Generally, the idea of starting a business is really exciting for most entrepreneurs.
However, even as many ideas require time, money, and risk, there are actually many ways to start a business that lets you focus less on the logistics and upfront costs and more on getting started.
Currently, due to the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the country and people limiting social contact, online purchases have risen.
According to the latest report dubbed COVID-19 CEMEA Impact Tracker by Visa on commerce for consumers and small merchants in Kenya, there will be 88 percent growth in contactless business transactions post-COVID-19.
Already there is an increase of first-time online buyers in various sectors with grocery reporting 39 percent new consumers while new purchasers of pharmaceutical products stand at 43 percent.
With these rising online purchases in the country during and post coronavirus pandemic, these low-investment small-business opportunities can make a great entry point for you as a beginner or even anyone with a busy schedule as a side hustle without having to drop everything else.
Creating an online boutique
Flat lay of woman clothing and accessories in pastel colors. Modern classic style concept
This calls for your love for fashion and being ready to share your sense of style online.
In this, you will have to come up with your own online fashion boutique.
Interestingly enough, you do not need to become a fashion designer either but you can simply curate items from other vendors into your own online store.
These items could include shoes, dresses, accessories, swimwear, and more which you can use to build your own fashion brand using one of the several product sourcing apps that you can find online.
You can then model them in your own product photos and create social media posts to enable you to build an online following and become a trendsetter.
This will further enable you to source and sell the products to your various followers or even an affiliate marketer with several brands.
Building a great online audience that you can monetize
Vlogger streaming a live video live
Great marketers have predicted that going forward, online influencers are going to be one great means through which brands are going to market their products.
There are already such influencers earning good money and maybe you are wondering how to become one.
No capital. You just need to have the skills and the ability to capture and keep the attention of others and turn it to an asset. Yes, many businesses today are willing to pay for this and you will be able to convert it into a business with multiple revenue streams.
You can decide to grow your following on Instagram, YouTube, or a blog or even a combination of different channels and you will have many avenues for monetizing your audience spanning from sponsored posts on behalf of brands to becoming an affiliate marketer selling physical or digital products.
Creating digital products or courses
This is another unique idea in this line of business as you will not incur manufacturing or shipping costs hence your profit margins will always remain high.
Here, you can engage in digital products such as music, courses, and templates by figuring out what makes a good digital product which is useful enough that people are willing to pay to download.
The templates should be of help to people keen to level up their skills in a particular field while the music and photos should be original to allow licensing to other creators.
In fact, if you have a talent that can easily be made into a digital product or content, you can start thinking about packaging it into a new stream of income.
Becoming a drop shipper
This is one of the cheapest and quickest businesses to get up and running as you do not have to handle any product but just to make the sales and pass orders on to your supplier.
It is actually is an easy business to start as it is where a third-party supplier stores and ships inventory to customers on your behalf hence it is scalable, hands-off and low overhead.
You can curate products from your multiple suppliers into your own online store and when a customer buys a product from you, the order is sent to your supplier, who then fulfills it on your behalf.
The store can, for example, be named water bowls for dog owners or gear for yoga enthusiasts because you will still need to market the products and up your consumer relations.
Today, there are both local and overseas suppliers you can start working with and build your trust on.
You can start by ordering your own product and gauge the reliability of the supplier and test how the product sells before fully engaging in the business.
