People are job-hopping more than ever. Platforms like Fiverr make the gig economy stronger than ever.
Plus, ever since we’ve all started working from home, we discovered that it’s actually quite cool to manage yourself, your time, and your projects—without someone physically looking over your shoulder.
Unsurprisingly, a lot more people are finally discovering their entrepreneurial side, either by starting side-projects, or even by just taking the dive without any floaties like a permanent contract at a job they secretly hate.
Are you also ready to take that plunge, but not sure yet in what direction to jump? You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Of course, you could just take parts of your current job and start doing that independently—like many social media managers turned freelance copywriters do. But maybe you’re looking to do a complete 180, and want a job that fits the times we live in, matches with your passions, and doesn’t feel like a job at all, actually.
We’re not going to tell you how virtual assistants are in great demand and that dog sitting is fun. Instead, we’ve gathered 12 creative and fun ideas to inspire your entrepreneurial adventure. Ready to go?
1. Become a crypto coach
Are you one of those people who somehow understand cryptocurrencies—and maybe even NFTs—and have you been successfully investing in all the right coins? That’s a great way to make an (extra) income.
But what if you could do more with all that knowledge? People are reading up about it, but at the end of the day, it’s a lot more comforting when someone actually tells you how and when to buy.
Let’s say, you know all about how to buy BTC on Moonpay, or any other type of bitcoin.
You could become a one-on-one coach about this, or even create an online course, to make this side-hustle all the more scalable.
2. Start an at-home cooking service
Do your friends and family often come over to devour your food? Are you a master at meal prepping and making something amazing from the weirdest leftovers someone has in their fridge?
Then you’re lucky, first of all. Many people struggle to come up with a pasta dish that isn’t the same as yesterday’s (and the ten days before) if they even have time to cook at all.
Now, you might not want to become a professional chef and spend most of your nights and weekends in a kitchen.
You could consider starting a delivery service, but that would mean you’d spend more time driving around than cooking—and you want to do what you love.
So if you’re a talented cook, consider starting a local business where you go to other people’s houses to meal prep.
You can opt to do the groceries and create meals for the entire week in their kitchen—which also saves you your own kitchen and sanity.
While this is a little of an upscale type of service, there are surely plenty of people around who are tired of the same old take-away every day and would love to try your fresh food!
Right, social media marketing isn’t necessarily the most original job. But the big boys aren’t looking for generalists anymore, anyway.
Their Instagram and LinkedIn are up and running, they just want to turn it into a success. So if you know how to use any platform like no one else, offer that as a service.
For instance, offer engagement services for Instagram. Or help people write great LinkedIn pages.
The more specific it gets, the easier it’ll become to sell to people who already know what they’re doing—but acknowledge they need your help.
4. Become a remote work trainer
If you’ve been a digital nomad since before 2020, or you adapted incredibly easily, you’ve got a lot of valuable skills to teach others.
A lot of people who are used to cubicles or trendy open-plan offices are still struggling with managing remote work. Which means their employers are also struggling with that.
You can sell yourself to organizations as a remote work coach who will help them get the most out of their current employees, teaching them healthy ways to manage their work-life balance and boost their productivity.
5. Sell yourself as an ergonomic expert
Continuing on the previous point: a lot of people think they’ve got their home office routine completely under control. Meanwhile, they sound like a firecracker every time they get up for another cup of coffee. But no, they’re fine.
If you’ve been working as a physiotherapist or in any other related field, and know a thing or two about working in a healthy position, market yourself to people who are working from home and don’t want to break their backs in the process.
With the right value proposition and laser-targeted market, plus maybe some referral deals and affiliate marketing with furniture stores, this could be a rather profitable business—and you’ll do a little good for others as well.
6. Finally start that food truck!
No, this is not the time to recommend anyone to open a restaurant, we’re well aware. But if it’s always been a dream of yours, and you don’t like to be at the same place all the time anyway, why not open a food truck?
Admittedly, this is not a new concept, but it’s still a booming business, and perfectly fits the time we live in of outdoor events and being flexible. You could even use it to travel a little further and further because your market will simply be wherever you go.
7. Travel planner for digital nomads
Oddly specific, right? That’s just how we like it.
Ever since remote work is becoming more accepted and standardized, people are dipping their toes into actual travel and work, instead of working from home.
But if you think choosing a holiday destination is difficult, wait until you have to find a destination that has fast enough Wi-Fi to zoom your boss, has plenty of coworking spaces or at least coffee places that won’t kick you out when you type too loud.
A lot of digital nomads have been there, done that, and if that’s you, consider helping people find their way in this world.
You could create guides on specific places and sell them, or make it all the more personal (and valuable!) by becoming a personal travel planner. You could even offer this service to companies who are encouraging their employees to use this time to explore the world while still getting the job done, for even more impact.
8. Become that specialized tour guide in your own city
Live in a pretty place and know all about it? Now that tourism is starting to come back, you could use this coincidence to make a little money—while also getting out of the house.
Of course, there are plenty of standard businesses you could join to become a generic tour guide, pointing at the landmarks nobody was going to miss anyway. But with your specific, personal touch to it, you could make it into a little business too.
For instance, maybe you know all the best wine bars in your city, and you can create a tour around that. Or you were an enthusiastic dater in your early twenties and can show couples the most romantic spots in town.
Make it quirky, and make it specific. You could create tours especially for the elderly, or for families with kids. Market yourself in relevant places and start walking!
9. Sell your photos as a stock photographer
Have you always loved photography, and do you have countless pictures that are great—but not really useful for you? Sell them as stock photos!
Now, this will probably start out as a small side gig, but it’s nonetheless a lot of fun and gives you some reward for your creative work. You can upload your work on websites like Unsplash or Pexels and start earning money every time someone uses your photo. If things are looking up, you can even become more independent and start your own website.
With the amount of content that is being created every, well, minute, there’s a huge demand for stock footage, and anyone who frequently has to find that knows the most-used pictures by heart—so give them a fresh set of pictures!
Dream big, but do bigger
As you can see, there’s a wide variety of options out there if you want to start a business. No matter how niche your passion is, you can turn it into a little more than that, even if it would just be to make a passive income from selling courses about your knitting obsession.
If you’re looking to double down on yourself and the opportunities out there nowadays, you’ll probably like this podcast on developing yourself by seizing opportunities when they arrive, too.
Vicky Frissen is a freelance copywriter based in Barcelona. She helps brands and businesses stand out from the crowd by putting some personality in each piece of copy she writes—whether it’s a 1,000-word blog post or a short and snappy Instagram caption.
