Wednesday, November 9, 2011

40 HOME-BASED BUSINESS IDEAS

Try dodging few of these home-based business ideas. Do it at your own pace and space with no time constraint or even peer pressure.

An excerpt (re-write) from ENTREPRENEUR Magazine (Summit Media), June 2011 issue.

(Prices and figures that corresponds may not be real-time, may change without prior notice and may vary case to case basis)


  1. FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER

As photographer, your equipment will eat up most of your capital; camera, lenses, tripod, memory cards, light boxes, light stands, and reflectors.

Startup costs: PHP200, 000-PHP500, 000

 

  1. FREELANCE WEB DEVELOPER

Invest in a computer with the necessary hardware and software. Create and maintain company websites for small companies to big corporations, as well as organizations and individuals.

Startup costs: PHP50, 000-PHP100, 000




  1. TRAVEL AGENT

Go beyond the usual booking and arranging of flights and offer customized vacation packages to your clients, anywhere and at any time of the day. Invest heavily on your marketing efforts.

Startup costs: PHP50, 000-PHP100, 000

 
  1. CATERING

Find a niche by providing specialized services like and all-healthy menu, or a finep-dining ambiance. Aside from your employees and delivery system, plan your logistics well.

Startup costs: PHP100, 000-PHP200, 000




  1. TUTOR

Offer to tutor students in their homes, schools, or other childcare organizations. Prepare your lesson plans well and spend on marketing.

Startup cost: PHP10, 000-PHP50, 000

 

  1. EVENT PLANNER

Organize everything from weddings, debuts, to birthdays or build a niche in one. Networking is essential in getting new clients. Be creative, detail-oriented, and well-organized.

Startup costs: PHP50, 000-PHP100, 000




  1. T-SHIRT PRINTING/SILK SCREENING

Go traditional with silk-screening or go for more unique and instant designs with iron-on decals. Join bazaars or create your own online boutique.

Startup costs: PHP10, 000-PHP20, 000

 

  1. PERSONAL TRAINER

Provide one-on-one or group fitness sessions in the comfort of your clients’ home or in the gym where they have a membership.

Startup costs: PHP5, 000-PHP20, 000

 

  1. DIRECT-SELLING

Look for a legitimate direct-selling company that genuinely interest you as you will be the one going out to pitch their products to other people.

Startup costs: PHP10, 000-PHP20, 000

 

  1. MOBILE PET GROOMING

Welcome your client’s furry little friends to your home or go to theirs. Make sure you have top-of-the-line equipment and animal-friendly cleaning solvents.

Startup costs: PHP10, 000-P20, 000

 

  1. MEDICAL/LEGAL TRANSCRIPTION

Work for a variety of companies by transcribing medical and legal notes. All you’ll need is a compute, a phone or fax machine, and an Internet connection. Connect with hospitals and law firms.

Startup cost: PHP50, 000-PHP100, 000




  1. FREELANCE ACCOUNTANT

Provide bookkeeping services to households and business. Invest in new accounting software to help you service many clients at the same time.

Startup costs: PHP10, 000-PHP20, 000




  1. FREELANCE INTERIOR DESIGNER

Coordinate with architects, contractors, painters, and suppliers. Invest in your sample books, and a computer with updated interior-design software programs.

Startup costs: PHP50, 000-PHP100, 000

 

  1. PERSONAL CHEF

Cater to individuals or groups who want a unique design experience in the privacy of their home. Plan your menu, manpower, and logistics well.

Startup costs: PHP100, 000-PHP200, 000

 

  1. JEWELRY CREATION

Aside from your creative skills, invest in your materials and tools. Go beyond the usual beaded accessories and provide intricate necklace, earrings, and bracelets made of metal and semi-precious stone.

Startup costs: PHP10, 000-PHP50, 000

 

  1. CLEANING SERVICE

Clean residences or office spaces, or find a niche in carpet or upholstery cleaning. Invest in your cleaning equipment like vacuum cleaners, mops, and cleaning solvents.

Startup costs: PHP10, 000-PHP100, 000

 

  1. CANDLE MAKING

Sell them in bazaars or online shops, or consign them to department stores and home-line boutiques. Provide more than the usual scents, shapes, and colors.

Startup costs: PHP10, 000-PHP20, 000




  1. FREELANCE MAKE-UP ARTIST

Take makeup lesson in one of many aesthetic centers in the country. Most of your capital will go to your makeup and equipment. Cover weddings, fashion shoots, or commercials.

Startup costs: PHP50, 000-PHP100, 000

 

  1. MOBILE SPA

Create your own massage oils, body scrubs, and body lotions. Take up a massage class or train your employees through training centers. Make sure you have good logistics and transportation.

Startup costs: PHP300, 000-PHP500, 000 (excluding acquisition of vehicle)

 

  1. FREELANCE HAIRSTYLIST

Enroll in hairstyling classes and invest in quality industrial equipment: hair dryers, curling and flat irons, and brushes,

Startup costs: PHP50, 000-PHP100, 000

 

  1. HERB GARDENING

Supply various herbs and greens to local restaurant, hotels, homes, and even supermarkets. Make sure though to observe the required farming practices if you are going to claim that your products are organic.

Startup costs: PHP50, 000-PHP100, 000

 

  1. GARDENING AND LANDSCAPING

A bulk of your capital will go to industrial-grade equipment like lawnmowers, garden sheers, rakes and shovels, service residential areas, office facades, or a community gardens.

Startup costs: PHP300, 000-PHP500, 000

 

  1. ERRAND SERVICE

Manpower will be your most important asset here, and timing will be your selling point. Invest in training, logistics, and transportation.

Startup costs: PHP500, 000-PHP700, 000

 

  1. ONLINE BOUTIQUE

Design and manufacture your own clothing line and set up shop online. You can choose to start on a free-hosting website or create your own domain name.

Startup costs: PHP100, 000-50, 000

 

  1. BAZAAR ORGANIZER

Much of your effort will be dedicated to finding tenants, coordinating with them, and organizing the areas. Invest in marketing efforts to draw them in.

Startup cost: PHP20, 000-PHP50, 000

 

  1. ONLINE BAKERY/DESSERT SHOP

Using the baking and cooking equipment you already have at home gives you the chance to place your money elsewhere: Marketing and Ingredients.

Startup cost: PHP50, 000 – PHP100, 000

 

  1. FREELANCE WRITER

Write to the editors of different publications (print and/or online) expressing your intention to write for them. Provide some sample stories as well.

Startup cost: PHP5, 000 – PHP10, 000 (most for business registration and printing of receipts)

 

  1. FLOWER ARRANGER

Create arrangements not just for events or parties but also for residences, offices, and hotels. Look for flower suppliers and build your own arrangement space at home.

Startup cost: PHP20, 000 – PHP50, 000

 

  1. PROFESSIONAL EMCEE

People with good communication and public speaking skills can learn to host events such as parties, weddings, company events, and seminars. Networking to look for clients is key.

Startup cost: PHP20, 000 – PHP30, 000
 
 

  1. HOME-BASED TAILORING / GARMENT ALTERATIONS

Be the place of choice for custom-made clothes and alterations. Industrial sewing machines and a wide selection of fabrics will be essential.

Startup cost: PHP50, 000 – PHP100, 000




  1. ONLINE BUY and SELL

Sell anything from clothes and accessories, perfume and toys, to establish a credible and efficient electronic paying system.

Startup cost: PHP50, 000 – PHP100, 000

 

  1. VIDEO EDITING

Shoot and edit videos for company reports and presentations, school projects, or weddings and debuts. Your video camera, computer, editing software will eat up most of your capital. Consider renting studio equipment when starting, to cut your initial expenses.

Startup cost: PHP100, 000 – PHP200, 000 




  1. PEST CONTROL

Provide pest control services to residences and office buildings. Find a niche by using organic and non-toxic chemicals

Startup cost: PHP150, 000 – PHP100, 000

 

  1. HANDBAG DESIGN AND REPAIR

Design and manufacture your own handbags, purses, or clutches using differenst materials. Focus on craftsmanship and quality of materials. Accept repairs as well.

Startup cost: PHP50, 000 – 100, 000

 

  1. COPYWRITER

Write press release, product descriptions, or event reports for PR companies and big corporations.

Startup cost: PHP20, 000 – PHP100, 000


 


  1. MOBILE BAR

A bulk of your capital will go to your alcohol inventory and logistics requirements. Incorporate fun drinking games and contests to make it more appealing.
Startup cost: PHP50, 000 – PHP100, 000

 

  1. DELIVERY-ONLY FOOD SERVICES

Your main hurdle will be logistics. Prepare and package meals at home and deliver them to a specific area. Create a menu that has a theme, is quick to cook, and travels well.

Startup cost: PHP200, 000 – 300, 000


 

  1. ORGANIC FARMING

Take advantage of the growing organic food trend and grow organic fruits and vegetables. Create your own compost and sell that you gardening shops as well.

PHP50, 000 – PHP100, 000

 

  1. COURIER SERVICE

Deliver documents, letters, or small items to offices and residential areas. Go green by using bicycles.

Startup cost: PHP100, 000 – PHP200, 000

 

  1. COMMUNITY TOUR GUIDE

Coordinate with your city’s tourism arm to become an accredited tour guide. Provide walking tours, food tours, or entertainment tours to locals and foreigners.

Startup cost: PHP20, 000 0 PHP50, 000


For subscription on Entrepreneur Magazine please visit SUMMIT MEDIA PUBLISHING.


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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

INTERNET MARKETING: A BUSINESS GATEWAY TO THE WORLD

Internet marketing can be defined in multifarious ways. You name it as long as you are in the business of using the internet to rake-off profit.


 Earlier, Internet Marketing consisted of making a website, posting ads to the other companies’ web and so on. But things have changed, Internet Marketing has become a household parlance to every business there is. Internet is being used to boost profit by any company whether it’s a confessed utterly an online business, halfway or just nothing at all.



For obvious (business) reasons Internet Marketing uses the Internet to do the following:

  • Communication. This is the flagship of the internet. It’s plane communication. Then it eventually evolves into some kind of business to communicate products and services to prospective clients.
  • Advertise. I guess this is one of the lifeblood of Internet Marketing or the internet itself. This includes selling ad space, goods or products and a lot more.
  • Research. Encyclopedias were one time kings and queens to scraping information on any kind. Now, you’ll see good ‘ol grandpa on rocking chairs totally unemployed. But I still love ‘em!
Setting aside anachronism, Internet is being used by Internet Marketers to gather demography, feasibility studies, needs, potential and established costumers.

Internet Marketing may include handfuls of the following:

BUSINESS WEBSITE: This kind of internet marketing is typical and common. This includes images, write-ups, videos, audios and by all means possible to convey to the world at large what the company is and what benefit do they have to clients and visitors alike.


 SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING: Obviously, google.com is standing tall among others. A multi-billion company at that by just a pay-per-click fashion. Google.com as well as other search engine web sites is running a search engine optimization (SEO) where they are highly paid. SEO is a listing priority boosting program that maximizes your website hits and popularity on the internet.




ELECTRONIC MAIL (EMAIL) MARKETING: E-mail blasting, mass emailing, or anything that pertains to sending emails to selected or collective group of people and companies. This type is a little bit reserved rather than candid. It targets only one particular person per email at most.


BANNER ADVERTISING: One website may as well entertain ad placements from other companies or individuals rather than just their own. For a certain price the ads will be place at certain space on the website depending on the price and size just like newspapers ads.


 ARTICLE MARKETING: Simple, just the way I’m doing! It’s the process of writing article about a particular product or service then uploading it to the article syndicating websites for it to spread at the World Wide Web.


PRESS RELEASE: PR or Press Release is common among many companies. This contains news and views, profile, products and services, awards and recognitions, finished projects of the company whatsoever in one. It is oftentimes sent as hard copies on a neatly and smoothly printed press kit. But it can also be sent in a form of soft or electronic copy through the internet.


SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: Social communications nowadays are hypes and almost a must. The least you can do to present your product to the world is through social media sites. Namely; facebook.com, friendster.com, multiply.com, twitter.com and so on. At most you can have a website. In fact nowadays not having a website can divert some of your probable clients to your competitors, which I could say “money-turned-to-stone.”


 I suggest having your own website though, although you might shell out a little amount but it wouldn't be bad, rather than just using social media networks.

First thing in mind is reputation. Personal website may give lasting impression to clients about what company you are. It might be redeemed partly by the designs and interactivity of your website. Mental reflex dictates that if a company cannot afford a website (as most company can) then it’s a big question to their product and services. Frank and candidly, most clients prefer companies with websites of their own rather than those stuck at social networks!

Second thing is that fly-by-night black ship of the internet marketing can easily create an account at any social network rather than make their own website. Thus, clients tend to back-off and verify a product for a website just to reassure.

BLOG MARKETING:  A very start-up to website creation. A thing to wannabies. Blogging is a site where you post opinions, comments, photos, videos and even audios. The blog has its own isolated benefit but not more than a website does (www.website.com). 
A blog is a potential profit generator depending on your frequency on updating and posting contents. This is not bad for internet marketing greener.
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