Maybe you’re well-versed or qualified in Montessori methods or gentle parenting. You can provide online consulting to parents who want to learn more and adopt those methods at home.
• Health and Wellness Consultant – While I strongly disagree with MLM businesses, health and wellness consulting can be helpful for people (as long as it’s not tied into a pitch for an MLM product).
• Career Coach – Helping people in the workforce to up level their careers or find the right next career move through online coaching. (Of course, for any kind of coaching or consulting, you need to be trained and have success in the area you’re trying to help with.)

47+ Creative Business Ideas

These businesses tap into the creative side of your brain and allow you to use your talents to help others (and make money doing it)!

Writing & Editing

• Content Writer – Writing content (usually for blogs or social media) for businesses and content creators.
• Copywriter – Copywriting is a specific type of writing that’s designed to get a response from the reader (usually used for sales and marketing).
• Translator – If you speak a second language, you can translate written or spoken text from that second language into your native language.
• Self-Published Author – You can make a living self-publishing and marketing your own books.
• Email Copywriter – This person specializes in writing emails that get opened and read and boost sales for a business.
• Editor – If you love writing and reading, you could become an editor, someone who helps rewrite content to make it smoother and better-organized.
• Proofreader – This is the person who goes through writing with a fine-toothed comb looking for errors and fixing them one by one.
• Children’s Book Author – You could create your own line of children’s books, market them, and sell them.
• Speech Writer – You can write speeches for business owners or prominent individuals.
• Press Release Writer – You can write press releases for businesses to help get media coverage of their new offerings.
• Whitepaper Writer – You can write white papers for businesses, which are basically reports of trends in an industry or explanations of technology that they’re using.
• Non-Fiction Ghostwriter – You can go undercover and write for other business owners who want to publish books but don’t have the time to write for themselves.
• E-Book Writing – If you can write helpful e-books and market them successfully, you can sell them through Amazon or other platforms to make money.
• Fiction Ghostwriter – Similar to a non-fiction ghostwriter, you can help people write fiction books and let them publish it under their name.
• Legal Writer – If you have a legal background, you can write legal documents for businesses for hire.
• Technical Writer – These writers create technical manuals and other documents for businesses.
• Resume Writer – You can write resumes that help people land their dream job.

Graphic and Video Creation

• Graphic Designer – Creating logos, social media graphics, print materials, and other designs for clients.
• Video Editor – Edit YouTube videos, explainer videos, training videos, and more for clients.
• Photographer – So many people want to have professional-quality photos for personal and business use. You can choose any number of niches to take photos for clients.
• Web Designer – Designing the visuals of a website or blog so that it can be coded into reality by a developer. (This could also include coding if you can do both.)
• Design / Production Agency – Build a team of freelancers or employees to complete multi-part design or media projects for clients.
• Stock Photos – Take stock photos and sell them for a living. (This isn’t as lucrative as it used to be, as most stock photo sites are using a subscription model.)
• Book Designer – Use your design skills to specialize in book design for publishers, self-published authors, and businesses.
• App Designer – Using UIUX design software, you can design the look and user experience of apps for business clients.
• Children’s Book Illustrator – If you’re an illustrator, you can offer your skills to children’s book authors or publishers to provide illustrations for their books.
• Freelance Illustrator – Plenty of businesses and publications want unique and custom illustrations for their content in a cohesive style (and not stuff done by an AI art generator).
• Videographer – You can hire yourself out to create professional videos for businesses for advertising, social media, and more.
• Photo Retouching – Know your way around Photoshop or other editors? You could offer to retouch and edit photos for clients.
• CAD Designer – If you have a background in CAD designing, you can offer that service to clients on a contract basis.
• Business Portrait Photographer – Many business owners and content creators want professional photos they can use in content and on websites, and a portrait photographer can help with this.
• Family Photographer – Take photos of families for memories, possibly including newborn photos, pregnancy photos, and more.
• Event Photographer – Take photos at weddings, business events, births, or any other big event that needs great photos taken at each important moment.

Coding and Development

• Web Developer – After someone has created a design for a new website, you’ll code it into being.
• App Developer – Using specific coding languages for apps, you can build working apps for businesses that work on iOS or Android.

Marketing Services

• Content Creator – You can make a living as a content creator, if your content is interesting and helpful for a specific audience, and you find a way to monetize it. Usually that means getting sponsorships from products that you recommend to your audience or selling products or services to your audience.
• Content Strategy – You can provide content strategy for businesses, helping them decide what kind of content to create, which platforms to be on, and how to optimize their content to reach their business goals.
• Affiliate Blogging – If you can build traffic to a blog, you can drive traffic to affiliate links, where you receive a portion of purchases made through the link.
• Affiliate YouTuber – Similar to affiliate blogging, if you can build an audience on YouTube, you can also promote affiliate links, where you receive a portion of revenue earned by a business through your link.
• Marketing Consultant / Agency – With this business, you’ll advise businesses on marketing strategy, from content marketing to paid advertising to media coverage, and more.
• Social Media Influencer – Similar to a content creator, a social media influencer becomes “famous” on social media, and then gets paid by brands to create content promoting the brand to their audience. The more followers you have (and the better engagement you get), the more you can earn from sponsored posts.
• Digital Ad Specialist – If you love ads, you can create an ad agency for businesses where you help them create and optimize Facebook ads, Google ads, and other paid ads to bring in leads and sales.
• Brand Strategist – This person creates brand strategy for a business, from brand positioning to visual branding and everything in between.
• Print Publication – Create a print publication with interesting information not found anywhere else, and charge businesses to advertise inside of it. This one may be difficult in today’s landscape, and it will take money and time to create.

Art

• Artist – If you can create compelling art, and weave an interesting story around your art that makes it more interesting to audiences, you can sell art for a living.
• Painting – You can paint custom murals or provide detailed painting services. If you can paint beautiful signs on storefronts, that’s still a valued service in many places.
• Calligrapher – You can draw hand-made invitations for weddings, signs for events, birth announcements, and more.

50+ Physical Service Business Ideas

These ideas require you to have a physical space and/or equipment to provide an in-person service to clients.

CAUTION: Make sure you research the appropriate licenses and safety regulations before attempting to start one of these businesses. Many physical businesses require licenses and approval before you can offer your services to clients.

Events and Entertaining

• Hair Stylist – Do hair for special events, photo shoots, etc.
• Wedding Planner – Plan clients’ special day.
• Rental Party Room – Create a facility that people can rent out for parties (with related services).
• Event Planning – You can plan and run events for individuals or businesses from start to finish.
• Party Decorator – You’re the one who organizes and sets up decorations for clients’ parties and events.
• Party Balloon Displays – Create balloon arches and custom displays for parties.
• Smash Room – Create a facility where people can get out their stress by smashing and vandalizing things (legally, of course).
• Campgrounds – Create a campsite that you rent out to campers.
• Glamping Facility – Create a glamping facility, where people can camp out with more amenities than just roughing it in a tent.

Children-Focused Services

• At-Home Daycare – If you’re already at home with your child, you can turn your home into a daycare service for other families’ kids, too.
• Children’s Birthday Parties – You could throw children’s birthday parties following specific theme, or take personal requests.
• Doula – A doula assists with pregnancy, delivery, and the postpartum experience, providing support to the mother and family.
• Indoor Play Area for Kids – You can create a facility full of fun play equipment and toys for kids to play in.
• Babysitter – It’s not just for 12-year-olds! Experienced moms also make great babysitters, and you can watch other people’s kids while your kids are with you, too.
• Speech-Language Pathologist – These aren’t just for kids, but many parents want help with their kids’ speech development. You could also focus on adults or people of any age.

Pet-Focused Services

• Dog Walking – Help people in your area walk their dogs during the day when they’re at work.
• Pet Sitting – Take care of people’s pets while they’re away.
• Pet Training – If you have experience training pets, you could provide a personal pet-training service so they don’t have to send their dogs to a large obedience school.

Beauty & Fitness Services

• Manicurist – Doing nails, either at your home, on call, or in your own location.
• Hair Salon – Opening up a hair salon, not much explanation needed for this!
• Personal Stylist – Helping people make the most of the clothes they have by finding outfit ideas, taking them shopping, or buying clothes for busy people who want to look good.
• Tattoo Artist – If you have the equipment, qualifications, and skills, you could start a tattoo parlor.
• Makeup Artist – Offer your services in makeup artistry for events, photo shoots, modeling, and more.
• Fitness Coach / Personal Trainer – Help people get fit, either at your own facility, or wherever your clients are. (This also works well online.)
• Running Coach – Help people build a running habit, get fit, or train for a marathon.

Other Creative Services

• Interior Decorating – Help decorate and design a person’s home, office, or other interior.
• Tailor / Custom Made Clothing – Not many people can sew clothing these days. So if you can, you can design custom-made clothing or beautifully tailor clothes for special events, keepsakes, and more.
• Construction – If painting, building, and constructing is your thing, you can start a business for that. (This is one of those businesses that can get very dangerous if not done properly and with a license.)
• Pottery Classes / Rental Kiln – If you have pottery equipment or can set up a facility, you can offer pottery classes or even rent out your kiln to fire and finish other people’s pottery.
• Wardrobe Consultant – Similar to a personal stylist, this person goes into a person’s existing wardrobe and help them find outfit ideas from it.

Business-Focused Physical Services

• Interpreter – Plenty of businesses need live interpretation of meetings and calls with clients who speak other languages.
• Rental Office Space – Create a facility that people can rent out as an office.
• Rentable Meeting Room – Create a facility that people can rent out for meetings (with other amenities and services businesses might need).
• Notary Services – A Notary Public helps to administer oaths, certify documents, and facilitate other important communications. You need an official license to do this.
• Local Networking Membership – You could create a networking group for people in your area and charge a fee to participate.
• Client Gift Provider – Many businesses like to send custom gifts to their clients to thank them for their business. You can provide this service and coordinate gifts for them.
• Recruiting – A recruiter helps businesses find new talent to hire, and also helps individuals find better opportunities to advance their careers.
• Paid Conferences or Seminars – You can set up a paid conference that teaches attendees valuable skills or shares information about an industry they’re interested in, while also providing a venue for local businesses to advertise to attendees.
• Office Design and Set-Up – For businesses that need to set up new offices, you can help facilitate the process and do the actual purchasing of furniture, designing, and putting together the space.

Local Tourism

• Tour Guide – Know a lot about your local area? You could offer tours to visitors that give them an inside look into your city.
• Airbnb Host – If you have an extra room or property to offer, you could try offering it on Airbnb. (Nowadays, there’s a lot of competition, and it requires a lot to maintain an Airbnb property.)
• Package Tours – If your area gets a lot of tourism, you could organize package tours for sale to different locations and experiences in your region.
• Bed & Breakfast – If you love hospitality, you could set up a cozy bed & breakfast in your town to welcome guests.

Other Physical Services

• Concierge Service – A concierge takes any custom request and makes it happen. These businesses often serve busy people who have money but no time, and take any sort of creative request.
• Laundry Service – You could take people’s laundry, wash it, and bring it back, for a fee.
• Cleaning and Tidying – Cleaning and tidying people’s homes is always a valuable service.
• Lawn Care Services – Keeping people’s lawns healthy and green.
• Bilingual Assistant – Non-English speakers often need support to visit hospitals or other places with someone who can translate for them. You could work directly with individuals or partner with businesses or agencies that need this support.
• Independent Caregiver – An independent caregiver takes care of the elderly or someone who needs support doing daily tasks on a contract basis.
• Digital Organizer – This business would help people organize their email, digital files, computers, and more.
• Dry Cleaning Pickup and Delivery – Taking clothes to the cleaners for busy people who need clean clothes fast.
• Plant Hotel – Take care of people’s plants in your home while they’re away.

14+ Food-Based Business Ideas

• Cake Baking
• Cookie Baking
• Open a Restaurant / Cafe
• Private Chef / Chef for Hire
• Selling Homemade Food (Please, research the legal and safety requirements for this. Don’t be like the pink sauce lady.)
• Catering
• Home-Baked Bread
• Pastries and Baked Goods
• International Food (That’s not easily found in your area)
• Freezer Meals / Meal Plans
• Meal Prep Service
• Premade Baking Mixes (Just add liquids)
• Custom Charcuterie Boards or Party Trays
• Roastery

38+ Product-Based Business Ideas

Physical Products

• Garage Sale Flipping – Buying discounted items and then selling them for a higher price.
• Candles and Home Items
• Handmade Body and Skincare Products
• Handmade Blankets / Bedding
• Handmade Jewelry
• Handmade Hair Accessories
• Knitted or Crocheted Clothing and Accessories
• Stationery and Office Supplies
• Imported Goods (This one can also become a legal issue if you don’t do it correctly)
• Custom Planners
• Custom Scrapbooking Supplies
• Dying and Selling Custom Fabrics
• T-Shirt Quilts or Custom Quilts
• Subscription Boxes
• Busy Boards, Activity Packs for Kids
• Self-Defense Kits
• First-Aid Kits
• Babysitting Kits
• Craft Kits
• Finding Collectibles (Searching for collectibles and selling them)
• Custom Yard Signs
• Custom Printed Journals
• Flower Arrangements

Digital Products

• Digital Products (Anything downloadable that provides value to someone, like courses, software, tools, spreadsheets, graphics, and so on)
• Printed Clothing On Demand
• Printed Gifts on Demand
• Canva Templates
• Craft Ideas and Guides
• Knitting or Sewing Patterns
• Educational Guides for Parents
• Homeschooling Materials
• Custom Fitness Programs
• Handmade Fonts or Design Elements
• Recipes / Restaurant Guides / Travel Guides (especially for dietary restrictions)
• Workbooks
• Content Templates
• Photo Presets
• Digital Courses (in an area you’re passionate about)

12+ Teaching-Based Business Ideas

• Foreign Language / ESL Teacher
• Private Tutor
• Bread-Baking Classes
• Cooking Classes
• Sewing / Knitting Classes
• Teaching a Musical Instrument
• Reading / Phonics Teacher
• Coding Classes
• Teaching Tech Skills to Older People
• Yoga Classes
• Self-Defense Classes
• Tech & Software Training

Conclusion

So there you have it! Over 201 creative business ideas that you can start. Which ones resonated with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

And are there any ideas I missed? Let me know, and I can possibly add it to the list.

Next up, read my other guide to starting a business: How to Find a Profitable Business Idea So You Can Work From Home