Best Online Business Ideas

Why You Should Start an Online Business

The rise of technology and accessibility to the internet has caused online businesses to grow exponentially over the last decade.

As of January 2021, the internet’s population consists of 4.66 billion users.

Because of this, the barrier of entry to creating an online business has become considerably lower.

With such a wealth of options, you may have questions about the viability and requirements to run an online business successfully.

Are Businesses Easy to Set Up?

Despite the lower barrier of entry, creating an online business requires a considerable amount of initial work.

Some online businesses are easier to start than others, and most require little-to-no starting capital.

Can You Make Money?

Yes. It is entirely possible to make money from an online business. There are numerous ways to monetize your online platforms.

Who Should Start an Online Business?

Anyone can start an online business as long as they have the necessary knowledge and tools. Avenues exist for everyone.

What’s the Difference Between an Online and Physical Business?

The main distinction between the two is access to traffic:

Online businesses have superior customer reach to physical businesses since customers don’t physically visit a web platform.

Best Online Business Ideas 2024

1. Creating a Niche Website

Many platforms allow people with little coding knowledge to design and create their monetizable websites.

Popular niches include:

• Sports gear blogs
• Entertainment blogs
• Online pet stores
• Traveling blogs/vlogs

How to Start

• Conduct thorough research on your niche
• Use a web-building platform to design your website
• Create your content
• Use SEO to improve your site’s performance
• Join affiliate programs
• Regularly publish content to increase engagement

Why Niche Websites?

Along with growing a platform, creating a niche website also allows you to earn passive income.

2. Blogging

Blogging revolves around creating consistent written content around a niche theme.

With a growing audience, bloggers can join affiliate programs to promote related products and services.

Popular Blogging Ideas

• Lifestyle
• Personal finance
• Pets and animals
• Career advice
• Makeup
• Fashion design
• Photography
• Film and TV reviews

How to Start

• Identify the theme of your blog
• Choose your blogging platform
• Write and post your first blog
• Promote your blog through social media
• Continue to blog consistently to build a following

Why Blogging?

Blogging provides opportunities to invest in a creative endeavor with the potential to build an audience and make passive income.

3. Digital Products

Digital products are items that are sold without handling any physical products or purchasing any material.

These products include:

• Digital images
• Photographs
• CV templates
• Ebooks
• Educational PDFs

How to Start

• Research the demand for a digital product
• Create your digital product
• Choose your preferred pricing
• Publish the product on online platforms.
• Promote your product on online platforms

Why Digital Products?

With digital products, you can sell items without the constraints of storage.

Furthermore, with little-to-no production costs, profit margins are often high.

You can even automate your trading process, creating a venue for passive income.

4. Print-on-Demand

With print-on-demand, an individual can create a design on an item of clothing or kitchenware to have them printed and sold.

Types of Products

• T-shirts
• Coffee mugs
• Key chains
• Office utensils
• Rugs

Themes

• Sports
• Memes
• Poetry
• Inspiration
• Personal brands

How to Start

• Decide on a niche
• Search Google for trends and activity on that niche
• Choose which products you would like to sell
• Create the design for the products
• Advertise the products on your available channels

Why Print-on-Demand?

This industry offers the unique ability to sell customized products without ever handling or storing them.

5. eCommerce

eCommerce is the activity of purchasing and selling products or services over the internet.

Examples of eCommerce Businesses

• Dropshipping
• Subscription content
• Wholesaling
• Freemium software
• White labeling

How to Start

• Decide on a product or service to provide
• Research and evaluate the demand for the product or service
• Study your potential competition
• Choose your preferred platform
• Create a business plan
• Promote your business on different platforms

Why eCommerce?

Unlike brick-and-mortar stores, eCommerce businesses don’t require you to pay overheads or keep physical stock.

As well as larger customer outreach, you also have complete control over your working hours.

6. Subscription Boxes

Subscription boxes are niche-based products packaged and delivered to subscribers over a regular period.

Examples of Subscription Boxes

• TV series related action figures
• Vegan snacks
• Exotic condiments
• Drawings and posters

How to Start

• Choose a niche
• Choose a subscription box model (discovery or convenience)
• Create an online platform
• Create a business operating model that works for your subscription box theme
• Promote your brand

Why Subscription Boxes?

Subscription boxes provide you with the opportunity to create a growing audience and recurring revenue from your interests.

Since the subscription model works on a monthly basis, it provides an avenue of consistent and steady income.

7. Amazon FBA

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) provides the opportunity to sell products on Amazon without worrying about storage or shipping requirements.

Business Models Supported by Amazon

• Private labeling
• Wholesaling
• Arbitrage
• Dropshipping
• Handmade products

How to Start

• Research and decide products you would like to sell
• Create a business model
• Set up an Amazon merchant account
• Create your online store
• Advertise your products on other online platforms

Why Amazon FBA

Amazon FBA is one of the most lucrative and accessible online businesses to start and run from little-to-no cost.

8. Course Creation

If you have extensive knowledge of a particular subject or hobby, you can create specialized courses around your expertise.

Platforms designed to support online course creation include the following:

• Udemy
• Skillshare
• Teachable
• Podia
• Thinkific

How to Start

• Research and observe the demand for your expertise
• Research which platform best suits your style of teaching
• Create a list of learning outcomes to advertise with your course
• Create a structure for your course.
• Decide on a price model
• Film and upload your course

Why Course Creation?

The online education industry is said to reach up to £267 billion by 2026.

This trend indicates that the opportunity to start online courses remains readily available for the foreseeable future.

9. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is an advertising model where individuals receive commissions from companies for promoting a product or service.

Types of Affiliate Marketing

• Unattached affiliate marketing (affiliates that have no attachment to the product)
• Affiliates clearly have a relationship with the product
• Affiliates claimed to have used the product before

How to Start

• Choose a platform to post your content
• Create your content
• Use SEO to optimize your platform
• Apply for an affiliate program
• Promote the product on your platform

Why Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a low-cost advertising model for both the company and the affiliate.

It takes no capital to become an affiliate and only requires that you build your audience.

10. Web and App Development

Web and App development is the process of designing and building applications for various clients.

Types of Web and App Developers

• Front-End Developers
• Back-End Developers
• Full-Stack Developers

Examples of Web and Apps

• Unique blogging websites
• Browser-based gaming websites
• Productivity applications
• Gaming applications

How to Start

• Choose a development focus
• Use online courses to learn programming languages
• Practice making websites or applications
• Add designs to your portfolio
• Find clients on developer platforms

Why Web and App Development?

Website and application development is one of the most in-demand jobs on the market and will only rise in the foreseeable future.

11. Freelancing

Freelancers are self-employed individuals who provide a product or service to numerous clients.

Examples of Freelance Work

• Graphic design
• Writing and editing
• Computer programming
• Fashion design
• Jewelry trading
• Photography
• Web and app development
• Search Engine Optimization
• Accounting

How to Start

• Choose a craft that you are interested in or good at
• Search platforms where you can provide your services
• Build a portfolio
• Reach out to clients and build a reputation

Why Freelancing?

Once you’ve developed sufficient time management skills, absolute control over your time becomes the most rewarding aspect of freelancing.

12. Consultancy

Consultants are required to provide clients with information, solve problems and help the client’s business operate effectively.

Examples of Consultancy Businesses

• Social media consultant
• Financial consultant
• Digital marketing consultant
• Fitness and well-being consultant

How to Start

• Create a platform that showcases your expertise
• Advertise your services on relevant platforms
• Reach out to potential clients through email
• Build a reputation among your clients

Why Consultancy?

Becoming a consultant allows you to provide value to clients already willing to pay for your service.

You also gain the opportunity to build a reputation in a field of your passion.

13. Podcasting

This form of media allows individuals to broadcast long-form or short-form audio recordings consisting of conversations or monologues.

Examples of Podcasts

• General history
• Physical health
• Mental health
• Botany
• Biology
• Philosophy
• Self-development
• Lifestyle and motivation

How to Start

• Decide on podcast theme
• Consider the format of your podcast (how long will it be? Will there be more than one person?)
• Purchase necessary equipment
• Choose preferred podcasting platform]

Why Podcasting?

Podcasting allows you to explore and talk about topics you enjoy with potential audience growth and regular income.

14. Vlogging

Vloggers create short videos to post on platforms (generally social media) for a particular audience.

Essentially, it is blogging in video form.

Types of Vlogs

• Lifestyle vlogs
• Informational vlogs
• Musical performances
• Street talent vlogs

How to Start

• Decide on your vlogging content
• Purchase a video recording device
• Buy an editing software
• Create and upload your vlogs to your preferred platform

Why Vlogging?

Vlogging is one of the best ways to build engagement towards an existing platform.

There is little to no cost to start; you simply need a video recording device and an internet connection.

15. Website Flipping

Some entrepreneurs will invest in a website to improve it and sell it at a higher price. This process is called web flipping.

Channels for Website Flipping

• Brokerage firms – Private platforms that connect buyers to sellers
• Closed groups and markets – Platforms including Investors Club, Empire Flippers and certain Facebook groups
• Public marketplace sites – Sites like Flippa

How to Start

• Research profitable niches
• Build or buy a website
• Evaluate the site’s growth potential
• Create a strategy to generate traffic
• Optimize the website for monetization

Why Web Flipping?

Once you invest in a website, you will have obtained a digital asset to develop over time and create substantial profit.

Final Thoughts

As technology grows, it has become more accessible for the average person to start their own online business.

There are now more tools than ever to aid people with little tech experience in creating platforms for their business.

With so much access to software, online platforms and a growing internet population, now is the best time to take the opportunity to start a business of your own.