In this post, we are going to explore new ideas for starting efficient online small businesses (startup ideas) and useful and successful startups in the Corona era.
The important point is that due to the corona and quarantine period, many jobs have faced serious problems and lost their previous income. This is what makes many people think about small business ideas to run online startups.
What is a startup?
A startup is starting a business with new and efficient ideas. Startups should not necessarily be in the field of technology and digital marketing.
However, it is noted that, based on the recent statistics, the greatest small business ideas that become successful in 2021 were e-commerce or online stores that used the latest technologies and digital marketing somewhere or in some way to advance the project goals.
Complete steps for launching an online startup
Step 1: Come up with a great small business idea
The first step in starting a startup is finding an attractive startup idea. To find a useful idea that has not been used before, it is better to see what is lacking in the society near you or what people need the most. Most small businesses that are successful in a short period are based on this principle.
For example, Drew Houston, the founder of Dropbox, always left his flash memory, and because of this, the idea of launching Dropbox was formed in his mind.
Step 2: Research about your target audience
Once the idea for running your startup was found, you need to do enough research to evaluate your target audience as well as competitors. Performing comprehensive research is important because you are going to invest in this idea.
Step 3: Prepare a prototype
Preparing a prototype of your idea has a great influence on the final success of your small business ideas. If your startup is looking to offer physical products, you can provide a few samples of them, or if you are planning to provide services, it is best to start preparing everything necessary.
Step 4: Try to offer your services or products to a small group
At this stage, you have to present the prototype to, say, 100 people. Here, your target audience is not very large. If your product is physical, you can easily offer it to neighbors or acquaintances and if you plan to provide services, you can evaluate the feedback of your target audience by designing a questionnaire.
Step 5: Register your idea or business
In the previous step, you presented your idea to a limited number of your target, if a positive result was obtained, it is better to register it as soon as possible to prevent others claim it.
Step 6: Attract the investor
Now that you have gone through the previous steps, if you need an investor, you should be able to attract one or more. Most startups need an investor to start or develop themselves because you need capital to win the market and gain market share.
Step 7: Launch your site or app
If all the previous steps are done correctly, it is time to start your business. To start an online business, you need to design a store website or develop a mobile application to provide services or sell your products over the internet.
Designing a website or developing an app is a specialized and very sensitive job. So, it is better to invest your budget in this work to get good.
At this stage, you should hire a web designer or app developer and share your idea with them. Professional developers can help you design your site and application exactly according to the needs of your business and your target audience.
Step 8: Start selling your products or services with effective advertising and marketing
After designing a site or mobile app, you should advertise for it to attract your target.
There are a variety of online marketing strategies and ads like SEO optimization, advertising on social networks or popular sites, offering special discounts to first-time customers, etc.
Innovative ideas for setting up different types of startups
There are different types of startups including:
- Scalable startups
- Small business startups
- Lifestyle startups
- Online startups
- Big business startups
- Social startups.
Here are two general categories for running a small business online and for each of them, we will give you some ideas so that you can start your business with a small capital to earn money in the short term.
5 Ideas for launching online lifestyle startups
Lifestyle startups are a group of online businesses aimed to improve the lifestyle of people by providing services/products on e-commerce or app stores.
In the following you can find some great ideas in this field:
- Launch a site or application to provide educational services
Online educational Startups are successful and popular today. By launching an educational website or app in the field you have knowledge or experiences, you can have a good income and, with the lowest cost, make the most of your expertise and time.
There are training pages in various fields that are tough competitors for you, but keep in mind that being new or creative to an idea can lead to success in any field of work.
Building an online store or mobile app to provide educational courses, as I briefly mentioned during the quarantine period, is one of the most profitable ideas.
You can use this opportunity, start recording educational or training videos, podcasts, presentations or even hold webinars and offer them on your website or app.
By increasing the number of downloads and users of your site or application, you can have a good.
The below online courses attracted the most audiences in recent years:
- Cooking and confectionery training
- language or specialized courses
- Training on repairing smartphones, laptops, etc.
- Art training such as making jewelry, handicrafts, leather products, etc.
- Online Consultation Services
Nowadays, everyone has health concerns. Therefore, you can develop an app or site with the cooperation of experts to provide the possibility for others to benefit from online consultations at a low and reasonable cost.
You can develop your site or application to provide the following advice:
- Medical consultation: Visiting an online examination
- Sports Advice: Provide weekly exercise programs or workouts at home
- Diet advice: Provide diet to lose or gain weight
- Academic counseling: providing curricula and monitoring the status of academic achievement of students
- Online Services for taking care of children, the elderly, or pets
Many people, including employees, need people to look after their children during their working hours. Some Persons are unable to care for their elderly parents, full time due to their busy schedules. Also, people who have pets such as dogs and cats may not always have their pets with them.
So, you can design your application or site in such a way that people who need these services register their request on your site and people who have experience in this field come to the place to help them.
- The idea of developing a food delivery app
By setting up and building an online store or app, you can start your own food delivery business. Due to the prevailing conditions at the time of the coronavirus outbreak, traveling to shops, restaurants, and coffee shops in the city has become a bit difficult and dangerous, so you can start a startup in this area and provide delivery services to them and earn a very good income this way.
To succeed in this business, you must also work with trustable couriers. You can read more about this in "Innovative Ideas to build a Food Delivery App better than UberEats".
- Startup idea selling ready meals, cakes, and pastries
If you cook well, prepare ready-made food and attract regular customers by advertising widely in your city as well as by advertising on social media. After a while, you will find that café shops and even ordinary people will sign long-term contracts with you. It is obvious the quality of work and having innovative ideas for providing delicious and healthy food is of great importance in this regard.
5 Ideas for running small businesses online with personal investment
There are some startups that, although they have big goals, they start with personal capital. In this case, the costs incurred for the startup are financed from personal funds. Of course, in the future, it is possible to attract foreign capital to develop startups. Learn more about our startup software development services.
１. Art startup idea
Art startups make good money these days, for example, you can start sculpting, needlework, making bracelets and necklaces, making men's and women's accessories, and so on.
Then try to take eye-catching pictures from your products, upload them to your online store or app and start selling them to people at a reasonable price.
２. Selling the on-demand products online
The idea of selling on-demand online is one of the great small business ideas that will bring you a high income in the short term.
Building an online store or app is a very clever idea during the quarantine. Because despite the danger that people face outside the house, the demand for purchasing their daily requirements online is increasing more and more every day.
The on-demand product you can sell online on your app or e-commerce website include:
- Medicine
- Disinfectants and masks
- Cosmetic products
- Clothing and shoes
３. Selling second-hand products
Telegram groups, Instagram pages, apps, and sites for buying and selling second-hand products are growing every day.
If you have a limited budget, this is a great opportunity to start your small business online.
You can buy second-hand products in every field at low prices from others and sell them to other people with some profit online.
４. Online real estate transaction
There are always a huge number of people looking for purchasing or renting a house. As a great small business idea, you can start finding houses near you ready to be sold or rent and offer them in your online app or website.
5. Offering In-house Repair services
If you know how to repair computers, home appliances, or even smartphones, you can offer your services online without any need to invest in renting a shop. So that everyone needs repairs, place an order through your app or website and you can come to their place and solve the problem.
You can also cooperate with some specialists and experts to perform the job and share some commission with you after doing the repairs.
The final word
The types of small business ideas presented in this post should be chosen depending on your expertise and talent. Therefore, we recommend that you choose your new startup ideas regarding these factors and not just their profit or market. Believe that if you are interested in something, you will attract your desired customers.
It is necessary to pay attention to the rules and regulations related to that business, because launching a startup that is not following the rules, may cause small or big problems for you.
Learn more about our startup software development services.
