Are you looking for simple low-investment business ideas you can start with a laptop (no inventory required)? You’ve come to the right place.
There are lots of great business ideas you can start online with no inventory or investment required.
Although many people believe that they don’t have the funds to start a business, this is so far from the truth because they allow this to stop them from moving forward.
The truth is that you can start a business with a laptop and no inventory required. All you need is a laptop and internet access.
These legitimate business ideas are flexible and can be a side hustle that one can grow into a full-time business.
The great thing about some of these business ideas is that you determine how much you make.
The time and effort you dedicate to your business will determine the amount of money you’ll make.
The list of simple low-investment business ideas is great for stay at home moms or anyone looking to earn extra income on the side or full time.
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12 Simple Low-Investment Business Ideas You Can Start From a Laptop (No Inventory Required)
Table of Content
1. Start a blog
2. Freelance Writer
3. Freelance Proofreader
4. Become a Transcriber
5. Dropshipping
6. Teach English Online
7. Create a digital products or courses
8. Launch your own ebook
9. Design and sell print on demand products
10. Sell a service
11. Become a Virtual Assistant
12. Build an audience you can monetize
12 Simple Low-Investment Business Ideas You Can Start From a Laptop (No Inventory Required)
START A BLOG
Blogging is a surefire way to share knowledge and at the same time, earn money. If you know about a particular topic and desire to share your knowledge with the world, you should start blogging.
Starting a blog requires little initial investment. invest in your blog to get started.
All you need to do is sign up for web hosting, install WordPress, start your blog, create helpful content then promote the posts to your audience. Platforms like Facebook and Pinterest are great for free promotions.
Pinterest, in my opinion, is the best option for new bloggers who want to promote their content and gain page views very fast.
You can take the Pinterest Strategies course to get started. It’s an amazing course that teaches you all you need to know concerning driving traffic to your blog.
Traffic is very essential for bloggers as traffic translates to sales and sales mean money for bloggers.
Initially, you may not earn any money when you start, but as you continue to create more content and grow your audience, your income will begin to grow as well.
Some people started off earning $100 monthly from their blogs but now take in more than $10,000 from blogging. There are other bloggers making as much as $100,000 monthly.
How much will it cost to start a website?
It will cost you as low as $3 per month, which equals $36 for the year to get hosting and a domain.
How long does it take to make money blogging?
You can start making money through your blog as long as you have a plan in place.
I have read about bloggers who started making money within 4 months.
If you’re focused and committed to write great content and advertise your blog, you can monetize your blog in one year or less.
FREELANCE WRITER
Freelance Writing is another low investment business idea you can start with a laptop. There is an increased demand for Freelance writers now as many online digital platforms require writers.
Websites are constantly looking for content writers for their site and many of them pay anywhere from $50 to $500 for each blog post.
If you are an expert or have knowledge about a particular area, you may request for more money per word.
You can write for blogs, media publications, magazines, etc. No professional background is required to write but having some experience in writing will certainly help.
If you don’t have any experience and are interested in working from home, I recommend gaining more knowledge and skill by joining the Earn More Writing School.
You can find freelance writing in places like Upwork, Flexjobs, etc.
If you enjoy writing and are looking for a low-investment business idea that you can start with a laptop from home, look into these websites to start your freelance writing career from home.
However, if you want to make more money than is offered at Upwork, create your website to showcase your writing skills.
You will land high-quality clients once you have your site.
A website of your own makes you look like a professional and people tend to pay professionals more than those on Upwork or Fiverr.
How much will it cost to start a website?
It will cost you as low as $3 per month, which equals $36 for the year to get hosting and a domain.
Check out this post on how to start a blog. If you use my link to set up your hosting, you can get started for $5.95 a month plus save money on your domain.
How long does it take to make money as a freelance writer?
It depends on the skill and the time invested in the business.
Advertising is one of the keys to becoming successful in business.
There are people like Gina Horkey who made $4,000 within six months of starting her freelance writing and VA business.
FREELANCE PROOFREADER
If you’re an avid reader, you would probably make a good proofreader.
If you easily find errors when reading, especially those things that most people will not notice, you’d make a great proofreader.
A proofreader reads documents looking for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors that the writer may have missed.
How much will it cost to start?
You can start a proofreading business on Upwork. It’s the largest marketplace for talented freelancers.
It’s free to join and apply to gigs. There’s a 10% fee deducted from your earnings.
It may take time to become established on Upwork. However, with some patience, you’ll find that there are thousands of gigs that you can apply to and even if you are not selected, continue applying.
If you want to start out working for other companies, check out these online proofreading jobs for beginners.
Different companies may have different freelance proofreading requirements however, many of them require you to pass a proofreading test before they’ll consider bringing you on board.
Proofreader Training
Caitlin Pyle created a FREE proofreading workshop that teaches how to make money from home as a freelance proofreader.
In the course, she shows you the basic steps and she provides enough information for you to decide if proofreading is something you want to do.
How long does it take to make money as a Freelance Proofreader?
This depends on the length of time it takes to get your first gig or client.
As a beginning proofreader, you should expect to make a little over $10 per hour.
With more experience, improving your skills, speed, and efficiency, you increase your chances of making $30 – $50 per hour.
BECOME A TRANSCRIBER
When working as a transcriptionist, you get paid to listen to recordings and other audio files such as lectures, webinars, and interviews then type them as word documents.
To work as a transcriptionist, you need to know how to type fast, listen attentively, and pay much attention to detail.
There are different types of transcription. The most common is general transcription. As a beginner, this is the best place to start.
If you are a law or medical student however, you can choose to do transcription that is peculiar to your field.
Also, for legal transcription, there is a legal transcription e-course by Janet Shaughnessy that shows you the basics of legal transcription.
Starting a transcription business is one of the low-investment business ideas you can start from a laptop with no inventory required.
There are opportunities to work as part-time transcriptionists on sites like Fiverr and Upwork.
How much will it cost to start?
There’s no cost for sourcing for jobs on Fiverr and Upwork.
How long does it take to make money?
The time it takes to make money depends on how long it takes to get a gig.
How much can you make transcribing?
Beginning Transcriptionists earn anywhere from $12 to $15 per hour.
However, it’s important to note that most are paid per audio hour and not necessarily by the hour.
You may be paid $50 per audio, but that does not mean it will take an hour to transcribe. Your speed and experience will factor into the length of time it will take to transcribe.
Transcription Training
There is a FREE 7-lesson general transcription e-course by Janet Shaughnessy that helps beginners become expert transcriptionists. The course teaches the basics of becoming a transcriptionist and how to start a business.
DROPSHIPPING
Dropshipping is a fulfillment model where Wholesaler stores and ships inventory to customers for your store.
It’s a great business to start because of the low overhead cost. Plus, you don’t have to spend money and store inventory.
When an order is placed through your website, it is sent to your manufacturer or wholesaler to be packed and shipped to the customer.
There are both local and overseas suppliers you can work with, as long as you can establish a relationship with them built on trust.
Dropshipping is a low-investment way to test a product if you plan to later market as a private label.
It’s important to establish a relationship to purchase a sample order for yourself to make sure you are selling quality products to customers.
Although the wholesaler ships the item to your customers, you are still responsible for your marketing and customer service.
Marketing is the key to become successful as a dropshipper.
How much will it cost to start?
If you decide to have a website of your own, it will be the cost of hosting and a domain, $36.
If you decide to host your site on a platform like Shopify, there’s a free version and the lowest monthly cost is $29. However, their add-ons will cost you money.
How long does it take to make money?
Until you get your first sale. Remember, marketing is the key to sales.
How much can you make?
That depends on your product minus the payment to the wholesaler.
TEACH ENGLISH ONLINE
VIPKID is a company that hires teachers to teach English to Chinese kids. To apply to VIPKID, you must meet three minimum requirements:
- A Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in any field.
- Eligible to work in the US or Canada.
- Have at least one year of teaching experience (includes homeschooling, tutoring, coaching, mentoring or other life experiences)
In addition to the requirements above, your level of English must be fluent and will be evaluated during the interview.
You can earn anywhere from $17-$22 an hour based on experience and certification. The pay scale may go up or down depending on how well you do on your mock class interview.
Many people are earning around $2000 a month teaching with VIPKID. I have read about people that make upwards of $5000 a month.
Click here to get more info on working for VIPKID.
Are you still look for low-investment business ideas you can start from a laptop (no inventory required)? Let’s check out the rest of this list.
CREATE DIGITAL PRODUCTS OR COURSES
Course creation appears to be high in demand these days and everyone is having a piece of the pie.
If you know a particular topic, you can make short 10 to 20 minutes videos that teach people more effective ways to go about certain things.
There are platforms such as Teachable and Udemy that make it easy for you to create your courses and sell them to make money.
Bloggers like Michelle Gardner, owner of Making Sense of Cents, and Alex & Lauren of Create and Go earn six figures, and a huge part of their money comes from them selling their signature online courses.
Michelle makes over $100,000 every month and most of it comes from her Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course. Alex and Lauren also make thousands of dollars monthly from selling courses.
Do a search for what would make for a good digital product. What would people find useful and are willing to pay to download it?
Some digital products are seasonal so keep that in mind when coming up with a digital product to sell. Digital products can be sold on sites like Etsy and Shopify.
LAUNCH YOUR OWN EBOOK
Anyone can self-publish a book or an ebook on Amazon, which is great for those people that have had something to write but were not sure of what to do.
If you have always wanted to write a book, this is the time to start.
If you are not sure what to write about, think of something you’ve always wished you could get across to others and begin writing.
Writers publish their work, which is then available in 24 hours to 48 hours on Kindle.
The great thing with publishing through Amazon is that your book is available to be viewed by millions of Kindle subscribers within a short period.
As a writer, you are responsible to set your price but remember that Amazon takes a cut of each sale, ranging from 35 to 70 percent.
You can expect to earn up to 65 percent. The more ebooks you write, the more opportunity to increase your earnings.
Learn more about Amazon Direct Kindle Publishing.
On the other hand, you can choose to self publish as opposed to publishing through Amazon.
If you choose to go through self-publishing, you can try out companies like Barnes and Nobles Press, Rakuten Kobo, Digital2digital, etc.
To learn more about self-publishing, check out udemy.
DESIGN AND SELL PRINT ON DEMAND PRODUCTS
Are you good at design? You may be able to make money selling your artwork, t-Shirts, and more through dropshipping.
Print on demand is similar to dropshipping in that it puts inventory, shipping, and fulfillment in the hands of a third-party supplier.
Amazon Merch is an example of a third party supplier.
You’ll have to be approved by Amazon to upload your design.
When a product is ordered, Amazon is responsible for the production, shipping, handling, and all other customer service-related issues.
You’ll receive a commission for each item sold.
Create original designs that will go on T-shirts, bags, hats, phone cases, hoodies, skirts, and more become canvases for your creativity.
Think of your passion, you can create a design for like-minded people.
If you are a dog owner and have a brilliant quote about dogs, there may be other dog owners who may be interested in your product.
The advantage of print on demand is that there is no inventory. So you don’t have to worry about not selling your inventory.
There are several print-on-demand platforms you can work with such as Zazzle, Bonfire, Redbubble, Teespring, Society 6, to name a few.
However, always order a sample of your product to be sure you are providing quality products to your customers.
You can make up to $500 a month starting out. As with most businesses, time and effort you determines the output.
In other words, advertising is the key to letting people know your product exists. The more people know of your product, the more chances of increase sales.
SELL A SERVICE
If you have a skill or you are an expert in a certain area, a service business is a great way to start a business with no inventory.
A service business is a business that provides a specific service to customers.
Just because you are skilled at something does not mean people are looking for that service.
Before you start a service business do research to be sure there are people or businesses looking for your skillset.
Offering services is a great low-investment business idea with no inventory required.
An example is a Website Designer who can build and maintain websites for businesses.
A copywriter can sell a copywriting file of a high-converting sales copy.
You can offer your services through a freelance marketplace like Fiverr and Upwork to increase your chances of getting discovered by the people who need your skills.
BECOME A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
Literally, anyone can become a virtual assistant. Yes, it’s that easy.
A Virtual Assistant (VA) is an independent contractor who provides a wide variety of services to businesses.
Most VA services are offered online. General Virtual Assistant’s services include:
- Blog management
- Email management
- Marketing
- Social media scheduling
- Editing and copywriting
- Researching and fact-checking
- Schedule posts to social media
If you want to start a VA business, having a website may give you added exposure but you don’t necessarily need one.
The best ways to find clients are through networking, looking through job boards, cold pitching, networking through LinkedIn, and more.
If you have the money and time to invest in a course, I’d recommend taking a virtual assistant course to help get started.
It’s called 30 days or less to virtual assistant success training. This course is well-detailed and will teach you how to successfully start your own virtual assistant business.
You can also check out the 150+ services you can offer as a virtual assistant. It’s an amazing resource and I encourage you to take advantage of it while it is still free.
A beginning Virtual Assistant can about $1 to $25 per hour. The more experience you gain, the higher you should charge.
BUILD AN AUDIENCE YOU CAN MONETIZE
If you have amassed a loyal following on your blog or any social media platform, it’s good to sell something that your followers would find valuable.
If you choose to grow your following on YouTube, Instagram, or a Podcast, there are many ways to monetize your audience:
Here are popular ways to monetize an audience:
- Become an affiliate marketer
- Sponsored posts
- Host display ads on your blog or in your newsletter
- Create and sell physical products
- Sell a productized service
- Begin a Patreon where people can support your creative efforts
- Sell subscriptions
- Promote other people’s products
- Create an event
- Launch a mastermind group
- Leverage your audience to gain paid speaking gigs or book contracts
You definitely don’t need millions of followers to monetize, but you need loyal followers.
Plus, you can’t sell just anything to your followers. Know what your followers want and create a product that adds value to them.
It may take about six months to a year to build 1000 loyal followers but there are people that have done in less time.
With determination, hard work, and great content, you may be able to monetize your blog sooner.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.
In Closing
I hope the low-investment business that there are businesses you can start with no inventory required.
The ideas on this list are simple and don’t need any special skills, or experience.
And the best part is that they can all be done from the comfort of your home or anywhere.
Did you find any of the low-investment business ideas you can start from a Laptop from this list? Please leave a comment below.
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