Financial Blog

Looking for small business ideas you can do at home with little capital? But before we dive in, did you know that small businesses compromise a whopping 99% of the total businesses here in the Philippines? Yes, you heard that right. Small businesses proved to be the number one catalyst in the growth of our economy for the past decade. Even during the pandemic, we saw these small businesses rising in number and adapting to the situation.

You may ask why. What’s so good about starting and managing your own business? Well, the answer is financial freedom and managing your own time. No one wants to become an employee working under a boss forever. With managing a business, you can be your own boss.

The good thing about starting a business is anyone can do it—even you. We saw lots of rags to riches stories from college dropouts to 9-5 escapees earning major income in their own time. All you have to do is start.

Got a crazy product idea? Then turn it into reality. Are you good at baking? Then turn your hobby into a business. Do you have preloved items you don’t use anymore? Then sell it to generate side income. Everyone starts small. You can start a business at home with little to no capital.

If you are keen on starting a business at your home, we have some small business ideas for you:

Online tutoring

Education is still important in the new normal even though face-to-face classes are still not allowed. This paved the way for online tutors of all ages to teach young students certain skills at the comfort of their homes.

If you’re passionate about teaching students or if you just want to pass on your knowledge, then an online tutoring business might be for you. Becoming a tutor allows you to have the free time you have while also giving you an opportunity to make an impact on your students. After all, teaching is fun! You have to pick a niche that you’re good at, then teach those.

Teaching basic English, math and science, foreign languages, and graphic design are some of the most popular online tutor ideas in the Philippines.

Homemade food business

Selling homemade food has never been a bad idea. You can sell sweets, pastries, cakes, and even lutong bahay. If you have a secret recipe that your family loves, why not make it known to the public? Even if you don’t know how to cook, you can always learn from online tutorials on the web.

You are not just limited to food. You can also sell beverages, coffee, tea, and many more. However, you need to check your competition as the food and drinks business is crowded. You need to have a unique and interesting product in order to stand out.

Online Selling

You don’t need to have a physical store to sell goods nowadays. It’s more convenient and cost-efficient to use online platforms such as websites and social media to sell your products. List your products at Shopee, Lazada, and Carousell to make your products more visible.

Dropshipping

If you are worried about inventory taking up too much space on your home, then a dropshipping business might be for you. The inventory will be handled by a third party instead wherein they would produce, store, and ship the product on your behalf. All you need to do is promote your product online, take orders, and answer queries.

Learn more about dropshipping here.

Freelancing

If you don’t want to sell goods, you can sell your skills instead. Skills such as graphic design, video editing, transcribing, blog writing are on demand nowadays. Check out sites that hire freelancers such as Fiverr and Upwork and see if someone searches for your skill. Keep in mind that freelancing can be turned into a legitimate agency if done right.

Digital products

Another option is selling digital products such as ebooks, courses, stock photos and videos, templates, and many more online. The good thing about digital products is they are infinite and they have no inventory. Making these assets won’t cost you that much either.

Learn how you can register your online business in BIR and DTI, here.

As you can see, you can start a business at the comforts of your home with little to no capital. It doesn’t cost you that much since you don’t have to worry about rent, utilities, and managing a physical store. All you need is just to start.