Have You Considered These Self-Employment Ventures?

With the shaky nature of the economy and businesses closing all over the place, it’s becoming more and more attractive to be able to call yourself your own boss. Self-employment is perfect for anyone who likes to be in control. It allows you to steer your career in any direction you wish, and every decision, from how much you work to how much you charge is your decision. As a self-employed individual, you can work around other obstacles like childcare, caring for a family member, or simply being a night owl.

Self-Employment Ideas that Everyone Can Try

But what should you go into? If you’re having trouble coming up with self-employment ideas, take a look at our suggestions here.

Influencer

We’re starting with influencers because on some level, if you are looking to be self-employed, you will have to be an influencer. Today, being an influencer means being your own brand, and therefore, more than anything, they are marketers. They’re just marketing themselves.

That is something you’re going to have to do to some degree for each of the suggestions listed below, and it’s not nearly as cringeworthy as society has tried to make it appear. You aren’t simply posting a picture of yourself in tight leggings, but instead, you’re going to become a jack of all trades, able to engage creative and analytic talents.

On the creative side, you can become a professional photographer, and hone your skills in creative writing, and footage editing, and that’s all before you engage whatever topic your brand will be based around.  Your brand can center around a craft, side business, or freelance work that you can market with your influencer profiles. On the other hand, you will learn business skills, and marketing skills, gain confidence and learn to fight for yourself, and learn how to handle your own money. For more information on handling your money while self-employed, take a look at Tally.

The best part is, in many cases, you can get started on your career as an influencer with very little outlay. You just need a good-quality internet connection by looking for the best internet in my area and a flair for social media.

Reselling

Fashion goes through cycles. Yesterday’s disregards are today’s statement pieces. At the moment, we’re all going through a revival of the ’90s, with varsity jackets, Doc Martin boots, and designer athleisure all coming back into the mainstream. Before that, elements of the ’80s were dripping into our fashion trends.

Additionally, thanks to the internet exposing us to far more styles and a rise in individualism, there is much more acceptance of quirky fashion styles, which can be created through rooting through old pieces. Plus, with our more eco-conscious minds not liking the idea of fast fashion, reusing old pieces is becoming the responsible thing to do.

All that is to say that there is a demand for vintage clothes. Vintage stores are popping up full of bags, shoes, jackets, hoodies, and more. The business plan is simple: riffle through charity shops, car boot sales, and other thrifty locations, find a Lakers jacket and buy it for less than $5 and sell it on for upwards of $30. Far upwards.

Food truck

Lockdown had an awful effect on the hospitality industry in particular. An effect that is still being felt today. However, the takeout sector found themselves swimming in orders. People still wanted good food and to not cook, without the risk of entering a restaurant.

To adapt, we suddenly saw everything from fast-food chains to Michelin star restaurants embracing the delivery option. Everything from lobsters to milkshakes was now traveling on the back of a Deliveroo bike. Plus, the customers’ growing appreciation for street food fed this trend.

In the meantime, food trucks were doing what they always did, with the added perk of being able to go where the most customers were, so during the lockdown, you’d see them in parks and when things started to open up again, you would find them at events.

If you have any culinary skills, opening up a “ghost kitchen” can be a great business venture. The ghost element comes from the idea that you can even cook your food in your own home and deliver it, which would be an appealing option to cake bakers, for example. For more in-demand businesses, it would be impractical to start a business without a kitchen, so a small premise or a food truck would be a great way to take advantage of customers’ hesitancy to sit in and offer a high-quality take-out service.

Freelance [insert occupation here]

If you have a certain set of skills you can become a freelancer and hire out your talents to anyone who needs it.

For example, if you’ve always loved writing, you can look into freelance journalism or copywriting. The fundamental difference between the two of them is their priorities. Journalism is striving for factual and cutting-edge new topics to inform the public, whereas the objective of copywriting is to advertise, which leaves very little room or need for research, but the two of them can bring in a decent amount of money. 

If your talents lie in the visual arts, you can put out your drawings and paintings as a freelance designer. Brands are always looking for graphics to supplement their marketing campaigns, and customers are always looking for something pretty to look at. You can make designs for merchandise, or simply sell your own artwork as you wish. Simply mention that commissions are open in all your social media and start asking around for something to draw.

Another option is coding and website management. The managers of every business have a website they cannot understand. They don’t know what to do when shutting it down and opening it up again isn’t working and they won’t know how to fix a glitch on the payment page, costing them sales. That’s where you come in. Coding is already commonplace to do at home, so to free yourself up to help various businesses will allow you some creative freedom to try new products. Create an app one day and a game level the next.

The perk to all of these is that they are entirely online. You will never need to travel anywhere and if you need to meet someone you can request a Zoom call. This means that it is a very attractive option to digital ex-pats looking to explore the world.