Did you know that half of businesses are started from home? You can own and operate all kinds of businesses remotely, from an online store that you manage by yourself to large scale ventures with physical locations and teams of employees. Ahead, discover 40 home business ideas to kick-start your entrepreneurship journey, along with guidance on how to make them work for you.
40 Best Home Business Ideas
Buy products in bulk and sell them online
When you’re starting your first home business, don’t reinvent the wheel. Instead, try an existing, reliable small business model, such as importing popular products in bulk and selling them individually for a profit. Find products that consumers already want to buy, then purchase them by negotiating a deal with the wholesaler. After that, create an online store to promote your catalog and sell to customers. The key to a successful home retail business is savvy product selection.
Sell homemade products
If you’re a maker (or know someone who is), consider turning that hobby into a business by selling your own creations. From homemade soaps and candles to handcrafted jewelry and artwork, the possibilities are endless. Items crafted in your studio, workshop, or kitchen can become well-known products, with the right branding and marketing.
Start a dropshipping store
The first two tips in this list require you to buy or create inventory. But what if you want to start an online business without spending money on large amounts of stock? Dropshipping is the go-to business model for home business owners who don’t want to deal with inventory. In a dropshipping business, retailers promote and sell products that are produced and shipped by a third party. Many home dropshipping businesses find success by targeting a niche.
Start a print-on-demand business
Print on demand is another home business idea that doesn’t require you to buy or hold inventory. Print-on-demand services let business owners apply their branding and original designs to white label products. When you make a sale, the print-on-demand company will print and ship the item to the customer on your behalf. There are many print-on-demand products you can sell, from books to mugs to shoes.
Offer online services
If you don’t want to sell products online, how about selling a service? Service platforms may be even simpler to set up than retail businesses, because there’s no inventory to create or manage. One way to develop a home service business is to leverage your existing talents. If your employment contract permits you to offer your skills independently, you could set up a website to sell your time and experience.
Teach online classes
If you have a teachable skill, why not monetize and share that knowledge via an online course? Online audiences exist for almost any desirable skill, whether it’s English as a second language, advanced marketing, or everyday home maintenance hacks. For example, If I Made is an online home business that sells video classes to creative professionals, such as “How to take wedding photos” or “Taxes for creatives.”
Monetize your expertise
One of the biggest downsides of some service- or teaching-based businesses is that they take lots of time. If you need to be physically or virtually present to carry out your service, your ability to scale your business is limited to your daily schedule. “Productizing” helps you take your service business to the next level, by creating physical or digital products that package your expertise and can be sold many times over.
Grow an audience you can monetize
If you’ve always dreamt of starting a blog, YouTube channel, Instagram account, or podcast, you could turn that idea into a home business by growing and monetizing a following. Jordan Ferney, founder of Oh Happy Day Shop!, built an audience via blogging and later turned it into a fully fledged business from home. She designed her online business with the aim of spending more time with her family, and now sells products on her ecommerce site.
Buy an existing small business
Some home business entrepreneurs don’t take part in sales at all. Instead, they buy and manage an existing business. The cost of acquiring a business varies based on its state of health. Some businesses are sold while generating revenue, allowing you to simply take over. Others no longer generate substantial revenue and may need rebuilding. However, they may also contain valuable assets like an email list, social following, online content, or brand reputation.
Start a subscription box business
The online subscription box industry is forecasted to grow at an annual rate of 13% between 2025 and 2033. That growth has led to the emergence of direct-to-consumer subscription brands, as well as the adoption of subscription sales models by major brands like Sephora and Walmart. If you’re able to curate desirable product selections, you can start a subscription business from home. For example, Ashley Reynolds bundled surplus products into subscription boxes to sell on her ecommerce site, Cloth & Paper. If you already run an ecommerce business, you could do the same to make use of otherwise dead stock.
Turn your pet into an influencer
Pet influencers are all over social media, inspiring thousands of likes with cute videos (and promoting subscription brands like BarkBox). If you share your life with a pet, try turning them into a social media personality. You could grow their following, then connect with relevant brands to sign promotion deals. Bodhi the Menswear Dog, a.k.a. the most stylish dog in the world, has made a name for himself on Instagram.
Sell used items
As consumers become more environmentally conscious, sustainable shopping options are growing in popularity. For example, the global secondhand market is expected to nearly double by 2028, reaching $350 billion. COAL N TERRY is one home-based business that found success by selling vintage finds. After beginning in a college dorm, the brand now boasts a loyal following and celebrity fans. You can start small with your own home-based resale business. Marketplaces like Poshmark and Mercari are great platforms for thrifting your unwanted clothing. You can also try Craigslist, eBay, or Facebook Marketplace.
Play video games professionally
Did you know that video gaming can make you money? Esports and video game streaming platforms like Twitch have opened the door for gamers to monetize their skills. The esports industry alone is worth more than a two billion dollars, while leaked data from a few years ago showed that the best Twitch streamers earn millions per year. Aside from becoming a sponsored pro gamer, you could create a gaming-based home business by becoming a Let’s Play streamer. Game developers will pay you to play their games and stream your reactions to your audience. You can also sell merch on Twitch to make further cash.
Sell your art
If you’re an artist, your creativity can become your livelihood. Whether you’re into painting, digital art, sculpture, photography, or music, there’s a market out there for your work. Helen Levi, for example, is a Queens-based potter who turned her art into a business by selling ceramics from her online store.
Start a beauty business
A popular niche for at-home businesses is health and beauty. You can work with a manufacturer to create your own cosmetics, or apply your branding to white label products. It can pay to look beyond the current most popular cosmetics products to identify the next big beauty trends. With new tools and gadgets constantly hitting the market, there are countless dropshipping opportunities in this niche, from massage guns and smart mirrors to spa day reservations.
Start an affiliate marketing business
Affiliate marketing is a popular home business model where you promote a brand’s products or services. When a customer buys a product through your affiliate link, you get a commission on the sale. Deciding on the best affiliate program is where you’ll need to get creative. For example, some businesses choose to promote partner brands and products through Instagram Stories, while others create websites with relevant content.
Start a day care
A reliable day care is a perennial home business idea. If you’re good with children, see how many day cares exist in your area, and if you think there’s demand, consider opening one for your local community. The daycare market is currently valued at more than $60 billion and is only expected to grow in the coming years. Minimal startup costs are required to make the necessary alterations to your home and acquire the right licenses to open a day care. You’ll need to research child care licensing requirements, undergo mandatory background checks, and get the required health and safety training.
Sell on marketplaces
Amazon, eBay, and Facebook Marketplace are all popular, viable platforms for selling stuff from home. Flipping items on online marketplaces is one of the easiest businesses to start: once you open an account, upload your listings, and set your prices, you’ll be on your way to selling your first item. While selling an item on a marketplace may be relatively easy, building a reliable income stream from marketplace sales can be more difficult. Options for promoting products are limited, and with traffic largely determined by retail costs, you may be forced into price wars with other sellers. To avoid the pitfalls of marketplace selling, open an independent online store alongside your Amazon or Etsy accounts. With Shopify, you can easily sync your storefronts to stay on top of sales.
Become a social media manager
With some self-taught know-how, you could start a social media consulting business from your laptop. Demonstrate your social media skills with your own accounts and invest in subscriptions to a few social media management tools. Take it from Rachel Pedersen, who leveraged her one million TikTok followers to quit her job as a hairdresser and run her social media business from home. The hardest part of setting up a service-based business is landing your first customer. Increase your odds of finding a client by leveraging your existing network to let them know you now offer social media services. Use popular social platforms like YouTube and Instagram to show off your expertise with paid ads.
Become a virtual personal trainer
Personal training is estimated to be a $13 billion industry, with social media being a primary marketing channel for fitness professionals. With the relevant certification to back up your services, it’s a matter of marketing your personal training packages to an audience interested in getting fit from home. Learn from how “fitfluencers” like Loisa Kurang and Triumph With Vin market themselves on Instagram. Then, check out these low-cost alternatives to running paid ads to draw up a marketing strategy and promote your virtual services.
Offer bookkeeping services
If you’re good with numbers, an at-home bookkeeping business might be the way to go. The average bookkeeper’s salary is around $45,000 in the US, but as a freelance bookkeeper, you stand to earn more as you increase your rates and build your customer base. To do this, you first need to file paperwork to establish a limited liability company. Again, social media is often the go-to place to promote your services. See how Zeal Bookkeeping uses Instagram Reels to offer accounting tips and information.
Design websites
While it’s never been easier to build a website, many people lack the design skills needed to create a satisfying browsing experience. If you possess those skills, you could set up a website development agency from home. Platforms like Upwork and Dribbble are solid starting points for finding your first customers. As you finish jobs and collect testimonials and samples, it should become easier to land clients without the help of a marketplace.
Start a dog-grooming business
If you have space in your home, you could try offering dog-grooming services. It’s an in-demand service with a market size of more than $5 billion. Pet grooming businesses can also be scaled, by establishing a brand and selling complementary products. Check out luxury pet spa Paw La La for examples. The beauty of a dog grooming business is that you don’t have to start big. Leverage your network of local dog owners to find your first customers, and consider offering lower prices in exchange for testimonials.
Become a pet sitter
When pet owners go to work or leave for vacation, they need reliable and responsible sitters. If that sounds like you, then a sitting service is another potential pet business idea. There are low startup costs and very little overhead. Apps like Rover and Wag allow sitters to find clients in their area. You can decide your own hours, and even whether clients will travel to your home. Depending on where you live, pet sitters can make up to $40,000 per year. You may need certifications and insurance if you want to turn pet sitting into a fully fledged business.
Become a freelance writer
Businesses are always looking for persuasive writers. Log in to LinkedIn and look through the writing job postings. You’ll see companies are looking for everything from copywriters to journalists and bloggers. According to ZipRecruiter, the average annual salary for a freelance writer is $48,000 a year—with digital marketing writers, ecommerce writers, and blog writers most in demand. If you’re hoping to make money from home from creative writing, take inspiration from entrepreneurs like Sadaf Siddique and Gauri Manglik, who began as children’s book authors and later founded an online bookshop. Using their experiences as readers and mothers, they made children’s books to tell diverse stories. Now, KitaabWorld is a place to both find and publish literature about different cultures and backgrounds. The opportunities to make money from home through your writing are as limitless as your imagination. You could turn your pen to ebooks, a weekly subscription newsletter, or even sponsored social media posts.
Manage properties
About 100 million people visit Airbnb.com each month, looking for somewhere to stay for work or a vacation. Tap into the tourism industry by turning your home into accommodation. Alternatively, offer your services to other hosts as a rental property manager. Management companies coordinate bookings, schedule cleanings, and act as a point of contact for guests. You don’t need many funds to start, and there’s no certification necessary. Renting property is one of the most popular sources of passive income. If you’re a beginner, you can learn from the experiences of other Airbnb hosts.
Start a landscaping business
Another task for which people often seek assistance and expertise is gardening. The lawn and garden market generates more than $135 billion each year in the US. To see this pastime’s popularity, just take a look at garden designer Monty Don’s Instagram profile. Users flock to his page for tips on how to get the most from their green spaces. A landscaping business can mean several things, from simple grass cutting to creating dream
