Starting a business is generally a leap of faith as there is no guarantee that customers or clients will come for your goods or services but, again, it is a step worth taking. After all, no one is born with business acumen, most of the things are learnt on the go.
The absence of capital should never stop you from dreaming, there are so many businesses that can be started with practically no money.
And the following online businesses ideas can be your best bet:
Social media management
Many companies get overwhelmed by the amount of work required to keep their social media pages active and if you have some experience in running social media pages, you can approach such firms and have a deal.
Some tasks of a social media manager include posting regularly, increasing the number of page followers, engaging with users, etc.
You can find clients by simply reaching out to various companies to see if they would be interested in your services.
Ghost-writing
A ghostwriter is a person who is hired to write a book, speech, article, song and many other forms of written content on behalf of a company or another person who takes credit as the author.
Ghost-writing is a fantastic business opportunity for people who are good with words. A short book that would take about 6 weeks to write can earn you up to around Sh1,000,000.
Data entry
Data entry is another fantastic business opportunity you can start with no capital whatsoever.
You can find work by either reaching out to small businesses to pitch your services or by advertising on online freelancing platforms.
Tax preparation and bookkeeping
If you’re good with numbers, you can offer your services to small businesses as a tax preparer or a bookkeeper.
The great thing about such a business is that clients will be paying you on an ongoing basis, it’s not a one-off service (particularly bookkeeping).
Editing, proofreading and beta reading
If you are great at catching typos and grammatical errors, editing or proofreading other people’s work can be a great side hustle for you.
Similar to editors, beta readers are people whose job is to read and critique other people’s unpublished writings. Fiction writers use them a lot before publishing new books.
A great place to find work as an editor, proofreader or beta reader is on freelancing platforms like Upwork, Guru and Freelancer.
Virtual assistance
Virtual assistants are self-employed people who provide technical and administrative assistance to busy individuals through the internet.
It is such an in-demand service, and the advantage is that you get to decide who to work with and how much to charge for your time.
Some common virtual assistant tasks include bookkeeping, editing reports, data entry, responding to emails, etc. You can find clients on freelancing platforms.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the most common ways to make money online. You simply refer customers to the affiliate companies, and they send you a check for the referral.
The earning potential is limitless as you keep getting paid as long as you keep referring customers. Some high paying affiliate programs include Bluehost, Shopify and ClickFunnels – some paying as high as $100 per referral.
