If you feel disheartened and stuck in a dead-end job, you are far from alone. Fortunately, the modern world offers numerous business and career opportunities to anyone motivated to grab hold of them. Here are five skills that have the potential to form the basis of a business that just about anybody can take advantage of.
Web Design
Web design is a fantastic skill to develop as it is easily marketable and in constant demand, there will always be businesses and people in need of websites who are unable to make their own. The advent of WordPress and other similar blogging platforms have made web design much more accessible than it once was, and it is now possible to design a website with no prior knowledge whatsoever.
However, while anyone today can put a website together that is comprised of various pre-existing elements, this approach is often limiting. When using pre-existing elements, it is inevitable that the resulting website will share aesthetic characteristics with other websites built using those elements. In order for a website to stand out, and to give it a more professional feel, it needs to have been built from scratch.
Anyone can learn web design from the comfort of their own home. There are numerous apps and websites out there that will teach you everything you need free of charge. Web design is the kind of skill that can be learned part-time. If you can dedicate an hour or two every evening to it then you should be able to develop your abilities reasonably quickly.
App Development
As with web design, the skills you need to be able to design and build your own apps are available online free of charge. The app market is a solid market to be in if you enjoy the nuts and bolts of coding. With apps available for every conceivable purpose, the opportunities for successful developers are boundless.
If you have prior experience with coding, you should find moving into app development to be a relatively easy transition. You will need to learn a different coding language depending on whether you are planning to develop apps for Android or iOS. Apple advises iOS developers to code their apps using the Swift programming language whereas Android app development is mostly done in Java.
Additionally, if you want to develop for iOS specifically, you will need to use Apple’s proprietary suite of development tools, XCode. XCode can only be run on Apple devices; there are no Windows or Linux equivalents.
Marketing an app is a different proposition to designing and producing it. While some app developers get incredibly lucky and have their apps go viral and take off without any real effort, most successful apps are built on a solid bedrock of hard work and perseverance. Building an app is not a get rich quick scheme, but it is a highly marketable and desirable skill that can open up some very worthwhile doors.
Blogging
Turning a profit blogging isn’t easy. In fact, it’s a lot more difficult than it used to be. Bloggers have more options for monetisation than they used to and making some money from a blog isn’t particularly difficult, assuming you’re able to produce passable content. The difficulty lies in generating enough revenue to make blogging a realistic career choice.
The entry bar to blogging is very low. WordPress makes creating and populating your blog a breeze and good hosting packages can be found relatively cheaply. However, in order to produce a blog worth reading, you will need to be able to populate it with great content.
The first decision you will need to make is exactly what your blog will be about. This can be a difficult decision if there are lots of subjects that you are passionate about but identifying something relatively specific will make it easier to keep your blog focused. That’s not to say that you can’t cover multiple subjects on your blog, but you will want to establish yourself in a particular niche before you think about serious monetization.
Freelancing
Freelance work is a fantastic choice for anyone who is attracted to the idea of being their own boss. Freelancing is like owning your own business, except there’s less paperwork involved. With freelancing, you are the business and clients will hire you to provide a service. Some freelancers sell their services directly to clients, others work with agencies and other intermediaries who hook them up with work in exchange for a cut of the profits.
Just about any marketable skill can form the basis of a freelancing career. No matter what service you offer, though, you can be sure that you will be facing some stiff competition. If you provide an online service, such as content writing or web design, you need to be prepared to compete with people living in countries where the living wage is much lower. Even if yours is a one to one service, you will find plenty of competitors.
The key to freelancing is finding the right way to reach new clients. There are websites set up for most freelancing areas that are designed to connect buyers and sellers.
No matter how you go about it, freelancing is not going to be easy. It takes time to establish a client base, time during which you will need money to sustain yourself. It is often safest to make a slow transition to freelancing, initially working part-time while a more traditional job provides your basic income.
Cleaning
If there is one industry that is truly recession-proof, it is surely cleaning. Buildings of all types need cleaning, both individuals and businesses have a need for cleaners, so there is no shortage of work available for anyone willing to clean. If you need something to provide you with a reasonably reliable income, signing up with a cleaning agency is one potential solution.
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If you dream of being your own boss, controlling your own schedule and setting the agenda for your professional life, these business ideas could provide the perfect way forward. You might not be able to give up the day job immediately, but learning these skills is a worthwhile long-term investment.
