This post is for you if you:
- want to start their own business for the first time.
- want to turn your hobby into the best small business ideas
- are looking for legitimate business ideas
- are looking for best online business ideas
Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means that if you click on them and make a purchase, I get paid a small commission at NO EXTRA COST TO YOU. You can read my full affiliate disclosure in my privacy policy.
What's Covered in This Article
Best New Small Business Ideas of 2020 (Low-Cost & Online)
Start a Profitable Blog
The three main ways to make money with an online business include selling any one of the following three things:
- Your time (e.g. as an online coach or consultant).
- Your own products (e.g. an e-book, jewelry, etc).
- Other people’s products (through affiliate links, adverts, sponsored posts, etc).
The advantage with blogging as a business is that it enables you to make money online of this online business idea doing all of the three above from one blog.
Through this EvaMtalii blog for instance, I sell my online coaching services, I sell my e-books, and also my Etsy shop.
So how do you get started?
I recommend you first sign-up with Bluehost for $2.95/month using this link, which is 63% off the regular hosting price.
Then click on this link here for all the other steps. I share with you Easy Steps to Start a Blog and Make Money in 2020.
Online Courses and Online Coaching
Thanks to the different online course platforms, there has never been a better time than now to make money online sharing your journey, your passion, or your expertise with others and get paid for it.
You can choose to either offer online coaching classes or start online coaching business. If you’re up for it, you can even start both.
And you don’t need all the money in the world to start making money with online courses.
Simply set up a Facebook page or even a YouTube channel where you can reach out to those looking for online coaching classes.
Once you’ve established your brand and have a significant audience, you can then move to any of several online platforms, such as Thinkific and Teachable, to help you get started quickly. You can register on these platforms and start coaching right away.
You can get started today with a One-Month Free Trial of the Thinkific Pro Plan with my link below.
Selling Products Online
If you can secure products that are in demand at lower prices, then you can start a business in 2020 by reselling those products using third-party platforms such as Etsy, Olx, Jumia, etc.
For this Etsy business idea to be successful, you will need to extensively research the market research and identify fast moving products and that you can also easily find at discounted prices.
A good place to start is by visiting the Etsy to identify which products are high-selling and to also gauge the latest trend.
To learn more about starting an Etsy Business in Kenya, subscribe to the EvaMtalii YouTube channel and start off by checking out this YouTube series I’ve created on the same.
I recommend Etsy as the best ecommerce platform for small business because it is easy to use as a beginner and it is one of the websites which pays you by Paypal.
Web Development
One of the ‘upsides’ of the Covid pandemic is that it brought so many small businesses online for the first time.
This is why web development is one of the highest paying skills in 2020 brought about by the increasing demand for launching new websites as well as upgrading existing ones.
Furthermore, over 4 billion of the world’s 7 billion population have internet access.
To start off, you will need a portfolio of websites to showcase to potential clients.
Develop websites for yourself, your family and your friends and showcase these as a portfolio.
Some must have skills you will need to make it as a web developer include: CSS, HTML, JavaScript, Java, etc. which you can learn either free or at reduced prices on online course platforms such as SkillShare, Treehouse, the Web Developer Bootcamp on Udemy Codecademy to name a few.
Social Media Manager
With more people and businesses having come online for the first time due to Covid’s quarantine and lockdown demands, businesses are falling over themselves trying to reach this audience through various social media channels.
Take advantage of your social media skills and make money by starting your own social media marketing business.
As a social media manager, your job will mostly entail around helping businesses grow their social media presence organically as well as by running paid advertising campaigns on Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
Visit freelancing platforms such as Fiverr, Upwork, Flexjobs, Glassdoor, CareerBuilder, etc for jobs related to social media management.
Click on photo below for steps on how to get your Upwork account approved:
WordPress Website Consultant
Another small business idea of 2020 is offering WordPress Website Consultancy business.
With more businesses and bloggers coming online, so has the need for WordPress website consultants who have skills in how to set up a WordPress blog.
Having set up a WordPress blog for your clients, you can then upsell your services and offer other services such as freelance writing, digital marketing services, etc.
If this is a business idea you would like to pursue but don’t have the skills, you can take a course on building websites on WordPress through platforms such as Skillshare, Teachable, and the like.
Buy and Sell Domain Names
Trading of domains is one of the most lucrative small business ideas of 2020 to make some extra money.
The tactic here is to research bog names with potential for demand in the future and then purchase them for cheap and wait to sell at a future date.
Freelance Content Writing
With more people and businesses coming online for the first time, freelance content writers have also increased in huge demand.
The main advantage of a freelance content writing business is that you can earn from any location in the world.
If you are interested in getting started immediately offering freelance content writing services, you can find work on any one of the following platforms:
Airbnb Host
While travel may be have been one of the most hit industries by the pandemic, it is still possible to make money as an AirBnB host.
Although it’s going to likely take some time for international travel to pick up, domestic travel will most likely pick up sooner than later.
Once different countries lift their lockdown and curfew policies, majority of the people will want to explore their local attractions having missed being outdoors.
Hotels, especially in emerging economies such as Kenya have for the longest time relied on international tourism to keep afloat. With the bans on international travel and closure of airports, they’ve been seriously hit with majority closing indefinitely.
And this is where you come in as an AirBnB host to fill in this gap.
Take advantage of unused space in your home or your unused property by listing on Airbnb to earn some extra side income.
You also have the option to upsell yourself by signing up for AirBnB Experiences.
Start earning money as an Airbnb host today.
Personal Trainer or Wellness Coach
With gymns having closed and more people staying indoors so has the increase in demand for personal fitness trainers and wellness coaches.
As a personal trainer/wellness coach you can make some extra money by helping people realize their fitness goals and dreams by designing and helping them implement a workout plan and diet/or plan.
These are services that you can provide online either by starting your own fitness blog where you share fitness tips, through online course platforms, and even various social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Create a YouTube Channel
One of the best small business ideas for 2020 is to make money online by posting videos on YouTube.
Whichever way you decide to go, the first step will be to make the videos and then monetize them.
5 Ways to Monetize Your Travel YouTube Channel Videos
With making money on YouTube, patience and consistency is the key.
As you consistently upload valuable, useful and quality videos that solve a pain point for your target audience, you will start seeing your subscriber count and watch time grow organically.
As pertains content to post on YouTube, focus on a topic at the intersection between your passion, skills, and ability to get an engaged audience.
Language Translator
If you can speak multiple languages, you can make money online with your language skills as a high-quality translator.
In general, demand and supply for your source language language and the target language as well as the nature of assignment will affect how much you earn as a translator.
The more translators there are for your language combination, the less those translators (and you) can charge per word. The scarcer your language combination is, the more you will typically earn.
A great place to finds jobs for translators include trusted websites to make money online as a translator such as: Gengo, One Hour Translation, Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr etc.
Stock Videographer/Photographer
While you’re up and about minding your business, you’re likely to encounter experiences and events that are important at both a local, national level, regional and/or international level.
So let’s say you’re a Kenyan visiting Rio during the carnival and get an opportunity to capture some images and video footage of the elaborate parades, in the city’s Sambadrome.
Instead of using your photos and videos just to gain a couple extra Instagram “likes,” consider selling them to your local daily newspaper such as Business Daily Africa’s lifestyle section, and on stock photography sites such as Pexels, Unsplash Foap, Shutterstock, iStock, Adobe Stock etc.
Stock images and video footage of black people or people of color doing ordinary stuff like working on a laptop, taking a coffee, multi tasking, etc., for instance are very rare to find on sock photography sites.
If you own a DSLR and have decent photo editing skills, then you can easily start with images targeting this niche and make money selling your images and video footage to the stock photo websites who pay every time someone uses your image or footage.
Interior Design
An easy small business idea for 2020 is interior design.
With more people having stayed home for extended periods and for the first in their lives, they’ve become more aware about how their homes look and would definitely like to make it more tasteful.
To start off your interior design business, you’ll need to have a portfolio of before and after makeover apartments/rooms to show offer.
Starting with your own space and that of your family and friends, shoot the before and after makeover videos, post them on YouTube along with tips on how to pull similar moves, and build an audience.
If you’re not an experienced interior designer, leverage Pinterest for inspiration.
Before you know it, your audience will be asking for your services.
Which of these small business ideas for 2020 are you excited to try? Share with us in the comments below.
Small Business Ideas 2020 Frequently Asked Questions
What business can I start with no money without any startup capital?
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What are the best startup ideas after covid?
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What business can I do from home?
How can I earn money fast?
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