Online Business Ideas in India for Budding Entrepreneurs

The internet is the boon of the 21st century. The very first time the internet was used was for sharing information. It is still used for this purpose, but now more than that, the internet has become a business hub, hence, making it the best place to pursue your online business ideas in India. Besides, in online business, you get several options for what kind of business you want to start, unlike in offline business, where the choices are limited. 

Furthermore, you can also check out some of the best online business ideas in India, which will be discussed in the article.

But before knowing about them, let’s know what things you might need to start your profitable online business. 

Starting a Profitable Business Online

The things you need to start your own online business are:

• You should have a stable internet connection. 
• You must have an electronic device like a smartphone or a computer/laptop/tab. In addition to that, you may need a camera set up, microphone, and so on for your online business.
• You should have great communication skills to convey your message to online customers. 
• You must do research before starting any online business. Therefore, work hard, collect information, and use your creativity. 

Also Read: 11 Steps to Get Your Business Up and Running

Present Online Business Scenario in India

The Indian business industry saw a revolution back in 1995 when e-commerce started in India. Since then, online business has only grown tenfold. So many online business ideas in India have been tried and have become successful. And it’s not just a story, but a proven fact and it’s stated by these stats:

• The market value of the e-commerce industry in India has been predicted to increase from approx. 22 billion U.S. dollars in 2018 to 350 billion U.S. dollars by 2030.
• In 2020, India had a $50 billion turnover in the e-commerce sector. Making it the eighth-largest market for e-commerce, trailing France, and a position ahead of Canada.
• India is doing profitable business in the online world and with its tremendous growth it is set to surpass America and become the second-largest e-commerce market in the world by 2034.

Top 15 Online Business Ideas in India

1. Become a Blogger

Blogging is one of the best online business ideas in India. If you have a knack for writing, then you can consider starting your blogging business. To become a blogger, you must have patience. It is not that you can generate earnings immediately after starting blogging. Initially, your business may go slow, but if your content is informative and worth reading then people will read your blogs. This will bring organic traffic to your website.

How to Start

Here’s how you can start your profitable business of blogging from scratch.

• Before starting blogging, choose a niche or topic you want to write about. It can be any niche like education, fashion, cooking, entertainment, travelling etc.
• Get all the technical knowledge related to blogging, like SEO knowledge, keyword research, authority building, competitor research, etc.
• Choose a blogging platform. It is crucial to choose a platform to publish your content. Some of the best platforms are WordPress, WIX, Medium, and Squarespace. 
• Select the domain name for your blog’s address, it will be the name by which you will be identified online.
• After this, you can write and publish your blog using your blog hosting platform.

Earnings

Blogging is a profitable business from which you can earn money. On average a blogger makes 3 lakh per annum in India.

2. Social Media Influencer

No doubt this is the era of social media. With more than 3 million influencers worldwide, you can consider becoming a social media influencer one of the best online business ideas in India. As the name suggests, social media influencers have the power to influence people’s opinions and decisions. You will be working on informing people about different topics from your preferred niche. 

How to Start

To implement these online business ideas in India as a social media influencer, you must prepare and follow some steps.

• First and foremost, choose a niche, preferably the one you would like to work on and would love to create content on that niche. Examples are finance, trending topics, education, fashion etc.
• Choose your social media platform. You can become an influencer on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and many others.
• Know your targeted audience. These will be the people who will see your content and support you. Research about type of audience in your chosen niche.
• Plan your content beforehand and then create it after good research.
• Plan strategically to increase your reach and generate organic traffic. SEO knowledge would help you a lot in this, do learn it.
• Collaborate with other artists and brands. You can charge money from brands for promoting their products and services.

Earnings

The average income of a social media influencer can be 180000 LPA, which can increase as your popularity grows. 

3. Become a Freelancer

Freelancing is also one of the best online business ideas in India, that comes to anyone’s mind. As freelancers you can use your expertise or skills to help out people across the world, you will be working on a project basis and can charge accordingly. If you are a good designer, writer, or developer, you can start your career as a freelancer in any of your expert niches.

How to Start

If you are wondering how to start an online business as a freelancer, here’s your answer.

• Find your niche, that’s a must. You need to find that one work you like to do and can turn it into a profitable business. For example, writing, editing videos, web development, photography, proofreading etc.
• Find the target market and the audience who would need your skills and services.
• Set pricing, pricing is a make or mar point, so be careful with it. 
• Create a portfolio of your projects and samples you have created. It will act as proof of your skills and experience.
• Start pitching to your potential clients. You can find them on freelancing platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, LinkedIn etc.
• Start working, once you find your client with the appropriate project start working on it.

Read about:
Proven Tips for Freelancers to Succeed in the Gig Economy
A Beginner’s Guide on How to Become a Freelancer

Earnings

Freelancing is a profitable business and one can earn good money from this business. The average income of a freelancer in India is 4 LPA. 

4. Sell Online Courses

Nowadays, creating and selling online courses is emerging as one of the new and most profitable online business ideas in India for people. If you are passionate about teaching and want to earn unlimited, you may choose an online course-selling business. To create an online course, you need to have expertise in your chosen subject and have to brainstorm ideas.

How to Start

To start your online business ideas in India, you need to create a business model for it. Here’s how you can do this.

• Select the subject/topic/niche you have expertise in and want to create an online course for.
• Create the course outline. All the topics, the format of the online course, the number of units and videos in each unit.
• After you have created the outline, now you can start working on creating your course.
• After completing the creation process, start marketing your online course. 

Earnings

If you sell courses on platforms like Udemy and Coursera, you can earn $250 per month, which is Rs 20000 per month in India.

5. Sell Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)

If you are technology savvy and want to work on something new that has a great future ahead. Then, you must choose these among other online business ideas in India. Over the last few years, the popularity of NFTs has been increasing. If you are an artist and you have completed many excellent physical arts. Then, convert your physical art into NFTs and sell them. 

How to Start

To start your best online business ideas in India as an NFT seller you need to follow some steps.

• The first thing you need to do is choose a digital wallet, as need to sell and buy NFTs in Cryptocurrency. And set up a digital wallet to pay for your NFT.
• Now you need to connect your wallet with your NFT platform.
• After this, you can upload the artwork on the platform for sale. For that, you need to add a description of the artwork, pay for listing fees and other necessary steps, and you are good to go.

Earnings

This online business idea in India as an NFT trader can make you $1070 by selling NFTs which is nearly ₹80000. 

6. Selling Handmade products

Selling handmade goods over the Internet is also one of the best small online business ideas in India. If you have crafting skills, you should start this profitable business. Whatever you make, like jewellery, carpets, flower vast, or other household goods, you can sell products online on a platform like Etsy. 

In addition to that, you may launch your website to sell your products. Apart from that, you may also use Facebook to sell your products. The advantage of selling products online is that you sell your products outside your locality. Thus, online selling will maximize your revenue, expand your business and you earn money.

How to Start

You can choose this from many online business ideas in India and can make good money. To start your online handmade product store to need to follow some steps. 

• Do market research and surveys about the demand and type of audience for your products.
• Create your product catalogue for the online audience.
• Set the price of the different pieces you want to sell online.
• Set up your online store, for this, you can either create your website or choose a platform like Etsy, Meesho, Amazon etc.
• Start selling and build a profitable business in the online world.

Earnings

As an online seller of handmade products, you can earn 2 lakh per annum in India.

7. Affiliate Marketing

In this era of online shopping, affiliate marketing is also considered one of the best online business ideas in India. There is no limit to the earnings of an affiliate marketer. As an affiliate marketer, you need to convince people to buy products from your invitation link. If they buy a product from your referral link, then the seller of that product will give you a commission for every purchase and you can make good money.

How to Start

To start this profitable online business idea in India, you can start doing these:

• Find the suitable product or niche, the niche whose products you would be affiliating for.
• Build your website, this will be the site you will be using to sell all the affiliated products.
• Join the affiliate program of your chosen platform. Amazon and Flipkart affiliate programs are the most profitable and famous ones.
• After choosing the products to sell you can start marketing those products. 
• You can share your referral link through email, blog, or social media. You may review products or services on your social media account or YouTube Channel. And recommend your followers to purchase that service or product.

Earnings

As an affiliate marketer, you can make a profitable business and earn 1 lakh per annum.

8. Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistance business is one of the great online business ideas in India if you are good at multitasking. A virtual assistant is a person who works for individuals as an assistant and works for them remotely. Your task as a virtual assistant will be to schedule meetings, arrange conferences, arrange documents, take calls handle clients etc. So, if you have good time-management skills, multitasking, communication, problem-solving and interpersonal skills, then you can positively choose this online business idea. 

How to Start

If you want to start your online business in India as virtual assistance, then do the following things.

• Choose the niche/ type of business you want to work for as a virtual assistant. 
• Create your business model for this business and pen down everything from the documentation process to client pitching.
• Register your Business, choose a name and register yourself and your services.
• Start pitching and create a contract before starting any project.

Earnings

As a virtual assistant, you can earn good money and on average, a virtual assistant earns 2 lakh per annum in India.

9. Digital Illustrator

If you like to draw digital illustrations, posters and other characters on your phone then you can turn your hobby of digital illustration into one of the best online business ideas in India. A digital illustrator is a professional who draws brand logs, website designs, posters, etc for businesses. You can even sell your digital illustrations as prints and even start a print-on-demand business.

How to Start

If you choose this one from many online business ideas in India, then to be successful you need to do some tasks.

• Find your art style, there are many art styles like realism, semi-realism, vector art, cartoon and anime style and many more.
• Build a portfolio of your digital artworks, and grow your online audience base. You can do so on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Discord etc.
• Create products, you can create printable products like posters, and cup sleeves or start your print-on-demand business and open a store on platforms like Frankly Wearing, Redbubble, T-spring etc.

Earnings

Choosing business opportunities online is a profitable choice and you can earn money at a good rate. On average, a digital illustrator earns 3 lakh per annum.

10. Online translator

The market value of the translation industry has been increasing year to year. It is one of the best online business ideas in India. You can utilize your skills for translating online events, books, meetings, or even resumes. Your client will pay for your service project-wise or hour-wise. So, this online business does not need prior investment. To find your potential clients, you may use Upwork, Fiverr, Linkedin Talent Solution, etc. Showcasing your work portfolio on those platforms will help you find reliable clients. Another related field to consider is online tutoring. With the rise in remote learning, creating an online tutoring platform can complement your translation services and diversify your business.

How to start

You can start working as an online translator and start a profitable business for yourself by:

• Search your market, you need to research and refine the sectors and niches where services are needed.
• Set your budget, how much you are going to charge, and what resources you need to start a translation business.
• Advertise your services on various platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Upwork, Fiverr etc.

Earnings

If you choose this profitable business idea in India then you can earn 4 lakh per annum as Translator.  

11. Chef

If you love creating new dishes and experimenting with food ingredients then you might want to consider becoming a chef as one of the online business ideas in India. As a chef, you can cook in a restaurant, work as a personal chef, start your restaurant or start online cooking classes. You can make good money as a chef.

How To Start

• Select your niche, in a cooking niche, means a type of cuisines you want to make, i.e.; continental, Indian, Chinese or baked.
• Plan your budget for raw materials and setting up of online business. And your certificate of a chef from the food association along with your license to start a business.
• Get your equipment like cooking equipment and camera, tripod, mic etc for recording video. 
• Create videos of online cooking vlogs and DIY cooking videos and post them online. You can even collaborate with brands and get sponsorships.

Also Read: From Home Cook to Entrepreneur: Best Food Business Ideas

Earnings

On average a chef can earn 2 LPA in India.

12. YouTuber 

Becoming a YouTuber has become one of the best online business ideas in India. Anyone with good communication skills and a niche to talk about can start a YouTube channel. As a YouTuber, you can earn money online through brand collaborations or online advertisements.

How To Start

• Before you start making videos, you need to select your niche. Your niche will be the subject or topics on which you will be creating videos. Having a niche will help maintain consistency in your content.
• Outline your YouTube Channel goal, whether you want to help people, provide information or entertain them.
• Learn about technical things like YouTube SEO, editing, designing thumbnails, writing captions etc.
• Buy all the necessary equipment like a camera, tripod, lights, computer etc. And start practising and recording.
• Upload videos, share the link on other platforms and advertise your YouTube channel.

Earnings

If you start your own online business as YouTube Content Creator you can earn 4 LPA or more in India.

Learn About:
How Youtubers Earn Money through Viral Videos?
Ways to Earn Money from YouTube

13. Proofreader 

Online proofreading business is also one of the most profitable online business ideas in India. As online content is being created massively, the need for proofreaders is increasing too. A proofreader is a professional who reads content and edits any mistake in it. Like punctuation, spelling etc. If you have good knowledge of grammar and the English language then you can start providing your proofreading service business and earn. 

How To Start

• Create a business plan, after which you need to form your proofreading business into a legal entity.
• Set up your work tools like reference books, editing software, and other apps that you might need.
• Create your business website and official social media handles. So that you can network and communicate with clients and advertise your services.
• Fix your rate, during the initial stage you can charge less and as you gain experience and credibility raise your service charges.

Earnings

The average earning of a proofreader in India is 2 LPA. 

14. Online Yoga Instructor

Yoga is gaining importance worldwide because of several health benefits. If you are a certified Yoga instructor then you can start your profitable business of online yoga classes. You can start your online Yoga classes or even create an online course for the Yoga enthusiast and sell it on your website and channel, it is one of the growing online business ideas in India.

How To Start

• Decide your niche for online yoga classes. It means you need to decide whether you want to teach yoga for mindfulness, cure diseases, crash yoga courses, beginner etc.
• Create an online yoga studio website, where you can upload your videos, course details, prices and other information.
• Keep equipment like a camera, lighting, mic, yoga mat etc handy and start creating videos.
• Advertise your classes on social media and in your local group, by informing people why yoga is important and how you can help them to live a healthy life.

Earnings

An online yoga instructor can earn a 4.8 LPA in India. 

15. Stock Market Analyst  

The stock marketing industry is always booming industry, and with more and more new stocks coming into the market, companies and individuals need stock experts. If you have the knowledge and understanding of the stock market then you can positively become a stock market analyst. You can start providing your services online and earn a good amount, making it one of the most profitable online business ideas in India. 

How To Start

• You need to become a registered analyst by registering on the official website of the stock market, then only you can start providing your services.
• Gain knowledge of trends and working of the stock market and network with people in your online community.
• Be aware of the latest online stock trading tools and apps so that you can suggest the best ones to your clients.

Earnings

On average, a stock market analyst can earn a 3LPA in India.

Explore about:
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Pros and Cons of Online Business

Before choosing any of the online business ideas in India listed in the article, do know about the pros and cons of starting your online business.

Pros of Online Business	Cons of Online Business
Can start a business with no or less investment	No customer interaction
Lower overhead expenses	Online privacy and security concerns
Can get international and domestic customers	Immense online competition
24*7 selling opportunities	Problems with delivery
Target marketing using customer data collection	Affected by downtime & tech-issues
More scalability options	Customers doubtful about product quality
Multiple sales channels	Tax and legal formalities

Choose the Most Profitable Business Idea

If you don’t want to do a 9 to 5 job and also want to create something of your own, then the mentioned online business ideas in India will help you to do so. The advantage of online business is you can work according to your way, from the comfort of your home. 

Therefore, if you want to have the independence of being a business owner and help several people through your skills and knowledge, do not hesitate to start your online business ideas in India journey.

In our Business guide, discover unique business ideas, how to build a successful business from scratch, and learn effective business growth strategies.

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