31 Legitimate Home-Based Business Ideas & Opportunities

Starting A Home-Based Business

Even though I wasn’t making very much at the time, when I got laid off a couple years ago I was very happy that I had started a side business that was another source of income. Even if you don’t have aspirations of working full-time from home, having a little supplemental income would be nice – wouldn’t it?

Below are a bunch of home-based business ideas that you can peruse to see if any would work for you. Oh, and also as an aside, I am defining a home-based business as one that can be run from home, not necessarily a business that you would work from home all the time.

An Honest Recommendation For Those Wanting To Start A Business

When I started this site, I decided that I would write each article and offer advice as if I was giving it to my younger sister.  That is still the way I approach my recommendations today. I seek to only point people to the best stuff and try to explain who it is best for.

That said, Noah Kagan (who was one of the first employees at Facebook, Mint.com, and others) has a course that is the best I have seen to help you get your business off the ground. It really is as step-by-step as it gets.  Of course, it isn’t easy, and it isn’t free, but it works.

I went through it and could not believe how thorough the course is.  It is packed with very detailed tips, tricks, and suggestions on exactly what you need to do to start a business and start making money.

I have have bought about a dozen products from Noah and absolutely love his commitment to excellence and he really is a stand-up guy.

To remove the risk of the price of the course, he guarantees you will make $1,000 from your business in 60 days or he will refund 100% of your money.

It truly is a great course, and I highly recommend if you are wanting to start a business of any kind.

Read more about it here.

Top Home-Based Business Ideas

1Sell A Product Online

A friend of mine had a baby and didn’t like the style/design of any of the baby products at the stores,  so she started making her own. After getting some compliments, she realized that she could turn her idea into a business that she could run from home (with the babies). She just created an online store and sold all of her products via her website.  If you aren’t creating your own product you can alwaysfind a product to dropship – that way you don’t have to store any inventory in your home.

2Start A Woodworking Business

Do you love woodworking? Even without a huge workshop, you can create some of the more popular crafts and sell them.  And like most things, your success in business isn’t necessarily related to how skilled you are as a woodworker. So if you can figure out which products consumers want and just create those, you could have a good business plan.  Etsy.com and farmers’ markets are a great place to start selling.

3Cleaning Out Foreclosed Homes

With there being as many foreclosed homes out there as there are, the bankers (who now own the houses) don’t want to clean them up and they are willing to pay hefty sums for those who will.  So it is fairly easy to start a Foreclosure cleanup business and get paid pretty well in the process. If you are interested here is a course you can take to learn more.

4Freelance Writing

Since I started blogging a few years ago, I have seen the freelance market explode. There is a huge demand for content and so there are a lot of ways to make money writing it. Jonathan wrote a great article about a few legitimate work from home jobs – most of which were freelance writing.

5Goodwill/Garage Sale Reseller

There are a lot of items that can be purchased very inexpensively at garage sales or thrift stores and sold for higher prices elsewhere. A few years ago I discovered that I could purchase good hardcover books at my local thrift shop for $1 or less. I realized that some of them could be sold on Amazon.com for $15-$20, which turns out to be a pretty decent profit. Find and sell enough items and you have a fun home business.

6Blogging

I find a lot of people are interested in the idea of blogging as a business. You really can make some money blogging, but it is hard work. Not hard like digging ditches, but hard like it requires so many different skill sets and requires a lot of creativity and mental energy. It also is kind of the opposite of get-rich-quick. I only made $100 my first 6 months of blogging, but now I make a living doing it.

7Build Websites For Small Businesses

I feel like I have people ask me to build them a website all the time. If this is a business you would like to start you can learn how to make money building websites here.

8Ebay Business

A few years ago I started an Ebay business kind of as an experiment, just to see if it were something I could do if I needed cash. I wrote step-by-step instructions about starting an Ebay business if you are interested. Ebay is a pretty crowded market, but it still is one of the most popular home-based businesses.

9Home Inspector

This one will require certification, find out more about getting certified here.

10Real Estate Agent

This one isn’t technically a home-based business, but with the flexibility it allows you would be able to likely do a lot of work from home. Find out about getting your real estate license.

11Tutoring Students

What subjects do you have a good working knowledge of? Math, Science, History, Baseball, Soccer? Parents will often pay to see Johnnie or Sally excel at _______. If you can help, then it sounds like a business.

12Start A Christmas Light Hanging Business

If you aren’t afraid of heights and can handle being out in the cold, this is a pretty great business opp.  Some people earn a full-year’s salary just hanging lights for 2 months each year.  Here is a course that provides some more info.

13Car Mechanic

Do you know how difficult it is to find a good and trustworthy mechanic? Maybe it is just me, but I feel like I have had way too many experiences with mechanics not be truthful with me that I would gladly pay more and give all my business to an honest one.  If you know your way around a car and have a few tools, this could be a great business idea for you.

14Mobile Oil Changes

Building off the previous idea, what if you offered a service where you came to the customer’s house and changed the oil in the street? I would pay to do that – and would be willing to pay more since I didn’t even have to do anything but make a phone call.

15Buy And Sell Cars For Profit

If you love cars and aren’t afraid to haggle, you could start a car flipping biz.  We have a friend of the family who has done this for years.  He scours the classified listings for deals, lands a good deal and then drives the car while trying to sell it for a couple grand more. Sometimes he sells them quickly, sometimes it takes a little longer, but he gets to drives lots of cars (which he loves) and makes a nice side income as well.  Here is an online course to help you get started.

16Wedding Planning

Isn’t this every girls dream? People will always be getting married, so in theory they will always need wedding planners. If you love all-things-weddings and can handle the pressure from the brides, this might be a fun one.

17Medical Claims Billing

This industry is one of the most popular work-from-home businesses. You can find training courses online at places like eLearners.com

18Start A Daycare

If you love kids and are uniquely gifted with a lot of patience, you could always start a home-based daycare.

19Handy-Man Service

If you are handy, there are lots of little old ladies who are willing to pay someone to do odd jobs around the house. There are evenfranchise opportunities available with certain companies.

20Lawn Care

Don’t forget good ‘ol lawncare or landscaping. As we become more and more acquainted to the air-conditioned lifestyle more people are going to want to pay someone to do landscaping. If you like to sweat this one may be for you.

21Photography

Because I am just a little bit techie, I get asked to video record weddings all the time. If video or photography are up your alley, starting a wedding photography business could be a great idea for you. If doing weddings aren’t your thing, there are other ways you can make money as a photographer as well.

22Virtual Assistant

Virtual Assistants are just like a secretary in another part of the world. This industry is growing very quickly. Check this out to find out more about being a virtual assistant. For opportunities, go to this siteand search for “virtual assistant”.

23Window Cleaning Business

A lot of businesses (and homeowners) need windows cleaned. If you are not afraid of heights, cleaning windows could be a decent side or full-time gig.

24Ink-Jet Cartridge Refilling Service

One of the things that annoys me most is having to pay $50 each time my printer runs out of ink.  The truth is that you can refill most printer cartridges pretty easily and for a tiny fraction of the cost of the retail cartridge.  This provides a good biz opportunity that you can easily do from your home.  Here is an online training course for more info.

25Candle-Making

A few years ago I started making my own beeswax candles – because they were so stinking expensive to buy. In the process of learning, I found that there are a lot of people who use candle-making as a home business. You can sell to your products online at places like Etsy.com or Ebay.com.

26Massage Therapy

“The massage therapy business has been growing by leaps and bounds in the last decade, tripling in volume. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook, it should grow by an additional 20% through 2016, meaning this home business has strong potential for growth. And, because all in-home massage services are necessarily local in nature, it’s work that can’t be outsourced to another country.”

27Clean Business Offices

A lot of small businesses need people to clean their offices and this is a business that you can start with a very small investment. For more information check out this guide.

28Professional Pooper Scooper

Maybe not the most glamorous work, but in recent years I have seen many dog waste removal companies pop up, so there must be some money to be made.

29Senior Care Services

More and more seniors are wanting to avoid nursing homes in lieu of staying in their own homes. Offering nonmedical home care by assisting the elderly with regular daily tasks could be rewarding and profitable.

30House Cleaning

I have known a few women carved out a flexible home-based business by cleaning homes. You probably already have the skills you need, now you just need to get the word out.

31Teach English (Or Other Language) Classes Online

Did you know that English speakers are in high demand in Asia?  As a result many are turning to freelance English teachers using websites like Italki.com. The site is basically a virtual online classroom for freelance teachers and students.  Anyone can offer lessons (and set their own price) and anyone can take lessons.

From a quick scan, it looks like making $15-20/hour is a fair expectation.