Small Business Opportunities For 2020 And Beyond

Whether you want to free yourself from the personal and financial restrictions of employment, or you just want to supplement your salary with some extra spending money, working for yourself or starting and growing a business has never been easier - and there's never been a greater choice of roles to choose from.

Home Business Opportunities

What's not to love about working from home? Zero commutes, complete kitchen facilities, and maybe even the ability to work in your pajamas.

Professional Consulting

Those with an enviable track record in setting up or helping to grow businesses have easily-transferable skills they can use to make money from home.

Market yourself as a professional consultant who assists others in launching and building successful businesses through online sites like Clarity. Alternatively, you could also offer (and charge more for) in-person consultations, either going out to visit clients on their turf or having them come to your home office (although you should probably get changed out of those PJs first).

Home-Based Child Care

Childcare is and always will be essential to many families, and daycare centers don't come cheap. If you're already spending the day keeping a watchful eye over your own little ones, why not pocket a little extra cash by undercutting the "pros" and providing childcare to friends and neighbors, too?

Tutoring

What in-demand skills do you have that you can teach to others? Business skills like consultancy are generally the most profitable, as you can charge much more for your time -- but it's usually harder to find clients, and many of your bookings will be one-off training sessions.

Other skills, from teaching languages to music, to helping with reading or writing, are all easy to turn into businesses -- and they can be reasonably lucrative and hugely rewarding, too.

What you can charge will depend upon your experience, location, and the vocation you're teaching; just don't expect to make your millions this way. That said, most of your customers will visit on a recurring basis, so tutoring should at least provide you with a regular, reliable income.

Elder Care

Like childcare, care for the elderly is an essential service that will always be in demand. What's more, those that need it often do better when able to remain in their own homes, instead of moving into assisted living.

While certain elements of care require medical qualifications, helping clients with day-to-day tasks like shopping, cleaning, and cooking do not.

Private Chef

If you're skilled in the kitchen but don't fancy the long hours and stressful environment that's synonymous with full-time restaurant work, you might want to consider working as a private chef instead.

Exactly what this entails will vary from job to job, but expect to mainly be dishing up quality cuisine to groups of friends and family at dinner parties. Just bear in mind that you might need to employ waitstaff to serve food and drinks and look after guests.