Potential: Many corporate companies have a gym within their premises but few have dedicated coaches to work out sustainable routines for staff.
Potential: Either or these less intense fitness systems are extremely popular with women and can be implemented from home, in hired premises, at the local community centre, schools or corporate environments. If you’re thinking of online classes an excellent LMS is LearnWorld which will accommodate video and PDF transfers PLUS they help you with your marketing to get your course out there and sold.
Potential: If you enjoy an uncommon sport offer training in various areas around your city to expand its reach and build teams of new opponents.
Potential: City dwellers love to get out and active during weekends and short hikes close to their area are usually well attended.
Hiking clubs are common as are photo walks, which are aimed at tourists or local photography enthusiasts. Offering themed walks and end of day competition prizes for the best photo motivates participation on a regular basis.
Potential: Being an Avon Lady has gained prestige over the years especially with the progress made in anti-ageing products for both men and women, and with men becoming more conscious of their appearance, there are many opportunities in the cosmetics industry including; MLM.
Potential: A much sort after service if you have the premises, there are a myriad of young people qualifying to work in Spas.
Potential: Offerings such as; facials, nails, hairdressing, slimming and tanning treatment and much more, can be run from home, hired premises or you can take it on the road.
Potential: Everyone is into getting healthy and staying healthy. These are also good products for expo’s and markets and there are numerous MLM opportunities in this arena.
Potential: With the fast pace of life, there is always a demand for someone to help with important aspects of life such as planning a wedding. Of course we always think of the beautiful young bride in a white dress, but the suggestion here is a focus on 2nd time weddings which may not be as extravagant but no less import to the bridal couple and the business attending to their needs.
Potential: From corporate events to romantic evenings for two, pick your size and excel
Potential: Some functions are bigger than others and require the services of a project management team. Music concerts, campaigns and the like might last a weekend or a month and need constant attention from a dedicated project manager.
Potential: Compiling trips for overseas guests, corporate events or private parties is an interesting and fulfilling business model if you love to travel and play host.
Potential: Single people often find it tedious to cook for themselves and tend to support their local fast-food outlets more often than they know is healthy for them. Cook meals for a week at a time, which customers can freeze and reheat daily when they get home, or take to work.
Potential: From running the school tuck shop to managing 5* functions, the need to feed is always with us.
Potential: Buying a franchise is, of course not limited to fast food outlets but they are the most commonly known models. A recommendation is to be active within your business if you are considering such a venture.
Potential: Do you have a recipe that can be packaged and sold nationwide? Healthy snack products are in great demand.
Potential: Although most families have tried and tested recipes that have been passed down through generations, many are memorised and pass away with the holder of the secret. Or, if you’re anything like me, you have stacks of pieces of paper, some stuck in project books, some in recipe books... Combined they’d make a lovely family heirloom or a profitable business venture.
Cooking, baking, preserving or icing classes is another potential business venture for enthusiasts.
Potential: Depending on the size of your home and the area you live in, you can start a coffee shop almost anywhere, I’ve heard of a lady running one in her complex… The more relaxing the atmosphere the more likely you are to get a solid flow of traffic to sustain your business
1. Affiliate Marketing
Potential: Internet-based, selling other people’s products and/or services for a commission. Depending on your choice products you can make use of Google AdSense and AdWords or Facebook marketing as well as blogging.
2. Photography
Potential: A vast number of sites offer payment for photos, video and various combinations, if you love the idea of people using your work for commercial purposes and use a laptop, you can submit to a number of sites, but save an idea to open a site of your own to showcase your work and extra advertising or submitting it to companies directly may be needed to establish yourself.
3. Blogging
Potential: Develop a blog for your offline business or make it your business to blog. Whatever interests you have can most likely be blogged about and you can earn AdSense income from allowing Google to place related advertising on your blog.
4. Online Consultancy
Potential: If you’re an expert in your field of business or a hobby and can connect with people via the Internet, becoming an online consultant is a definite option for you. From teaching English to reading the Tarot, there are sites that cater for that and much more, or go it alone.
Potential: Since every serious business strives to stay compliant with statutory laws and best practices, offering an accounting service is a sort-after business model.
Potential: Every office has a certain amount of administration functions from typing and filing, to general or high-level secretarial work including the preparation of contract documents, PPT’s, spreadsheets, board documents to industry specific functions.
Potential: Every successful, sustainable business has to keep account of their operational income and expenditure. Your expertise and experience opens the door to entrepreneurship.
Potential: If debtors is your forte there are always companies needing to collect on outstanding monies owed to them to keep their cash flow - well... flowing.
Potential: Offering your choice of administrative and secretarial services to travelling business people who need a solid base but do business internationally. Tasks may include taking messages, responding to written communications, making bookings, setting up online conferences. There are also a number of online facilities you can register with to get work in.
Potential: Although there is a big hype online about this business model, it will be best for you to market your services independently. There are ways too many freelance platforms online and although you should register with some, there is so much competition that the amount of work being passed to you might be disheartening. Still, everybody is an author now days and new products, courses and instruction manuals all need editorial services.
Potential: Many medium and small companies need the services of a professional person in their field who can compile technical information brochures, create courses or training manuals, more so now than ever before due to the Internet and the number of platforms that cater to instructors. If you’ve been working in a particular field or have a unique skill or interest but don’t revel in the idea of presenting courses yourself.
Potential: For excellent writers who love listening and have great organisational skills.
Potential: Advertising demand is at an all-time high with pricing to suit. Agencies are under pressure to keep their customers satisfied with new and exciting content and freelance sites are chock full, there is an open market for talented copy writers to forge their way into the world of business providing a much-needed service to their peers in the small business sector.
Potential: Do you have amazing marketing skills with the ability to sell ice to Eskimos? Millions of small companies fail each year because of a lack of marketing skills. Imagine the service you’d be doing the world if you have the knack to change this trend.
Potential: Needing no introduction, your choice of product, and training is usually included.
Potential: Are you a fundi at leading people down the garden path with your inspiring stories? Small companies need your services.
Potential: Either opening a telemarketing service of your own or offering training to create effective and efficient telemarketers are both needed in today’s business arena.
Potential: The ever-elusive “close” ... So many people struggle with this final step in the marketing process, depleting confidence and cash flow for the business all at once - teach them how...
Potential: Google, Facebook, Twitter and many other Social platforms have free courses on this topic to give you a kick start. As with everything, you have to be committed, and in this case, there is risk involved, so grounded confidence is a definite necessity.
Potential: Are you into one of those exquisite ‘Photoshop-type’, Gimp or other graphic design Apps? Then you know that it doesn’t take 5 minutes to create content, and if you have copywriting skills to boot, there are many online opportunities with small businesses.
Potential: There are a number of online platforms available to creators of animation characters for games, movies etc. These along with assets such as clothing, architecture, props, models and more are all potential products for sale.
Potential: Using freely available software or another package and your artistic skills to create advertising material for business, cartoons, training material and the like is an excellent business model if your creative skills extend to this level.
Potential: Are you a 3D generalist and serious about the movie business? It takes a while to create a full movie but with the number of platforms available where you can buy characters and accessories needed it’s possible to start a one-person business and outsource certain aspects you’re not skilled at to freelancers. Since you’ll have to fund your project and stay alive in the meantime, you’ll probably have to create commercials, short films or teach.
Potential: If you know coding or are familiar with, or eager to learn the appropriate software such as Blender or GameMaker this market is at an all-time high.
Potential: If you prefer talking to writing then podcasting is an excellent alternative to blogging for you. Many podcasters focus on interviewing people who have achieved in their area of expertise, others DJ their kind of music and so on. The idea is to create a following of dedicated fans which will entice companies to advertise with you or subscribers will pay to listen.
Potential: Either online or in print magazines are still as popular as ever and if you have a special interest or hobby that will fill the pages of a weekly, monthly or quarterly publication this is an option you can seriously consider.
Potential: Are you an avid video photographer? Setting up a YouTube channel and getting a certain number of followers will enable you to earn from your efforts with advertising. But that’s only the beginning, you can create a membership channel which people will pay to access.
Potential: Apart from a weekly or monthly publication you can combine the two functions, offering to create newsletters for local or online businesses to send to their customers regularly.
Potential: Online studying is a reality in our era and we are equipped with the most amazing facilities on the Internet, where you can learn anything from making goods to making wine to how the brain works and the basics of Astrophysics, via video courses. In fact, universities around the world often recommend the use of these platforms for students to learn more on specific subjects.
Potential: There are many brick and mortar educational facilities and online platforms offering a service where you can teach live one-on-one or group classes or help with homework. If you have a higher qualification in a particular field the world is your oyster.
Potential: Whilst it’s possible for anyone to learn anything in this day and age, the truth is we’re floating in a world of too much information and if we don’t have a proper road map we soon get lost and disheartened. A mentor acts as a field guide to ensure clients arrive at their destination in the shortest possible time. Can be done on or offline.
Potential: From dancing to music, skydiving to cake baking, from cleaning services to maths and accounting, you name it, there’s a training facility for it.
Potential: Apart from the numerous online platforms you can teach from, there are franchises as well as the opportunity to help youths struggling in school, college or university. In addition, you can set up programs to compliment your own skills and offer them to first time job seekers.
Potential: This service can be done in small scale if you have the premises and facilities. Another option is to find out if your local school, sports club or community centre can accommodate such a venture. Services, such as transportation to and from school and/or extra murals, depend on how you structure your business. Help with homework will be necessary.
Potential: A lot of crèches, nursery and primary schools are in need of someone who can help out with playground projects, such as installing, renovating or moving playground equipment. Another popular trend is installing a sensory garden and of course, maintenance.
Potential: Do you have a keen imagination that can captivate the youth? Many children have online devices and are able to download eBooks. Creating an exciting series is destined to keep you and them interested and busy into the future.
Potential: For children’s parties all the way to corporate events party acts are a viable small business venture. Select your scenes or create them to order, from Snow White to drumming to gorilla messaging...
Potential: A very exclusive business model where the entrepreneur creates a home cinema, either in their lounge or another room. Usually attendance is by invitation only, guests are treated to dinner and the show or any number of other themed events. For example; a showing of the original Great Gatsby might require guests to come dressed in costume, décor and dinner would be appropriate to the occasion. A membership business model would suit this venture.
Potential: If you have your own premises and enjoy the hustle and bustle of organising and catering for small events renting out your venue can be a very satisfying business proposition for you. If you don’t have the premises, there is also the option to hire premises on behalf of your clients and coordinating the event yourself.
Potential: Everybody loves a good party and party shops are springing up all over, combine your organisational and décor skills to create a well-supported service to your local community.
Potential: We all love a theme party and dressing up to suit the occasion. Apart from the conventional costumes, how about some original creation?
Potential: Are you an avid traveller and love photography? There are many businesses that pay well for original, high quality photos, video footage and written content of foreign destinations.
Potential: Do you have a spare room or are you thinking of starting a B&B? You can register with AirBnB to let your space out and they’ll help market it for you.
Potential: This venture can either depend on an agreement with an existing Tour operator where you go along as the host, or you can package and host the tours yourself if you have suitable transport.
Potential: Thinking more of up-market international clients? Communicate with travel agents or secure your own clients through international businesses and design tours according to their preferences.
Potential: From restaurants wanting to advertise their tasty dishes to children’s parties, from weddings and wildlife to commercial photography there really is an endless demand for professional quality photography and video footage which you can do freelance for real-world customers and/or delve online to market your services.
Potential: A very large market exists for enthusiastic Journalist from writing for the print media, broadcasting, online publications such as newspapers and magazines. Photo journalism is particularly in demand.
Potential: Internet sites such as Fiverr, Elance, Freelance.com and are platforms where you can register as a freelancer. However, although it is recommended to list with these facilities, there are millions of freelancers on each so if you’re particularly talented you might secure some jobs through them, but to secure your livelihood as a freelance business owner, you’ll have to market yourself as well.
Potential: From developing Apps to writing for business and getting involved with open-source platforms, if you’re interested and able to write and launch code your market is very wide.
Potential: With all our amazing malls a retail outlet is still a great opportunity. It’s a tried and tested business model and with the Internet available to simplify communications, orders and shipping, imported items become accessible to almost anyone. Local designers are also always looking for outlets for their creations and if you love creating glamorous, chic, sporty or kinky outfits yourself then this could be for you.
Potential: A flair for fashion is big business but you don’t need to be Louis Vuitton or Christian Louboutin to make a living. Apart from clothing we use endless accessories and most women, like me, love a trendy handbag and stylish belts, to name a few.
Potential: If you love to work buying and selling online and can source quality fashion items such as shoes, sophisticated lingerie/lounge-wear, sports gear etc. There are numerous eCommerce platforms to choose from but be aware, this is a highly competitive business model so additional marketing will be needed to secure success.
Potential: Original fabric designs and pattern are always in demand - design and create to order.
Potential: From sewing scarves to sophisticated evening or wedding gowns to casual attire, there is always work for a professional seamstress but creating a proper business is recommended to ensure growth and prosperity.
Potential: Love gardening? It’s not just about driving your workforce around to mow lawns and tidy up edges. Offering minor landscaping services including lovely pebble pathways and water features are just a few of creations customers will ask you about.
Potential: Know stuff about plants and garden layout and design? Landscaping is an art many clients are eager to hire someone to help them with, at their homes, at residential complexes and office parks and more.
Potential: Talented with metal or wood work? Many people and retail outlets import high quality garden furniture. In South Africa we love our outdoor living and the market for both furniture and weather-proof fittings such as table cloths, cushions, custom umbrellas and covers enjoy a healthy market.
Potential: With the ever-increasing trend towards healthy living specializing in herb and vegetable garden design and planting is in demand, especially for small space, complex gardens.
Potential: An annual spring cleaning or monthly or weekly cleaning service in homes is popular among business people who spend a lot of time at the office or travelling. If you prefer to go bigger, there is a perpetual market in the corporate and medical fields as well as specialised service requirements in the industrial sector.
Potential: A professional organiser will assist with tidying up packing spaces such as cupboards, rooms and attics in homes and may also be called upon to pack and unpack when families or businesses are moving premises.
Potential: A concierge service usually takes care of home-related chores when the owners travel for business or pleasure. Tasks may include; doing laundry, collecting post or dry cleaning, attending to pets, some secretarial work may be included, depending the client’s requirements.
Potential: From homes to schools, clubs and big business, a window cleaning service can be highly lucrative.
Potential: With the fast pace of life, it’s difficult for working families to take care of ageing parents or incapacitated relatives. Employing the services of an in-home or day-care carer is an option many of these families opt for. People generally prefer to hire registered carers from a business that is able to take responsibility for vetting employees and attending to the administration of their needs.
Potential: Many elderly people living by themselves or in retirement facilities prefer to hire someone from outside to help when they want to go out or to run errands for them. This may entail shopping excursions or further afield trips, attending to chores or the needs of their pets.
Potential: Undertaken by ex-nurses who are qualified to administer medication such as injections or cleaning wounds, attend to degenerative condition and checking on dietary requirements. Forms of entertainment may also be included such as playing games, reading and watching TV or a movie with them.
Potential: If seniors decide to downsize and relocate to a retirement facility, they may need help finding a suitable home, then packing and a “friend” who can help them settle in their new place.
Potential: Beautiful cushions, silk scarves, theme table cloths for functions or resorts, tie-dye and/or stencilled curtains, you name it, your crafting of this type is what you love there’s a market for it and selling these items online and making to order can become a very profitable venture.
Potential: With access to freshly grown fruits and/or vegetables this is a viable local market. Now days big food chains will consider your offering and it’s possible for you to win a contract if you’re prepared to stay the course with their vetting processes. There are also many home-industry and roadside shops throughout the country where good quality products are always needed and appreciated by locals and travellers alike.
Potential: Corporates and accommodation facilities are always looking for beautifully packed gift baskets.
Potential: Everybody loves home-made treats and if you’re really creative at icing there’s an endless market for beautiful cakes, cup-cakes and tasty deserts.
Potential: Finding the right market for your goods might take a little time but online marketplaces are full of beautiful, original creations, and there are still craft markets where stalls can be set up permanently or at the weekends.
Potential: You’d have to be into beading to create stunning jewellery, not plastic though, China has the market on those. Any and every gift shop is a potential client as well as up-market boutiques, jewellery stores, and online - of course.
Potential: There are a number of white label platforms online. In case you’re not familiar with the term, white label means you can brand it yourself, and dating platforms are some of the most popular.
Potential: Some people have style whilst other have to learn it. There are so many people looking for a make-over because; they’ve qualified and need to adopt the corporate look for business purposes or, they let themselves go at some point and need a quick fix to get their lives back on track or, they simply want to try something different and want some direction.
Potential: Lasting change never happens instantly and that is why life coaching is one of the fastest growing industries globally. You select your niche and focus on helping your clients achieve their goals. From confidence building to spiritual work to pre-marital to executive and team coaching, your services are needed.
Potential: Misunderstandings are the cause of most of the unhappiness people suffer in our world. Not only between married couples but often between parent and child.
Check back here weekly, we’ll be adding to the list on a regular basis.
NOTE: Taking things further is your responsibility but if you have questions or need guidance, you’re welcome to ask or book an appointment with Cathy HERE.
Potential: Are you a great negotiator with second to none project management skills? There’s always someone looking to spruce up their work or home environment but they’ll expect you to improve on the legendary contractor reputation for being tardy.
Potential: Project managers, home owners, developers, who doesn’t need a self-employed drafts person to turn their vision into workable blueprints?
Potential: Do you love turning empty spaces or tired old rooms into elegant masterpieces or bright new beginnings? Other skills you will need is the ability to negotiate on behalf of and with your clients. Not everyone can afford your prestigious services so you’ll be working for up-market clients who expect the best - for less. Your understanding of the term; “the customer is always right” will help secure a sustainable business and comfortable future for yourself.
Potential: What’s your speciality; gates, walls, roofing, painting, tiling, sliding doors, garden or water features, fences, pools, entertainment areas, paving, construction, thatching…? The list goes on, and on. The most important skill you’ll need is marketing, even when you’re busy.
Potential: Love to get your hands dirty? There are numerous ventures available, complete with mixers, moulds and instructions that can have you creating your own designs and marketing to the built industry or private home owners.
1. Pet Shop
Potential: Always popular but needs to be well managed to ensure hygiene and the comfort of the animals.
Potential: There are many pet-supply ventures on the Internet but if you can supply something a little different such as; blogging advice, podcasting or unique products or services this venture can do very well.
Potential: If you have creative ideas and enjoy the toiling of production, there are many outlets both online and in the real world always looking for new products to add to their offering.
Potential: Does your bearded dragon feast on something you can’t buy for it or does your dog enjoy munching on something unusual or perhaps you can come up with a pet recipe book?
People love to spoil their pets and if it’s something unusual all the better.
Potential: Love animals? So do their owners! If you don’t have the funds for premises then try house calls or start off with dog walking and save towards this dream job.
Potential: Do you support a NPO? There are many ways to help them raise funds and one to consider is to invite guests to buy tickets for a tour of the premises or village where your beneficiaries carry out their work. A traditional meal or extended safari tour, to promote South Africa with foreign visitors will add value to their donations. If you don’t sponsor such groups, you can start your business by offering this service to corporate companies that do.
Potential: People love to mingle with those who share their interests or hobbies, so if you have a special interest, starting a social club to encourage interaction can turn into a lucrative business is run efficiently. Make sure your members receive ultimate value for their money, such as a monthly newsletter covering events they can attend and ensure they feel included.
Potential: A great initiative for a group of people who work together on projects or contracts. If each person prefers to take responsibility for one particular aspect everyone stands to benefit.
Potential: Do you have a project that you need many hands for such as bead work, detailed painting, sewing? Why not offer training at minimum wage and once qualified your protégés will be in a position to find employment for themselves
Potential: What started out as Life Coaching has diversified into a guiding light for millions of people around the world. From Spiritual interests to corporate group and executive coaching, get your qualification, find your niche and help people to achieve their goals in life.
Potential: Budgeting is a necessary skill for each household to master. If you’re qualified in the financial field there are numerous opportunities to earn commissions on financial products as well as helping clients to create a secure future for themselves.
Potential: Either of these business models will require you to have a qualification and can be practised from your home, consulting rooms and/or out in the field. From rehabilitation after an accident to drug rehabilitation and trauma counselling - people are in desperate need of help to repair damage in their bodies, minds or souls.
Potential: Are you psychic; Clairvoyant, Clairaudient and/or other? There are very many avenues open to you now days. Online platforms are plentiful, but competition is great and earnings are not magnificent, register with one or two anyway. You can also try your local Esoteric store, they often host psychics, the best option is probably a website of your own.
Potential: We all want to be different, yet fit in. Personal fashion accessories make the statements we don’t want to turn into words, even if they’re printed all over our garments. If you have a flair for fashion, this market is ever-changing and very active.
Potential: This is an ever-active market with an excellent selection for local and imported products. Everyone is looking for something unique to turn their home into their personal nest so the market is vast and specialising in one area is definitely recommended.
Potential: From pre-natal to young adulthood, there are gadgets and goodies to help parents and their children through prevailing circumstances during the years of growing up. Take a walk around a baby shop, as toy store and even the Internet or your local supermarket… find anything you could improve on, anything that sparks your imagination for a brand new creation? Whether you decide to manufacture yourself or import, this is an active and lucrative target for a new business venture.
Potential: Contrary to popular beliefs there isn’t an App for everything yet and there are many accessories and gadgets that haven’t been invented yet either. The world awaits your genius.
Potential: Music is a way of life and DJ services are always in demand and not only in the real world, if you love mixing up beats you can also consider a YouTube channel or podcasting for the kind of music you enjoy most.
Potential: A good venture with our many malls of today. Other alternatives are markets where we can still buy vinyl records and sometimes even cassette tapes. A further alternative, if you have the necessary equipment, is to offer a recording facility where you transfer people’s “old” music onto modern devices such as USB or CD so they don’t have to re-buy.
Potential: You know when you’re talented and when it’s time to stride out of the box. If you’ve reached this peak in your career, designing the next step to monitor your success is an absolute must to keep control of sustainable growth and progress towards achieving your dream.
Potential: The music industry holds a vast number of opportunities all of which need management, if you’re familiar with the business, have solid experience and a good reputation, help artist build successful careers for themselves.
Potential: From formal premises to a showing in your lounge or on your verandah, if you’re a creator of art it deserves to be seen and you should always have a space available to share with a fellow artist or two.
Potential: I love these shops! The only thing of late is that too many of them are diversifying. For example; there will be toys, puzzles and many other ready-made items cluttering the racks as if the owners are trying to capitalize on every square millimetre of space they pay rent on. A relaxed atmosphere always has me staying longer and a coffee break in between often helps me remember something else I wanted, or draws my attention to something interesting or new.
Potential: There is a great demand for consignment artists, from mural painting to sculpting, portraits, photography, graphic design such as creating logos,
Potential: Original ethnic sculptures, big or small, sell well on the Internet whilst local work is best undertaken on consignment.
Potential: If you’re still working and want something to start growing for your retirement years, vending machines can be a lucrative option. You’ll probably invest in one or two to start with and allow these to deliver the finance to invest in more. There are endless machines-types available from snack products to cosmetics, medical supplies and more.
Potential: For the hand-on business owner who wants to get stuck in and produce and sell something solid and countable that s/he has some control over, and/or use to compliment a going concern, there are innumerable machine types to get the job done in the quickest possible time.
Potential: Do you have an idea that you’re sure the world will benefit from, even if it’s just a very specific kind of person? There’s a way you can get your prototype into solid form to either present to investors or get the project going yourself.
Potential: Apart from gorilla-mail and magnificent, hand-crafted invitations for wedding and other special occasions there are many ideas that have not yet been explored, and frankly - email, social media, messaging and other online offerings are okay for kids or informal parties but up-scale events like weddings need something to deliver a genuine aura of appreciation of a guest’s time, effort and expense in attending the function.
Potential: There’s always something new and exciting to liven up a party. From an elegant soiree to a conventional, South African bring ‘n braai, wherever there’s gathering people look for a reason to smile, a new topic to discuss or a jolly old good laugh. Your knack for good taste in humour and silliness could be just the business you’re looking for.
Cathy is a qualified and experienced Life and Business Coach, able to advise you on any issues you might need guidance on.
You can book a 30, 60 or 90 minute consultation with her to talk about your business venture, at any stage of its development and operating cycle.
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