Starting an online business is a transformative experience. While it can bring challenges you've never faced before, it also opens the door to amazing opportunities. Remember, every great online business started with an idea!
A good online business idea is one that you’re passionate about but also meets a real need. Look for ideas that have a built-in customer base and the potential for growth. Think about what problems you can solve or what interests you can share.
Ahead, find 25 online business ideas and models, designed for beginners and experienced entrepreneurs alike. See which ideas inspire you, then use them to develop your own online business.
Best online business ideas for 2025
1. Start your own clothing line
If you have a passion for fashion and a willingness to navigate supply chains, you can start a clothing company.
Why start a clothing line?
- As a clothing designer, you create products people use every day.
- Focus on your favorite garments, such as t-shirts.
- As soon as you build your Shopify store, you can start selling instantly with print-on-demand apps.
Find popular print-on-demand services such as Printify and Printful on the Shopify App Store.
These apps connect you to clothing manufacturers and handle packaging and shipping to customers.
2. Launch a dropshipping business
Think you need a warehouse full of inventory to run your own business? Think again! Dropshipping is a great way to start a business on a budget. Hit the ground running by selling products from a supplier who takes care of things like storage and shipping.
With Shopify, it’s easy to start a dropshipping business and begin selling without the hassle of managing inventory and fulfillment. Orders are sent directly from your wholesaler to your customers, so you can focus on building your brand.
Why choose dropshipping?
- No need to spend on inventory or store products in a physical location.
- Picking, packaging, and shipping are handled by a third-party supplier.
- No warehouse means you can run your business from anywhere.
Find out how one entrepreneur went from watching dropshipping YouTube videos to posting $3 million in revenue.
3. Sell your art online
Whether you’re a painter, photographer, or musician, there are plenty of online business ideas and ways to turn your latest masterpiece into a source of revenue with a beautifully designed e-commerce website.
If you're a painter or photographer,r you can sell your art as prints, canvases, and framed posters, even using a print-on-demand service. This is a fantastic way to turn your art into something tangible that people can take home and integrate into their space. You can also sell your work as digital downloads.
Why sell your art?
- You’ll be part of people’s lives by getting your work into customers’ homes.
- You’ll create a platform for showcasing your work by setting up shop online.
- As an artist, creating art isn’t just a hobby—it’s a way of life. This is your chance to turn your passion into an income stream and potentially do what you love for a living.
Looking for inspiration? Learn how artist Sarah Andersen went from viral comics to a creative franchise.
4. Become a freelance writer, designer, or developer
Writers, graphic designers, and developers can start low-cost businesses based on their talents. As a freelancer, you’ll get to hop between different companies, taking on different projects at different scales.
Some writing or design gigs might require only an afternoon’s work. Other projects can last for months. Freelancers can create their own schedules and accept only the projects they want, at a pace that fits their schedule.
To find people who need your skills, try freelancing marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr.
It’s worth noting that Fiverr is a little different from a traditional job board. As the name suggests, a lot of the posted jobs pay $5.
The key to making big money on Fiverr is carefully setting up your offers so you can easily upsell the client.
For instance, you could offer to write a 150-word introduction for a blog post as your initial $5 service. As an upsell, you could charge another $10 for every additional 150 words. You can tweak your services until you’ve found a combo that makes it worth your while.
If you want to run your own freelance operation, you can set up your own website and use apps like BTA:
Appointment Booking App and Events Calendar to help your customers schedule appointments.
Why freelance?
- When you freelance, you choose which projects you want to work on and set your own schedule and workplace.
- Getting paid to do something you’re good at is a rewarding feeling, whether you’re looking to strike out on your own or just want to make some extra cash on the weekend.
- If you’re new to writing, designing, or developing, freelancing is an excellent way to build your portfolio and get some real experience in a wide range of industries. You might discover that you have a knack or passion for something you never expected.
5. Teach an online course
Teaching an online course is a low-investment online business idea for generating passive income. Your online course can be as simple as a video walkthrough that you host on your own personal website.
From there, you can go much deeper, creating multi-level courses with a combination of pre-recorded video and live class interactions.
Although it requires effort upfront, a popular, high-value video tutorial series can generate passive income as people continue to enroll in your course.
To start creating your first online course, brainstorm a topic you know well enough to teach someone how to do from scratch. This can be anything—music production, social media marketing, web development, you name it.
Why teach an online course?
- Your initial efforts will go a long way. Once you’ve created your online course, you can monetize it for years, drawing in new students and passive income.
- You already have the knowledge; you just need to share it. Focus on teaching something you’re already an expert at, and the rest will come naturally, whether it’s building iOS apps, creating monthly budgets, or running Facebook ad campaigns.
- Teaching someone a new skill is its own reward. While there’s definitely money to be made teaching online courses, helping other people is always a satisfying experience in itself.