Businesses to start from home

[bearman68]

singlecoil said:

So you would evidently like a bit more business, and yet there is no link to your website on your profile. Not even an area, just 'United Kingdom'. You could be missing an opportunity there. It's perfectly allowable to put such info on your PH profile, and there will be threads sometimes where it would be quite in order to tell people what you do, then it's up to them to look at your profile and contact you.

Well spotted, and this is a decision I made when private profiles and business clashed a little. PH is a bit of fun, and I'd like to keep it that way

[Tuna]

XJ75 said:

My wife has recently found herself in a position whereby she will be on 4 months gardening leave. She hasn't enjoyed her job and is looking for something new to do. Whether or not she ends up back in a 9-5 aside, I am trying to think of something that she can start from home, which could potentially grow into something to replace the 9-5 long term.

Ideally something with minimal overheads/start up costs, in case it doesn't pan out and she goes back to an office job. I used to be a web developer so I'm leaning towards something web-based as I'll be able to help get her set up.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Quick thoughts:

Four months is a short time to validate a new business.

Web building businesses have very low barrier to entry and frankly at the low end a 'web presence' is little better than just setting up a Facebook page (which is 100% more likely to be found by local customers). Not a good deal either way and a *lot* of chasing to get new business.

If you have money, she could consider managing your investments - the returns on BTL being reported on this forum sound very attractive.

Does she really want to 'get out of it'? Consider retraining in a more socially rewarding job - therapy, hairdressing...?

Depending on where in the country you live, there may well be Meetups (Meetup.com) and various other startup/new business social clubs that she might get some interesting pointers, leads and contacts from.

Perhaps the biggest thing in the new business scene at the moment is flexibility. Don't decide on some business plan and stay with it until the bitter end. Be prepared to try out ideas, drop them when they're not going anywhere and pivot on the information she's getting from prospective clients.

[DSLiverpool]

Using Ali express, £200 shopping budget and doing a wix / template site per venture you could set up 5 ecommerce business's for £1k and time. No visitors ? trawl social !

[Hoofy]

XJ75 said:

She's a business analyst in banking, but doesn't necessarily want to pursue something similar. She enjoys problem solving/analysis, but I don't think many businesses that you can start from home would lend itself to that.

The problem of making a new business profitable is always one that needs solving!

If money isn't an issue why not look at going down the social enterprise route. If you're not sure what that means or think it's something to do with Facebook, look on Google for a definition.

[All that jazz]

People always get these 'make money working from home' ideas the wrong way round. More often than not the best money makers come from developing or expanding a hobby or interest that you're passionate about. If you just try to make money from random stuff it inevitably fails because you're not really interested in whatever you're doing and/or you are trying to force it to make money and that just never works.

Take for example Minecraft youtubers : a few guys started making tutorial videos because they enjoy the game and wanted to share their findings with other players. They gained a few subscribers and so they made more videos and gained some more subs. Fast forward some years and some of those guys now have 2 million subscribers, no longer have to work and live a very comfortable lifestyle just off the ad revenue. None of them set out to make money from youtube, it was just something that happened over time from being passionate about their hobby and their enjoyment making videos for the community.

Now compare that to those Minecraft players who only see the money making potential and start doing videos themselves. It never works out because they have no passion and they have no desire to make videos; they're only doing it because they have to in order to attract subs and eventually make money and it shows in the crappy quality of their content.

I started a Blogger website about 10 years ago detailing the testing and production of items by a manufacturer whom I had close contact with and is something I've always been interested in as a hobby. After 2 years it was getting over 1500 hits per day and I decided to make it subscription and charged a fiver a month. By the end of the following year it was turning me about £600 a month after fees. I later dropped the subscription and made it free-for-all access again due to some controversy by a couple of my info sources. I signed up with Patreon a few years ago and after a slow start I currently have 188 patrons donating just under $2600 per month as a thanks for my work. My "blogging" now consists of a single Google Sheet with 6 tabs which I update daily and takes a maximum of 10 mins per day to do, usually less .

Like the Minecraft youtubers, I never started that to make money from it - it's just how it developed over time and it's this kind of thing where the money making success stories usually stem from.

[DSLiverpool]

Hoofy said:

XJ75 said:

She's a business analyst in banking, but doesn't necessarily want to pursue something similar. She enjoys problem solving/analysis, but I don't think many businesses that you can start from home would lend itself to that.

The problem of making a new business profitable is always one that needs solving!

If money isn't an issue why not look at going down the social enterprise route. If you're not sure what that means or think it's something to do with Facebook, look on Google for a definition.

Have you seen much hard cash success for this being done by a normal i.e. None celeb person ?
(And don't quote me Ezra Firestone 😉)

[MockingJay]

daemon said:

Genuine question - and hopefully you're advising this based on experience - isnt "selling" on facebook groups / gumtree / ebay saturated these days? Plus how do you get a line of stock that every one of your more experienced competitors can probably get in bulk for less?

My three passions are computers, gaming consoles, and cars. Have tried reselling all three over the years. Waifer thin margins due to a saturated market driving the prices down constantly.

Facebook groups and gum tree are a no, no. What I mean is setting up a business Facebook Page and a Facebook ads account and go from there. We started 3 years ago with £100, some stock from China and a lot of marketing / youtube tutorials. It did take me a long time to get the FB ad's right but now I've nailed it we're getting a huge ROI from them.

We do sell on Amazon (only our cheap generic lines as it's a race to the bottom - we don't bother with Ebay it's full of thieves). If you're serious about running an ecommerce business drop me an email and I'll happily answer any questions you have and share what experience I've gained doing this for the last 3 years.

[akirk]

XJ75 said:

She's a business analyst in banking, but doesn't necessarily want to pursue something similar. She enjoys problem solving/analysis, but I don't think many businesses that you can start from home would lend itself to that.

Absolutely any form of consultancy is in essence problem solving / analysis and can be run from home.
I have done business analysis alongside other more traditional management consultancy in the last 25 years - inc. in the insurance industry...
now run a business from home...

[Hoofy]

DSLiverpool said:

Hoofy said:

XJ75 said:

She's a business analyst in banking, but doesn't necessarily want to pursue something similar. She enjoys problem solving/analysis, but I don't think many businesses that you can start from home would lend itself to that.

The problem of making a new business profitable is always one that needs solving!

If money isn't an issue why not look at going down the social enterprise route. If you're not sure what that means or think it's something to do with Facebook, look on Google for a definition.

Have you seen much hard cash success for this being done by a normal i.e. None celeb person ?
(And don't quote me Ezra Firestone ??)

That's the point of social enterprise. It isn't about being rich but running a business that makes some money while helping the community. I know of two SEs that are working fine. Sure, the heads aren't rolling around in Bentleys but they never expected to.

[KevinCamaroSS]

bearman68 said:

Well spotted, and this is a decision I made when private profiles and business clashed a little. PH is a bit of fun, and I'd like to keep it that way

I see your point, but think that maybe you are missing a chance as this is, after all, a motoring forum, not a simple social site.

[marcusgrant]

Buy a set of alloys, then sell them individually.

I want 1 golf mk7 gti wheel in good condition and it's proving difficult without spending a lot of money. A set of used ones though is around 600/700, if I could be bothered I could probably get a free wheel by the time I'd sold the other 3.

[DSLiverpool]

If she wants to sell records / music I know of a website for sale / rent thats ready to trade immediately.

[joshcowin]

marcusgrant said:

Buy a set of alloys, then sell them individually.

I want 1 golf mk7 gti wheel in good condition and it's proving difficult without spending a lot of money. A set of used ones though is around 600/700, if I could be bothered I could probably get a free wheel by the time I'd sold the other 3.

Great idea
I was in the same position, took me weeks of looking and phoning had to buy a pair in the end even then!

[Tuna]

Silly question, but how much does she want/need to make a month? There are vanity businesses that will keep her happy, beer money businesses that will keep her busy, punts that will be exciting but risky and full on commitments that will earn a lot but absorb every waking hour. A lot comes down to her expectations of what a home business will bring.

[twoblacklines]

daemon said:

Genuine question - and hopefully you're advising this based on experience - isnt "selling" on facebook groups / gumtree / ebay saturated these days? Plus how do you get a line of stock that every one of your more experienced competitors can probably get in bulk for less?

My three passions are computers, gaming consoles, and cars. Have tried reselling all three over the years. Waifer thin margins due to a saturated market driving the prices down constantly.

Paid, targeted advertising, not groups.

[technodup]

DSLiverpool said:

If she wants to sell records / music I know of a website for sale / rent thats ready to trade immediately.

FFS don't do that. Records take up space, either expensive storage or in your house. I should know, I had 25000 listed on Discogs at one point.

Plus you'll deal with some of the most anally retentive people on the planet. I had to work hard to keep my 100% rating.

[twoblacklines]

technodup said:

FS don't do that. Records take up space, either expensive storage or in your house. I should know, I had 25000 listed on Discogs at one point.

Plus you'll deal with some of the most anally retentive people on the planet. I had to work hard to keep my 100% rating.

Same.

I had to give away a lot of stock to keep my 100% rating.

[Hoofy]

XJ75 said:

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

I sent you an email.

[Anthony Micallef]

All that jazz said:

People always get these 'make money working from home' ideas the wrong way round. More often than not the best money makers come from developing or expanding a hobby or interest that you're passionate about. If you just try to make money from random stuff it inevitably fails because you're not really interested in whatever you're doing and/or you are trying to force it to make money and that just never works.

Take for example Minecraft youtubers : a few guys started making tutorial videos because they enjoy the game and wanted to share their findings with other players. They gained a few subscribers and so they made more videos and gained some more subs. Fast forward some years and some of those guys now have 2 million subscribers, no longer have to work and live a very comfortable lifestyle just off the ad revenue. None of them set out to make money from youtube, it was just something that happened over time from being passionate about their hobby and their enjoyment making videos for the community.

Now compare that to those Minecraft players who only see the money making potential and start doing videos themselves. It never works out because they have no passion and they have no desire to make videos; they're only doing it because they have to in order to attract subs and eventually make money and it shows in the crappy quality of their content.

I started a Blogger website about 10 years ago detailing the testing and production of items by a manufacturer whom I had close contact with and is something I've always been interested in as a hobby. After 2 years it was getting over 1500 hits per day and I decided to make it subscription and charged a fiver a month. By the end of the following year it was turning me about £600 a month after fees. I later dropped the subscription and made it free-for-all access again due to some controversy by a couple of my info sources. I signed up with Patreon a few years ago and after a slow start I currently have 188 patrons donating just under $2600 per month as a thanks for my work. My "blogging" now consists of a single Google Sheet with 6 tabs which I update daily and takes a maximum of 10 mins per day to do, usually less .

Like the Minecraft youtubers, I never started that to make money from it - it's just how it developed over time and it's this kind of thing where the money making success stories usually stem from.

What a great post

I'm not a big earner (just over £20k) and would love to have a business from home that I could earn the same amount and not have to sit in an office all day for.

Unfortunately its hard to even think of something that I could do that would make me even this small amount.

[DSLiverpool]

technodup said:

DSLiverpool said:

If she wants to sell records / music I know of a website for sale / rent thats ready to trade immediately.

FFS don't do that. Records take up space, either expensive storage or in your house. I should know, I had 25000 listed on Discogs at one point.

Plus you'll deal with some of the most anally retentive people on the planet. I had to work hard to keep my 100% rating.

It drop ships the current stuff and only rare or very interesting pieces would go directly. It's site only no third party platform so no ratings but a niche business.