When someone talks about starting a new business, the first thing that comes to mind is the investment that you’ll need to make, not to mention the effort and energy that will go into it.

However, in this article, we’ll discuss some cool home-based business ideas in various fields. Plus, most of them will need investments as low as a computer system and an internet connection to begin working from home. Depending on your interest, you can choose that delights you the most.

1. Website Designing

Website designing is a great home-based business that anyone with a basic understanding of design and websites can start. However, even if you lack those skills, there are many courses and free videos available on YouTube, so you can start learning these skills.

Additionally, if you decide to become a WordPress or Wix website designer, you don’t even need to learn how to code. That skill is only essential if you want to create customized websites for clients.

As a website designer, your main job will be to develop new websites, edit the existing ones as per your customers’ needs, or provide ongoing support to your clients with their websites as they expand their businesses. Plus, getting started with it is pretty easy, all you need is a computer system and an internet connection.

Post-pandemic, most businesses have gone online and almost all of them need a website. Hence, you can begin by offering cheaper rates for small businesses and building your portfolio. As you continue gaining more experience and growing your skills, you can charge pro rates.

2. Affiliate Marketing

Another minimum investment home-based business model is affiliate marketing. Here, your job is to market others’ products, and if people buy them from your link, you get a commission. It’s a great option if you don’t want to worry about keeping stocks of products at your place, renting space for that, and drop-shipping.

However, to build a profitable business in this field, you’ll need to select a niche, build an audience, gain their trust, and suggest the right products to buy. You can create a website and write product roundups, buying guides, and product reviews and help people make an informed decision about what product will be right for them. Meanwhile, you can suggest they make the purchase using your link, as you’ll get a commission from it.

If you already have an audience, let’s say on your social media accounts, you can join some affiliate programs to make money on Instagram. You can scale it from there—creating a website and digging deep into this topic. Plus, you don’t need to stick to one niche only. You can also create multiple websites offering different types of products.

3. Virtual Dance Instructor

Becoming a virtual dance instructor is a great home-based business idea. One of its advantages is that you won’t need to invest in a big studio space, which can cover the gathering of your students. Besides holding regular classes, you can create one-off lessons or courses for your students and sell them on your website. That will add to your passive income.

The only tools you’ll need to start this home-based business are a good camera, a webcam, a computer system, internet access, and video editing software. Later on, you can get other essential things like a uniform splash screen to build a brand as you go and show up as a professional to your clients.

Moreover, while creating the courses or one-off lessons, instead of investing in high-end cameras, you can rent them for a fraction of their original prices and return them when your work is finished. Another benefit to this business is that since everything is virtual and location is not an issue, you can take your business global and scale as you go.

However, you’ll need to learn and spend time and money on marketing to do this. But again, you don’t need to make major investments in the early stage, as you can get started with a free social media account.

4. Personal Trainer

According to a report, the global virtual fitness market is projected to grow by 33% from 2020 to 2027, with a value of nearly 60 million dollars. Hence, it’s another great option for a home-based business. Similar to becoming an online dance coach, you can reach a wider audience this way too.

Plus, with the popularity of social media these days, beginning with marketing can be as simple as creating a new Instagram account and start building an audience. You can attract all those people who’re looking for a personal trainer but live in remote areas or have busy schedules.

Gradually, when this business starts to take off, you can hire more fitness trainers to handle multiple clients and invest in better equipment.

5. Freelance Writer

Freelance writing is another great option for a home-based business. In this case, you’ll need to write articles, blogs, e-books, or more for your clients. You don’t have to be a great writer for this. Instead, you just need a basic understanding of the English language, grammar, and the niche you want to write in.

Once that’s decided, you can create your portfolio by publishing articles on free platforms like Medium or LinkedIn and start attracting clients. Some great ways to get paid freelance work are applying to job boards, contacting recruiters on LinkedIn, networking, or simply asking your friends, family members, or local businesses in your city if they need any content for their online business.

Besides that, there are a number of blogs and courses available on freelancing that you can use to learn more about it. They will teach you the basics of freelancing, how to get your first paid client and scale your business as you go. The only tools you need to get started are a computer system, internet access, and some quiet space to work.

6. Freelance Copywriter

This business form is similar to freelance writing. However, in this case, you’ll need to write the ad copy, landing page copy, email newsletters, or social media posts, and your main purpose will be to get more sales for your clients.

As a freelance copywriter, you can charge more than what you’ll charge as a freelance writer, but it comes with a big responsibility—you’ll need to get results for your clients. Hence, it’s a good idea to first invest in a good copywriting course or get a mentor before you start offering these services.

In the beginning, you can consider writing for low-paying clients and ask them to share the results they’re getting from your writing, which you can show to new potential clients to charge top dollars.

Home-Based Low Investment Businesses

All the options that we discussed are easy to begin and require minimum investments than most other businesses. However, if you want to succeed in any of them, you’ll need to work harder.

Plus, sometimes, staying at home may be distracting and may make it difficult for you to focus on work. Hence, consider getting a separate space and scheduling a specific time when you will work on your business to separate work from your usual life.