Always wanted to start your own business? Will 2021 be the year that you finally take the leap. Here’s some help!
Have you always wanted to try your hand at business? If you think you can make a good business person, what are you waiting for? Oh! We know what the problem is. You don’t want to risk your financial security by quitting your job and stepping into the business world. Right? Even if you convince yourself to take that leap of faith, you’re not quite sure about where to begin. You want the security of a 9 to 5 job and the huge profits of a successful business; together! Want the best of both worlds? We can help!
Yes! It’s possible to achieve both together. We’re not kidding! You just need to plan things right and you might also need some expert advice. That’s where we come in. We can help you step your planning game up and also give you some expert tips to sort things for you.
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When it comes to starting a business, the first thing you need to figure out is what you want to deal in. Starting a business doesn’t mean that you put your papers down as soon as you get a business idea. You need to plan things right and think long term. Don’t hurry things up. You need a lot of research to support every decision you take. After all, it’s about your career and financial security. It’s better not to risk either of the two. You don’t want ‘starting a business without planning’ be a part of the worst financial mistakes of your life at a later stage, do you?
Go slow with the entire process. Here’s a basic summary of steps you need to follow to chase your dreams of becoming a successful entrepreneur:
- Give your likes and dislikes a thought. Pondering over your interests now will make it easier for you to choose a business line and what exactly you want to deal in.
- Now that you’re clear about your interests, it’s time to come up with a business plan. It includes everything; right from exploring your market to studying the buying patterns of your prospective customers.
- Analysing your strengths and weaknesses is an essential step. You need to know what all you can manage on your own and what you need training for. In case you need assistance, you could either consult an expert or look for some free online training programs (according to your requirement).
- Run a quick check on your finances. Starting a business isn’t all about making huge profits. Before taking this life-changing step, you need to see if your finances are in place or not. The initial investment is generally high. Don’t let that scare you. If you have invested in the right places, we’re sure you’ll be set financially. This is that time when opening a Fixed Deposit at the right time or investing in SIPs will prove to be the best decision of your life. Well, second best. First being your decision of becoming an entrepreneur. You can also apply for a small business loan to sort things out for you. Are we all set with the money matter? Cool, let’s proceed.
- Explore information about state and local taxes. It’s better to be informed, right?
- Think of a name. You have to name your brainchild something, right? Put your thinking cap on and write a few kickass names down. While finalising it, you need to keep one important factor in mind. It has to be unique! Finding a unique name can help you get a domain name easily and quickly. That’s become quite a task these days. So, before finalising on anything, don’t forget to check the availability of the domain.
- Find out everything about licences and permits that you need to apply for.
- You’re opting up for a great responsibility. Even if you start alone, soon you’ll have a workforce working for you. You need to understand your responsibilities as an employer and be prepared to be the best boss ever. Let’s kill it, shall we?
All set to take over the world with your business skills? Great! We know you hate putting your finances in danger. That’s why, we’ve got a business plan that’ll not only help you earn more profits but you’ll get to do it without risking your full-time job.
Additional Reading: WFH: Challenges & Advantages
We have a couple of kickass business ideas for you. The best part about these ideas is that you can start them in your spare time. How cool is that! All set? Here we go:
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Click, Click!
There are plenty of websites that let you sell your photos. If you’re a budding photographer, all you’ve to do is—get your portfolio in place. If you’re a professional, we’re sure you already have a kickass portfolio ready. It’s time to show-off the best of your clicks and earn a few bucks!
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Pet Training
Do you love pets? What are you waiting for then? Pet training is a great way to make a few more bucks. If you already have a furry friend at home, you might already be an expert at making them obey your commands. That’s pretty much all you need to do! Apart from helping you earn more, it’s a great stress-buster as well!
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Food Delivery
With so many restaurants and cafes going online, tying up with them and assisting them in delivery can be a great business option. With an increased number of people wanting to order food online, and more restaurants offering the option to order online, the need for delivery executives is rising too. Tapping into this market could turn out to be a great plan. All you have to look for is a couple of delivery executives, some second-hand bikes, and you’re done!
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Deep Digging
There are so many people/companies looking for experts to hunt some useful information for them. You could be it! If you think you can make a good researcher, go ahead and try your skills by taking up a small project. By the end of the project, you’ll know where you stand. It’s all about digging deep, making fantastic reports and earning money.
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Baby Safe
With western concepts gradually picking up pace in India, a lot of new concepts have recently become popular. Baby proofing is one of them. We obviously had ways of making our houses safer for newborns before, but it was never a full-fledged business. Now that it is, you need to market right and target new parents looking for ways to ensure their new born is safe in and around the house. Baby proofing the house is an important part of that.
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Antiquing
Do antique items awaken the art collector in you? Great! Now’s the time to make money out of it. Vintage items sell like hot cakes. All you need to do is hunt these collectibles down, identify the right market and market well. Confused about where to find these? Don’t worry! Just start by digging deep in the old, local markets of your city. That’s where all the treasure is hidden. You might have to work a bit hard, run through dusty streets and interact with locals. Be prepared for that. You could also try getting in touch with interior designers and see if a collaboration works.
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House Hunting
With people becoming lazier by the day, the number of possible business options is growing as well. One of these is assisting people in their apartment hunt. You could get to know their exact requirements and search for apartments accordingly. While you help them look for their dream house, they make your dreams of running a successful business come true.
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Calligraphy
Do you often find yourself scribbling and trying your hand at calligraphy? It’s time to do it professionally! An aesthetic handwriting and some basics of calligraphy are all you need to run this business successfully. You could design wedding invitations, save the dates, greeting cards and what not! We all love reading elegantly designed pieces of art. So, what are you waiting for? Start now!
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Image Management
Image management is all about grooming and managing different aspects of someone’s image. These include mannerisms, body language, clothing etc. You advise people on how to present themselves more elegantly and get to build a business out of it.
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Teach!
This might require a fair amount of patience. But since we’re building a business, we need to give it our best shot. If you have knowledge, why not pass it on? The best part about teaching (apart from the joy of getting to spread knowledge) is that you’re getting paid for it! Be it math, science, history or even music, you just need to have command over a subject. You can choose flexible timings and even teach from home. What could be better than that!
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Blogging
Do you think you can write engaging blog content? Well, in that case, you could explore a ton of opportunities with brands and in collaboration with other bloggers. You could curate content for the brands of your choice and earn a reputation and some good business in return. Whoever said ‘a pen is mightier than a sword’, said it right!
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Web Designing
Love creating artsy things? It’s time to brush up your HTML and CSS skills and start creating awesome websites! If you’re already a pro at these languages, great! This might be a little time-consuming, but the end results will be great. For you and your design portfolio as well.
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Translate
The demand for translators is quite high. As a result, the chances of minting more money are quite high. If you start looking around, you’ll most definitely find a couple of projects just at the snap of a finger. You could either be asked to translate written matter or audio files. If you know the languages well, it shouldn’t be a big deal for you.
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Handy Mandy
If you have a knack at managing all or almost all the household chores, that’s it! You’ll be in demand. All you need to do is brush up on your mechanical skills and get your tools in place. Oh! We almost forgot the most important thing you need to do. You need to thank all those people who are so busy being lazy/busy that they refuse to handle these things on their own.
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Building furniture
If creating elegant and useful pieces of furniture is something you’re good at, why not make a business out of it? You need to keep a lookout for the latest trends in furniture and explore more ways of cutting down expenditures on wood and other raw materials. Once you’re done with this, most of your work is done. The rest, depends on how well you use your marketing skills to sell your artsy furniture off.
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Resume writing
Everyone wants a better job. One that pays well and looks good on their resume. What they don’t want is—wasting time making that resume. They either don’t have the time or they lack enough patience. That’s where you come in. After analysing the requirements of the candidate, you can design an apt resume for their job profile.
These are just some of the business ideas that can help you make money in your spare time. Most of these don’t involve much time and effort. You might find it a bit difficult to manage in the start, but as time passes by, you’ll be a pro at it. In case you get flooded by work, you can always regulate the number of clients you’re working for. Focusing on lesser number of projects (at least at the start) can lift some burden off your shoulders. Let’s not forget that you have your ‘real’ job to focus on as well.
If you are ambitious and want to do more than just that usual 9 to 5 job, pick one of these and try your luck. You need to remember one thing before taking the leap of faith and jumping into the world of business. No matter how good you are, there are chances that you might fail at the first few attempts. Don’t let failure stop you from doing something you really want to. Instead, analyse your weaknesses and work on them. Who knows! If your spare time business does well, you could think of focusing on it full-time!
Need more tips on money management and the best financial products around you? Don’t worry! We’re here.