Self-employment is now a major part of our entrepreneurial economy, now approaching almost 20 million Americans. Many of the self-employed are choosing to work from home due to family considerations. For example, self-employment allows more flexibility for parents with young children.
Homestead Technologies commissioned a study on home-based businesses and found the following as their list of “hot” opportunities that can be run from home:
E-Learning: With advances in new web application tools such as podcasts and video blogs, development costs will decrease.
E-Bay Aftermarket: Helping companies conduct market research, pricing strategies, shipping, and competitive analysis is a great niche business.
Children Arts Education: There is a major market for teachers of right-brained education who are thought to help foster the development of future innovators.
Garage Organizers: Just as organizing closets was the next big thing in the 80’s, the messy garage is the final space to clean up.
Background Checks: Small businesses with limited resources are turning to background check companies to handle investigation and due diligence.
Pet Sitting: An ideal home-based business where you get paid to walk and enjoy the companionship of pets.
Specialized Coaching: The coaching market has boomed in the recent years including specialized areas such as life, spiritual, corporate, relationship and business.
Home-based Debt Collection: Debt has become a way of life for many Americans. Operating a low overhead home-based collection service can serve the niche sections of this market.
Specialized Outsourcing: The small business market has limited resources and a focus on core competencies. Specialized outsourcing from home to small business will have a solid position market position for years to come.
Scrap Booking: In today’s easy to save and store digital age, opportunities abound for the home-based scrapbook artist, workshop teacher, or a direct sales rep.
Will you get rich with any of these ideas? Probably not. But, that is not the point for most who choose to run a home-based business. It is to earn income while enjoying the flexibility and freedom of running a small business from home.