Whether you’re a first-time entrepreneur, student, stay-at-home parent, or working with a limited budget, there are plenty of home business ideas that will put you on track to working for yourself. Starting is a business is already a challenge in and of itself, but with a home business, you can make get started with one of our bargain business plans and launch your business from the comfort of your own home. A home business offers the flexibility to use your home as an office and build your company from the ground up without any need to rent a space for operations. Whether you’re a student, a stay-at-home parent, or simply prefer to work alone in a comfortable environment, setting up a home business offers many benefits. To get you started, here are 5 home business ideas that you can start exploring today:

Freelance Writing

Writing is a great skill to have because it’s needed somewhere in every industry. If there’s an area you have expertise in, such as fashion or technology, maintaining a blog on that subject allows you to have a personal portfolio to show off your work and start earning paid projects. The good news is that you don’t have to start off entirely on your own, there are plenty of freelance writing websites where you can find paid work, such as UpWork, that you can use to build a client base before going off on your own.

Personal/Virtual Assistant

Are you an organizational guru? Do you have incredible time management skills, a knack for planning, and a talent for mulitasking? Put your skills to good use as a virtual assistant. Maintaining calendars, booking travel, email correspondence and more, can all be done remotely – all you need is a computer. If you’ve already worked successfully as an assistant, your previous references will do wonders for getting your business off the ground. If you need to develop a clientele before starting your business, UpWork is again a useful option for getting your feet wet.  

Arts & Crafts Maker

Thanks to the likes of Etsy, arts and crafts makers are already making a profit from their original creations. If you have a passion for making things, and it could be anything ranging from jewelry to a birdhouses to wine boxes, you have something to sell. Start advertising the things you’ve made on a personal website or join the many talented artists and crafts makers on Etsy to get started. For more resources, this website has 17 ways to crafts from home.

Baking & Personal Chef Services

Everyone needs to eat, but not everyone has the time or skills to cook for themselves. These days, people are turning to sites like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh for their meal prep solutions. If you can prepare weekly meals for an individual or a family, then you’ve got yourself the perfect home business with your kitchen as the office. If you’re a pastry chef – even better! You’ll have year-round opportunities to make pastries for special events like weddings, baby showers, bridal showers, birthdays, anniversaries, holiday parties, and just about any occasion worth celebrating. For information on how to get started, check out this website on how to start a home based baking business.  

Consignment Shop

If you have an eye for fashion and know how to put together an eye-catching ensemble, then you might have what it takes to start your very own online consignment shop. You can find great, affordable items at your local thrift store, pieces that people might otherwise overlook, and use your skills to create one-of-a-kind outfits that go from drab to must-have. You can model the outfits yourself, or involve friends and family by asking them to model your looks and show off a variety of styles on different body types. Look here for more information on how to start a consignment shop with little or no money.

Starting your own business comes with many challenges, but with these home business ideas and of course, your customized bargain business plan, you’ll have the tools you need to hit the ground running. What are you waiting for? Get started today!