If you’re looking for future proof business ideas, look no further! In this article I am going to delve into the possibilities for future business. Before I do, let’s look at what a future proof business idea is. What makes a business future proof? Will it last? Will it deliver? Ultimately you need to future proof yourself. A business is only as good as the person running it! Will you be of value in the future? How will you deliver products, services and value?Â
Future Proof Business Ideas
It’s easy to start a business with all the love and enthusiasm of a new born, and then find yourself drowning in it with no way out. A future proof business has built in freedom and flexibility. It’s a business you don’t need a holiday from! The internet is where it’s at! The internet can offer a means to work from wherever you are and in any manner which suits you. You can choose your own working hours and agenda, and build it around any existing work you do. It also has the ability to be used as a tool for your existing business.
Future Proof Business Ideas – 1 Promote Yourself
Do you already have a skill or talent which you can promote online? Look a little closer because it could be your are underestimating what you can do. We can often downgrade our own particular skills and abilities but not everyone can do what you can.
A friend of mine offers personal computer help for the elderly. I know music teachers who teach piano or guitar as extra income. This can all be done through a simple website or blog which can be set up very cheaply or even for free!
A simple DIY service can be set up easily and cheaply over the internet by using Google Places For Business. I set one of these up myself having learned what to do. You don’t need to be an expert and can stick to easy, simple jobs which many elderly or disabled people might be unable to do for themselves.
Whether you offer a dog walking service, music lessons, after school care or help for the old, you probably have something you can offer. The internet lets you connect with the people who will value what you already have.
Future Proof Business Ideas – 2 Promote Your Current Business Online
Taking a business online isn’t necessarily that hard. You just need a few new skills. If you already have a business, and could do with more customers, the internet is the simple way to grow and build it.
Many business owners still aren’t using the internet to their advantage because they don’t know how. Learn a few new skills and you can easily ramp up your advertising and build your business faster.
Facebook, Youtube and Google Adwords are great places to start. Bing and Yahoo also offer business listings like Google Places for Business. If you’re in business and not using these tools, you’re falling behind your competitors.
Access my Free ebook The Ultimate Guide To Online Marketing in which I share these and other tools.
Future Proof Business Ideas – 3 – Buy and Sell On Ebay
Buying and selling will always be a useful skill. If you can use the internet to do it, so much the better. Many people already make a full time income from the auction site eBay. There are other auction websites springing up too although eBay is still the ‘go to’ one and the most well known.
Auction websites allow anyone with an account to buy and sell from anyone globally. This has a huge potential. There are many future proof business ideas on eBay alone. Buy locally and find bargains to re-sell globally. You can find lower priced items on ‘free’ websites like freecycle.org or gumtree.com.
You can even find badly listed items on eBay to then re-sell again from the same site. Checkout my ebook on eBay and buy and sell system here: (click image below)
Future Proof Business Ideas – 4 – Blogging
Blogging is a great future proof business model. There will always be a need for content on Google. Many bloggers start out with a passion and just blog for pleasure. Only after they have been doing it for a while do they actually turn it into a business. Making blogging pay is different for everyone. If you have a personal interest or passion which you can share through a blog, it’s a good way to start. Monetizing your blog can be done through Google’s Adsense program or by using other people’s products as an affiliate.
Checkout my eBook on how I target long tail keywords and build traffic to my blog:
Future Proof Business Ideas – 5 – Selling Other People’s Products
Affiliate marketing is a business model which allows anyone to sell other people’s products through referrals. It’s a little bit like recommending a restaurant to a friend. Except, if your friend visits the restaurant, you earn commissions based on what your friend buys.
Affiliate marketing is a great business model to use if you don’t already have a business to promote online. It’s basically promoting other people’s products for commissions. With digital products especially you can earn 40% commissions on any sales you make.
Affiliate marketing is used in many so called freedom businesses. It works well because you can automate and scale up a business model like this and you can benefit from work you have done previously. For example, this article promotes online training and education programs. If I make a sale from this article, I earn a commission. By writing multiple articles and generating a lot of content, my chances of making sales increases over time. Content I created several years ago can still bring in sales too.
Affiliate marketing can also be used with paid advertising to build and scale up quickly. Checkout my ebook affiliate marketing secrets to learn how to top affiliates earn larger commissions and scale their businesses. (click on the eBook below:
Future Proof Business Ideas – Selling Training And Education
Automation is taking away a lot of working opportunities. It also offers many opportunities too. An internet based business is a possibility for anyone who wants to change their circumstances, live with more freedom and flexibility and grow their income without working more hours for it.
Trading time for money is something which is fast becoming obsolete. Robots are replacing those who have fallen into the trading time for money trap. Unless they find another way to earn money their job are likely to be replaced.
Online training and education courses therefore are likely to become more in demand in the future. Anyone can learn the skills to build an online business and also benefit from an existing opportunity which is helping and educating people to do this. Learn more about this opportunity by accessing a 7 day video series here. (Click on image below).
Future Proof Business Ideas – Developing Yourself
A businesses potential is always limited by its owner. Unless you’re growing, your business will always suffer from a “glass ceiling” which exists because of the level of thinking you are bringing into your business. Nothing is guaranteed in the future for business but we can see from the statistics that more people are shopping online. Physical businesses are closing because they simply can’t compete with online availability.
Film and music industries have already suffered because of this trend. As we see more automation take over at the supermarkets, we can be assured that the trend will continue to automation and internet based businesses. Learning the tools and strategies of online business owners and marketers is probably the best and most important education you can get from a future proof point of view.
Once you have learned online skills you can build businesses which capitalise on them. You can sell your services as:
- an online marketer,
- an SEO (search engine optimisation) consultant,
- A Facebook marketing specialist
- Google Adwords marketing specialist
- Content strategist
- Affiliate marketer
- Etc. etc.
Many people have already take to websites like Fiverr.com and Upwork.com and Freelancer.com. These websites offer an opportunity to anyone to use their digital skills and sell them worldwide. Build up a reputation for good work and you have a career for life. More skills mean a future proof business. Access a wealth of online digital training opportunities and learn how to start your own online business from scratch here.Â