何w To Make Money From Home? 25 Ways in 2023

Dec 8, 2022
26 minute read

Illustration of a person imagining all of the ways they can make money from home

There are very few things more exciting than being able to crack the code of being able to earn money online. Whether you’re running an online store on your own website or trying to grow your online brand to sell products or services, learning how to make money from home can transform your business and your life.

This guide will cover everything you need to know on how to start making money online from home, including dozens of money-making ideas virtually anyone can try.

By following the suggestions below, you can be well on your way to turning your ideas and passions into an exciting, profitable venture that will grow with you over time.

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25 ways to make money from home

Free: The Big List of Business Ideas

To help you find the inspiration to start, we compiled a list of 100+ in-demand business ideas, broken down into categories like fitness, apparel, and gaming.

1. Sell custom products

Product developmentisn’t the easiest route tomaking money, but it’s often the most rewarding, and it may not be as hard as you expect. Making custom products is popular amongst jewelry brands, fashion brands, and home décor brands, yet it expands through virtually any industry where you make things from scratch.

Some evergreen categories you could sell in are:

Apparel and clothing.Clothing is one of those categories that seems to always be trendy. People look for clothes and accessories that match their style and personality, which can make fashion a fun and profitable space to sell in. The market is expected to rise above$3 trillionby 2030.
何me décor.何me décor is another popular sales category. People want to add personal touches to their space to make it feel cozy and enjoyable. You can sell home décor online to anyone, anywhere, at any time, while keeping overhead at a minimum. The home décor market is forecasted to reach$202 billionin 2024.
Health and beauty.The beauty and personal care industry is set to reach$716 billionby 2025. You have many options in this category: you can sell skin care, cosmetics, hair care, fragrances, vegan products, and more. Grand View Research identified growing demand for men’s grooming products and anti-aging products that are expected to drive the market over the coming years.
Arts and entertainment.While movie box office revenue took a-66%dive last year, some interesting areas show impressive growth in this multitrillion-dollar industry. Digital newspaper revenue saw a 10% increase, video game revenue saw a 6.9% lift in sales, and consumer books saw a 3.8% increase. The esports industry continues to see healthy growth in this segment, forecasted to reach $37 billion by 2024. In short, there are a lot of innovative and exciting products you could sell in the arts and entertainment industry.
Food and beverage.The food and beverage industry will never die. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the segment is projected to grow at a rate of 8.21% per year, reaching$379 billionby 2025. It’s also poised for an ecommerce breakout, with up to20% of food and beverage industry salesto be made online by 2025, a 10-times increase from 2016.

Evaluating market demand and following trends is a great place to start when finding popularthings to make and sell. Once you have a product, you’ll want tostart your businessand set up a Shopify store with a free trial. And just like that, you’re ready to start selling!

Free Webinar:

何w to Find and Source a Winning Product to Sell

In less than 40 minutes, let us walk you through how to find product ideas, how to validate them, and how to sell the product once you have an idea you want to pursue.

2. Create a print-on-demand business

Print on demandrefers to working with a supplier to customizewhite-label productswith your own designs, then selling them under your own brand. Businesses can create products like hats, t-shirts, tote bags, and more.

The best part? You don’t have to pay for any products until after you make a sale, and the print-on-demand business is one of the most straightforward ways to make money online.

When you work with aprint-on-demand company, everything from printing the item to shipping is handled by the supplier. Once you set up an online store with your designs, it takes a few minutes to fulfill an order after the customer checks out.

Creating a print-on-demand business is a great way to make money online for the following reasons:

You can create products fast. After you design a product, you can put it up for sale on your website in minutes.
You don’t have to worry about shipping. Your supplier will handle the fulfillment process. You’re just responsible for providing good customer service after the sale.
It’s low risk, low investment. It’s easy to add new products to your store and test ideas, since you don’t hold any inventory. Your upfrontbusiness costsare minimal because you only need an online store to start.

A print-on-demand business also gives creators many opportunities to connect with fans through nice products, especially products sought out for their aesthetic design. TakeBoba Love, for example.

For all its products, the retailer focuses on one theme: bubble tea (also referred to as “boba”), a drink that originated in Taiwan in the early 1980s. Bubble tea has become extremely popular around the world and has a dedicated fan base.

Boba Love sells shirts, totes, blankets, hats, and stickers around the idea of the drink. When a shopper orders a product from the store, the supplier creates and ships it to the customer.

Curious what types of products you can create? Read21 Best Selling Print on Demand Products You Can Sell (Without Holding Inventory)to learn more.

Free Webinar:

何w to Get Started with Dropshipping

Learn how to find high-margin products, add them into your store, and start selling—fast.

3. Make a subscription box

Asubscription businessprovides customers with products on a recurring basis. The subscription ecommerce market is expected to reach$478 billionby 2025, with more customers taking advantage of it each year. Research fromMcKinseyfound that 15% of US consumers have signed up for one or more subscriptions to receive products regularly.

The benefits of creating a subscription box include:

Predictable revenue. Businesses know how much money is coming in each month and can plan growth initiatives accordingly.
More cash on hand. Subscription businesses ask for full payment upfront at a discounted price, which creates regular cash flow.
Lowercustomer acquisition costs. Customers pay you on a regular basis, so you don’t need to convince them to make additional one-time purchases in your store.

Running a subscription business from home is a proven winner.Our researchshows that 63% of founders who sold subscriptions were satisfied with business performance, compared to 55% of founders who did not sell subscriptions.

Two types of subscription businesses that we found thrived in the past year were:

Replenishment model,用户接收相同或相似的公关oducts each cycle. An example of this would be grooming brandHarry’s. A customer purchases the Harry’s starter set, containing a handle, shaving gel, and razor cartridges. They then receive automatic gel and blade refills monthly, based on their usage and preferences.
Membership model, where subscribers get access to exclusive products and perks in exchange for a monthly or yearly fee. Freelance writing communityPeak Freelanceruns on a membership model. Members pay a set fee and receive access to private Slack groups, on-demand tools and content, expert interviews, strategy sessions, and more.

想要开始一个订阅OB欧宝娱乐APP框业务from home? Read何w to Start a Subscription Business: A Brief Guideto learn how, step by step.

4. Sell on marketplaces

出售products ononline marketplaces—but beware! Selling sites can be a great launchpad for many businesses, but the current marketplaces come with aFaustian bargain: you get access to customersifyou build your business on someone else’s land. Their land, their rules—and they’ll change them at any time.

Popular marketplaces include:

Etsy
Amazon
eBay
Handshake
Mercado Libre
Rakuten
Facebook Marketplace
VarageSale

Eventually, you’ll want to diversify your business by building your own site—you don’t have to choose one or the other. The big advantage is that the profit is yours: there are no fees to pay on sales and no rules to abide by but your own.

Resources:

5. Sell digital products

Digital productsare intangible assets or pieces of media that can be sold repeatedly online. They come in the form of streamable or downloadable files, such as PDFs, plug-ins, and templates. For example, if you’re passionate about music and have experience teaching it, you can teach lessons online through your own course.

数字资产变得越来越流行,因为they have high profit margins. Sure, it may take some time and money to develop them, but once the media or software is made, it’s not expensive to store or deliver to customers.

There is no limit to how many products you can sell. Digital products help creators scale themselves by using their expertise to create kits, printables, files, and other assets professionals can benefit from. As your online portfolio of digital products grows, you’ll naturally be in a better position to make more money from your own online store.

用户体验包sells wireflows, user personas, flowcharts, and other products to assist the design process.

The brand has sold kits to over 10,000 designers, developers, and product managers in more than 100 countries. It’s since expanded to sell three physical products but continues to drive sales from the digital assets created years ago.

Digital products aren’t just for business professionals. Home fitness businessStreet Parkingsells a variety of digital products—from workout plans to online courses—and membership subscriptions for people who need at-home workouts.

Whatever you decide to create, figure out the needs of your target audience and work backward from there. Think about the kinds of assets they need/want and create products that are in demand. This will make it easier to sell and earn more money working from home.

6. Sell your creative work

It’s easier than ever for creators to sell their work online. Whether it’s music, videos, digital art, photography, magazines, or podcasts, you can set up a digital shop and start selling with little limitation.

While selling creative work sounds similar to digital products, the difference is that your products are more creative ventures. They are a way to express yourself online versus satisfying a buyer’s needs. Creators and artists who don’t have a network or connections with galleries and PR can nowmake money onlinedoing something they love.

What started as a cartoon on Instagram for Harry Hambley has grown into an international icon and ecommerce brand. As described in aninterview with the BBC,Ketnipzcreator skipped university to draw cartoons online.

And Hambley’s strategy certainly paid off. The Ketnipz brand has over 3.2 million followers on Instagram, sells clothing and accessories online, and can even befound on muralsaround the world.

Using a combination of social media and an online store, you can make money online. Start building an active presence and engaging with your audience to establish your brand and find new customers.

Resources:

7. Monetize an audience

货币化观众绝对是一个挑战endeavor, but the creator-to-commerce business model is becoming more successful in modern times. Bloggers and influencers today don’t need to be internet celebrities to make money from home online. All they have to do is find their people on one or two platforms and they can turn their audience intopassive income.

Sonja Detrinidad, founder ofPartly Sunny Projects, an online plant shop, turned one of her part-time pre-pandemic hobbies into a full-time business through TikTok marketing. She didn’t set out to become TikTok’s favorite plant mom, but discovered by accident the possibilities of monetizing an audience.

Sonja processed more than 1,200 orders in one month at the height of plant-shopping season last summer. She also increased her subscription box customers by more than four times since becoming a TikTok sensation, with over 350,000 followers on the platform.

Some ways you can monetize an audience are:

Building your own website and selling online
Through affiliate marketing commissions
Using Instagram shoppable posts
Starting a YouTube channel or other social media account and running ads
Adding Google AdSense to an active blog

Regardless of how you go about it, monetizing an audience is a legitimate way to make money from home. It may take some time to build a targeted audience, but the investment will be well worth your time in the long run.

Related Content:

8. Become a freelancer

Onehome business ideabecoming more popular is offering freelance services to clients online. Almost any role a business would hire for can potentially be filled by a freelancer:

Writing
Graphic design
Marketing
Data entry
Illustration
Transcription
Online tutoring
Shopify store setup

Most of these services are best positioned toward business clients. Why? Because online businesses are the ones who are willing to spend. Freelancers can charge based on the outcome of their work versus the deliverable, which gives them leverage when it comes to pricing their services.

“Every freelancer eventually learns that there are desired business outcomes tied to their work,” explains Elise Dopson, co-founder ofPeak Freelance. “Freelance writers, for example, are not just blogging for a company. They are creating content that increases traffic, leads, and customers for a business. The sooner you learn that, and can deliver on it, the more money you’ll make freelancing from home.”

Elise has worked with brands such as CXL, HubSpot, Privy, and other leading B2B software-as-a-service companies to produce incredible content that gets results, which is how she broke thesix-figure-income ceiling by the age of 21all on her own schedule.

If you have a passion for writing, designing, or organizing stuff, turn it into a freelance service.

As morecompanies become completely remote,opportunities to earn money from home freelancing will only become more abundant. It just takes a little know-how and determination to make it happen.

9.成为一个虚拟助手

With so many businesses moving online, the demand for virtual assistants is growing. Virtual assistants (VAs) are contractors who work with businesses and individuals on the jobs they are given.

Virtual assistants work from home and help with tasks such as:

Time management and administrative tasks, like responding to emails
Financial tasks, like bookkeeping and client invoicing
Team management tasks, like following up on deliverables, organizing training sessions, and creating task templates
Social media and digital marketing tasks, like publishing and managing content
Personal tasks, like managing investment properties, paying bills, and planning trips
Content tasks, like video or podcast editing

Each VA has their own speciality. I myself have worked with VAs for years in my writing business, many of whom make a full-time living as virtual assistants.

You can make good money with a small number of clients, but once you stop working, the cash flow stops coming. VAs can start a blog, sell digital products, or coach other VAs to create new revenue streams and make more money from home.

10. Become a reseller

Don’t want to worry about creating new products or about minimum purchase quantities? Not a problem. You don’t need a revolutionary product idea to make money from home. Instead, you canbecome a reseller.

A reseller is a person who buys products from manufacturers, liquidators, and other retailers, then sells them to their own customers. A reseller permit lets your purchase certain products free of sales tax:

Products to sell at wholesale
Products to sell at retail
Components to manufacture products

You can find suppliers to purchase items from through a number of ways:

A dropshipping supplier likeDSersorSaleHoo
Vintage boutiques
Consignment shops
Facebook Marketplace

COAL N TERRYis one retailer that sells a vintage collection in its online store. The brand sells classic clothing alongside its own proprietary brand of hoodies and other apparel, giving shoppers a variety of products to browse and buy.

A reselling business can be profitable if you have niche expertise, like beauty or fashion. You can launch an ecommerce store fast when you don’t have to go through product development or building an audience from scratch.

11. Create and sell art

Are you an independent artist looking for ways to make money from home? Artists can fund their craft and sell work directly to fans through online channels like an online store and non-fungible-token marketplaces.

There are a number of other options for making sales off of one piece:

Original art
Limited or open edition prints
Digital downloads
Commissions
Merchandise like hats or enamel pins
Repeat prints on fabric
Licensing work to other brands or publications
Collaborations

To learn more about selling your art, read何w to Sell Art Online: The Ultimate Guide.

12. Collect and sell vintage clothing

Got a passion for second-hand fashion? Love the high of picking up a vintage dress at your local thrift store at a cheap price? You can turn that feeling into a business by selling vintage clothing from home.

A$64 billion market, vintage shoppers depend on store owners to curate the best items around at the best condition. The rise in demand for vintage clothes has led to the success of brands like ThredUp and the increase of vintage clothing sellers on marketplaces like Etsy and eBay. It’s competitive, but that shouldn’t stop you from creating a cool brand and carving a space out for yourself in the vintage community.

Naomi Bergknoff, founder ofOMNIA, has been selling vintage clothing online since 2010. Combining her love for vintage clothes and her retail expertise, she’s defined a particular style away from marketplaces and close to home in Brooklyn.

Learn more by reading何w to Sell Vintage Clothing Online: The Ultimate Guide.

13. Sell photos

The ability to make money from home as a photographer is about harnessing your creativity and monetizing it. It can seem challenging at first, but by finding your niche and building an audience, you can create multiple streams of income over time.

Photographers have plenty of options to sell online:

Stock marketplaces like Alamy, 500px, 123RF, and Stocksy
Products such as prints, photo books, and physical goods like shirts and hats, using print-on-demand services
Services covering fashion shoots, product photography, events, or anything else you love to shoot

Sound interesting? Read何w to Sell Photos Online: For Both Amateur and Pro Photographersto start selling your photography today.

14. Rent your unused space

Most people don’t think about using their empty space to make money from home. Yet it’s one of the easiest sources of passive income. From bedrooms to parking areas, you may have some space people will happily pay you to rent.

You have a wide range of options here:

带来一个室友在你的房子租了一个房间
Rent a room on Airbnb
Rent out storage space onSpareFoot
Rent out your parking space
何st a foreign exchange student
Offer pet boarding

You don’t need tons of money or time to rent out your space. Rather than let unused space go to waste, offer it as a service to people who need it.

15. Start a pet business

Pet businesses are a fun way to make money from home (if you love animals, of course). There are many different ways to earn extra cash, like providing walking and grooming services, training, making and selling treats, or reselling products like bowls and chew toys.

You’re not limited to dogs and cats either. You could specialize in reptiles, fish, bunnies—whatever animals you enjoy being around. Pet owners alone spent more than$123 billionon their pets in 2021, making this a profitable business opportunity for newcomers.

Are pets your passion? Read何w to Start a Pet Business (Plus Ideas and Examples from Top Brands)to turn it into a business today.

16. Sell coffee

Coffee sellers are always in demand as more and more coffee is consumed globally each year, according to theInternational Coffee Organization. If someone can’t get to their local café in the morning, they’re brewing beans at home while getting ready for the workday.

卖咖啡可以赚钱fr的好办法om home with a strong brand and marketing plan. Coffee is a commodity product, so it’s widely available. Customers tend to look for branding cues like design and bean origin to decide what to buy. By selling coffee, you’ll have a high volume of potential customers and many niching and expansion opportunities to take advantage of.

Read出售Coffee from Home: What Does it Take to Launch an Online Café

17. Build and sell woodworking projects

If you’re a woodworker already, or curious about the craft, you can make money from home building and selling woodworking products. There are products to sell for all levels, from beginner to skilled woodworkers. You just need to figure out the best project for you!

Some fun woodworking projects that sell include:

Wooden signs
Kitchen products
Furniture
Surfboards
Boxes
Picture frames
Planters

If you’re ready to sell your wooden crafts online, read12 Woodworking Projects and How to Sell Them Onlineto get started.

18. Test computer numerical control (CNC) projects

A CNC router is a computer-operated cutting tool that acts as a combination panel saw, spindle molder, and boring machine. It carves complex shapes out of materials like metal, wood, plastics, and glass. CNC routers use programmable automation, similar to 3D printing, to design complex parts at scale.

Small CNC machines can cost from a few hundred dollars up to thousands, depending on the make and model. With them, you can create handcrafted, one-of-a-kind products for buyers across many markets, including:

何me decor products
Kitchen and barbecue tools
Office supplies
Custom signage
Toys and games
Jewelry

There are tons of resources available online to learn about using a CNC router. There’s a very low barrier to entry. And you can test, create, and sell products with minimal upfront costs.

Interested in starting a CNC business? ReadPutting the Pieces Together: 26 CNC Projects That Sellto learn more about this up-and-coming tactic.

19. Make candles

Looking for a fun way to make money from home? Start making and selling candles to people online. It takes a little know-how and hard work, but the upside is that you can customize candles and sell them anywhere. It’s also a low-cost business to start. Common costs include equipment to make the candles, like a double-boiler, pouring pots, and containers.

BUSINESS TIP:If you are unsure how to discover the profitability of a product, use Shopify'sfree profit margin calculatorto work it out for you.

蜡烛业务也可以是非常有利可图的. The candle-making industry is set to reach$13.3 billion by 2028, meaning there is no shortage of people buying candles they love. It’s also a good way to express your creativity and build a brand, like candle companyBoy Smells, which broke traditional gender norms in fashion, home, and scent with its business.

Learn to build your candle making startup by readingTurn Scents Into Dollars: How to Start a Candle Business (Plus Examples From Top Brands).

20. Make soap

Are you an avid DIYer and eager entrepreneur? You may enjoy making and selling soap from home. While soap doesn’t sound like the best income stream around, it’s an in-demand product customers need.

Soap is a household product that everyone uses in some form, whether it’s to wash dirty hands, dishes, or laundry. The COVID pandemic also stimulated the industry, projected to reach$55.2 billion by 2027, creating huge demand for hygiene products to prevent infection. It’s a great way to get creative with different scents and types, with potential to expand your brand to other products like candles and fragrances.

Want to get your hands dirty with this business idea? Read何w to Make Soap: Turn a Household Necessity into a Homemade Businessfor more information.

21. Make bath bombs

Bath bombs are all the rage and a great way to make money from home. The US bath bomb market is expected to grow into a$350 million industryby 2025. If you turn to Instagram, you’ll see there aremillions of photosshowing how these colorful balls explode when dropped in water.

If you love DIY and have a knack for crafts, read何w to Start a Bath Bomb Business from Home: A Step-by-Step Guide. You’ll learn how to source ingredients, make your bath bombs, market them, and grow a business people love.

22. Make skincare products

Indie beauty brands are driving the growth of the$183 billionglobal skin care market. If you love taking care of your skin and want to turn it into a business, now’s the time. Newcomers are jumping on trends like hybrid beauty (the combination of cosmetic and skin care), cannabis-based products, and clean beauty (products made without harming human health).

The beauty of being a small brand is that you can tackle a specific problem for a specific audience. Find a market that’s underserved by current brands and create skin care products just for them.

You’ll want to learn more about manufacturing and working with suppliers when running a profitable skin care business. Read all about it (and more) in our guide何w to Start a Skin Care Line: 11 Lessons From a Serial Beauty Entrepreneur.

23. Start a food business

Everyone’s got to eat, you can’t argue with that. Which is why starting a food business is a great idea if you want to make money from home.

Outside of restaurants, there are endless high-profit-margin businesses you can run with low overhead and startup costs. The trick is cooking food you are passionate and curious about, regardless of your experience level.

Some food business ideas to start include:

Food truck
Catering business
Cooking classes
Meal kits
Sauces
Pre-packaged snacks
何memade jams and jellies
Wine, beer, and spirits

Want to see examples of other food businesses in action? Check out出售ing Like Hotcakes: 13 Profitable Food Business Ideas for 2022on the Shopify blog.

24. Become a tutor

Are you an expert in math, art, or another subject? You can make money from home doing online tutoring. A prerequisite for most tutoring gigs is a bachelor’s degree in your subject, depending on where you apply for the job. You can find tutoring clients on websites likeSkooliandTutor.com.

Only teach subjects that you have demonstrated expertise in. You’ll want to share skills and practical knowledge to create good learning experiences for your students. You can provide pre-recorded lectures and templates, plus meet students through Zoom. Tutoring is also inexpensive to start (if you already have that degree) and can easily earn you extra money.

25. Offer child care

If you’re a stay-at-home parent or enjoy taking care of kids, you can easily start a child care business from home. You can offer all-day care (eight hours) for other parents while they are at work, or even just before and after school care (one to four hours). The choice is yours.

Look at other day care businesses in your area and see what they charge. Choose your rates wisely. Don’t undercharge just to get more business. Then you’ll be taking care of too many kids and won’t be able to provide proper care. Start with an income goal for a day, then decide how many kids you can realistically watch. Divide those two numbers to see how much to charge per kid, per day.

何me jobs to avoid

Now that you have a good idea of different ways to make money from home, let’s look at some jobs to avoid.

Freelance marketplaces

Marketplaces likeFiverrandUpworkmightbe a way to get your start, but quickly can turn into a price race to the bottom. You’re forced to compete on price and don’t have a way to differentiate your services or offer something premium. Long term, this isn’t the way to go. You are better off creating afreelancer websiteand building a business that doesn’t rely on renting digital space in a marketplace.

Online survey sites

The pay is very low from online survey sites, and you accrue no long-term value. You’re not building skills or building an asset, you’re just losing time. Trading time for extra cash is always a reasonable short-termside hustle, but if you can, it’s better to think long term.

Online survey sites include:

Swagbucks
Survey Junkie
InboxDollars

Building an app

Look at most websites promoting legit ways to make money online and they’ll tell you to build an app. All new ventures are hard and most fail, but consumer apps are hyper-competitive: the average person uses onlynine apps on their phoneper day, most developed by major companies.

A better option? Grow your skill set by building useful, problem-solving apps for businesses via growing marketplaces like the Shopify App Store orSalesforce Appexchange.

Side gigs

If you want to make a quick buck, then side gig apps like Rover or UserTesting are good options. But similar to online survey sites, you aren’t building anything valuable in the long run.

You are better off learning skills in your spare time, like running Facebook ads or starting a dropshipping store, which can make you money repeatedly, versus a one-off cash gig from Craigslist.

Anything that’s pay-to-earn

Real businesses require investment, but anything that operates in a pay-to-earn model should be treated with extreme caution. For example, sites that promise you can win money by spending money, or multi-level marketing groups that require money not for inventory or product, but just to join.

Most gimmicks are scams in disguise: the simple but hard truth is that you need to sell something people want.

Learning how to make money from home

If you have an internet connection, you can make money from home online. Sure, the lure of fast and easy cash gigs may seem like a great idea, but it will only keep you on a hamster wheel of trading your time for cash—and time is our most valuable asset in life.

Use your time wisely and invest in building a business that’s rewarding and will pay you a bigger salary than any tester or survey site. $100 per day does sound nice, but what if I told you that an online business could net you more than $500 per day. Would you still choose finding side gigs on Craigslist?

Make money from home FAQ

何w do I make money from home?

Anyone with an internet connection can make money from home today. You can find aunique business ideaor trending product to sell, set up an ecommerce store with a free trial, and start marketing online. You could sell dropshipping products, digital products, or make your own products to sell to people online.Get started with Shopify

何w do I make an extra $1000 a month?

销售铜stom products
Create a dropshipping business
出售on online marketplaces
Monetize an audience
出售digital products
Become a freelancer

何w can I make money from home with no money?

Become an English tutor
出售stuff on eBay or Craigslist
成为一个虚拟助手
Start a print on demand business
出售your creative work
Build an audience and monetize it
Start an ecommerce store

Get started with Shopify

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