When it comes to figuring out what business to start, having access to proven business ideas for women can be valuable to any aspiring woman entrepreneur.
Business for ladies with low investment or simple business ideas that allow women to work from home present minimal risk and offer flexible schedules.
From jobs for stay-at-home moms trying to contribute to the family’s finance to small business ideas for girl college students, these are businesses that women can do exceptionally well with.
These business ideas for women focus on opportunities that give you control over your schedule to work when and where you want.
If you’re struggling to figure out what business to start, the following business ideas for women will help you get the creative juices flowing.
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Business Ideas for Women
What are good businesses to start in 2021 for women?
Before you can decide on the right business idea to start, consider the following questions.
What…
- is your goal for starting a business?
- are you passionate about?
- skills, experience and qualifications do you currently have?
- would you like to learn to do?
Don’t think you have any skills? No problem!
Thanks to the Internet, there’s no shortage of online courses that will teach you any skill set for a low fee or even for free. All you need is passion and the willingness to learn.
Below, you can find a list of business ideas for women that do not only pay well but proven to be in high demand.
Ultimately, they will allow you to enjoy financial and emotional freedom and attain the work/life balance that’s often missing when you’re working for someone else.
The Best Stay at Home Business for Women
1. Blogging
Blogging is one of the best business ideas for women to start because you can decide how much work you want to do, where you want to work and what you want to work on.
You can stay at home taking care of your kids and blog when they are asleep. If you’re a student, you can blog anytime after classes or on the weekends.
You’re in complete control of your work schedule. Because of that, starting a blog is also a great way to generate passive income.
Some of the most popular ways to make money from blogging include displaying ads, accepting sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, or selling your own products or services.
Have you ever recommend a product or service to a friend? Affiliate marketing is similar in a way but you’ll also get paid for it.
That being said, blogging is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It is like a snowball and can take a while, often up to a year or longer to grow a decent size.*
But when it does, it compounds nicely to the point where you start generating an income passively even when you are not working.
Some bloggers make between $1,000 to $50,000 per month after a year while others make nothing. It’s really up to you!
But if they can do it, why can’t you? You just have to believe in your ability, work hard and be patient.
How to Get Started
Contrary to what you might think, the cost of starting a blog is actually quite low.
A blog like TheDollarMint.com costs less than 7 dollars per month to start.
You can do it as a side hustle until you start making enough money to make it as your primary income source.
While it’s helpful if you are a good writer, it’s not a must for starting a blog.
Just take me as an example. English is not my first language and that doesn’t stop me from writing for this blog!
If blogging is something you want to explore, check out my step-by-step tutorial on starting your own blog in 30 minutes or less.
You can learn more about making a living from blogging from this resource: Blog for a Living: Complete Blogging Training Level 1, 2 & 3.
The course teaches every step in detail including:
- How to set up your blog
- Integrate a shop
- Driving traffic
- Making money
2. Freelance Writing
Freelance writing is an ideal job for women. It gives you the freedom to work from home or anywhere and set your own hours.
You can work part-time or scale it up to a full-time job to suit your schedule.
As a freelance writer, you write blog posts, sales copy, email newsletters, ghostwrite for other people and perform other writing gigs.
You don’t need to have any professional writing experience. You just need a passion and have good writing skills.
Writing is something you can get better at with time. As you improve your skills, you’ll be able to get better jobs and command higher pay.
Unlike having a personal blog, financial reward in freelance writing is more immediate. You don’t have to wait for months or a year before you can enjoy the fruits of your labor.
With freelance writing, it’s possible to earn at least $30,000 or $50,000 or more per year writing full-time.
How to Get Started
Today, it’s easier for clients to find writers because there are more writers offering their writing services. However, that also means the competition is tougher.
In addition, you may need to know Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as more and more clients are looking for writers who can write content optimized to rank on the search engines result pages.
Elna Cain’s course: Write Your Way to Your First $1K is a good place to start if you want to make good money working from home as a freelance writer but are unsure how to go about it.
Using her strategies, Elna landed more high paying clients and made her first $1,000 in less than 2 months.
If you are ready to find clients you can check the following websites:
- Textbroker – pays you based on your star rating which ranges between 0.07 cents to 0.5 cents per word.
- Fiverr – offer small gigs and sell them frequently. To increase your income, offer different packages and add-ons to satisfy buyers’ specific needs.
- Upwork and Problogger jobs board – when you are ready to compete with other freelance writers.
Fiverr has a FREE video course that teaches aspiring freelancers who want to be a successful Fiverr seller. You can watch the video course here.
3. Proofreader & Editor
If you are looking for business ideas for women with low investment, look no further than proofreading and editing.
All you need is a computer and an Internet connection which you might already have if you’re reading this. You can work freelance or for a company.
To do this job successfully, an excellent grammar and spelling skills are prerequisite.
You should also be able to do your own research when you don’t understand a topic or what a word meant.
So what’s the difference between proofreading and editing?
Proofreading involves finding errors that either introduced or missed during editing.
In contrast, editing is more extensive that involves correcting errors, rewriting, rearranging and rewording content where necessary.
In general, you can make between $1,000 to $4,000 a month as a proofreader. The more skillful you are, the more money you can make.
How to Get Started
To kickstart your own freelance proofreading and editing business or add one into your existing freelance offerings check out Kickstart a Freelance Editor & Proofreader Career on Upwork.
You’ll learn how to start a freelance editor and proofreader career specifically on the Upwork freelancing platform.
The course is useful for freelancers who have tried Upwork but haven’t had any success yet. It’s also meant for people who have no knowledge of Upwork.
Alternatively, you can check How to Become a Freelance Editor: Make Money Copy Editing.
This course will teach you how to position yourself as a freelance editor and market yourself. This course is NOT geared for anyone who already has a freelance editing business
For more online proofreading and editing jobs, you can visit Cactus, Gramlee and Scribendi.
Even Fiverr is a good place to offer your proofreading and editing service if you’re just starting out.
4. Transcriptionist
A transcription service is a task that converts speech (either live or recorded) into a written text document.
This job may include transcribing dictation from doctors, lawyers, a college lecture, videos and audio podcasts.
Most clients allow you to take as little or as much work as you want as long as you deliver by the deadline.
A general transcriptionist can make between $15 to $25 per hour or more. Those who specialize in legal or medical fields can make an even higher wage per hour.
How to Get Started
If you can type quickly and accurately, are a good listener, and have an excellent grasp of punctuation rules, you already have a solid foundation to work as a transcriptionist.
The faster you can type, the more money you can possibly make.
Beyond that, you need to know how to use transcription software, are familiar with transcription-specific rules like how to format numbers and are familiar keyboards shortcuts for Words.
Having prior experience is not necessary but it will help when you’re looking for clients.
A computer or laptop, a pair of headphones (a cheap one should suffice), a foot pedal, a copy of Microsoft Word and transcription software are the hardware you’ll need to get started.
To help you get started, here’s a FREE mini-course that teaches you how to become a general transcriptionist from Transcribe Anywhere.
Alternatively, you can take their FREE mini-course that teaches legal transcription here.
For more transcription jobs online, check out the following websites:
- Rev – offers general transcription service as well as captioning service, subtitles and translation for audio and video.
- Babbletype – besides transcriptionists, they are also looking for proofreaders and translators who want to work from home.
- Quicktate – transcribes voicemail messages, memos, letters, legal files, medical files, recordings of phone calls, conference calls and other audio files.
- TranscribeMe – earnings start at $15-$22 per audio hour and top monthly earnings at $2,200 (average monthly earnings are $250). Transcriptionists with specialized backgrounds in medical and legal fields are paid a higher rate.
5. Bookkeeper
If you love working with numbers and are detail-oriented, bookkeeping could be for you.
As a bookkeeper, you will be responsible for managing business finances, recording receipts, paying suppliers, monitoring account receivable, providing billing services and more.
While bookkeeping and accounting are interchangeable to a degree, there’s a difference in that accounting is more complex which involves analyzing and reporting of financial data.
In contrast, bookkeeping focuses more on accurate record-keeping using a bookkeeping software.
The hourly rates can vary depending on the service you offer but many bookkeepers make around $30-$60 per hour.
Many clients, however, prefer to pay a fixed price rather than the per-hour basis.
How to Get Started
While some experience is beneficial, you don’t need a bachelor’s degree to work as a bookkeeper.
Thus, the challenge is how you can attract clients to trust you with their books and while you work remotely, often from home.
Fortunately, there are online resources that could help you overcome these limitations. A good place to start is this course: Start a Bookkeeping Business.
If you’re new to bookkeeping and want to learn the terms and concepts and be more confident and successful, check out Bookkeeping Basics #1: Understand the Fundamentals.
6. Selling Craft on Etsy
If you have an artistic streak or have a hobby designing and creating beautiful and unique things, you can make money by starting an online shop on Etsy.
Etsy is an online marketplace where you can sell craft, artwork, handmade jewelry, bags, clothing, toys, art, home decor, DIY gifts, you name it.
To save the hassle of packing and shipping physical items, you can create templates, downloadable printables, or customized artwork that can be delivered online.
If you always wanted to open a shop, starting one on Etsy is one of the best business ideas for women you should consider.
How to Get Started
Setting up shop on Etsy is quick and free.
The only money you need to invest is an Etsy listing fee ($0.20 for an item) and the cost of supplies for your handmade products.
If you sell physical products, you’ll need to take into account the packaging and posting cost. Etsy also takes a 5% cut on the sale and shipping price you set.
Just get something done. Your shop and products don’t have to be perfect. If you are undecided on the name of your shop, remember that you can always change it later.
Your customer service can make or break your Etsy business. Every customer has the potential to be a repeat customer and turn into raving fans if you can provide an outstanding service.
To learn more, here’s a course that teaches you how to properly set up an Etsy shop and get traffic. It’s one of the best-selling courses on Udemy. Check it out!
Etsy 101: Set Up a Shop and Promote It On Social media.
7. Cake Baking and Decorating
If you are good at cake baking and enjoy decorating cakes then why not turn this passion into a cake baking business from home?
Cakes are often needed for various occasions from birthdays to baby showers, from weddings to bachelorette parties so there is a lot of market for your yummy food.
You are not limited to baking cakes though. Other treats you can make include cookies, cupcakes, bread, pastries and even dog treats.
You can sell locally and/or online depending on your ability to deliver the baked goods.
How to Get Started
Using your own kitchen at home is a good place to start.
However, keep in mind that some states in the U.S require that your baking equipment and supplies be separate from your personal cooking use. You may need a separate kitchen in some cases.
If starting a home-based baking business is something that you would like to do, here’s a course that teaches you how to turn your bakery business idea into a running bakery.
This course is for anyone who is considering starting a bakery or already have a bakery but are unsure what steps to take to turn your bakery into a solid business.
In the course, you’ll find a lot of examples from what the course creator and other bakery owners have gone through when they were starting their business.
8. Photographer
Photography is another business idea for women that you can start without the need for an expensive studio or office.
People are willing to pay good money to have their memorable moments captured with beautiful imagery.
The occasions are endless, from weddings to sporting events, from family gatherings to vacations, you name it!
You are not limited to taking photos of people though. You can take landscape photos, everyday tools, food, animals, travel shots or anything that doesn’t involve people.
While having decent camera equipment at your disposal will help you take quality photos, your creativity will help produce great images that have the potential to produce great income.
How to Get Started
The beauty of running a photography business is that you can do it as a freelancer or full time.
Linkedin Learning has a course titled Running a Photography Business: The Basics that gives you a solid foundation on starting your photography business.
You will learn how to define your niche, get practice and feedback, and market your service as a brand.
You can access the course for FREE (plus other courses) if you sign up for the 30 days free trial.
For more photography courses online, check out the following resources to help you start your own photography business:
- Start Your Photography Business – The Complete Course
- Start a Profitable Wedding Photography Business
You can also sell your photos online at the following stock photo websites:
The amount paid for each photo varies depending on the platform, the type of license and several other factors.
On average, you could get anywhere from $0.25 to $100 for a single photo.
That said, selling photos online is a number game. You need to have a sizeable portfolio of images before you can start generating good money from them.
To learn more about how to make money from stock photography, check out: Earn extra income by selling your photos online.
This course will teach you how to:
- Take photographs that sell well online.
- Submit and sell your photos on Shutterstock and other stock photo sites.
- Optimize your photo descriptions and use keywords to get more exposure.
- And more.
9. Teach English Online or Tutoring
Are you are a teacher? Perhaps you have a passion for teaching.
Thanks to the Internet, it’s possible to offer tutoring and teaching services from home and generate extra income.
As an online tutor or English teacher, you’ll be video-chatting via Skype with someone or with a group of students.
You can teach English as a second language or tutor in your favorite subjects like math, science, music etc.
Tutoring and teaching online have a flexible schedule and you can make a positive difference in the lives of your students.
How to Get Started
Some companies require a Bachelor’s degree (in any field), while others just need a native English speaker. Teaching experience like mentoring kids or being an actual teacher is a plus.
Your interview and experience will determine how much you get paid.
Here are some of the best sites to start offering your teaching/tutoring services online:
- Cambly – an online English tutoring service that connects native English-speaking tutors to students from all over the world through their video chat platform. It pays $0.17 per minute ($10.20/hour).
- Tutor.com – one of the popular websites to get paid for online tutoring in various subjects.
- Chegg Tutors – an online tutoring platform that helps students get homework help or set up affordable online tutoring with a tutor on various subjects.
- NiceTalk Tutor – a mobile app developed by a Chinese company that provides students with instant access to fluent English speakers through one on one video chat.
- Wyzant – provide 1-on-1 lessons. Active tutors receive over two tutoring job opportunities each week.
- VIPKid – Hires home-based ESL or English as a Secondary Language teachers for Chinese children. Though you do need a bachelor’s degree to apply.
Most of these companies will provide you with the materials to teach the classes.
If you want to earn an income teaching English online or have done some online teaching but want to improve, check out the Teach English Online: find students and start teaching now.
By taking the course, you’ll learn the essential tools and gain knowledge to teach like a pro.
10. Virtual Assistant
Businesses and individuals often hire virtual assistant (VA) because it’s cheaper than hiring a permanent employee.
Your tasks as a virtual assistant can range from managing someone’s schedule, managing social media accounts, marketing, customer service, data entry etc.
Since this job can cover many areas, you can tailor your services according to your skill set.
VA is one of the most flexible business ideas for women it allows you to work from home or anywhere.
How to Get Started
If you want to learn more about working online as a virtual assistant but:
- You are unsure if this is for you
- Don’t know how to launch your business
- Wonder how to set your rates etc.
See this resource to help you out: Work From Home as a Virtual Assistant.
You can find virtual assistant jobs from the following websites:
- Upwork – Freelance virtual assistants at Upwork.com charge an average of $18-35 per hour depending on skills and experience. To get clients, you may need to put yourself out there and actively pitching for work.
- PeoplePerHour.com – This is a UK based company offering freelancing services.
- Fancy Hands – most tasks are short paying anywhere from $3.00 to $7 per task. These may include making phone calls, scheduling appointments, data entry, finding hotels etc.
- Time etc – they are looking for people with experience as a personal assistant, secretary or admin assistant to work as VA. Must be available for at least three hours per week.
To find more virtual assistant jobs, you can participate in relevant Facebook groups where business owners and bloggers hang out and let them know about your services.
Conclusion
I hope you’ve found some inspiration from these business ideas for women.
There’s always competition when starting a business and it is getting stiffer by the day.
But the fact is, there’s never been a better time to start your own business. The U.S. economy is booming, unemployment rates are low and the stock market is at an all-time high.
And thanks to the Internet, learning and starting a business has never been easier.
If you want to start your own business, select a business idea for women that you are passionate about.
That way you are more likely to spend the time and effort necessary to make your business succeed.
