Did you know that some of the best companies today started in the garage? Take as an example Apple. Although now it is one of the most profitable companies in the world, the first computers were built in a small garage in Cupertino, California. Everything started in 1976 when Steve Wozniak created the first Apple computer. He collaborated with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne, and together they launched Apple Computer Co. – in the garage of Jobs’ adopted parents.

The truth is that some of the best ideas in the world have their beginnings in places you would least expect them to – for instance, garages. Today, launching a business from your garage is actually one of the most lucrative ways to start your career in the business world.

However, what kind of business can you actually do from your garage? That’s what you’re about to find out. So, let’s just get started.

How to Prepare Your Garage for Your Business?

Just because you have a garage, doesn’t mean that you can just go and start a business. You need to prepare it so that it becomes a place where you can be productive and focused. How can you do that? It’s actually pretty easy.

The first step is to take out any unnecessary objects that can be kept elsewhere. If the place you will be working in is very cluttered, you might easily get distracted, and let’s not forget that focusing is very hard to do in an overstuffed room.

Once you do that and make the space more organized, it’s time to repair everything that needs fixing. Pay special attention to your garage door – is it working properly? Is it insulated so that you won’t get cold during the winter months? If the problem is more serious, and you are not sure if your skills will be enough to take care of it, it’s better to call a professional. There are plenty of companies that offer repair services – for instance, you can check A1Garage.com – maybe they operate in your area?

Last but not least, it’s time to make the space more personalized by adding decoration, as well as a desk and a chair (or any equipment you will need to work). Add a bit of greenery to make the garage look more lively, and don’t forget a good lamp with a warm white light bulb, for when you’ll be working in the evening. You can be as creative as you want – as long as you feel good in the space you create.

Small Business Ideas

Choosing only one thing to focus on can be quite challenging, which is why we decided to share with you some of our favorite ones.

Yoga / Fitness Instructor

There’s no denying that today, many people want to be fit and healthy and look for ways to achieve it. Due to that, there is an increasing amount of opportunities for people wanting to become yoga or fitness instructors.

There are a few ways in which you can go about it. First, you can open your own studio in the garage. Print out a few flyers, and give them out in your neighborhood – you are bound to find at least a few people interested in joining your classes.

Another option is to do live streams instead of face-to-face classes. This is an excellent idea, especially now, with so many coronavirus restrictions implemented by the governments of different countries. Besides, by offering online classes, you are expanding your potential customer base, as people from all over the world will be able to enjoy them, no matter how far away from you they are.

Tutoring Service

If you are good at something, you should use it to your advantage. There are plenty of people in need of a tutor for their kids these days. What you will teach depends solely on you – maybe you know a foreign language, such as Spanish or Italian? Or perhaps you know how to play an instrument?

Again, you can either create a classroom in your garage and have your students come to you, or you can move to the web. There are plenty of video-conferencing applications that will enable you to hold tutoring sessions online.

Freelancing

Another thing worth considering is becoming a freelancer. One of the advantages of this type of work is that you can choose your own clients and projects as well as the hours during which you will be working. However, you will also be responsible for things regular employees aren’t – such as keeping track of how much time you spend on each of the projects, billing your clients, and paying business and employment taxes.

There are several niches in which you can become a freelancer. Some of the most popular freelance jobs include:

• graphic designer
• writer (copywriter, content writer, journalist)
• web developer
• translator/interpreter
• SEO specialist
• photographer
• mobile app developer

E-Commerce Site

This is one of the ideas that require higher initial capital. You will need a website, as well as some space to store the inventory until someone makes a purchase. Usually, the garage is big enough to hold all the products, meaning that there is no need for you to rent additional storage space.

If you don’t feel like your garage is not a good place to store the inventory you want and you don’t want to rent a warehouse, you can always try dropshipping. It is also a type of e-commerce, however, in this case, you don’t purchase the inventory until the customer makes the purchase.

To put it simply, here is how it looks like in regular e-commerce sites:

the supplier sells and ships you inventory -> the business (you) make a sale -> the customer receives a package sent by you

In dropshipping, it looks like this:

the business (you) makes a sale -> the supplier ships the product -> the customer receives a package sent by the supplier

The Bottom Line

As you can see, there are several small business ideas that you can start in your garage – the ones we mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg. The truth is that most jobs nowadays can be done remotely (as the pandemic and the work from home policy introduced by thousands of companies showed), meaning that they can be done even in a garage.

Preparing the garage space is an important first step. After all, focusing and being productive in a space that is a mess can be quite difficult. Declutter it by taking out everything that can be stored somewhere else, make the necessary repairs, and decorate it.

So, what are you waiting for? A business won’t start itself! Good luck!