Nowadays, people are choosing to leave their standard 9-5 job and be their own boss, being at the forefront of a business they are passionate about. Over 400,000 new businesses started just in the UK alone at the start of 2016. It can be easy to live a life of regrets as you look back once you retire and dwell on whether you could have achieved something better. There are many entrepreneurial opportunities out there with tv series’ like The Apprentice and Dragon’s Den kick-starting the popularity of ambitious individuals working for themselves. In most cases though, not everyone gets the chance to star in a primetime TV show, so they need to find their investment elsewhere. Luckily, there are ways you can start a business with no or very little capital. There are some requirements that may be needed from your side, but they are essentials that can be easily acquired.
Services in Marketing
Marketing is anywhere and everywhere. Brands and businesses strive to put their face in front audiences they can target to strive for success, so it’s something that is due to have a long lifespan as a business idea. If you’re not familiar with certain marketing techniques, a good place to start is online. There are several courses out there that provide you with the required knowledge to understand how marketing works, and the majority can be done cheaply. Freelancing is a great opportunity to get in front of potential clients who are looking for improvements to be made for their website. If you choose to freelance, just bear in mind other factors such as paying for professional indemnity insurance and other expenses that do need to be acquired.
A Secretary
This is quite a simple idea that would hardly require any skills. You’d essentially work as a virtual assistant for a business that would need organization in their workplace. Many of your day-to-day tasks would include answering phone calls on behalf of the client, booking meetings, replying to emails and other administrative tasks. All you’d need is good communication, and organizational skills as these will be the main skills you’d use, but also being able to manage your time well and have the ability to work well as an individual. You’d just need regular communication with your client either through phone call conversations or even video calling.
Website Developer
Digital spaces are continuing to grow in businesses as they all move from the traditional methods of targeting audiences. Now, whenever a customer is looking for a service or product, it’s likely they’ll look online to find it. Creating websites for businesses is unlikely to become a dying industry, so if you have the required skills, you can develop websites for clients. If you don’t, similar to marketing, there’s plenty of resources online that you can use to train yourself up to learn the language of web design and creation. Resources such as W3CSchools and Code Academy provide the relevant tools for this.
Financial Consultant
There are plenty of people out there who wish to start a business, but not all necessarily understand how to deal with the financial side of it. There will be some certificates that you can apply for which will give you the accreditations that will make you stand out to clients, alternatively if you have the qualifications already you can look to start contacting businesses that potentially need your services. Over time, as you gain more experience in dealing with different businesses you can start to seek out larger organizations in the future.
Event Planning
Many events happen across the country, so this has a potential to really expand in the future. Start small at the beginning though and look to provide your services in local areas, so it saves cost on travel for example. Event planning is also great to develop your budgeting and creative skills as you’re constantly thinking of new ideas. Parties, social gatherings, and stag or hen do’s are all examples of how your services could be used at the early stages of your career. Over time it could grow into bigger events like a wedding. It’s also easy to manage from your own home, being able to meet clients at your own home or public places like restaurants and cafes.
Courier Services
You may be surprised by just how many businesses need couriers, especially for busy periods or to save time when certain postal services rarely visit certain areas to drop off parcels. Being in your local area, as long as you’re able to get around quickly businesses will be more likely to request your services. You’ll be far more flexible than the larger courier services also, meaning if you wish you can charge more for your service as you can cover more of the local area in half the time.
Dog Walking
This can be an extremely profitable service, especially for those who have a dog their unable to care for whilst they’re away working. It can be difficult to take your Dog for a walk before work too as it can be a bit manic in the mornings trying to get ready and risk being late. If someone can take the dog out to get a bit of fresh air, it always helps. A great thing about dog walking is that it can expand to other additional services like grooming and dog sitting if you can manage it.
Taxi Service / Personal Driver
Services such as Uber are always looking to find drivers, and luckily you’re able to be your own boss whilst doing it, scheduling when you wish to start and stop your shift. There are always people out there that are looking for ways to get around. All you need to become an Uber driver is a clean driving license, a smartphone so you can be contacted easily, 21 years plus of age, three years driving experience and of course your own car that’s in decent condition. They’ll also do a background check on you.
Alternatively, you could also become a personal driver if there’s anyone who needs travel to and from workplaces. Those in business in highly demanding jobs especially may require this service. This way they can spend more of their time dealing with the operational aspects to do with their job before they arrive or once they’ve left.
There’s a wide range of opportunity to start a business that you enjoy being involved with and have the motivation to make sure becomes a success. Being your own boss has plenty of advantages, and with the advancement of online services, resources have become far more accessible for cheap. Why not take advantage and leave the standard 9-5.
