18 Small Business Ideas from Home the World Needs Now

Are you sick of your 9-5 and know there has to be more to a work life? There is! These small business ideas from home give 18 options to earn more money, set your own hours, and be able to see your kids more.

These home business ideas are also perfect for stay at home moms who want to make money for the family, without sacrificing time away from your kids.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Related post: 15 Quotes about supporting your friend’s business >> this post is great to send to friends or family who aren’t super supportive of your biz.

Small Business Ideas from Home You Might Not Have Thought Of

1. Start a Blog

Starting a blog is my number one favorite of these small business ideas from home.

I make around $2500 a month working on my blog for 10-ish hours a week.

And it looks like I’m going to have my first month making over $3500 working very part-time.

I am excited and really happy! I want to share this information with people who think blogging for money is dead. It’s not.

I run a really supportive and engaged Facebook group for moms who work from home or are looking for a work-from-home job (join us here!) New members of this group often ask me how do you make money blogging?

Well first you have to start a blog and that is a fun and easy part. I have a quick tutorial that will show you how to set up your own blog in 15 minutes.

Once you have a blog, there are so many different ways of making money from blogging.

You can make money by:

Ads
Sponsorships
Affiliate products
Selling your own products
Offering coaching services
Many other ways

Your blog is simply a platform to share your unique gifts to the world.

If you would love to start a blog but have some fears about it, this post on common fears about blogging and how to get over them is for you!

This is my recommendation for affordable blog hosting – and through this link you will get your domain name for free!

I also offer coaching to women to set up their own money making blogs. Send me a message at suchot@ thecuriousfrugal dot com if you’d like to work with me. I would love to help you start your own flexible online business from home.

Watch the 5 key things every business needs to be successful:

2. Sell Crafts on Etsy

If you are crafty, why not turn your passion into a small business from home?

Turning a passion into a business is actually what led me to start my own local bakery. I was cooking and baking so much from home and loved it so much that a friend suggested I turn it into a business. I did just that and ran a successful bakery and catering business for years.

So if you paint, make things out of wood, make jewelry, knit, make greeting cards, do so many other crafty things, consider turning that into a home-based business.

Check out these hobbies that make money, to see what extra money you could be making with skills you already have!

For fun craft ideas you could sell, here are 15 easy DIY gifts for dads, and 45 beginner-friendly homemade Christmas crafts.

3. Sell Printables Online

Selling printables online is a BIG business and it is growing.

Some creators make 6-figures a year from selling printables.

One of the printables I sell is a Minimalist Budget Binder to help people organize their money in a no-fuss, uncomplicated way.

I also offer an Ultimate Meal Planner for Busy Families that includes budget-friendly recipes, tips on exactly how to meal plan, and lots of fun printables to organize your meals for the week, and much more!

If you like the idea of selling printables, but aren’t sure how creative you are, or think it might take you too long to make printables from scratch, there is an answer:

Kim and Jeremy create gorgeous printables that come with a commercial license which means you can personalize them and sell them in your own store! How awesome is that!!?

Check out all their printable designs here to get your own printable business started.

4. Freelance Writing

Have you ever thought about making money writing?

If you dream of getting paid to write, you can start a small business from home as a freelance writer. One of the things that can hold us back from our dreams is how we feel about our skills and talents.

There will always be people who know more than you do, who are further along on the path you’d like to be on, but let that inspire you instead of discourage you. You can get there too and if you love writing, you CAN become a paid writer.

That’s my little pep talk on believing in yourself. 🙂

A friend of mine is a freelance writer and also a homeschooling mom of nine kids!! I interviewed Lisa to find out how exactly she started a freelance writing business from home as such a busy mom and she spills it all. If you want to make money writing, you need this post!

Lisa also offers on online course on balancing being a mom with starting/running a home-based business. It’s called Balancing Diapers and Deadlines (love the name!) and you can find out more about it HERE.

For one of the easiest ways to make money as a writer, check out this post on how to get paid to write romance novels and self-publish on Amazon. It’s a super inspiring and actionable post!

5. Freelance Proofreading

Would you love to get paid to read?

If I wasn’t blogging and loving it, this would be a small business idea from home I would go after.

Freelance proofreaders make up to $46 an hour to read and edit all different kinds of documents, books, blog posts, and more.

If you are the type to notice mistakes on menus, or you cringe when someone posts something grammatically incorrect on Facebook, a small business as a freelance proofreader might be a great fit for you!

Check out this post for websites where you can find remote proofreading jobs.

You can also take this free webinar to show you how you can get started as a proofreader.

6. Virtual Assistant

One of the small business ideas from home that is absolutely blowing up right now is a virtual assistant business.

With more businesses online and more online jobs too, people can’t always do it all themselves, and virtual assistants are in huge demand.

If you have experience in administration, or are highly organized and on top of your inbox (cough, not me, cough), you might want to consider becoming a virtual assistant.

Typical tasks that a virtual assistant takes care of are:

Scheduling appointments
Managing email accounts
Make and respond to phone calls
Some handle social media accounts
Data entry
Book travel
Organize to-do lists
Research
Content creation

Take a look at this highly rated Udemy course on Virtual Assisting – how to start a VA business from scratch – to get your own VA small business from home started!

Hey!
All that posting you’re doing on social media for your business…

How’s that working for ya? 👍👎

If you’re like many of my clients before they start working with me, you’re probably hearing more 🦗 and less “you’ve made a sale!”

If you’re not bringing in the sales you want, grab my brand new mini-course: 30-Day Content Marketing Plan to Help Map out your Month and attract your perfect customers!

Learn More

7. Graphic Designer

You don’t have to have a degree in Graphic Design to start a small business from home as a graphic designer.

You really should be good at creating graphics within a reasonable timeframe though!

If you are starting out, you will need to create a portfolio of graphics you have created so that you can show potential clients. You can also offer services for free to friends in exchange for a testimonial that you can share about how awesome your business is!

Here are the best websites to find freelance graphic design jobs for your new biz!

8. Small Business Idea from Home for Pet Lovers: Pet Sitting

If you love pets, starting a small business from home as a pet sitter can combine caring for cats and dogs with making money from home. It’s a pretty sweet small business idea!

If owners need to go away for a few days or an extended time, you can bring their pet to your house and feed and take care of them at home. It’s a really easy home business to start. You don’t need a degree or experience, and you can go about your regular day while you are making money pet sitting.

You can even double up and run another small business from home since pet sitting won’t require 100% of your focused attention for the whole day.

Though a super cute pet like this could be pretty distracting 🙂

via GIPHY

If you are curious about making money pet sitting but aren’t ready to start your own pet sitting business, you can try out pet sitting through Rover. Rover matches pet sitters with people needing a pet sitter so they take care of that for you.

If it turns out you love pet sitting after trying it, you can make more money starting your own small business pet sitting from home.

9. Dog Walking

Similar to pet sitting, if you love animals, this small business idea from home would be an awesome match for you.

Get paid to walk cute pups? Yes please!

Not only do you not need experience, equipment, inventory, a degree, you also are getting paid to walk! You’re getting paid to get exercise, get out of the house, and get (or stay) fit.

Design a cute poster (I recommend Canva – so user-friendly!), and post it in your neighborhood. As well share it on Facebook and Instagram. This is a very inexpensive small business to start up!

➡️ Here’s how to get more engagement on Instagram if that’s something you struggle with

10. Virtual Exercise Classes

Are you a fitness buff? (A buff fitness person?)

If you love to exercise and stay fit, why not share that passion for fitness with other people online.

Think of all the people who can’t work out at a gym right now. There is a HUGE audience of people waiting for you to lead them.

Start up a YouTube channel and offer classes. As you get more viewers, you will be able to monetize your YouTube channel with ads and make money exercising!

There are some exercise YouTubers who make over a million dollars a year leading people in exercise classes.

➡️ If you miss spin classes, here is a post on budget-friendly Peloton alternatives to save you LOTS of money on an indoor exercise bike!

11. Start a Podcast

A fun small business idea from home if you like chatting and are comfortable in front of a mic is podcasting.

There are several ways to make money podcasting. First you need to get your listener numbers up, and then you can start monetizing your podcast.

Ways to make money with a podcast:

Getting sponsorships
Offering a course related to your podcast
Affiliate marketing
Coaching related to your podcast
Repurpose podcast content and sell as a book/ebook/audiobook

You’ll want to invest in a high quality headset and microphone, but this is still a very small start-up cost for a small business from home.

12. Sell on Amazon

Selling on Amazon can be an extremely lucrative small business from home.

I interviewed Jessica about her 6-figure, part-time Amazon FBA business which you can read about here (she spills some great tips and tricks!)

My first small business from home was selling on Amazon FBA. I sold used books and some games and I wrote all about my experience selling on Amazon. Here is my honest Amazon FBA review.

13. Teach English Online

If you love kids, a rewarding small business idea from home is teaching English online to kids from other countries.

You can start up your own business through networking to find your first students. The start-up will require you to be pretty motivated because you are starting from scratch. Word of mouth should get the ball rolling until you have a full roster of students to teach.

A plus of starting your own business teaching English online is you can set your own rates. A minus is getting your first students will probably take a lot of effort and outreach.

If you’d rather join up as an English teacher for a business that already exists, you will be able to start working and earning money faster.

My favorite place to teach English online is through VIPKid. They pay one of the highest amounts to teach English to kids online (up to $22 an hour). You do need a degree to work for VIPKid but it doesn’t have to be in education, just any degree.

Find out more about teaching English with VIPKid HERE.

14. Tutor Online

Tutoring online is another flexible small business idea from home. It is different from teaching English online because there are a lot of different subjects you could tutor, and you could be tutoring kids or adults from the US, not necessarily abroad.

If there is a particular subject that you are just bomb in, advertise your tutoring services online. Use the already free social media platforms and let your friends and family know about your new tutoring business. Create a graphic for your tutoring business so there is something visual you can share that will grab people’s attention.

If you’d like to start tutoring online with an already established tutoring business, check out these best places to tutor online. There is even one company that pays you to simply talk to people who have English as a second language. You get paid to video chat online so that other people can practice their English – so fun!

15. Summer Small Business Idea from Home: Landscaping Business

Are you vegetally inclined? If you are good with green things, and know your way around a lawn mower, you could consider starting a landscaping business.

Landscapers make GREAT money in the summer months, and get fit and tanned while working too!

If you already have the basic landscaping tools for your own home, this small business idea from home could cost you very little to start up. You could first advertise with friends and family to get that first client. Then if you do a great job, word of mouth should get you booked up over time.

Advertise in real life in the neighborhoods you want to work in, ie big lawns, with manicured gardens, and likely home owners that have expendable income to put towards a landscaper.

Also advertise for free on Facebook and Instagram (Facebook Marketplace and community pages should be your best bet here).

16. Winter Small Business Idea from Home: Christmas Decorating Business

This seasonal small business idea from home is a fun physical job that can run from October to January.

Some homes put up a couple strings of lights and call it a day. They are probably Christmas decorating on their own and don’t need any help. But those super decked-out Christmas neighborhoods where the entire neighborhood seems like Christmasville? Those people are not all decorating their homes by themselves. And elderly folks might also want your services.

You will need a tall ladder, a few basic tools, and to be comfortable with heights. Decorating the outside of homes for Christmas can be a lucrative seasonal small business idea from home.

Advertise in the neighborhoods you want to decorate. If this is your own neighborhood, then that’s convenient. But if your neighborhood isn’t known for being really festive, then skip it and advertise in those really blinged-out Christmas neighhorhoods. Advertise your small business on Facebook, including on Facebook Community pages if they let you post.

17. Flip Items for Profit

Some people make a killing flipping items for profit.

This is one of the small business ideas from home that is very flexible, doesn’t cost much to start, and you don’t need experience or a degree.

You’d be surprised at some of the most popular items that people resell – used mattresses happens to be one of them.

You can even find items for free that people leave on the curbside. Some flippers will spend a day driving around different neighborhoods and picking up items to clean up and resell.

Bring home your haul, clean it up (or if you have the skills you could upcycle), and list the items for resale online.

Here I share the best places to sell your stuff for the most money.

18. Starting a Home Daycare Small Business

If you are a stay at home mom and you look after your child or kids already, you can make money with a home daycare business by taking care of another child or two.

If you love little kids, this small business idea from home could be a really rewarding way to make money from home. Plus your kids get a couple of extra play buddies! 🙂

Just make sure that you look up the legal requirements for a home daycare in your city.