How to get started with your own business: top ideas

Opening your own business is a difficult question in the life of any person who dreams of being an entrepreneur. And, of course, the main problem is how to get started. After all, you want to do everything flawlessly straight away, avoid mistakes and not make the same mistakes over again. It will not work out perfectly, but it’s largely up to you and the decisions you make  at the planning stage whether the first business will succeed. And the main thing here is choosing a business niche. You can be a born businessman working 24/7, but if there is no demand for your product, all your efforts will be in vain. We’ll share everything you need to know on the matter today: how to choose the right niche, which business areas are most in demand in 2021, how to start your own business with no investment.

A few tips for those who are just starting to think about what kind of business they should do.

1. Use your experience

It makes the most sense to turn something you already know well into a business, to work in the niche where you have expertise. Think about how to turn your strengths into a business idea, and if nothing comes to mind, do not despair —  the Internet may come in handy. You can find stories, expert materials, cases of entrepreneurs in various fields on special sites like Rusbase or vc.ru. After reading what already exists in your niche, you will surely understand what you can do, and even get a lot of valuable information and ideas.

2. Don’t believe Instagram

After reading incredible success stories of the unemployed who opened an incredibly profitable business in a month and started making millions in their own business, you may fall into a trap of believing it will work out for you as well. The thing is, not everything you read is true. Instagram in 2021 is the main sales platform for info businessmen who lure potential customers with impressive, but not always real stories.

3. Analyze yourself 

The best idea for starting your own business is at the intersection of your experience and interests. It should allow you to show your best qualities. In life, we rarely think about the following questions: "What is my strength?", "What am I really interested in?" The Japanese Ikigai technique can help you. You can read more about it here. Another way is to answer the question: “What do friends ask you to help them with?” When do they need your advice, in what cases do they seek your help? This is the ideal niche to start your own business.

4. Don't waste your money

Doing business is risky, especially if it is your first one. Therefore, you should be very careful with money. Try to keep costs as low as possible. You don't have to order an expensive beautiful website straight away —  you can start with a page on Tilda. Instead of immediately investing several thousand in targeted advertising, test the idea first. Make a minimum viable product and determine the demand “manually” by contacting your friends and acquaintances. Taking out a loan to start your first business is extremely dangerous: costs may eventually grow, and the first profit will come much later than you planned. The best option is to use your financial airbag or take advantage of a government subsidy.

5. Research the market

A business idea may seem genius to you, but in fact it’s mainly meant to bring you income. Therefore, you have to analyze the niche before getting down to business. How relevant is it? Checking if the business is profitable is a topic for a separate article, but here's what exactly needs to be done: analysing search queries and competitors and monitoring market size using data from open sources. Use all these methods together —  so the picture will be fuller and more objective.

Sales is an extremely profitable business that will be relevant at all times: choosing a niche. Finding suppliers with the lowest price and making money on the difference in cost is a simple and effective way to do business. But choosing the product that will be in demand is not easy. If you are planning to open a small online store, choose a niche that you are familiar with — this way you will better understand where to find and how to attract customers. Strive to make your products as unique as possible: for example, sell not just clothes, but T-shirts with designer prints.

Services. In 2021, the service sector is booming more than ever. Thanks to the Internet, you can find dozens of professionals in any niche. At the same time, an overabundance of information and low-quality offers contribute to the demand for real professionals. High competition and the need to win customer trust are the two challenges in this niche. Rather than that, everything is very profitable: there is no need for large investments, the business is highly marginal and once you become a pro over time, you can raise the cost of services and receive more income. The services also have a high number of repeat purchases and word of mouth works well. Among the most demanded areas for starting a business are legal, accounting services, services in the beauty field, organizing events, recruiting personnel.

Educational business. In 2021, when everything is rapidly changing, continuous learning is no longer just a trend, but a necessity. Education has become a guiding value for the millennial generation and the next generation of zoomers. This is a profitable business that you can start with minimal investment. Once you have recorded an online course, you can sell it for several years. There are many directions in edu business: from tutoring and all kinds of consultations to online schools and info business. The most important thing is to survive high competition and convince the audience of the effectiveness of your training.

Franchise. The franchise business is becoming more widespread, and starting your entrepreneurial path by opening a franchise is definitely a sound idea. On the one hand, this is a very convenient form of work for large companies with big ambitions; on the other hand, demand exceeds supply: coffee outlets, restaurants, shops are very much needed in new developing areas or in small towns. There are many places where it will be profitable to open a new outlet of a popular brand. The franchise business has many advantages: a proven business scheme, ready-made suppliers, a brand that already has an audience. But there are also disadvantages. You have to pay for the use of the brand every month, as well as strictly follow the company's work scheme.

Coffee points. This profitable business combines a fairly simple organization and the minimum investment for the catering sector with high margins. Coffee is a popular and necessary drink —  by opening an outlet in the right place, you can recoup your expenses in a month and quickly reach regular profits. The main difficulty is to find the place with good rent and high traffic.

Beauty salon / barbershop. You have probably noticed that when a new residential building is being constructed, one of the first businesses that gets opened there is a beauty salon (a barbershop, hairdresser’s). People always feel the need to be beautiful, so every beauty salon finds its clients. You just need to find the right place with few competitors and a lot of representatives of the target audience, and also do not miscalculate the pricing: a luxury salon is hardly suitable for a small town or residential area.

Selling Korean cosmetics. Korean cosmetics are associated with good quality care. The demand keeps growing in 2021. Female customers in small cities are also connecting to customers from megacities like Moscow, St. Petersburg or Kiev. In large chain cosmetics stores, as a rule, you can find only a few Korean brands: ordering the necessary cosmetics is quite laborious. Therefore, opening your own Korean cosmetics store (even on Instagram) means covering an important need for a large audience, especially far from megapolicies. And, of course, a relatively low check is compensated by the regularity of sales —  clients can buy cosmetics for years, so even with a small profit from one purchase, this is a very profitable business.

What to do if you have zero savings but don't want to get into loans? There are a number of businesses where investments are either minimal, or absent. We’ll share the most popular and profitable business ideas with zero investment in 2021.

Organizing excursions

If you are good at storytelling, you can organise excursions to interesting places in your city or make your own creative program that will be your unique feature. Everyone is tired of the standard trips in a sightseeing bus with a huge group, and unusual excursions are popular not only among tourists, but also the residents of the city.

Investment: zero.

Cons: it’s not for everyone. You need charisma and storytelling skills; high competition; seasonality.

Social media blog

By promoting your blog on social networks, you can regularly earn money: receive advertising contracts or barter. In addition, the trend of 2021 is niche microbloggers (from 1,000 to 50,000 subscribers), because they are perceived by the audience almost as friends or family. Subsequently, a developed personal brand will help start other businesses.

Investment: up to $150 promo budget to get started.

Challenges: Getting a blog up and running and relying on organic traffic is a very long process that may take several years. The chance to "take off" in a few months without large advertising costs is minimal.

Becoming a host

Being a host is a profitable business that will never leave you without clients: there are many events, and you can work at events of different types and scales. And over time, having become a top presenter, you can start organizing events, assemble a team and open your own event agency.

Investment: zero.

Difficulties: good initial data are needed (appearance, timbre of voice, charisma), high competition.

Tutoring

An excellent option for a person who has at least a minimal relevant background, like work experience at a school or university and pedagogical education. The more experience you have, the higher the income, and you can start with a few lessons with the children of your acquaintances to get the first reviews.

Investment: zero.

Difficulties: high competition, specialized knowledge is required, high requirements of the audience.

Reselling goods

There are many options here: for example, find products on Avito and then resell them. You can even open your own online store for this. Such a business does not require any investment other than time.

Investment: zero.

Difficulties: it is difficult to find a niche, the searching for goods will take a long time, not the highest margin.

Soap making

Making  soap is one of the cheapest and easiest businesses. You can open your own shop and make a profit within a couple of months. Anyone can learn how to make beautiful handmade soap, and Instagram photos of colorful bars look very attractive.

Investment: up to $ 200 for training and necessary materials.

Difficulties: high competition, it is difficult to attract the first customers.

Manicure / at-home hair removal

A service that will always be in demand: many women are not satisfied with high salon prices and the need to wait several days before making an appointment. And competent marketing, reviews and social media presence will help to build up from competitors.

Investment: from $ 65 to $ 270 depending on the specific niche.

Difficulties: high competition, training required.

A hand-made shop

In 2021, when you can buy anything, beautiful handicrafts are doubly appreciated. Selling items that combine beauty, functionality and unique design is a great way to make money.

Investment: from $ 15 to $ 150 for materials.

Difficulties: high competition, it’s not for everyone.

Nanny

Taking and picking up children from school, to classes, to friends is a service that is in demand in big cities in families where both parents work and earn good money. Of course, here you need not only a car, but also some experience of working with children.

Investments: zero, but you need a car.

Difficulties: experience of working with children is required, in a small town there is no demand and it is not so easy to get even a minimal income.

Photography

Photography will always be in demand and allow you to grow into a top high-paid professional. It is important to choose a specialization —  studio portraits, street photo shoots, event photography. You can also develop your own creative style. For example, short 10-minute photosets or photo shoots in a certain style. This will allow you to stand out and charge more.

Investments: zero, but you need at least a phone with a good camera.

Difficulties: photography is not for everyone, high competition.

Choosing a niche is the first and almost the most important step towards your business. A profitable niche will help you get first sales faster, and there are always competitors already working there who you can learn a lot from. And it’s ok if your first business is very small, while you dream of startups, global technologies and a large company. It will provide invaluable experience, allow you to get your hands on and understand how business processes work. By making a small online store profitable, you can take on a more complex business. It’s a path with no end —  go for it!