Top 5 Business Ideas to Start in 2022

Starting your own business is something that most people have thought about doing at least once or twice at some point in their lives. While in most cases, these ideas remain as dreams which will never manifest into the real world, there may actually be no greater time than now to start up your own business. This is because there are numerous benefits for entrepreneurs right now including the convenience and flexibility one would experience when beginning a new business.

Another reason to start a business comes as a direct effect of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Since the national lockdown within the UK, which occurred during March 2020, the pool of unemployed, highly-skilled, and talented individuals has increased. With many individuals being made redundant, there is no greater opportunity than now to find these skilled individuals and become a successful business with the potential to grow.

What are the main benefits of starting a business in 2022?

The main benefits of starting a business in 2022 include:

• Setting up a base anywhere – whether you want it in the busy city or quiet area, or even if it is an online-only business, the choice is yours.
• Creating your own company culture – sticking to your own rules, morals, and values.
• Flexible hours – whether you want to replicate a traditional 9am-5pm job or if you only wanted to work a couple of hours per day, the choice is yours.
• Freedom of choice – You choose the industry to enter, what products or services to offer and what consumers you wish to target.

Below is a list of the top five businesses to start in 2022, what you require to set up each business (i.e., skills, resources, and financials), and what the benefits are of starting these business ideas.

1 – Day Care Business:

Starting a Day Care can be a challenging idea initially, but it could turn out to be a great business idea, especially for those who are passionate about working with kids. Helping with the development of children is a huge responsibility and a day care business will always be something high in demand from parents and guardians.

What are the skills & traits required to run a day care business?

• Trustworthy and reliable – parents and guardians will be depending on you to look after their children during the day.
• Organised – you will be keeping track of multiple things simultaneously such as the profiles of each child (their likes, dislikes, medical conditions, allergies, etc.), how many children you are caring for & which days to expect them, what activities you will be doing daily and more.
• Enthusiastic – you should be fun, engaging, and exciting for the children you are caring for.
• Well-educated – One of the main functions of a day care will be to introduce the world of academics to young children. You must be able to demonstrate great knowledge and teaching ability (in mathematics, literature, creative arts, communication, language, and physical development).

What do you need to start up a day care business?

• Safe and secure space – you should consider having children-sized furniture to allow for children to feel comfortable in the day care.
• Children’s books and toys – something most children will find fun to play with.
• Early development tools – for example, alphabet posters to help children develop in their early stages of growth.
• Outdoor play equipment – this will depend on the size of your day care but you may find more success having equipment for outdoors (such as slides) as well as indoors, as your children can feel constantly refreshed for each activity.

GOV UK also provides an Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework which should also be carefully read as it provides the standards that schools and childcare institutions must meet when teaching and developing children from birth, to five years old.

2 – House Cleaning Business:

House cleaning is a great business idea that does not require many resources to set up. Such a business however does rely a lot on developing great relationships with the clientele. The opportunity for growth not only depends on providing high-quality cleaning but also, receiving positive feedback and being referred through word-of-mouth will boost the likelihood of future clients wanting to receive your cleaning services.

What skills & traits are required to run a cleaning business?

• Trustworthy and reliable – as you will be entering the properties of your clients to carry out your services, there will be a large amount of trust placed on you. Any sort of wrong-doings such as theft, damaging of furniture, or low-quality of services will damage your reputation heavily and will lead to the downfall of your business quickly.
• Great listener – each client you work for will have a different idea of how they want their properties to be cleaned. Some clients may even give precise details on what tools or cleaning substances they will or will not want to be used on particular areas of their property, therefore, it is important that you are great at listening to instructions.
• Polite & respectful – someone who is seen as approachable and respectful will have a greater long-term future and will likely find more success with clients. You have to be someone who clients are comfortable having around their homes, potentially bumping into their family, friends, or housemates while working.

What do you need to start up a house cleaning business?

• Your cleaning tools can separate your services from competitors. While having essentials such as mops, wipes, cleaning chemicals, and cloths is important, you may also want to consider investing in high-quality vacuum cleaners, carpet cleaners, and more. Being able to do more than your competition will lead to more clients wanting YOUR services.
• Consider writing up a scheduling document and a client profile document, where you will record what days you are cleaning certain clients and whether there are any additional notes you need to write down when dealing with particular clients.

3 – Events Planning Business:

Becoming an events planner is something some of us have never even thought about, but maybe something in which we already possess vital skills to become successful.

As an events planner, you have the flexibility of organising events for various industries, whether it is a wedding, a holiday, an expedition or more, there are plenty of events where people will need your services, to tie up any loose knots and fill in the details which allow an event to be successful.

What skills & traits are required to run an events planning business?

• Attention to detail – being an events planner will mean you will need to be able to interpret information accurately, whether it is an email, website, social media, or other people contacting you regarding the event, you must be conscious of every minor detail (prices, dates, offers etc.).
• Communication is key – you will be required to constantly communicate with multiple people throughout the day. Whether you are updating your client on events you are planning, or you are trying to negotiate/plan with service provides, you must be great at communicating to all sorts of people.
• Networking ability – as an events planner, networking is an essential skill that you will need in order to have as many people around to help provide solutions for your events planning role. You may need to contact someone multiple times for different clients for example, so the ability to develop professional networks is key.
• Visionary planner – you should be able to visualise, or at least have some sort of idea of how you are going to go about your plans.

What do you need to start up an events planning business?

• Events planning will require a fairly reasonable sized social media network. From personal platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to professional platforms such as LinkedIn, it is important that you have a strong network and can easily be referred to or contacted when needed.
• Setting up a marketing budget – you should determine what forms of marketing you would like to carry out for the business (e.g., flyers, business cards, company website, online ads etc.).
• Choosing your target market – this will determine what types of events you will be planning for. Targeting the corporate market not only includes big business corporations but also charities and other non-profit organisations. These events (e.g. fundraisers, conferences, awards, sports events etc.) will largely differ compared to those within the social market (e.g. birthdays, weddings, anniversary trips).
• Market research – understanding both your target market and competitors will help with many things, including how much to charge for your services. Understanding how much competitors charge and their capabilities will be a good insight, allowing you to plan how much you will charge, and what you will provide that your competitors can not.

4 – Fitness Coaching Business:

The fitness industry is constantly growing annually, with 9.9million gym members in the UK, so many people are placing a huge emphasis on their physical well-being. Fitness coaching is a great way for active people who have knowledge in exercising and nutrition to earn income while also developing long-term relationships with clients.

What skills & traits are required to run a fitness coaching business?

• Qualified and possesses great expertise in fitness – to be credible in this business, some sort of qualification and previous experience will mean people will likely buy into your business. As fitness coaching is a long-term investment for most people, they want to be getting the most out of their money, receiving high-quality, and proven training.
• Patient – becoming a fitness coach and running such a business is a long process whereby the business will grow over time. You must be patient in your client’s development, your own development as a fitness coach, and in the business as a whole, constantly working on and monitoring all three aspects.
• Self-motivated – as you will be someone who must stay enthusiastic, encouraging and motivating for your clients, you should be someone who is driven and constantly challenges themselves daily and annually. You must be able to reflect this to the clients.
• Great listener – you will constantly be monitoring the physical progress of each client. It is important that you are aware of how your clients are feeling, allowing you to adapt or adjust where necessary. You’ll want your clients to feel as if they can talk to you about anything.

What do you need to start up a fitness coaching business?

• While there is no legal requirement to have a particular qualification to start-up a fitness coaching business, having a ‘Level 2 Gym Instructor’ qualification is common amongst most coaches, and this allows them to carry out their business inside gyms and leisure centres. When you are searching for a legitimate ‘Level 2 Gym Instructor’ qualification, you must make sure that the providers are regulated by Ofqual.
• If you choose not to go down the path of coaching clients in a gym or leisure centre, you should have a space for you and your client to train (e.g. your home with built-in equipment or an outdoor park).
• You may wish to set up an online portfolio, demonstrating your skills and knowledge of fitness for potential clients to see. In most cases, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are popular amongst fitness coaches as they are more visual and engaging platforms that can attract potential clients.
• Coaching timetable/schedule – it would be beneficial to create a document that accounts for all of the times you are training a client and when you are not. This will not only help you keep track of who and when you are training, but this also allows you to provide clear information for any potential clients wanting to utilise your services.

5 – Garden Design Business

Garden design has become more and more important for people in recent years, especially now after the multiple national lockdowns due to COVID-19, causing people to be stuck at home. Designing the garden, whether it is rearranging the layout, decorating or landscaping or more, some things may seem too complicated for some people and they will want professional services to help them to build their dream garden.

What skills & traits are required to run a garden design business?

• Great listener – you must be great with receiving instructions and delivering exactly what your clients want. As a garden designer, you will be given an idea of what work your client wants doing, but it is up to you to determine how you execute this idea.
• Creativity – being creative will be vital in a designing type of business. Your client may ask you to do something with lesser instructions and will in fact trust your creativity to deliver the finished design. Or, in some cases, you may simply need creativity to improvise and create something aesthetically appealing.
• Technical gardening ability – you will need to have the skills and knowledge in gardening techniques (e.g. pruning, mowing, and cutting), understanding of how to plant and care for plants, and general strong manual capabilities as you will be proactively moving things around.

What do you need to start up a garden design business?

• While there are no necessary qualifications required to become a garden designer, there are plenty of one-year diplomas offered by many established schools to give you a qualification in garden designing (e.g. Oxford College of Garden Design, KLC School of Design etc.), which would teach you the required knowledge needed to become a garden designer.
• Investing in essential gardening tools will be important for this business, these tools can include: garden knives, digging spades, fork hoe, wheelbarrows and more.
• You may wish to invest in a van in order to carry all of your tools to a client’s property. Vans can be expensive, but they are a good investment for someone trying to start a gardening designer business, and there are various options to either purchase or rent a van.

There may be no better time than in 2022 to start your own business as there are all sorts of business ideas that would not only be profitable but also an opportunity for you to explore your passions or a new industry.

The main benefits of starting your own business are that you will become your own boss, and have the opportunity to grow your business at your own pace. While it may take some time to start up your business idea, the benefits such as flexibility and a sense of fulfilment will be well worth it. As the business continues to grow, you will continue to develop alongside it.