Are there any markets where there is still money to earn?

Customers are in a saving mood, even if still in the same safe job. I suppose you’ve already heard a few times from different adverts, that – ‘staying in is the new going out’. We tend to drink less coffee from the cafe, we are less inclined to eat at a restaurant, we buy less products (especially more expensive goods where we would have to ask for a loan), we become more healthy so some quit smoking, and so on.  All these markets suffer from a lack of customers.  Is there still any money to be made?

Just a few days ago there was a big story about Harvey Nichols having annual profits down by 40%. The British International Motor Show which first opened in 1903 was canceled due to a downturn in this industry. Diageo, a drinks group of some famous alcohol brands, announced a £100 million cost-cutting programme. Starbucks is said to be closing down as many as 50 stores in Britain.

But there are some markets unaffected by the credit crunch. People still book holidays with Thomas Cook, women actually buy more lipstick – ‘lipstick index’ as they say in Estee Lauder.  We want to be covered with a nice layer of fragrance, and we can’t resist from a piece of chocolate from Cadbury’s.  At the other end of the spectrum, but just as relevant is the funeral industry.

So which business is safe? If you want to start your business now, which one should you choose? What if you don’t have a big chunk of money to invest and want to start small?

You have many great opportunities to start and run your own successful business from home. Becoming a freelance teacher is one of the best options to have a steady, good income with very small investment. Some subjects may have higher rates, and you may provide some other services like translation if you are a language teacher. There may be some travel included or you may teach at home. There shouldn’t be a problem with finding customers as demand for help with schools subjects or foreign languages is high. Also, there are plenty of ways to advertise your service cheaply, but that’s just at the beginning as later you’ll have more and more customers who come to you referred by friends.

Freelance writing is another great idea for working from home or getting an extra income. If you like writing and reading why not to contact a publisher of a magazine or a website and start writing for them from time to time? You just need to be prepared that you may have to do some research on given topics which may sometimes be time consuming.

Another big area which has been growing rapidly for the last few years is business made on-line. As the topic is vast I’ll speak about that in another post.