40 Business Ideas for Women

As we age, the more we want the flexibility to work our own hours. We start dreaming about being our own boss.

You might be surprised to know that some small businesses have a relatively low start up cost.

Also, consider: what are you passionate about? What comes easy to you? What subjects do people ask your advice on?

Before reading through different business ideas for women, consider the steps to walk through:

Here are some business ideas to start you brainstorming!

1. Beauty Products

• 

  Beauty Products

  • Pros: You get to help people with skin problems or insecurities.
  • Cons: Sometimes filling up orders can give you a late night.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    You can develop your own product or you can start your own beauty business with another company’s products.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy beauty and are natural at sales.

Knock, knock! It’s the Avon lady!

If you sell beauty products, you can benefit people who struggle with eczema, dry skin, or acne, and then rejoice with them when your products clear the issue away. You can also help them beautify themselves and gain more confidence.

One of the best parts is that you can set your own work schedule. Read here for more information.

2. Bed and Breakfast Owner

• 

  Bed and Breakfast Owner

  • Pros: You get to meet new people from all over the world and work from home.
  • Cons: It’s hard to get a weekend off and you’re constantly cleaning.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$$$ (depending on if you own property already)

  • How to Begin:

    Own property and have your interior designed and photographed.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy people and the art of hospitality.

Perhaps you enjoy practicing hospitality and having people over. To start a Bed & Breakfast, you would first need to have property for people to stay at and then beautify it, so it’s aesthetically pleasing.

In your common areas, you’d want to offer coffee and tea. You’d have to be on top of a delicious breakfast menu, cooking, baking, and cleaning.

Getting customers largely depends upon if your location is central to where they want to go. Someone can get injured on your property, so you will want to get liability coverage.

Running a Bed & Breakfast will require constant cleaning. Most customers also want a private bathroom. If you’re successful, you might be able to shave off that unpleasant duty of cleaning by outsourcing it.

3. Beekeeping

• 

  Beekeeping

  • Pros: You get endless free honey.
  • Cons: You will get stung, and the first year is tough.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    Get beekeeping education, order your honey bees and beekeeping tools, and install your bees with their hives.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy honey and beeswax and aren’t afraid of bees.

If you enjoy honey, beeswax, and have crops to pollinate, beekeeping might be a great business for you to start. Bee pollination will make your crop value multiply.

Read books or watch online videos on beekeeping to get educated; and find a location with good airflow. Beware that sometimes you can get unhealthy hives with diseases and parasites.

As for the cons, because this is an outdoor business, you will have to go outdoors in rain or sweltering heat; but on the plus side, you’ll be getting exercise and sunlight on good days.

Unfortunately, stings will happen. Make sure you’re not allergic before starting.

You might make about $600 per beehive per year, so unfortunately the first year, you might put in more money than you get back.

4. Bookkeeping

• 

  Bookkeeping

  • Pros: Your income is generally dependable and predictable.
  • Cons: If you make an error and aren’t insured, you can get hit hard.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    Learn to work with accounting software.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy working quietly and remotely.

If you want to give business owners their hours back by taking care of their invoicing, running payroll, and preparing financial statements, then bookkeeping might be an excellent business for you.

Learn to work with accounting software, such as QuickBooks or Xero. You’ll need to be careful to keep client data safe. Insurance is recommended as it could be extremely costly if you make an error in your books.

Your job will be flexible with time and location; your income predictable. And don’t forget – you have to bookkeep your own bookkeeping business too!

One other positive is that you normally get to avoid office drama. Read here for more information.

5. Boutique or Shop Owner

• 

  Boutique or Shop Owner

  • Pros: You get complete control over everything – from your inventory to your window displays.
  • Cons: A giant named Amazon may gobble you up.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$$$

  • How to Begin:

    Find a niche that needs to be filled within your own community.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You like to be in charge.

With Amazon eating up all the small businesses, there’s not a lot of people who want to risk opening up a storefront. However, if you can find a need in your community that lacks a specialty store, you might be able to have great success.

There is still a portion of society who like to try on clothes in stores before they purchase them. 

The fun part is that you get complete control over inventory. The con is that you are in charge of everything – from having to fire employees to possibly having to scrub the toilet.

To begin, find your niche and then make a business name and logo. Get a business license and a storefront to rent. It will cost a lot to begin purchasing your inventory, hangers, mannequins, etc.

Enjoy the process and look forward to meeting your customers!

6. Catering or Running a Food Truck

• 

  Catering or Running a Food Truck

  • Pros: You can share your passion for food with others and help others in important events.
  • Cons: There’s a lot of stress to make sure it all happens perfectly in the end.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$$$

  • How to Begin:

    Get proper permits, a business license, and equipment. Market yourself.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy providing meals and servicing others.

When I was younger, I thought that running a catering business would be fun, until I threw a five-course meal bridal shower. Trying to serve mass amounts of food in perfect condition to a large party was exhausting.

Luckily, there are many people who are much more skilled than I am. If shopping, meal prep, cooking, and clean up sound like something you can do with ease, the catering business might be for you.

There’s a lot of flexibility on how many jobs you want to take and how large or small you want your business to be.

However, reviews are everything. Everyone is bound to get demanding and grouchy clients. But if food is your passion, it might be worth it.

Make sure you get the proper licenses and insurance. Before taking on a client, make sure you have them sign a clause to pay for the food and labor in the case of last minute cancellations or a massive reduction in the guest count.

Make a menu and market yourself with social media and promotions.

7. College Prep

• 

  College Prep

  • Pros: Help kids to get into the college of their dreams.
  • Cons: Seasonal income
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    Build experience and a portfolio showcasing students you’ve helped get into college.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy working with teens and colleges.

I remember the rigorous, stressful process of helping my kids apply to colleges. There was so much data to collect and input in the correct format.

When there were questions that were unclear on the applications, I had to call and ask clarifying questions to the college admissions departments – which were often manned by oblivious college kids.

There are hundreds of thousands of parents who have great anxiety about this process – most with teens who don’t want parents meddling in their applications – and you can start a business guiding these kids with their college applications.

The one speed bump is that you need success with kids’ college acceptances in order to gain more business, but usually the kids who need help are the ones who aren’t on top of things. It helps if your own kids get into higher ranking colleges.

For a college prep business, you don’t need a storefront; you can work from home. It’s extremely lucrative once you earn the trust of parents around you, but keep in mind that it’s a seasonal business.

8. Cottage Food Business Owner

• 

  Cottage Food Business Owner

  • Pros: You can constantly make people happy by gifting them food.
  • Cons: You have to initially jump through hoops – getting a business license and kitchen inspections.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$

  • How to Begin:

    If you’re a good baker or chef, word will naturally get out.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy baking for others.

If you love blessing people with food, you can start your own food business within the comforts of your own kitchen. All you need to get is a Cottage Food Operation license.

Though you can’t sell items with meat in them, here are some items you can sell in most states:

• Muffins
• Cookies or cookie mixes
• Cakes or cake mixes
• Bread
• Gluten-free baked goods
• Dried Fruits
• Syrups
• Jams
• Roasted coffee
• Dried Teas
• Herbs
• Dry nut mixes
• Granola
• Popcorn
• Pies

In order to get a Cottage Food Operation license, look into your own state laws. Usually you have to get a business license and a kitchen inspection. Public Health will probably want you to take a few hours course in food processing for food safety.

My friend’s daughter Bethany Chan got her Cottage Food Operation license as a teenager:

Begin having fun considering packaging and labeling! Market yourself as much as possible, like in social media; offering promotions helps.

9. Crafter

• 

  Crafter

  • Pros: You can work from home and have flexible hours.
  • Cons: Getting a high listing on websites like Amazon Handmade and Etsy usually requires you paying more for marketing.
  • Start Up Costs:

    Varies depending on your craft

  • How to Begin:

    Begin making your craft and then you can begin selling.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy crafting.

If you enjoy crafting and producing quality handmade goods, then this might be the business for you!

Since a lot of artists don’t care to deal with customer complaints or shipping, Amazon Handmade offers Amazon FBA where they deal with your storage, shipping, and customer care, so you can happily just deal with your craft.

Keep in mind you will be paying for the fulfillment costs per unit, which varies according to the size and weight of your goods.

The con of selling on Etsy or Amazon is that these companies are also businesses that want to suck you dry. One of the best ways you can sell goods is to sell within your own community through word of mouth.

10. Daycare Owner

• 

  Daycare Owner

  • Pros: You get to spend time with adorable babies and toddlers.
  • Cons: You occasionally get a difficult parent or child.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$$

  • How to Begin:

    Pick a location to babyproof and make sure you have a business license and proper insurance.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You love being around babies and toddlers.

If you enjoy being around children, opening up a daycare business will be a rewarding and enjoyable experience for you.

You want to begin by picking a facility. If you want to work from your own home, you get to write off electricity, water, and other supplies on your taxes.

Here are some pros and cons to consider before starting off:

Make sure you get liability insurance for a child who possibly has an injury.

You also might be able to get government grants to help fund the beginning of your daycare.

Perhaps you only want to start an afterschool program, read here under “Afterschool Programs.”

11. Dog Walker, Sitter, Groomer, or Trainer

• 

  Dog Walker, Sitter, Groomer, or Trainer

  • Pros: You can spend time with lovable dogs.
  • Cons: Each dog has their own personality and some can be difficult.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    You can begin listing yourself on Rover or Wag or put out advertising on social media.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy dogs.

So many children want to become veterinarians until they find out they will have to put dogs down. There are several other jobs around dogs that don’t require putting dogs down – dog sitting, walking, grooming, and training.

There is always a need for dog care. Dog owners have to go on trips, and some dogs require care during work hours. Dogs need to be groomed and trained. Some dog owners can’t or don’t want to walk their dogs daily.

If you begin a dog care service, you get to be self-employed and love your work while you do it. You might want to take a dog first-aid class to be prepared for emergencies.

Keep in mind that every dog has their own personality, some easy and some difficult. I once met a man whose new dog ate through his wood floor, and my friend had a dog that ate a hole through her couch.

You need to be stronger than the dog. If you’re out walking a dog and the dog decides to fight another dog or chase after a rabbit, you, the dog, and others can get hurt if you’re not stronger than the dog.

Be sure to interview your clients; they’ll want to see you love their dog and take great care to watch them. As for cons — sometimes the salary is not that great, and you can have rude customers.

List yourself on Rover or Wag; work on getting the word out and you’ll have a business in no time. For more information about dog walking or dog sitting, read here.

12. Editing and Proofreading

• 

  Editing and Proofreading

  • Pros: You can work from home with flexible hours.
  • Cons: You have to read bad writing.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    Educate yourself on grammar; list yourself on LinkedIn as an editor or proofreader and build a website for yourself, listing your portfolio.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy reading and grammar.

Most writers nowadays use Google Docs or Grammarly to correct their grammar and spelling mistakes. However, they always need someone to double check their writing.

While writing this article, I wrote, “Bee pollination will make your crap value multiply” instead of “crop value.” Google Docs did not highlight any spelling mistakes; that’s why proofreaders still have jobs.

To get started, first educate yourself on grammar rules and the different styles a writer can write in (e.g. AP Style, Chicago Manual of Style, APA Style, or MLA Style); read a lot. Set your own hourly or per-word rates.

Then list yourself on LinkedIn and create your own website listing your portfolio. Publishing houses will often outsource proofreaders and editors. Here are other ways to get paid to read books.

Proofreading for scientific or academic material will require you to understand the jargon. Keep in mind that even though you may enjoy reading, reading a lot of bad writing may ruin the hobby for you.

13. Freelance Illustrator

• 

  Freelance Illustrator

  • Pros: You can work remotely and have flexible hours.
  • Cons: The work is unstable and your creativity is limited to the needs of the assignment.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    Build an online portfolio and send it to potential clients and art reps.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy drawing and you aren’t sensitive about your art.

If you’re gifted at drawing, creating, and designing, there are many companies that would hire you as a freelance illustrator. Some of these companies will hire you just for conceptual ideas; others for illustration.

In order to become a successful freelance illustrator, great communication and listening skills are vital. You also need problem-solving creativity to try to achieve what your client’s requests.

The pros are that you can build your own schedule and work remotely or onsite. The cons are that the work is insecure and unstable; your success is subject to your client’s taste.

They may not understand the masterpiece you’ve created, so be prepared to have thick skin as your art will be critiqued. Also, your creativity is limited to the needs of the assignment.

It would be helpful for you to learn some kind of design software, like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, and Corel Painter. It helps turnaround edits and revisions quickly.

14. Freelance Photographer and Videographer

• 

  Freelance Photographer and Videographer

  • Pros: Enjoy a fun, creative outlet that gets you outside!
  • Cons: Some clients can be difficult to deal with.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$$

  • How to Begin:

    Take as many pictures as you can and learn from experts.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy taking pictures.

There’s always a demand for photographers at weddings, graduations, school photos, and special events, so the work is plentiful!

Hear it from professional photographer Jenna Kim (Instagram):

The start-up costs can be rather expensive as you need to purchase a camera body, lenses, computer, editing software, website hosting, etc.

15. Ghostwriter or Freelance Writing

• 

  Ghostwriter or Freelance Writing

  • Pros: You can work from anywhere and at any time.
  • Cons: Your income might not be dependable.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    Read a lot and educate yourself on how to write well.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy writing.

Everywhere you go, you’ll see work done by freelance writers – the words on your Starbucks tea box, the cursive words on the walls of a restaurant, or the scripted words coming out of your customer service agent’s mouth.

You might enjoy working privately and enjoy the flexibility of being a freelance writer. You can work anywhere – during your trip to France, in your local coffee shop, or in the comforts of your own bed. You also get to set your own rate.

The cons are that it can get repetitive and burnout can happen. Also, you can get lonely if you don’t make it a point to see people. But there is nothing like seeing your name authoring a piece or on the credits of a big screen.

If you want to read more about making money from blogging, read up on it here or here. Look on Fivver for job opportunities.

16. Graphic Design

• 

  Graphic Design

  • Pros: You can work from home during flexible hours and be creative.
  • Cons: The competition is fierce.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    Take some design courses or do an internship to learn design software and tools.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy being creative in the privacy of your home.

There are tons of job opportunities for graphic designers to be creative with artistic skill with pictures and graphics.

It’s a nice business to begin at home because you can work remotely and have flexible hours. Though your work is subjective to being liked or not according to a client’s taste, generally, you receive appreciation for the work you do.

You get to work indoors and your job isn’t physically demanding, but you might not enjoy working at a computer all day as it can get lonely.

Begin by learning graphic design principles and tools – like Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator, and InDesign – through design courses or do an internship. Develop a portfolio.

A con is that though there is a regular demand for graphic designers, there is limited upward movement for your business as your job can be outsourced to someone from another country who will do it for pennies.

The good news is that it’s easy to use social media to become well known in your field.

17. Hair Stylist

• 

  Hair Stylist

  • Pros: Building dear friendships with clients.
  • Cons: You need to be on your feet for hours a day.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$$

  • How to Begin:

    Complete 1,600 hours of training at an approved school.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You love to be around people and enjoy beautifying them.

In order to become a hairstylist, you usually need to take a cosmetology program which runs around $6,000 to $10,000. A full-time program takes about 9 months.

An average salon chair rental price is between $400 to $600 monthly. After that, the job can become lucrative quickly, especially if you’re with clients who tip well.

You can choose your own hours and build great relationships with customers, who are usually happy to be there.

Be aware that running your own business has its own set of difficulties. Communication skills are necessary for being able to understand what your clients want. On the rare occasion when someone doesn’t like their haircut, it’s sad.

You also need to be prepared to be flexible with rescheduling.

18. Influencer

• 

  Influencer

  • Pros: You get to join a supportive community and have flexible job hours.
  • Cons: You have to constantly think of new content and deal with haters.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    Start filming yourself and posting.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You have a passion for a subject and you don’t mind attention – both from fans and haters.

One of the best things about influencers is that they have passion about their work; they wouldn’t be able to continually post new material if they didn’t.

In order to become an influencer that brings in money, you’d need to develop a big following and that takes time. You get to work whatever hours you want and you don’t have to be confined to an office!

Since influencers make more money if they have more followers, you get to connect with a supportive, gifted community worldwide.

As for the negatives, you’ll need thick skin to repel all the haters. Also, in a sense, “eyes” will always be on you in public, so you need to be careful to not do anything stupid or rude in public.

Probably the hardest part is that algorithms demand you to create new content every day. There’s also not much job security as the rise or fall of your income can fall on your fickle creativity and the whims of popularity.

As an influencer, you might want to think about being a brand ambassador to make more money.

19. Interior Designer

• 

  Interior Designer

  • Pros: While working with color, patterns, and space, you get an outlet for your creative side.
  • Cons: Dealing with difficult clients or undependable subcontractors
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$

  • How to Begin:

    Build a portfolio and a website, and then promote yourself.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy transforming space into something beautiful.

Are you able to see a room and envision what it could be if it had the proper paint colors, drapes, textures, and borders? Think of the fun you would have spending other people’s money to transform those rooms!

One of the most amazing moments is you get to reveal the final product of your interior design and see the happiness on your client’s face.

To begin an interior designer business, start a website filled with beautiful pictures from your portfolio. Market your business with social media, ads, or email.

The negatives are that it can be stressful at times, especially with difficult clients or unreliable subcontractors. It also takes a lot of time to build clientele.

Sometimes interior design has much more to do with convincing your client to buy what you know would be worthwhile, so surprisingly it helps to have a gift in sales.

20. Jewelry Brand

• 

  Jewelry Brand

  • Pros: The flexibility to work whenever you want
  • Cons: Running your own business means that everything falls on your shoulders.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$$

  • How to Begin:

    Educate yourself and purchase a butane torch, a jeweler’s saw, and some metals.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy being creative and blessing people with beautiful, unique creations.

If you enjoy creating beautiful jewelry and making someone else happy when gifting it, this might be your dream job.

Not only does this type of business take little room in your household, you also get the flexibility of running your own business.

Sometimes having to wear all the hats and do everything yourself can be overwhelming, but if you love that creative outlet and making something unique, nothing beats the pride of seeing someone wear it and knowing, “I made that!”

21. Makeup Artist

• 

  Makeup Artist

  • Pros: It’s flexible in hours and you get to be with people who are usually happy to see you.
  • Cons: Sometimes you have super early mornings, and it can be competitive to find work.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$

  • How to Begin:

    Educate yourself on makeup and practice on others.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy makeup and the art of beautifying others.

As an artist, you may enjoy the skill of sculpting and blending while you’re working with colors. Being a makeup artist isn’t physically demanding, and most people feel good after you work with them.

Being a makeup artist is fun, creative, and you get to work in diverse environments – e.g. editorials, theaters, haunted houses, theme parks, kid birthday parties, makeup counters, movies, tv shows, proms, and weddings.

You can get a cosmetologist certification or a license but those are only necessary in certain fields and certain states; you can also learn on your own and also from other makeup artists. You also get flexible hours.

Sometimes you have to work or communicate during early mornings. There’s also a lot of back and forth communicating and scheduling. Sometimes work is seasonal or there could be a lot of competition for work.

As for cons, clients can get upset if they don’t like what you’ve done, like if a bride doesn’t like her makeup. Most of the time, they’re absolutely thrilled and filled with new confidence.

22. Landscape Artist

• 

  Landscape Artist

  • Pros: You can work outdoors and get exercise.
  • Cons: If you live in a state that snows, your workflow might be seasonal.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$$

  • How to Begin:

    You can get a degree in landscape architecture or horticulture.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy working outdoors.

You might be able to envision how an outdoor space needs to be designed both for beauty and usage; you might envision this wherever you go, from a business building to a private yard.

You can get a degree in landscape architecture or horticulture.

Usually the start of this business can be expensive since you need to purchase landscaping equipment, including trucks, tools, herbicides, and fertilizers. You might be able to rent equipment until you can afford your own.

The pros are that you get to work outdoors and get physical exercise. Your mind gets to work creatively. The cons include possible injury and having to work in all weather – hot or inclement weather; and sometimes a deadline is stressful to meet.

Depending on the state you live in, your workflow might be seasonal.

23. Massage Therapist

• 

  Massage Therapist

  • Pros: You can really help a person in pain.
  • Cons: Your fingers, muscles, and feet get worked hard.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$$

  • How to Begin:

    Go to massage therapy school.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy helping people out.

Apparently massage therapists have unusually high levels of job satisfaction. You take a customer in pain and slowly ease them back into being relaxed and rejuvenated; their gratitude is great.

Tips are an extra nicety. You get to make your own schedule as well, so this can be a job after your normal work hours.

As for possible negatives, usually your body gets taxed – your fingers, your muscles, and your feet; you are standing for several hours. You can physically only work so many hours before you can’t work anymore.

Going to a certified massage school ranges from $5,000 to $20,000 and takes on average 500 hours. On top of that, you’ll have to purchase massage tables and equipment. There might be a program at your local community college.

As for cons, sometimes you work really hard and end up with a dissatisfied, rude customer. I suppose that’s in any line of work though.

24. Nutritionist

• 

  Nutritionist

  • Pros: You can help people out a lot.
  • Cons: You have to keep up with the changing regulations of The U.S. Department of Agriculture.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$$

  • How to Begin:

    Get a BA degree in a relevant health field or get an entry-level certificate.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You have compassion on people struggling with personal health issues and enjoy helping them.

Being a nutritionist is a rewarding and fulfilling job. You can help people with eating disorders and counsel clients on nutritional issues; you give them healthy relationships with food.

They might need to cut down on their weight or develop healthy muscle mass; they might have to learn to adjust to a new health issue, like high blood pressure or diabetes. As a nutritionist, you offer them short-term and long-term realistic goals.

Keeping up with ever changing regulations by The U.S. Department of Agriculture is an additional labor. Another con is that it might take an emotional toll to work with people who might be sick or terminally ill.

Usually, the reward of benefiting people outweighs any of the cons.

25. Online Store

• 

  Online Store

  • Pros: You don’t have to deal with a brick-and-mortar store or all its costs.
  • Cons: You gain a new set of customer disputes.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$

  • How to Begin:

    Start a website and have great photos.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You dream of starting a business from home.

The younger crowd does much more shopping online. People don’t want to be inconvenienced with wasting time in a real store anymore.

You too can start an eCommerce business; you can also sell on eBay, Amazon, Etsy, or Shopify.

Presentation and packaging is what draws the crowds, so you’ll need to get high quality photos. Pay for online advertising on Google ads or Facebook ads.

The pro is that you will no longer need to rent a brick-and-mortar store or hire a huge staff to maintain cleanliness or man the store. You also don’t have a lot of overhead like electricity, A/C, heat, and water.

The con is that a whole set of disputes will arise because of shipping, such as delivery time or if it arrived damaged or not. Customers will also complain about issues with the accuracy of your photos compared to what they get.

Every business has its pros and cons, so weigh carefully if the reward of your business is better than the cons.

26. Personal Chef

• 

  Personal Chef

  • Pros: You don’t have to do as much heavy lifting as in a restaurant.
  • Cons: If you’re sick or injured, you won’t get paid.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$

  • How to Begin:

    Get formal chef training and get experience making all types of food.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy cooking for others.

A plus about being a personal chef is that it also brings about the wealth and prestige of your client; you also get to cook for other wealthy people. You’ll have to do less strenuous work than in a restaurant kitchen, with reliable hours and usually better pay.

The cons are that if you’re sick or injured, you won’t get paid. You also might have to take care of a lot of different appetites, from little kids to feeding the other staff members.

You will most likely get a lot of solo time in the kitchen, so you can use that time to catch up on podcasts or music.

27. Personal Trainer

• 

  Personal Trainer

  • Pros: You get to exercise and be around people.
  • Cons: Unsteady income and strange hours
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    Though you don’t need to be certified as a trainer, it helps you a lot.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy being around people and helping them with their health.

Personal trainers can have a huge sense of pride in their work because they can improve someone’s health greatly.

The con is that when you succeed, your client no longer needs you. Luckily, word of mouth will usually give you more clients.

It’s hard to keep the job the older and frailer you personally get; you have to work odd hours when other people aren’t working – early mornings and evenings.

Clients can also lose patience losing weight because it takes time. You can inspire them by showing them how to make money by losing weight!

Though you don’t need certification in order to practice as a personal trainer, it definitely helps to gain knowledge and experience; certification will also open more doors. After that, advertise yourself and offer deals.

28. Pilates or Yoga Instructor

• 

  Pilates or Yoga Instructor

  • Pros: Flexible hours and the reward of helping people feel better.
  • Cons: It can take a long time to gain clientele.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$$

  • How to Begin:

    Find an accredited certification program.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy solving puzzles for improving someone’s quality of movement and quality of life.

With a rise in celebrities and influencers jumping on the Pilates and yoga bandwagon, you can begin a Pilates or yoga business to benefit from this new trend, helping people with everything from physical pain to anxiety struggles.

You get to set your own schedule and get paid to stay in shape. The best part is getting to help people feel better physically, many times with a physical therapy bent.

To get started in Pilates, research an accredited certification program, classical or contemporary; Balanced Body, Basi, Polestar Pilates, Peak Pilates, and Stott are some of them, Stott being the Cadillac of all the choices.

These certification programs can be rigorous and expensive, as much as $4,000 to $8,000.

It can take up to a year to complete your courses, several mat hours, and apprenticeship hours to finally get certified.

29. Podcast Producer

• 

  Podcast Producer

  • Pros: It’s fun to conversate with friends on important topics.
  • Cons: It’s sometimes hard to find good topics to discuss.
  • Start Up Costs:

    Varies

  • How to Begin:

    Find people you want to work with and purchase a recording app.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy a creative outlet and being in publicized conversations.

Do you enjoy lively conversation and inspiring people around you? One of the businesses you might want to begin is podcasting.

What are the pros and cons of being a podcaster? Hear it from Brynn Bangit of Wine Thursday Podcast:

The start-up costs for a podcast varies, depending on the quality of the podcast; the cost correlates to the quality of the podcast. You will need to purchase a quality microphone, camera, computer, and you will need to spend money on advertisements to get news about your podcast and new episodes publicized.

Find the right people to do your podcast with and plan on what you want to talk about. Learn to use video recording and editing apps.

Wine Thursday uses OBS and StreamLabs to capture video audio, GarageBand to edit audio, and Anchor to automatically upload to streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, etc.

Be aware that many podcasters do not podcast for lucrative amounts of money. In order to make podcasting lucrative, you would have to secure a large following and gain sponsorships and ads.

30. Professional Organizer

• 

  Professional Organizer

  • Pros: You can help to change someone’s life for the better.
  • Cons: Sometimes you work super hard to get someone’s clutter under control, and then they don’t keep up with your new system.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$$

  • How to Begin:

    You can get a CPO (Certified Professional Organizer certification), but it’s not necessary.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy organizing, problem solving, and being around people.

If you’ve ever seen an episode of “Hoarders”, you understand that there are a lot of people out there that need help to organize their lives.

You understand the damaging effect that clutter has on their mental health and efficiency as well.

Products, such as baskets and containers, can sometimes be expensive so clients can complain; in a sense, you need to function as a salesperson as well to help them understand how these purchases will benefit their lives.

31. Tailor

• 

  Tailor

  • Pros: You can usually enjoy a nice work-life balance.
  • Cons: Tailors usually don’t get paid much.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    Learn to sew and gain tailoring skills by working under other tailors.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy working with clothes and servicing others.

One day, I tried on a dress that I loved, but it made me look 20 pounds heavier. My sister-in-law, who used to work in fashion, pinched the back of my dress, pinned it in place, and viola! It was like magic!

Tailors experience a lot of pride in their work because they can usually see the happiness on their client’s faces when outfits fit them so much better. Your clients will keep you up to date with fashion.

The work has a good work-life balance as it’s not that strenuous. You can also exercise your creative side with fashion – how to make that outfit look the best with the figure your client has.

As for cons, the pay is not that great, and it’s hard for most tailors to retire well.

But if you think you’ll enjoy this line of work, buy a sewing machine, measuring tape, and other supplies so that you can start! Learn from another tailor with experience.

32. Teaching Music

• 

  Teaching Music

  • Pros: Getting to share your love for music with students
  • Cons: Occasionally you get a difficult student or parent
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    Find a good curriculum to take your students through for their instrument and advertise yourself.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy music and teaching students.

In order to teach music, you will need your own musical instrument, but if you are able to teach the instrument, you probably already own it. You also must have a decent amount of knowledge about how to play your instrument.

A music degree is not necessary but very helpful and validating.

If you are only an intermediate musician, don’t let that stop you. Especially if you are gifted with kids, you can always teach your instrument up to a certain level and then graduate your student to a more knowledgeable, more expensive teacher.

Teaching piano from your home can be inexpensive and easy income.

Keep in mind that you’ll be dealing with a broad spectrum of students – ages and skill levels – so you’ll need to be flexible and understanding, while also challenging your students to practice so your lesson is worthwhile.

33. Tour Guide

• 

  Tour Guide

  • Pros: You can spend time with people and show them a good time.
  • Cons: A lot of times, the schedule will change and you will have to be flexible.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    Figure out what type of tour guide business you want; plan an interesting tour.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy being with people and don’t crack under stress.

If you enjoy getting to meet new people and share your knowledge of your town, you might truly enjoy opening a business as a tour guide. You know the food and the history in your town.

You need to be a clear communicator and even an entertainer with your stories. You also need to have energy and be super flexible when all your plans fall apart.

A lot of times things go wrong and it’s out of your control – weather changes, collision traffic, or a reservation that wasn’t written down. You need to provide clear leadership and be pleasant and calming when people are frustrated.

Have a good time meeting new people and helping them to enjoy their visit to your town!

34. Travel Agency

• 

  Travel Agency

  • Pros: You can work remotely with your own flexible schedule. There are endless business opportunities as travel keeps on expanding.
  • Cons: There can be intense competition with other travel agencies and only a seasonal flow of business.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$

  • How to Begin:

    Know your area of expertise in travel and build a strong network.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy traveling and giving people a wonderful experience in travel.

If you love traveling to distant lands, starting your own travel agency can be lucrative and also give you the opportunity to work remotely from home.

Since certain destinations attract more visitors during certain seasons, your business might not have a steady cash flow at first.

Starting your own travel agency can be rewarding, but be aware of the costs and challenges that come with it.

35. Tutor

• 

  Tutor

  • Pros: Getting to spend time with students and helping them learn
  • Cons: Sometimes you have a difficult student or parent.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    Make sure you have curriculum to take them through and publicize your business.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy teaching and explaining things to people.

If you have a passion for a certain subject, you might be able to become the next Bill Nye the Science Guy!

The pros are that the hours are pretty flexible, you get to set your own pay, and there’s not a big start up cost. Overall, it’s rewarding to see kids learn!

The cons are that unless you teach homeschool kids, chances are that you’ll have to work evenings and possibly weekends. Your success also largely depends on word of mouth. Also, you aren’t being paid for any preparatory time for your tutoring time.

Students can also be difficult at times, as sometimes it’s their parents who are forcing them to be there. But if you find these cons easy, consider which subjects you can teach:

To begin, set a reasonable price and begin marketing yourself. Make sure you have a curriculum to take them through so that you aren’t spending extra hours figuring out the most systematic way to teach them the material.

Read this article for more ideas on how to earn income as a tutor.

36. Video Editor

• 

  Video Editor

  • Pros: It’s a great creative outlet that can be done from home.
  • Cons: Your work is mostly done in isolation.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$$

  • How to Begin:

    Educate yourself on how to use video editing software.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy shaping narratives through video.

Video editing is creative work that can be done remotely.

You’ll want to learn how to work video editing software such as Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro. You can also take classes (and pursue a degree) or take a class from Apple.

It takes about $1,000 to $4,500 to get the right equipment to get started. There are a lot of companies that want to hire video editors just for YouTube alone. Your job is to edit and cut in order to keep people engaged past the first thumbnail.

To get started, you’ll want to create short videos so you have a portfolio. Look up on social media “video editor” and a number of jobs will pop up.

Keep in mind that it can be isolating, especially if you’re not working directly with a client or team.

37. Virtual Assistance

• 

  Virtual Assistance

  • Pros: You can work from home and have a flexible schedule.
  • Cons: Since you are running your own business, you don’t have the benefits that companies give.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    You’ll need a computer and working internet; begin to market yourself.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You are naturally administrative and good with details.

Working from home as a virtual assistant (VA) is one of the ways to juggle all your responsibilities as a mom and work from home. You can stay in your pjs all day; all you need is a computer and good internet service.

You do NOT need to offer all of the services above. You can offer whatever services you want to do and say “no” to whatever you don’t; likewise, you can say “yes” to whatever clients you want and say “no” to the less desirable ones.

For cons, working from home can be pleasant but there can also be a lot of distractions, which can push your work into the night. You also won’t have insurance or paid vacation days. Some VAs also complain about the lack of social interaction.

If you want to work in the field, you can join an exercise class or grab coffee with a friend for some adult time.

38. Voice Acting

• 

  Voice Acting

  • Pros: The hours are flexible and you can have a lot of fun.
  • Cons: You can have unsteady work as competition can be fierce.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    Purchase an at-home recording setup that is soundproof.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy inflecting your voice in creative ways.

Are you someone who enjoys mimicking other people and the art of changing your pitch and volume? You might enjoy voice acting!

Though the work can be isolating at times, as you often create fresh deliveries in your own private recording room, you don’t have to be on camera so there is less pressure.

You’ll find a lot of flexibility both with hours and location, as you can work from anywhere. It’s also tons of fun playing different roles and having credits to your name gives you a boost in confidence.

Competition is fierce, audition rejections are common, but it is quickly lucrative when work and residuals do come in.

In order to start, begin by signing up for acting classes; listen and learn from professionals; become a master at breathing, pronunciation, articulation, and delivery. Record a demo of yourself and begin to send it out to agents.

For more information, read “How to Find Voice Over Jobs From Home and Online.”

39. Web Design

• 

  Web Design

  • Pros: You can work creatively and remotely.
  • Cons: The work can be isolating and extremely dormant for your body.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $

  • How to Begin:

    Learn about web design and start a portfolio.

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You enjoy constantly learning more about technology.

A good graphic designer understands the significance of images, fonts, structure, design, shapes, texture, and color; they understand how and why one website is more attractive than another.

If you want to start your own business where you can practice creativity and work remotely, web design opportunities are growing.

Look into online courses and offer to help a friend with design so you can begin a portfolio. A lot of web developers are also computer programmers – where you learn your coding language like Python or Java.

Keep in mind that you will constantly have to keep up with the new technology in this field – which might be a pro or con, depending on your personality. The work can also be isolating and dormant, where you are sitting for several hours a day.

You can purchase an under-the-desk bicycle and keep fit while you work!

40. Wedding Planner

• 

  Wedding Planner

  • Pros: For the most part, you can set your own hours (just not on the wedding weekend); you get to meet new people and travel to new places.
  • Cons: Sometimes you get an inconsiderate person in the bridal party or family, or a vendor you hired makes a blunder.
  • Start Up Costs:

    $$

  • How to Begin:

    Intern or work with another planner or industry person (e.g. floral designer, venue rep, caterer, or rental company).

  • You Know You’ll Enjoy This If:

    You are administrative, enjoy working with people, and are able to smile under great stress.

Though you may think that planning a friend’s wedding might be the start to a wedding planner business, it might actually get you stuck in that “friend circle” and make it difficult to branch out to professionally paid work.

When starting a business, it’s vital you build a team you can trust. When you start, you can pay for your wedding day team or any administrative assistance you need day-to-day.

Hear it from an expert, Nancy Park, co-owner with Paean Wang, of So Happi Together:

Start up costs for this type of business is relatively low, though your branding and logo are very important and can cost a lot of money. You need an online presence – a well-designed website and an instagram account.

If you don’t have a portfolio yet, you can consider hiring models, florals, and rentals to do a photoshoot to show off your aesthetics.

In conclusion

If you’re tired of working for your boss or dealing with co-worker drama, one of the exit strategies would be to open up your own business. You’ll love having flexibility and only answering to yourself.

If you’re interested in even more ideas and want to start cautiously with a side business, read the following:

• “71 Side Business Ideas That Will Help You Earn a Significant Amount”
• “How to Make Money Without A Degree: The Ultimate Guide”
• “33 Lucrative Side Hustle Ideas You Can Use for Extra Income Every Month”
• “5 Best Side Hustles You Can Turn Into Full Time Businesses.”