Has there ever been a better time to explore starting an online business? We don’t think so.
But it’s not just us, according to a LinkedIn survey earlier this year, 58% of workers in the US are currently looking to bring in a side income.
While there are plenty of side hustles out there like ride sharing, food delivery, Airbnb’ing, etc., we want to focus on helping you find profitable online business ideas you can start and manage from the comforts of your home. These are also great online business ideas for beginners to start making money and tackle their first endeavor into the world of digital entrepreneurship.
We’ll lay out various online businesses ideas in this post as well as how to get started with them, but it’s important to understand all of these come with their own set of challenges. Despite what you see on TikTok, starting an online business that generates real, sustainable income is hard work. While these ideas themselves are can be easy ways to make money online, they do require some dedication and upfront effort.
So, if you are open to putting in the up-front work to start making money online and become a digital entrepreneur, here’s a list of 16 easy online business ideas any beginner start today.
1. Launch a Blog
We had to start with this as our first online business idea. Because we did it, so honestly, it can’t be that hard. If you can create compelling content and build an audience, there are plenty of opportunities to monetize your blog through sponsored content, third-party advertising, selling products or making exclusive paid membership content.
2. Sell Art Online
Artists no longer have to get featured in a museum or local coffee shop to sell their work. If you’re a photographer or painter (or aspire to be one) there are plenty of ways to turn your work into revenue online by selling digital downloads or canvases through marketplaces like Etsy.
3. Launch a Clothing Line
This is perhaps one of the most popular online business ventures for first time digital entrepreneurs. With design tools like Canva, print-on-demand services like Printify, and online storefronts like Shopify and Etsy, launching a clothing brand in 2023 is a great option for anyone looking to sell products online with limited start up capital and risk.
4. Become a Freelancer (writer, designer, developer, etc)
The fourth of our online business ideas isn’t ideal if you are looking for truly passive income, but it is a great option for those looking to work on their own time and wherever they want. Freelancing is perfect for offering up your expertise in writing, designing or developing. Brands and companies are actively looking for people with these unique skillsets on platforms like Fiverr and Upwork and willing to pay top dollar.
5. Sell Online Courses
Another one of the more popular online business ideas these days is selling online courses. This is a low-investment way to generate truly passive income. Just pick a topic you are confident in and believe you could educate others on and use a screencasting app like Screenflow to record a tutorial.
6. Start a Dropshipping Business
Certainly not one of the most unique online business ideas from the list. Dropshipping has been around for quite a while, and is a great way to get in and test your ecommerce skills. It requires no inventory up front, so you don’t need a ton of cash to get started. You just need to find a supplier with a product you want to sell, set up your online store and market the product. Once you sell an item, the supplier takes care of packaging and shipping.
7. Social Media Influencer
No, you don’t need to be one of those cringe influencers dancing in the middle of a Costco to make money with the 7th of our online business ideas. All you need is to find a solid niche and build an audience of interested folks. Once you’ve built up your audience to a respectable amount and have a brand, you can start engaging with potential partners offering sponsored content.
8. Podcasting
The podcasting route is quite similar to the blogging route, except you know, you are speaking your words into a microphone instead of typing them on a keyboard. But with the rise in popularity of podcasts, launching your own is another great way to get your content out into the world, build an audience, and generate revenue through sponsors and advertisers.
9. Build Websites for Niche Business
Ten or twenty years ago, this may have seemed impossible for anyone without CSS or HTML experience, but now, the only thing preventing you from making money building websites for other businesses is a minor learning curve. With platforms like Elementor, Shopify, SquareSpace and countless others, it’s become easier to build custom websites without knowing how to code. The best part? Companies are still paying for others to do it for them!
10. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing where a business rewards affiliates for each customer brought about by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts. Simply put, affiliate marketing is a way for website owners to earn a commission by promoting other people’s products. This is another top online business ideas we highly recommend exploring. You can actually learn more by reading our Affiliate Marketing 101 post here.
11. Manage Social Media Accounts
If you have a knack for effectively engaging and growing social media accounts, this may be the more intriguing online business ideas for you to pursue since you could be getting paid to do this for other brands. Companies will pay for experts to manage their social presence online, develop social media strategy, manage campaigns and other social media tasks.
12. Invest in Real Estate
This one can be a bit intimidating at first because you will need some startup capital, but there are plenty of resources available now to help get started if this is the path you want to take. When done correctly, the cashflow you can bring in from real estate can be life changing, allowing you to continue to reinvest in other properties and build a portfolio.
13. Sell Products on Marketplaces
One of the more seasoned online business ideas on our list is selling products on marketplaces. There are plenty of marketplaces available for selling all types of products, and they all have built-in audiences. Platforms like eBay, Etsy, Facebook Marketplace all make it very easy to list a product and conduct a revenue generating activity. You’ll need to be strategic about your listings and finding the right products to sale, but this is a low effort way of launching an online business to pre-established traffic.
14. Paid Ad Consultant
Next time you’re on Facebook or Instagram, pay attention to just how many paid ads you see. If you’re scrolling your feed from your phone, you’ll probably notice that every fourth post is a paid ad. That means there is tons of money being spent on paid advertising, and many companies hire consultants to manage those ads for them, making this one of the more extremely lucrative online business ideas. Obviously you’ll need to be savvy with PPC and ad strategies because your clients will want to see results, but once you’ve developed those skills this is certainly a great way for generating income online.
15. Build a Membership Community
Building a membership community online means creating a platform where people can access exclusive content, tools, resources, and/or support in exchange for a recurring fee. This type of online business model can be an effective way to make money because it provides a consistent and reliable source of income.
16. Flip Thrifted Products
If you love hitting up your local rummage sales and thrift stores, then this may be a great online business idea for you. You can take advantage of the fact that people love shopping from the comforts of their own homes, so they will pay a premium for the unique and cool items you find in secondhand shops. Start selling your unique finds on marketplaces like eBay and Facebook Marketplace.
So, if you’ve been thinking about starting an online business, there is no better time to do it than now. Hopefully our list of online business ideas laid out above are just a jumping off point to help kickstart your money making online business and Dripify your finances.
