15 Best Business Ideas You Can Start 2022 -

Coastal Times/Business

In 2022, these are 15 of the best business ideas you can start. Make Money (on the Side) and Increase Your Income This Year with These Side Business Ideas

Let’s discuss about some business concepts. Finding the ideal side business ideas and eventually being self-employed is even more meaningful than amazing compensation and good benefits, no matter how rewarding your full-time job is.

Choosing the route of entrepreneurship and working on outstanding business ideas is unquestionably riskier than sticking to a 9-to-5 job. It necessitates greater sacrifice.

The hard work will be worth it once you’re reaping the lifestyle benefits of being your own boss and hustling your way into making substantially more money with your company ideas than you could at your day job. So, have a look at the most important business ideas for 2022.

And, as you undoubtedly already know, starting a blog is one of the cheapest (and most attainable) business ideas you can start working on right now.

“How can I determine which company ideas are best for me?” is the question I’m asked the most (by far) when I chat with other entrepreneurs. “How do I get started on this side business idea while I’m still working my full-time job?” is invariably followed by, “How do I start on this side business idea while I’m still working my full-time job?”

This is quite reasonable. With so many company ideas out there, it might be difficult to figure out which side business concept is right for you.

With that in mind, I put up this thorough list of the 15 Best Side Business Ideas You Can Start While Working a Full-Time Job to inspire you with tried-and-true ideas that you can implement while keeping your day job—and primary source of income—in place.

In 2022, here are 15 of the best side business ideas to start (While Working a Full-Time Job)

Let’s get started.

1. Start a Blog

This is one of the most cost-effective business ideas you can implement right now.

Do you believe that blogging is no longer a viable source of revenue? Reconsider your position. According to recent blogging statistics, tens of thousands of bloggers (including me) are making money from areas as diverse as scrapbooking, home cuisine, travel, film, lifestyle, business, personal finance, and more. What’s the best part? Blogging is inexpensive—approximately $65 per year. And, because to a combination of email subscribers, affiliate marketing, blog sponsorships, and other revenue streams, more people are turning their blogs into six-figure enterprises. The first step in beginning a blog is to get the technical side of things under control (my free master course on blogging will show you how), and then to figure out what your target audience wants and how to attract them online.

If you want to speed up the process of launching your blog, I recommend setting up quick, affordable, and easy website hosting with a company like Bluehost or one of the other best web hosting plans for bloggers, working through the process of creating a blog business plan and choosing a simple WordPress theme, and working on your first post—in order to set the precedent of prioritizing content creation, connecting with (and building) your target audience. You’ll also need to use the correct blogging tools to help you expand your site.

Once you’ve established your blog and begun to build a community around it, you’ll want to invest time in getting to know your readers so you can give them more of what they want.

I know firsthand how difficult it may be to learn how to create a blog (much alone make money with one).

So I created a free master course for you to take that breaks down all of the labor that goes into beginning a blog into a series of action-packed sessions. My free course breaks down the entire process of beginning a blog into a 7-day method that takes you from nothing to generating unique blog post ideas, writing a blog post, optimizing, and promoting your blog content in just 7 days.

And if you want a step-by-step guide to getting your blog up and running right now, check out my Ultimate Guide to Starting a Blog. There, you’ll learn how to create a smart blog strategy, set the right blogging goals, and then browse my list of the best blogging courses to take your knowledge to the next level.

2. Graphics Design

This is a fantastic business concept for creative people.

While having a formal experience in graphic design would undoubtedly be beneficial, learning the fundamentals of graphic design on your own is also rather simple. Adobe Illustrator is becoming increasingly user-friendly, and tools like Stencil and Visme are making it possible for anyone with two opposable thumbs, a little creativity, and a little motivation to earn a side income by designing (and selling) images like these motivational quotes that can be printed onto posters and sold on platforms like Etsy. You may also look for a local startup, small company owner, or photographer who could use some extra help with picture design or editing.

But before you can graduate from side business ideas to earning a full-time living as a graphic designer, you’ll need to improve your skills. I recommend starting with the foundational book Graphic Design School and Austin Kleon’s incredible book Steal Like an Artist, which teaches you how to become more creative. Check out the online courses Graphic Design Fundamentals and The Graphic Design Bootcamp to help you get started as a graphic designer even faster. After that, if you’ve mastered your craft, you can continue your schooling and move up to providing more hands-on experiences, such as design sprints, to higher-value clients all around the world.

3. Web Development

The majority of people in this industry begin by learning to code.

You’ll learn tremendously useful abilities as a web developer, which are in high demand. With inexpensive or free online education programs like Treehouse, Udemy’s Web Developer Bootcamp, and CodeAcademy, you can learn how to develop websites in as little as a few months.

If you don’t find what you’re searching for there, here’s a list of the 45 finest free coding resources. You can start freelancing as a side business idea to create your portfolio and pitch clients on building a new blog layout for them all while keeping your full-time work if you know HTML, Ruby, Python, Javascript, or CSS. Also, check out my audio interview with Laurence Bradford, who talks about her road to becoming a freelance web developer. And, over time, you’ll develop more relationships, gain more experience, and finally be able to turn these company ideas into a full-time source of revenue.

4. Web Design

This company concept is the ideal mix of creative and analytical thinking.

For technology organizations, web designers are extremely valuable, which is why becoming a freelance web designer is a popular side business idea nowadays. Mastering the art of creating a beautiful, value-driven experience for individuals who use a website or app is what web design is all about. There are constantly new websites in need of professional web design, and basic publications like HTML & CSS: A Beginner’s Guide can help. The books Design and Build Websites by famed web designer Jon Duckett and Don’t Make Me Think by user experience expert Steve Krug can get you started on the right track to assessing whether or not becoming a web designer is a suitable side business option for you.

Then you can move on to more practical online courses like Modern Web Design on CreativeLive and Learn Web Design and Profitable Freelancing on Udemy, which will teach you everything you need to know about web design from the ground up to earning your first freelance income as a web designer. Plus, with platforms like Treehouse and General Assembly, you can take even more immersive courses and learning experiences with direct instructor feedback and personal mentorship to get up-to-speed even faster with this career path, and listen to my podcast interview with Ian Paget about how to become a freelance designer as a side business idea.

5. Online Courses

One of the simplest internet business concepts is to educate from your area of expertise.

With all of the best side business ideas, monetizing your expertise is a constant theme. If you’re an expert at something, there’s a sizable online audience of individuals who would pay to become experts in your industry, just like you. Start with How to Create an Awesome Online Course on Udemy to learn how to turn your skills into an online course that teaches others how to achieve the same results you have in your life, career, or business. Instructor Miguel Hernandez covers how he earns over $90,000 per year teaching online. More than 8 hours of video education will be available to you.

Join my free online course Uncover a Profitable Business Concept today if you want to find a profitable online course idea in the next three days. It’ll take you step by step through the method I used to sell over $15,000 in online courses in only one week. When you’re ready to start teaching your own online course, I recommend Teachable, which is the simplest and most cost-effective platform for designing, hosting, and selling online courses. They also have a wealth of free educational resources on how to start developing an online course (yes, even as one of our top side business ideas).

6. eBooks

Selling eBooks can be a very rewarding internet business if you enjoy writing.
As a side hustle, you may sell eBooks online (Tutorial)

If you learn how to locate your target audience, you can package your skills and knowledge into a downloadable eBook (like I’ve done with my greatest blogging books) that provides value to folks looking to master a skill, develop in their careers, or establish their own enterprises (which is why it makes for such sustainable business ideas for many authors). A CreativeLive session I did with Tara Gentile will also show you how to use your existing body of work to learn how to produce an eBook in the next week (even if you start with something as simple as a blog post).

7. Instagram Promotion

Marketers are in high demand and make good consultants.

As you grow your Instagram following, you may be approached by large brands, gear companies, and other relevant businesses that provide items or services linked to the type of material you share on Instagram, resulting in a slew of potential side business ideas. You can easily charge anywhere from $500 to $5,000 each article (or more) if you have the correct marketing skills and hundreds of thousands of followers, which makes for very successful side business ideas. Once you’ve gained some traction, you can make the entire workflow more effective by uploading photos from your Mac or PC.

8. Online Coaching

Do you have a skill that others would like to learn? This home-based business opportunity could be ideal.

If you have a skill and a strong love for something, one of the most trustworthy side business ideas that leverages your skills is delivering one-on-one online coaching. Just make sure to set up your own opportunity management system so you don’t end up working with clients that can’t be helped in any way. If you’ll be charging by the hour for your coaching services, make sure to keep track of your billable hours while also managing your client projects with a thorough time tracking application like Teamwork. Elmira Strange will walk you through the process.

This side business idea is all about developing a community around the aid you’re delivering and fostering trust with members, in addition to the skill and experience requirements for being a great online coach. In addition, your community members will benefit from each other’s experiences. Putting up a secret Facebook group or using a community-building tool like Slack that allows you to use your own custom URL, have internal forums, tweak designs, and more may be as simple as setting up a private Facebook group.

9. Podcasting

If you enjoy studying, chatting, and telling stories, this is the right business for you.

This is a terrific approach to attract sponsors and support this side business idea if you can start a podcast and build a regular audience for it around a specific topic. My podcast, The Side Hustle Project, is one of my current side business ideas, and because I already had a following on my blog when I started the show, I was able to secure a $5,000 sponsorship from Freshbooks to run commercials on the first 10 episodes before I ever started. Side note: Here are my recommendations for the top podcast hosting sites for getting your show up and running right now.

When I worked at CreativeLive, I used to pay $250-$500 every episode (or even more depending on audience size) for 90 seconds of commercials on relevant podcasts like The Tim Ferriss Show, the most popular business podcast at the time, hosted by Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek. Tim’s latest New York Times bestseller, Tools of Titans, was launched with the help of the podcast.

Naturally, having an online audience to tap for listening to your regular podcast (like I did) helps, but that hasn’t stopped thousands of people from turning profitable side business ideas into podcasts, including Alex Blumberg, the founder of Gimlet Media, who teaches how to use storytelling and launch a podcast.

10. Reselling on Amazon

This company concept is for you if you can spot smart product potential.

Anyone can sell goods on Amazon if they have anything to sell (or buy low, then resell). If you’re the kind to go to all of the local garage sales every weekend, there are a plethora of valuable items that can be resold online as extremely profitable side business ideas. If you want to improve your Amazon selling skills, read this in-depth article about Amazon and eBay retail arbitrage, which includes an interview with several successful drop-shippers who have turned their home-based business idea into a profitable moneymaker. You’ll be well on your way if you can figure out how to write a title that will entice readers to read your blog entries.

11. Local Business Consulting

Providing assistance to other local small company owners can be a successful venture.

Consider giving your consulting services to local business owners as a potentially lucrative side business idea if you’ve gained relevant skill sets or certifications within your sector over the years. If you can compose an effective cold email that convinces them to hire you, whether you’re an experienced marketer, business strategist, or manufacturing connoisseur, there’s surely a local business owner who’s prepared to pay you to help them solve a problem with their firm. Start with Karyn Greenstreet’s 18-step checklist for starting a side company as a local business consultant.

12. Business Phone Case

Cell phone accessories are still a very profitable business concept.

Mobile phone accessories are becoming increasingly popular, and many handcrafted sellers are earning six and even seven figures from their phone case businesses. With turnkey solutions from Case Escape, my previous firm, you can have your own phone case business up and running in a matter of days as a side business idea, and you can now acquire ready-to-go kits that will give you everything you need to start a phone case business. You can sell cases on Etsy and Amazon Handmade after you’re up and running. We made a lot of money during our first year of selling phone cases on Etsy as one of our side business ideas.

13. Commission-Only Sales

This is a wonderful side business idea to attempt if you have an aptitude for sales.

A commission-based freelance sales career could be a terrific side business idea for you if you have a flair for connecting with people and are ready to take some risks. Many companies, especially when they’re just getting started, look for part-time and commission-only salespeople, which means you can often turn this into a home-based business. Develop your sales tactics, become an inside sales person, and perfect your cold calling abilities on the side in your spare time for no pay, negotiate a small stock stake, and you might earn handsomely if you’re pitching a great product and the firm succeeds. Begin selling now.

Then you can progress to further in-depth sales training with online courses like Udemy’s Sales Training and Prospecting and CreativeLive’s The Guide to Pitching and Selling Clients. When you’re ready to put your selling abilities to the test, go to Angel List and see what sales positions are available that match your interests—the last thing you want to do is end up selling items or services you don’t care about. However, starting your sales career as a side business idea allows you the opportunity to shift directions quickly if necessary.

14. Affiliate Marketing

Starting an affiliate business can provide passive income in the same way that blogging can.

Affiliate marketing (and joining the correct affiliate programs) is a terrific method to create passive money from the material you’re currently providing as an easy side business idea if you already have a website with targeted traffic.

ShareASale, Rakuten, Clickbank, and Skimlinks are just a few of the greatest affiliate networks and tools that may help you monetize the material you already create, boosting your side business idea income. To gain some ideas on how you can expand a site from affiliate marketing, check out how I went from starting a blog to now generating money blogging (often more than $50,000/mo).

15. Virtual Assistant

Technology Detail-oriented problem solvers are the type of people who flourish in this field.

Do you have an uncanny ability to keep organized? Working as a virtual assistant as a side business idea is ideal if you’re a jack of all crafts. Flexjobs, Indeed, and Upwork are all good places to look for work. It may be a fantastic opportunity to network with influential people, expand your professional network, learn in-demand new skills (such as blogging, generating GIFs, and VR films), and grow your side business ideas, with the added benefit of being able to start this as a home-based business. If you want to travel the world while earning money online, becoming a virtual assistant is a terrific side business idea.

Consider these choices if you’re looking to come up with a strategy to fund your new business idea:

Start small, on a modest budget, and if possible, self-fund your business (lowest cost and you retain full ownership)

Find a strategic business partner who is willing to take a financial position and share ownership in the company by co-funding it with you.

To receive your initial money, consider an SBA (Small Company Administration)-backed small business loan.

Pitch your idea to an angel investor who specializes in your industry (if your business needs substantial funding) Consider your possibilities for funding your early growth with credit cards (assuming your interest rates aren’t too expensive).

At the end of the day, I’m a firm believer in working really hard and making financial sacrifices in order to bring your business to life without going into debt or giving up a portion of your ownership. If that means developing your firm a little slower than you would otherwise, I’d argue that it’s a worthwhile cause in most cases—to keep ownership and reduce financial risk.