Click and Mortar: 10 Online Business Ideas to Consider in 2022

Needing a brick-and-mortar storefront to run a business is a thing of the past. Every day, people start a new business online, taking on an exciting career journey with themselves behind the reins. 

If you’re considering striking out on your own in 2022, here are ten online business ideas that could be your ticket to entrepreneurship that lasts.

Essential tools

There are a few must-have tools for online entrepreneurs. Before you begin an online business, make sure you have these five essential tools. 

Professional address 

One essential tool is a professional address for receiving mail. Budding business owners should steer clear of the traditional PO box, which can’t register an LLC and has size restrictions. Instead, online entrepreneurs should use a more future-forward option like the digital mailbox, which combines a staffed location with a universally accessible app for a streamlined paper mail solution. 

Defined vision

When you start a new online business, it’s vital to create a defined vision of your business and what it does. Without a defined vision and clear goals, you’ll struggle to find your footing in the right industry or niche. Write out your goals and use this list as a decision-making tool as you move forward. 

Daily routine

When you transition from a standard job to creating an online business, it can be hard to get into a routine and stay on track. Try to set a daily routine to structure your days and increase productivity. A daily routine could be as simple as a checklist or defined work hours, but you must form a structure you can stick to consistently. 

Website

A website is an essential tool for any business in today’s digital world. Whether you’re a blogger, a seller, an analyst, or a content creator, you need a website where people can easily find you. A website helps introduce people to your business and define what you can do. 

Bookkeeping system

It’s easy to get disorganized quickly when starting an online business. Programs like Quickbooks or FreshBooks are excellent tools to track your expenses, income, and projects all in one place. Get organized before you start your business, not after, and you’ll be grateful you did.

Now that you’ve assembled your toolkit, it’s time to look at a few online business ideas that you could start in 2022. 

Ten online business ideas to consider this year 

Below are ten online business ideas to consider if you’re ready to work for yourself and embrace the “be your own boss” revolution. 

Online tutoring

If you can teach others, turn this into a lucrative online business. Many students from age eight to twenty-eight need extra help with specific topics. 

People with the patience and conciseness to teach others can use these skills to tutor others virtually and build a business based on their expertise. You can offer tutoring for any age group on any subject, so play to your strengths. 

Be a virtual assistant

You can perform bookkeeping, scheduling, and general administrative tasks remotely. Being a virtual assistant allows you to work from home and work for multiple individuals, managing their appointments, travel, and inboxes. 

People with a knack for organization and scheduling can excel at this job, creating a successful online business for their clients. 

Sell crafts

Everyone has heard of Etsy and similar sites where people sell their hand-crafted work. If you have a unique or desirable product you can make at a low cost, you can turn your crafting into a career. 

Whether you make scented candles or fuzzy socks, you can sell these items if you can find the right niche. Many people quit their bland day jobs to turn their crafting hobbies into full-time jobs during the pandemic, and many are still at it even two years later. 

Narrate audiobooks

If you love to read and feel you have a pleasant voice, you can make money by narrating audiobooks. Some websites will pay you to record yourself reading a book which they can then sell. 

Creating your own audiobook-selling platform is more complex, but that’s also an option if you acquire the necessary rights to the literature. Sites like ACX or Findaway Voices pay you up to $300 an hour for reading a book, so there’s decent money to be made. 

Host a podcast

Everyone’s doing it nowadays, so why not you? If you have a clever and distinct idea for a podcast, you can start recording and make money via ads within episodes. 

Many podcast topics are immensely popular, such as true crime, love stories, sports, TV and film, financial advice, etc. People with a great speech rhythm and appealing personality can make money by creating a successful podcast. 

Design websites

For people comfortable with tech, creating a website is a breeze. But many business owners and individuals find building a website daunting and perplexing, which is where you come in. You can charge people to make their websites, utilizing your creative and technical skills. 

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is when companies pay a third-party website to display their advertisements. An example of affiliate marketing is when you visit food blogs for recipes and see ads along the top and sides or in pop-up windows.

You can generate income through affiliate marketing partnerships if you already have a blog or website with traffic or a decent social media following. 

Freelance writing

If you love writing and have a talent for it, you can become a freelance writer for blogs or businesses. This online business idea has many avenues. Freelance writing companies can supply you with work, or you can nurture your client relationships independently. 

Freelance writing can include anything, from restaurant reviews to instruction manuals to blog ghostwriting. So there’s plenty of flexibility if you find the right clients. 

Be a translator

If you can speak another language fluently, you can become an online translator to help people translate books, manuscripts, emails, and more. It can be as simple as assisting a business person in communicating with international clients or a novelist translating their text. 

Translating requires a firm grasp of both languages, but the more languages you know, the more income opportunities. 

Supply stock photos

If you’re a photographer, take stock photos and sell them on websites like Shutterstock or straight to clients. Stock photos are always in demand for blogs and businesses. Therefore, you can have a lucrative online business with just your camera and computer. 

Final thoughts

Driving daily to a job you loathe is no way to go through life when there are online opportunities to generate income. 

Whether you want to create content or assist other people in business endeavors, consider starting an online entrepreneurial adventure to find success through your passions and skills.