You may have numerous ideas when it comes to launching a new online business but settling on just one can be challenging. With sales for e-commerce stores totaling over $3.45 billion in 2019, taking the step in deciding to open online was a great first step.
Now it’s time to choose exactly what niche you want to begin with on your journey to entrepreneurship. While you can seek inspiration from your natural interests, here are five online business ideas that you can start with relatively low startup costs.
Health and Wellness
You can think of the health and wellness industry as a broad spectrum of opportunities. In 2018 alone, the vitamin and dietary supplement industry was worth $31 billion.
You can choose to sell supplements for a wide range of ailments or specific goals, like clearer skin or overall health. Whether it’s meal replacements, weight loss supplements, or amino acid packs, you have options when it comes to nutritional supplement products.
Vitamin supplement manufacturers make it simple to white label or private label products—that is, create your own unique brand—your own vitamins based on what products you would like to sell customers. Will you use a capsule or tablet? How do you want the specific formulation to work? Using a private label supplement manufacturer makes your herbal products more exclusive to consumers and you have more control over the overall branding.
Freelance Writing
If you have a natural talent for writing, becoming a freelance writer is one of the best online businesses that you can start. It truly costs zero dollars to get started, you just have to market yourself in order to get gigs.
If you want to turn this into a scalable business, you can also consider starting a content writing agency where you hire and manage freelance writers for other clients. You can still take the opportunity to write, or completely outsource to other writers. If you take this route, you will want to make sure to have resources to help manage workflows and improve productivity.
One solution is OKR tracking, which will help you set objectives and goals with your team members and assist with driving results. Having the right OKR software will make your business more cohesive and make team collaboration easier.
Web Design
Aside from any design software that you might purchase, becoming a web design is another field that has low startup costs. There are also several ways that you can make money, whether it’s pitching directly on job boards or creating your own website.
You also have the option to join platforms like Shopify and create themes in bulk that you can sell to interested merchants. Apps also go hand in hand with websites, so it can be worthwhile to offer these services as well.
Clothing and Accessories
Many people do not realize that you can launch a successful apparel and accessories store rather quickly. In fact, there are ways to sell that involve zero fashion design skills at all. With dropshipping, you can essentially choose a distributor that will design product labels, package, and mail the clothing for you.
Of course, you can still create your own designs with an actual clothing manufacturer in the United States or abroad. Print-on-demand companies are also popular, where you can design templates of your own and still dropship. Check out Uniway-sourcing if you want to make your own clothing brand.
Also, clothing and accessories are not limited to those for humans. You can sell products for dogs, cats, or even a hamster if that’s your niche.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is an excellent niche that anyone, with any interests, can easily get into. Affiliate marketing involves recommending products from other businesses via your blog, Instagram, Facebook, email list, etc. For each sale that is made from your unique referral link, you make a commission.
The beauty of affiliate marketing is that you can choose to market any type of product or service that you like. You can seek affiliate deals by the merchant or use a platform such as Commission Junction that hosts a wide range of brands in one.