Small Successful Business Ideas

Have you ever stopped to think of all the crazy ideas that have made people money? “Why didn’t I think of that!” comes to mind, or worse, “I had that idea!” I can’t count how many of these ideas I’ve passed on or followed others that were sure to be winners. Go big or go home was my motto. Yes, it’s the dream of knocking it out of the park that got me up in the morning. The big idea! Today is going to be the day!

As I got older I finally realized that maybe going big was my mistake. Big wasn’t getting it done for me. Maybe it was time for small? Small successful business ideas can work just as well. I just needed to change my perspective and adjust my attitude. Here are some ideas I’ve been kicking around. Feel free to add some of your own when we’re done.

Are you a Wordsmith?

Is writing your passion? This is a growing field with a lot of demand. Just visit Elance.com and see how these careers can work for you. Granted, it takes some time to grow your reputation and earn credibility in this field.

The Elancers who do get rewarded quite well and seem to have more jobs available. You’ll be competing with freelancers from all over the world but you can drill down to your respective skill. Is technical writing your specialty? How about process or creative writing?

A lot of companies and smaller web owners are looking for content on a daily basis. Have a knack for writing copy? Marketing and advertising are in huge demand. There’s a lot of opportunity to be successful with this business idea.

Clients negotiate the project, rates and terms with their freelancer before accepting the offer. The deliverable due date is also agreed upon and the work begins. Two way reviews help both client and freelancer earn credibility with future projects. There’s also a work room to meet if there is any concerns with the project. On average a reputable freelancer can earn anywhere between $25 to $75 per article. Everything is negotiated up front.

How’s Your “People” Skills?

Companies are always looking for people to solve everyday problems. Think about the times you complained about poor customer service. Here’s a chance to improve this damaged concept. This field is always looking for good people with exceptional communication skills.

It can be set up with little as a headset, phone line and company provided software. Do you have crazy days juggling family obligations? This line of work can provide a good perk allowing you to work from home using your schedule. I have friends who work for a large insurance company that do this line of work. They love it! It provides them with full time work, benefits and flexible schedules.

A company that has taken this idea to the next level is Apple. They use “Apple At-Home Advisors” for every product they sell and support. Are you a master with iMovie or iTunes? Been improving your programming skills or app development? You can work from home helping people solve their problems with these applications. A lot of companies are moving their departments to home based reps.

Have Reliable Transportation?

Why not help people get to their destinations? A company that continues to get a lot of attention with this is Uber. Sorry taxis drivers but this is a good thing for people who are looking for small successful business ideas.

Known for its ongoing protest around the world Uber still managed to earn Best Tech Company of 2013 by USA Today. This is one of “those ideas” I had years back in college while traveling abroad in Europe. I got real tired of getting jerked around and taken advantage of by taxi drivers who pretended not to understand me. I thought to myself how great it would be to have a service that could allow me to schedule a ride and agree upon a price before I got picked up?

Currently valued at over $40 billion dollars the company’s popularity shows no signs of slowing down. Offering an easy sign up process along with an integrated app makes viewing and managing your pickups easy. Drivers set prices based on their cities current market rates. A cashless system allows for hassle free drop offs and no worries. Working around your schedule and commitments could provide an exciting career change or side job.

Are You Organized and Task Driven?

Alright, this might be a stretch but were talking about ideas, right? Virtual Assistants are a growing field for people who are always on the go. Also known as VA’s, they handle a lot of different task depending on their clients needs. It’s estimated that there’s over 25,000 VA’s worldwide and the new career field shows no signs of slowing down either.

Virtual Assistants complete task related to office administration duties. They use technology such as Skype or Google Voice to talk with their bosses and receive task. This field runs on a contract basis with terms as long as five years once a probation period is met.

Some clients go as far as letting their VA’s perform personal task. They can schedule appointments, handle banking or respond to e mails. Salaries for this online home business position vary by terms. I’m sure we’ll see an app for this new line of work as well.

What Are Some Other Small Successful Business Ideas?

We’ve all heard the phrase “find a need and fill it.” This “is” and will always “be” the case when thinking about business ideas. Above are only a few examples for us to consider. We didn’t even get into one of the most popular paths such as affiliate marketing.

Also worth noting are home based opportunities in web design and management. SEO specialist, programmers, bloggers and other internet marketing jobs will continue to flourish. My wife currently does closed captioning work for the hearing impaired from the comfort of her home office. Talk about a nice gig!

I believe in the years to come we’ll continue to see a shift with the current work force. More and more people will want to look to small successful business ideas as their solution. Maybe even join companies that encourage the work at home model.

Trends show that task tracking software continues to evolve and improve. Supervisors concerned about their people getting tasks done will have their fears put to rest. They will also be glad to see their employee’s productivity and morale increase.

What are some of your ideas? Thoughts? I’m tired of the daily commute… aren’t you?