The best businesses to start in June 2020

More than 30 million people lost their jobs in spring 2020. Even those who still have their jobs are still largely stuck at home, trying to be productive in an environment that seems increasingly closed off to advancement.

Yes, work is frustrating. Days aren’t as productive. And the worst part is that all their work and all of their juggling—work, home, kids, school—is to benefit someone else. To put money in someone else’s pocket.  

All the uncertainty and the feelings of helplessness are leading many people to go stir crazy or just plain burnt out. People wonder what else they can do to make a living. Surely there’s a better way to pay the bills than putting in 8- to 12-hour days working a meaningless, dead-end job that mostly benefits somebody else.

The simplest answer is obvious: start a business of your own. Take back control of your own life, set your own sails, and become the determinant of your own success.

But how? Between the pandemic, shutdowns, lower economic activity, higher unemployment, and general all-around negativity, this hardly seems like the time to start a business.

But, despite all the bad, there are still opportunities, even and especially in a crisis.

If you want to set out on your own and carve your own path, here are some of the top opportunities we’ve found for businesses to start this summer:

1. Web developer

If you have skills with javascript—or even just the patience to deal with Wordpress for hours on end—-you can make money helping build and maintain websites for businesses, individuals, influencers, and others. Most of this work can be done completely online. It helps if you’re skilled with coding, but this may not even be necessary. Most web platforms offer templates and tools that make web-building easy. Or, you might be able to work as a project manager or tester. You’ll still need some technical skills, but not nearly as many.

2. Programmer

We’ll excuse you for thinking this is the same as web development—it’s not. It’s a totally different gig with totally different skills. It’s still technical but involves very different types of projects. And, while a lot of work can still be done remotely, the tools and apps you build won’t always be web-based.

3. Remote bookkeeping

If you’re good at managing your own finances, you can get paid to manage the books for small businesses and individuals. Using tools like Quickbooks, you can track income and expenses, reconcile accounts, and provide insight to help people make important decisions.

This may not sound like the best gig, but remote bookkeepers can make $30 to $60 per hour working completely remotely for individual clients. And, you don’t even need to be a CPA.

4. Digital marketing consultant

You might’ve heard of this thing called the internet. It’s a magical place where eyeballs equal dollars—they convert to clients, sales, and profits for businesses. So, companies will pay handsomely for those who can help them get in front of more of those eyeballs. The more you know about reader intent, buyer journey, selling funnels, conversions, and SEO, the more you can charge.

5. Online publisher

On the other side of digital marketing is the world of content creation. Content can take several forms, including articles, videos, podcasts, downloadables, or ebooks. Becoming a publisher can be as simple as setting up your own YouTube channel or as complicated as you’d like. You can build your own website— or a series of sites— and post all different types of content. You can offer content for free, sell banner ads, market products, or hide content behind a paywall. It all depends on what eyeballs you want to be in front of how you want to turn those eyeballs into revenue.

6. Video editor

Editing videos is another great business to start in the digital age. Normally, weddings are big business for video editors, and that business is obviously slower of late. But, film editing isn’t all about weddings. You can also edit promotional videos for businesses, presentations for sales teams, speeches for online influencers, and more. Be as creative with your clientele as you are with your editing and the money will follow.

7. Graphic designer

If you’ve got access to the right software and love a good, clean aesthetic, you can help create company branding materials, logos, banners, ads, email campaigns, and even small projects like infographics.

Oh, and there’s also wedding work, too—whenever that industry makes a comeback.

8. Cleaning service

Cleaning services will see more of a comeback once lockdowns end and people go back to work. Even now, there are plenty of people who need cleaning services for offices, daycares, rental properties, and even their own homes. It can take a while to get started but, believe it or not, cleaning franchises are actually super profitable.

9. Remote HR consultant

This is another slightly obscure gig, but literally thousands of businesses need help recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and training new employees—not to mention taking care of HR needs for existing employees. Someone needs to make sure that i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed and that employers comply with federal and state laws. If you have a background in this area or are willing to do the research, maybe get a certification or two, and keep careful track of paperwork, this could be your next gig.

10. Life coach

You may not personally need help, but lots of people need someone to help encourage and mentor them— especially coming out of this crisis. People need help gaining perspective, seeing their options, and making choices. You can do that by providing coaching sessions via phone or video chat.

11. Online tutor

Educating kids was one of the biggest challenges that many people faced in recent lockdowns. For some, it was difficult. For others, it was all but impossible. And still, kids need help keeping up with curricula to prepare for standardized tests, college entrance exams, and more. Many skills are moving more and more teaching online, but you can offer the individual attention that many need to absorb their lessons.

12. Systems administrator

Businesses all around the world rely on servers and systems to connect their people and drive projects forward. While enterprise-level companies usually employe dedicated teams to ensure systems run properly, many small- to mid-level businesses don’t have the resources to do that. If you know about systems administration or are willing to go through classes to get certified, you can help fill those needs.

13. Controller

This is another accounting-related opportunity that can spell big revenue for knowledgeable consultants. Being a controller is different from acting as a bookkeeper. Sure, you can keep the books, but you can also make sure bills are paid and invoices are collected, too. And, you still don’t usually need to be a CPA in order to work in this field—though you might be able to charge more if you pass your exam licensed.

14. Virtual assistant

If you’re used to juggling multiple tasks at once and making sure things run smoothly, there may be people who need your help. Small business owners, consultants, and entrepreneurs across the country need help to manage their operations and their time. Working remotely as a VA, you can help run someone’s calendar, respond to emails, take messages, and manage projects. Your job is to make sure they have whatever they need to keep their lives— and their businesses—running smoothly.

15. Virtual babysitting

You’ll have to be careful with this one, as it’s like a cross between tutoring and herding cats. Unlike tutoring, the job is less about learning and more about keeping kids engaged while their parents are busy working. Not that teaching is frowned upon. Most parents are thrilled if you can further their kids’ development while keeping them entertained.

16. Remote customer service consulting

Across the country, there are companies that hire remote workers to help with customer service. Jet Blue used to hire people to work from home answering questions and taking care of ticketing requests. Today, many loan brokers and other companies hire customer success specialists to work remotely. There are also platforms like LiveOps that let you get paid by the minute to help small businesses’ customers. This is a job that you can do for someone else, or you can start your own small business to help other companies serve their clients.

17. Handyman/Property manager

If you’re a hard worker and good with your hands, you can work as a handyman or property manager through a platform like TaskRabbit or directly with individual clients. You might help with small tasks like fixing things or you might make sure properties are managed—that lawns are mowed and properties are cleaned and maintained.

Depending on how you structure your business, you may not even have to do a lot of this work yourself. You may just need to work within a landlord’s budget and coordinate with maintenance workers, cleaning staff, etc.

18. Career counselor

A lot of people felt stagnant in their careers even before the coronavirus crisis started. After 8 weeks of lockdowns and 30+ million jobless claims, it’s even worse now. Millions of people are trying to get their careers back on track coming out of this crisis, and you can be one to help them.

19. Financial coach

This is different from being a financial advisor or an investment advisor. For one thing, you don’t need to be licensed since you won’t be giving investment advice. Instead, you can focus on helping people with their budget and managing their household finances, so they can make smart financial decisions.

20. eCommerce consulting

eCommerce is a niche field, but if you have the skills, they’re worth a lot of money. With the right know-how, you can help structure and run online ad campaigns, set up and administer online stores, and streamline payment processing and shipping, driving your clients’ bottom lines through online sales.

21. Food and grocery delivery

Say no more. No one came through quarantines without becoming friendly with their local UPS driver—and maybe the pizza delivery person. Amazon, Instacart, Postmates, and tens of thousands of restaurants and grocers nationwide need delivery people to get their goods to consumers who are still self-isolating or social distancing.

If you’d rather not run a business yourself, you can always work through any one of a number of apps. Or, you can develop your own relationships with client companies and hire your own drivers.

22. Small engine repair

If you’re used to maintaining your own tools and other equipment—or if you’re just an expert-level tinkerer—you can make good money helping people keep their lawnmowers and weedeaters in good running order. And, you can run your business right out of your garage.

23. Freelance writing and editing

Everything that you read on the internet was written by someone—and it’s usually someone who got paid to write it. If you have expert knowledge of certain topics, you can get paid to write expertly-crafted content that helps readers get the information they’re looking for.

Sometimes, you don’t even need a ton of expertise in a single topic—you just need to be willing to do extensive research, write in-depth pieces, and learn as you go.

24. Videographer

This one is a bit further down our list because it will take a bit longer to recover. Basically, the job involves shooting videos for other people. (Obviously, we know there’s a lot more that goes into it. We’re not hating on videographers or their art.)

In this field, you may be shooting anything from weddings and proposals to promotional videos, YouTube videos, or interviews for business owners to establish themselves as thought leaders. What you film will depend on the types of clients you can find, and you can do your own editing or outsource it.

25. Tax preparer

This is yet another option if you’re good with finances. It’s different from being a bookkeeper or controller, but you still don’t need to be a CPA to do this work. All you do is help people prepare their tax returns before the 2 big tax deadlines—April 15 and October 15. In fact, you might only need to work 8 to 12 weeks per year. But still, this is big business—especially if you get enough clients that you can hire assistant preparers to help scale your operation. And, people are usually all-too-willing to pay you since your fees come out of their tax refunds.

Things to think about when starting your own business

If any of these ideas sound appealing to you—or if you have another idea for a business of your own—it’s important to get set up properly. Depending on the type of business you’re starting, this may mean filing as an LLC, preparing independent tax returns for your business, buying insurance, or arranging small business loans to finance your operations.

If you want to know more about what it’s like to start your own business, be sure to check out our ultimate guide to becoming an entrepreneur.