You want to run a start up but you’re not sure what kind of business to run? You’re not alone. Plenty of people have what they feel it will take to become a successful entrepreneur but coming up with that killer idea that’s going to guarantee you a profitable future well into your retirement isn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination.
Many start ups don’t make it past the first 12 months, often because the initial idea hadn’t been researched and planned for in a way that might have told the business owner it just wasn’t worth their time and energy – let alone hard-earned savings.
Whatever your idea for your startup, it is important to remember that all good business concepts must start by solving a problem. If you can find a problem, coming up with an idea that will eliminate the problem is the key to having a successful business.
With that in mind, here are a few start up ideas that could solve some of the problems consumers and businesses are having in 2019.
- Accounting and Bookkeeping
With all the new regulations around accounting and tax that are coming into force at the moment, there are plenty of small business owners struggling to find the time to get their heads around what they need to know in order not to fall foul of the law. If you are an accountant, or you are a wizard at one of the popular business accounting softwares, then you can easily find an entrepreneur who is looking for someone to do their accounting for them. There are many benefits to this kind of work; flexibility, low startup costs, good rates of pay and with 800,000 new businesses starting up each year in the UK, 99.3% of which are small enterprises, there are plenty of clients looking for someone with expertise to help them with this tricky area of business management.
- Fulfillment by Amazon – (FBA) Sales
This has to be one of the easiest to set up business ideas in 2019. At its most simple, you are just purchasing products in bulk and selling them on through the Amazon platform at a profit.
Of course, there’s more to making a success of it than just this and product choice is key, but if you can get those things right, why not take advantage of a platform that enables you to market your products in the largest online store in the world?
If you are already a retailer, and you wish to expand your client base, then why not expand to become an Amazon seller? It is relatively simple, doesn’t require you to spend too much money in the form of an initial investment, and gives you access to more customers than you could gain any other way – well, not without spending vast sums of money anyway!
You will, however, be required to come up with a delivery and payment system that is both secure are reliable.
Another great benefit of this idea is that with Amazon, you do not need to keep worrying about many of the issues that often drag small businesses down. There are no high street shop rates to deal, you can minimise your staff costs and streamline your systems and processes to the bare minimum. Everything is made simple for you.
- Skilled Trades
The popularity of trades as a career has dipped in recent times as more young people go to university and then seek to enter a profession or sector that requires a university degree. However, the need for skilled tradespeople hasn’t dipped at all! When your heating breaks, you still need a qualified heating engineer, and when your house needs rewiring, you still need a qualified electrician. The pay rates for these type of trades mean that if you are prepared to put in the hard work to get yourself trained, you are almost guaranteed your services will be in demand overnight, and whatsmore, you’re almost guaranteed a wage no matter what else if going on in the economy.
Right now, over 40% of all tradespeople are getting ready to retire, which means there is about to be a massive skills gap in the industry, making it the perfect time to start training.
The jobs we are talking about are;
- Welding
- Plumbing, steam fitting, and pipefitting
- General construction and carpentry
- Electrical engineering
- Heating and ventilation engineering
- Metalwork
- Masonry
The nature of these jobs is that they are also well suited for self-employment, meaning flexibility, being your own boss and a good rate of pay.
- Software engineering and development
These are some of the most lucrative jobs in the IT field today. They are responsible for creating and testing new programs and also developing software on a variety of platforms.
According to statistics, the demand for software engineers is expected to increase by at least 17% in the next few years, and if you have already established yourself as a professional in this field, you may find yourself becoming extremely marketable.
The job, however, requires you to be highly skilled and well-trained so it isn’t a case of having the idea one day and starting your business the next. However, if you’re looking for a new direction, you’re good with computers and don’t mind getting the textbooks out again, or if you have the right skills but just haven’t had the confidence to go for it yet, then now is the time.
Other jobs under this category include;
- System analysts
- Network engineers
- Software/hardware engineers
- Security specialists
- Meal kit sales and delivery
With the recent drive to increase healthy eating, and the plethora of new diets around focused on ridding our diets of junk, and making mealtime based on fresh, wholesome foods again, more and more people are looking for solutions on food prep and how they can make their desire to eat well fit with their busy lifestyles. This is where food boxes and meal kits come in.
With a meal kit and delivery business, your job is to prepare healthy, fresh ingredients (with the emphasis on seasonal or locally sourced if you want to give yourself an extra selling point), measured out in the right quantities and combined with recipes for the customer to follow. You could even go all the way and deliver the meals ready made with the customer only having to put them in the oven. Once the territory of Meals on Wheels only, this is now big business and an extremely fashionable, popular way of dining for those who are health conscious and time-poor. And there are no signs of the trend slowing down yet, meaning there’s plenty of space in the market for more of these kind of food box delivery services.
Conclusion
These are just five ideas. There are plenty more and with a little bit of research and planning you can find an idea that works for you and for the market. Remember to solve a problem for your customer and whilst the rest isn’t easy, it will certainly fall into place more easily than when you start with a doomed business idea.
