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The Best Online Business Ideas for 2020.
No cost or low cost start up business ideas to get your imagination flying and your brain working overtime. Can you do it? YES, of course you can!
It’s surprising that in this era we live in you can start businesses with little or no money.
Wanting to know, I decided to look up the cost of starting a small business in the real world.
From the Simply Business website
- According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) less than half (44.1 per cent) of the UK businesses that were started up in 2011 were still going five years later.
- Many new business owners don’t seek any professional advice before starting their venture, yet the planning stages of a startup are likely to be the most important. It may, for example, help you to get professional advice to choose your legal and financial model.
- Read through our advice and resources for UK small businesses for some helpful signposts.
They don’t give a figure for the costs because it can vary so much according to the size and cost of premises, to stock, tools, equipment and staff if needed. Solicitor, accountants and other professionals can add to the cost too.
I don’t know about you but I can feel the thousands racking up at a great rate. You couple that with the numbers above, nearly half of new businesses failing and that becomes a risky business. That’s a lot of cash at stake.
[joli-toc]
Completely free of cost?
Well no, I suppose not. It depends upon whether you already have internet (most people) and whether you have a desk top computer or laptop or mobile phone. Now I had to put mobile for phone as older people, like me, would think of their house phone first.
I know this because it popped into my head.
So if you have all or any of the above you are good to go.
You can pay for website hosting but many do a free starter website you can build. Just want a blog? Easy to get started and free is Blogger. I started out blogging with that site. I managed to get it up and running myself and learnt by trial and error.
You don’t need to work out a business plan or go to a bank for a small business loan.
If you decide to do paid training courses for your business, then this is a tax deductible expense here in the UK. Not sure whether the same applies in other countries.
1) Proof Reader.
If you are one of those people that always pick up on the typing mistakes, get irritated by terrible grammar and annoyed by awful punctuation?
Do you love to read and have a passion for words? If so this could be the ideal job.
Its a good idea to take at least one course on the best way to go about it. There is a free 76 minute course available, run by a lady called Caitlin of Proofread Anywhere who is passionate about her work and wants to help others learn it too. It’s a good starting point.
I haven’t tried this myself and I am not affiliated with the person or site. It seemed like an option worth trying if you fancy this sort of work. Taking a free course is a good way of seeing whether you like it or not.
What is Proofreading?
It’s checking the final copy of written material for grammar, punctuation, spelling, tense, and readability.
Aren’t books dying out?
Not really because we also have e-books besides the usual books. Plus we have e-courses, blog posts, transcripts, and other written content being constantly published. All ready and waiting for your skills.
Where do you find work?
There are websites such as Flexjobs, EditFast, Upwork. Indeed.com and ProBlogger.net as a starting point for you. I am sure there will be many more out there too..
Here is a free quick quiz I found that you can try to see how much you do notice. Go HERE.
2) Freelance Writer.
These are quite in demand with businesses, entrepreneurs and bloggers needing quality content. As a beginner it can be tough finding work and getting established. So again, as with proofreading it’s a good idea to learn the basics first.
What does a Freelance writer do?
A freelance writer is a self-employed writer who takes on a variety of writing projects in particular subjects on short term or long term contracts. Freelance writers provide valuable expertise and writing skills to their clients. Once well established, high quality freelance writers, can make up to a six-figure yearly income from home.
How do I become a Freelance writer?
Well, anyone can say they are a Freelance writer, it’s having the skills to back it up that’s most important.
Tips on writing articles HERE!
You don’t want to turn out work that isn’t high quality because it will be tough to get the better paying work. It will take time to get established as with any business but learning what you can at the start should give you a head start on others.
I have found a Free starter course for you, from clubthrifty.com so you can give it a try. GO HERE.
While doing more research I came across a 6 day free course on Freelance writing. GO HERE.
Again, these are nothing to do with me and I am not affiliated in any way with them.
Where do I find work?
Here are a few to start you off.
Problogger, Blogging Pro, All Freelance Writing Job Board, Contena and Canadian Freelance Writing.
You don’t need to be Canadian to apply for the Canadian Freelance Writing jobs.
There will of course be many more these are a starting point.
3)A Scopist.
I have never heard of this one before.
This is what Wikipeadia says:
- A scopist edits the transcripts of official proceedings, created by court reporters. Court reporters attend official proceedings such as court hearings and transcribe the spoken word to written text, mostly using stenotype machines or voice mask equipment. Scopists receive the rough copies of these transcripts after the proceedings, check the transcript for missing words or mistakes, edit grammar and punctuation, ensure that proper names and technical or scientific terms are spelled correctly, and format the transcript properly before delivering the transcript back to the court reporter.*
How do I become a Scopist?
Many have had training as a court reporter first, so you could go that route, either in the real world or online. Or find specific online training to be a Scopist.
There is an Internet Scoping School and it offers a free mini course to find out whether its a job that is a good fit for you. GO HERE.
How hard it it to learn?
It sounds as though there is a lot to learn but the work will be interesting I would think.
On the plus side, not many people have heard of it which means there isn’t as much competition for work. Always a good thing to be getting in on something early.
You will need specialist software apparently, although it should of course, be tax deductible, as a legitimate business expense.
Where to get work?
Here are a few websites to get you started, Scopists.com, Stenosearch.com, ProfessionalScopists.com and Indeed.com.
There are more but not as many as with other professions as it is so little known.
Conclusion.
These are all good possibilities for starting your online business to work for yourself from home.
I hope you learnt some interesting information from this post. I certainly did while researching. I heard of an entire new profession, to me, that has apparently been about a while, that I have never heard of. It was interesting and I imagine could be a very interesting job to do.
You can earn by doing online surveys but I believe you have to do a lot to make much money from them. Might be an idea as a fill in.
There are many more online jobs and business ideas forthcoming in this vast arena that is growing exponentially. For those of us getting into it now and those that started even 10 years back, we are getting in near the start. With many real world businesses, big and small closing, more and more people are turning to the internet for work.
Lets face it, who wouldn’t want to work for themselves from home. No hassle, people, traffic, crowded public transport, cold/wet/hot weather and best of all …. NO Boss.
Freedom!!!
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