Lucy - BQ Magazine EditorWhile the concept of working from home has been around for a long time, a big goal in life for many is to have complete independence. So moving away from working from home and working for oneself is the dream. With your own business out of your own home, you can make that business happen, but it does take a lot of work in those early days. Before your business starts to take off and you need to recruit staff and grow into a warehouse space, you have some thinking to do.
Starting in your garage is a great place to begin, especially if you have enough space to be able to park your car on a driveway. Those warehouse spaces for rent will probably come up much later on when you are growing enough to grow out of the garage, but before then, you have to start a business in the first place. As the garage is a large space, you’ll be able to pull together something easy with a bit of imagination and effort. Apple is a giant company, and it started as a garage too. Let’s take a look at some business ideas that you could start from home working in your garage.
You could teach music
Music teachers do very well, whether they’re working in a school or at home. There are a couple of things you’ll need to be able to be successful as a music teacher, and ideally, you want to start with a teaching qualification. You need a good side space to be able to teach an instrument, and it would be helpful if you had a background check to be able to show your customers that you are a safe and reliable teacher to learn from. As the garage can be detached from the main home, you’ll be able to soundproof the wall that connects to the side of the house and teach your music without disturbing the other residents.
You could write
If you have a way with words, then being a freelance writer is a career path you could go for. Freelancers rarely need to travel around for their work, so choosing to set up a home office in your garage is a great place to feel like you are working in a business but are working for you. All you need is a good ergonomic desk and chair, a computer, an Internet connection, and somewhere to relax and vibe. A good sound system is also necessary to play music when you work, but this way you can still have your own office space without having to venture out.
Choose to train people
Personal trainers will often work from a local gym, but if you have a decent garage space, you could convert it into a basic gym. As long as it’s kept clean and well-ventilated with a decent air conditioning system, it’s a comfortable space for fitness specialists to work. You could include an ensuite addition to your garage so that your client could have a shower before they go home, but that would be a personal preference for you.
Start your web design business
Similarly to the freelancing gig we mentioned earlier on, starting in web design is easy from a garage because all you need is a laptop and a place to work. Every single business needs a functional website that runs very well, and you could be the person to design it. Lots of businesses that require websites designed don’t usually do so with a full-time staff. They outsource to people just like you who have that skill. It doesn’t require a great deal of power, so you’ll be able to build up a business very quickly.
Start up your own e-commerce business
All you need to run a web store is a website and a space to warehouse your product. You might start in the garage until you start to gain more traction, and then you can go back to those warehouse spaces for rent and set up there as well. When you’re starting, a garage can save you a lot of money instead of paying for warehousing costs. Because garages are a large space, they can hold quite a lot and you can then arrange to have couriers pick the product up directly from your garage or you can take the packages to be sent out from the post office.
Baking
Whether it’s bread, cake or even ice cream, a good business to begin with is baking. Having a couple of fridges and freezers set up in your garage for you to store goods before they get collected by customers is a good idea. If you’re working out of your kitchen, then your garage can be the place where you do any handovers for the product. When it grows, you can convert your entire garage into a food-making space with the right food safety certificate. You’ll be all set, with the added benefit of the smells from the baking that make the whole house smell good.
Start your own daycare
You need to make sure that you’re properly licensed for this one. There are state and national laws that have to be conformed to before you decide to open a daycare centre in your garage. However, a garage is a good and safe area to set up without any of the hazards that fill normal home spaces. Daycares can be noisy and messy, and garages can handle that.
You could start an Airbnb
If your garage is large enough, you could convert the space to a studio, tag on a bathroom to the side with a small kitchenette and rent the space out. If you live somewhere that’s a holiday destination, it’s a great way to have someone stay over for the weekend. You can keep internal doors locked if you don’t want anybody coming into the main house, but generally, it’s a good start for a business.
Your garage might not seem like much right now, but it could be the birthplace of something extraordinary. From teaching music to launching an e-commerce empire, the opportunities are as vast as your imagination. Remember, many of the world’s most successful businesses began in humble spaces just like yours. The key is to take that first step, put in the effort, and believe in your vision. With determination and resourcefulness, today’s small garage project could become tomorrow’s shining success. The possibilities are endless – your big idea might just be one decision away!