There are hundreds, if not thousands, of business ideas that you can consider to ignite the entrepreneurial spark within you. But, what if you want to start something that helps people while remaining profitable enough to ensure you earn a living?
You’re likely reading this article today because you enjoy helping your fellow humans. But, you don’t want to work for someone else as you’d prefer to have total control over your career and earning potential. What should you do? Check out these top ideas for inspiration:
1. Tutoring
Educational facilities like schools are perfect for teaching children valuable life skills and information on topics they will likely use as they grow up. Of course, every student learns at different rates, and some might learn quicker than others.
Some students will need extra tuition to help them better understand concepts and prefer to do so from the comfort of their homes. Setting up a business offering tuition services to inspired young minds is an extremely rewarding way of earning a living by helping others.
You can offer in-home tuition services or provide tutoring via online video sessions (the latter will especially make sense due to COVID-19 restrictions).
2. Recruitment
Do you enjoy meeting new people all the time and helping others? If so, a recruitment business is another excellent business idea for you.
Suppose you’re already a recruiter working for someone else. In that case, the move from recruitment consultant to business owner could be a little scary – especially if you’ve never quit your job to launch your own business.
However, it’s a rewarding option and being your own boss means you can shape the direction of your consultancy. That’s not something you can do if you’re just an employee working for someone else.
3. Accessible Holidays
It’s no secret there are plenty of travel agents in the UK, some of which you’ll come across at your local High Street. However, there are seldom any travel agencies that specialise in holidays for people with disabilities.
Everyone deserves to spend some time away from home and enjoying much of what Britain or other nations have to offer. With that in mind, you could always launch a new business that deals exclusively with accessible holidays.
Many people find that mainstream travel agencies cannot cater to their specific needs. You could be a leading provider of accessible holidays, both in Britain and beyond.
4. Vehicle Repairs
Cars were once considered luxury items. Today, they are essential modes of transport, especially for people that live in rural areas or have long commutes where public transport is simply not a practical option.
The problem with cars is they require regular maintenance. Dealerships will often provide servicing and repairs for vehicles but at a high cost. Plus, independent garages don’t always provide real value for money.
If you enjoy vehicle repairs and want to open a business that provides an honest and helpful service, you should consider opening a garage. You could repair all makes and models, or specialise in specific vehicles if you’d prefer.
5. Elderly Care
One of the most rewarding careers to have is care work. As Britain’s population ages, there’s an increasing demand for elderly care services in the community. If you have a nursing or care work background, you could open a business offering elderly care services.
You will need to hire nurses to work for your business, and they would typically work on a shift basis so that you can offer a 24/7 service to your clients. Community care work for the elderly will often be challenging.
But, the rewards far outweigh the challenges. It’s a very hands-on type of business that will always be in demand, so you won’t need to worry about any dry spells from an income perspective.
6. Gardening
It’s a well-known fact that many people in the UK love the great outdoors and enjoy spending time in their gardens. The problem is, some householders seldom have the time to maintain their lawns, shrubs, and flowers due to work and lifestyle commitments.
If you’re a green-fingered person and prefer the company of plants to people, but you do enjoy giving people a helping hand, you should think about setting up a gardening business. You could choose to specialise in specific areas or offer general gardening services.
You might think that a gardening business is only seasonal. However, there are ways to offer year-round services. For example, you could provide care for plants in office buildings and other commercial spaces.
Plus, if you’re handy with a spanner, you might even expand your business to include lawnmower repair services. Gardening is a service your business could offer to both residential and commercial clients.
7. Window Cleaning
Another helpful service you could provide to domestic and commercial customers is window cleaning. It’s a business that’s always in demand, and so you won’t need to worry about issues like seasonal slowdowns.
Window cleaning is a business you can do alone as a sole trader, but it makes sense to work with other people as part of a team. That way, you can provide greater coverage and increase your revenue stream.
An advantage of window cleaning is you can book in clients for regularly scheduled services, so you can almost guarantee some aspects of your income. Many people can’t clean their exterior first-floor windows, so you’ll be massively helping them.
8. Personal Shopping
Lastly, some people associate personal shopping services with celebrities and those with a high net worth. The truth is, many ‘ordinary’ people need help with everyday tasks, such as grocery shopping – especially if they can’t leave their homes.
One final business idea that you could consider that helps others and gives you a high sense of achievement and fulfilment is personal shopping. You and those you hire to work with you could provide services to the elderly, disabled people, and others that need a helping hand.
