What if you could start a business that didn't require your presence? What if you could hire people who could run things without needing you to be there every day?
You've probably heard of the success stories. There are now thousands of businesses that run themselves - they don't need me. Heck, they don't even require my presence on a regular basis to stay afloat.How do you get a business to run itself?
There are all kinds of different ways! Some businesses can be completely automated, like an e-commerce store that automatically updates its inventory based on demand or a subscription service that automatically renews each month.
Other companies can be semi-automated, where there's still some human intervention.
Despite this, machines do the majority of the work, such as an online store that allows customers to customize their purchases so they can get exactly what they want.
What are businesses that run themselves?
First and foremost, these businesses do something that gives them a competitive advantage over others in the market.
They might offer a better quality of service or lower costs for what they offer. Some businesses lend themselves to automation more than others.
Labor-intensive industries are naturally more difficult to automate than those that require less human involvement. In fact, automation and remote self-management are the two key ingredients that can be found in all these businesses.
Some businesses will require some upfront investment. Others might require additional skills not typically associated with traditional entrepreneurship.
Famous brands such as Airbnb and Uber didn't need much capital or knowledge of the industry they were entering, but their founders were able to leverage technology and attain success.
So what are the types of businesses that run themselves?
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the oldest ways to make money online. In this system, someone purchases a product, and then they can refer the product to potential customers.
When the customer buys the product, they may place an order with you or they might not choose your business. However, you still get paid, so long as the customer completes their purchase and makes a referral.
That's why we think affiliate marketing is such an incredible opportunity for people who want to build a business that runs itself without their presence.
With affiliate marketing, you can make money off of other companies' products—and all without having any inventory or having to deal with shipping. All you need is a laptop!
Steps on how to start Affiliate Marketing
- Decide on a niche. Don't be too broad because you want to target a small and specific audience.
- Find products. Do your research, and look for products in your niche that are unique and high quality but still decently priced.
- Create an affiliate page for each product you choose from the list above by ensuring you have all the necessary information available. This includes:
- Create a dedicated landing page for your affiliate page.
- Set up your affiliate links on the landing page so that you can also send traffic to your website
- Find bloggers and other people in the niche who might be willing to write reviews of a product they love or talk about its benefits, and ask if they would write a review for you if you get them free products.
- Buy products through Amazon, eBay, and other online retailers as they become available.
- Once you get your first order, you're already on your way!
- Your goal is to continue to grow and expand.
Affiliate Marketing - Pros and Cons
- You're more likely to find a niche product that sells well eventually.
- The products tend to be high quality because entrepreneurs often market them.
- The products and affiliate links tend to have excellent sales copy.
- One of the most eye-catching ways to get someone to buy the product is its sales copy.
- The products are usually easy to create.
- You can pick something off the shelf with a little tweak.
- You don't need a lot of money upfront because they're not the products you need to worry about making or shipping.
- You can find plenty of good products at the beginning.
- They're usually not hugely expensive.
- You don't have to worry about the customer leaving you or not getting the product because it's not your product.
- The products themselves are relatively easy and low-risk to market.
- You can focus all of your time on marketing them and making sales.
- You can't make sales until someone else makes a sale, so it's all about the quality of your marketing.
- You're just sending traffic to someone else's website.
- You don't always have complete control over your results.
- Understanding which products will sell well takes a lot of time and effort because every niche and audience is different.
- You may not find the best products for your audience because they're not on your list until someone finds them and shares them.
- You can't make as much money per sale because you don't have to pay for advertising or have a website to direct customers to.
- You're dependent on another business person's product dollars, as opposed to selling your products (which you can do with e-commerce stores)
- It can be hard to find someone who can add value to an audience beyond just providing a product review.
Online marketplaces
Online marketplaces are exponentially growing in popularity, with numerous startups raising millions of venture capital for services such as Airbnb, Amazon Marketplace, Etsy, and Uber.
These are examples of businesses that run themselves—they don't require your presence.
"The first step to running an online marketplace is to find a product or service you can sell. Then it would be best if you found a way to list and market it so that the right people will find it" - says Harry Johns White, Marketing Specialist at NBAblast
Depending on the type of service they offer, some of these businesses require little or no effort from you.
Steps on how to start Online Marketplaces
- Choose Your Niche- The first step is choosing your niche. What do you specialize in? Do you have a passion for clothing? Are you an expert at selling used books? Think about it carefully and make sure that what you choose will be profitable.
- Competition-Find out how much competition there is in this niche. If there's already a lot of competition, try to develop another idea.
- Website-Create a website for your online marketplace and make sure it looks professional. You'll want to ensure it has all the features that people expect from a good website, such as contact forms, flip books, user accounts and reviews, shipping tracking information, etc. You can use templates to help you get started quickly if you're not comfortable building your website from scratch!
- Get Supplies-Once you've chosen your niche, it's time to get supplies! You'll need storage space, labels, boxes, shipping services, etc. The more stores you have on hand when starting, the easier it will be to get started selling! Make sure that each supply costs less than $10 so that they can all be purchased with cash flow from sales made through your site or app!
- Advertising-Advertise on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to reach out to potential clients who might not know about your brand yet but would be interested in what it offers them if they found out about it through these platforms' advertising tools (such as promoted posts).
Online marketplaces - Pros and Cons
- It opens up a new avenue for promoting and selling your goods.
- Compared to other sales channels, the platform's marketing expenses are significantly lower.
- It opens up new ways to sell internationally, especially in home goods, pets, fashion, and sports goods, where online marketplaces have been growing.
- Consumers find them useful because they make it simple to compare prices and products from a single location.
- An established online marketplace provides trust between you and the buyer.
- Time constraints and issues with varying international trading hours are eliminated because the open environment allows for round-the-clock operations.
- Customers may be charged a percentage of the sale price each time they buy something from a marketplace.
- The terms and conditions of the online stores may limit your ability to communicate with customers.
- The market may restrict your company's online presence's branding.
Vending machines
Owning a route of vending machines can be a terrific company that runs on autopilot.
The idea is to put a lot of vending machines in places where many people go and make money off of each sale.It takes some work to restock and collect money from the machines, but this is easy to outsource.
Installing current payment readers and inventory monitoring software can help you run your business from anywhere, so make sure your equipment is equipped with these tools.
To avoid concerns about route runners skimming off the top, you can use the software to track every coin entering the machine.
Steps on how to get started on a Vending Machine business
- Find a location for your vending machine business. You can do this by looking at the area surrounding your home or office or using a service to find locations near you.
- Decide which type of vending machine you want to use, and research how much it costs to buy one of these machines (or if you're going to lease one).
- Get the necessary permits from your local government before buying or leasing anything else. This will ensure everything is legal before you start making money!
- Buy everything you need for your business—from snacks and drinks to soda fountains—and set up your machines in the locations where they'll be most profitable!
Vending machines - Pros and Cons
- They allow the owner of an establishment to save on labor costs
- Convenience for customers;
- Money-saving opportunities for businesses
- Quick service without having to wait for an employee
- Less staff needed to keep them stocked with products
- Reduced costs from not having employees standing around doing nothing
- Ability to update inventory without being there physically most days
- When you're just getting started, you'll need a lot of money.
- You'll have to draft lease contracts.
- Ongoing security is not provided.
- Dealing with a lot of cash is a common occurrence.
- Transportation and service costs must be factored in when calculating the total cost.
ATM Machines
It is similar to vending machines in that you place ATMs in high-traffic areas and collect a fee every time a customer withdraws money.
A vending machine route is more straightforward, but this one is even easier. You don't have to carry 17 different snacks and beverages with you when it comes to food and drink.
Cash is all you need in terms of inventory. The good news is that ATM restocking services are available for a fee.
Steps on how to get started with an ATM business
- Create a startup profile. Your first step is to create a detailed profile on the website for the type of ATM you want to start.
- Find the right ATM. After you've created your startup profile, you'll want to find either a new or used ATM that the site has approved.
- Order your ATM. If you've found the right brand of ATM, you'll need to place an order for your machine.
- Get a service agreement. If you can't get your ATM locally, you may need to get a service agreement before it ships.
- Get security approved. You need to apply for and get approved by the site's security committee before you're allowed to start using your ATM.
- Start using your ATM. Now that you've created your profile, ordered your ATM, gotten the service agreement, and got your security approval, it's time to start using it.
- Market your business. ATMs create a lot of revenue for their owners, but that doesn't mean you will get rich without any help. You need to market yourself and make sure that people are aware of what you're doing if you will be successful with ATMs.
- Host seminars. You can use the money you make from your ATM to host meetings that teach people how to set up their ATM businesses.
- Start a franchise. Once you've mastered the process of starting an ATM business and you know that it's going to work for you, you can create a franchise and spread ATMs all over the country.
- See your business grow. With all of the help that you're able to provide new ATM owners, your business will be able to grow quickly. It's all about helping other people by giving them a step-by-step blueprint on how they can start their own ATM business.
- Create your ATM empire. You can now go out and create your ATM empire. You have all the tools, resources, and knowledge you need to start and grow your own business.
- Use ATMs for resale. You can also use the money you earn from your ATM to resell new or used ATMs.
- Purchase an ATM franchise. If you're interested in growing a business quickly and easily, then an ATM franchise could be the solution you're looking for.
- Enjoy financial independence. If you put the time and effort into it, your ATM business can become a way of life.
ATM Machines - Pros and Cons
- Simplicity: You don't need to hire a teller, and you don't need to train anyone on how to deal with customers.
- The machine does everything for you.
- Low costs: It's cheaper than hiring a full-time employee and paying them benefits, plus there's no payroll tax or insurance premiums!
- ATMs are simple for most people to use! Most of them have touch screens now instead of buttons or keys that need pressing down.
- ATM machines can help you get feedback from customers
- ATM machines can help you make sales
- ATM machines can help you improve your customer experience
- If there aren't any ATMs nearby when you need cash, you'll have to drive somewhere else to get it—which can take time out of your schedule!
- Sometimes the machine breaks down or stops working correctly without warning, which means that if you need cash quickly, then.
Laundromat
A laundromat is a self-service shop where you can wash and dry your clothes. It usually has washing machines, dryers, and a change room where you can drop off your clothes before you start your wash.
Most laundries have soap, fabric softener, and dryer sheets. Many also offer free WiFi to customers waiting for their laundry to finish.
Laundromats are an excellent option for people who need their clothes cleaned but don't have the time or resources to do it themselves. T
hey're also helpful for people who don't want to do their laundry by hand but don't have access to a washing machine.
Steps on how to get started on a Laundromat Business
- Find a location. Laundromats usually take up a good amount of physical space, so you'll need to find an available place that is both available and makes sense for your business.
- Get the location approved. Even though you found a good place, you'll still need to get your local community's approval before starting your laundry business.
- Register with the government. Before you can start making money from your laundry business, you must register it with the government.
- Set up a business plan. Finally, before you can get started, you'll want to set up a laundry service plan that outlines all of the things that will make up your entire business model for profit.
- Start a marketing campaign. You'll also want to start a marketing campaign that includes not only print ads and signs. Employing SEO is a great strategy to enhance brand visibility, and an SEO checklist proves beneficial for both novices and seasoned SEO professionals in attaining high rankings and increasing conversions.
- Keep track of how much money you're making. Depending on the type of laundry service you're providing, you'll be able to keep track of how much money you're making.
- Increase your business' size. Once you've figured out how much profit your laundry service is making, it's time to find a way to increase its size.
- Take on more customers. Now that your business is growing, it will be a lot easier to take on additional customers and start sharing their money with you instead of giving it away.
Laundromat - Pros and Cons
- An automated system takes care of the cleaning process for you.
- No need to hire staff like cleaners or janitors
- You can focus on making money instead of spending time on unnecessary tasks.
- Laundromats make money even when you're not there. Some can be set up to run automatically after hours while you're sleeping or busy doing other things.
- You don't have to deal with customers—drop off the laundry and pick it up later!
- You don't need a lot of space. If required, you can run one out of your home or garage (though it's best to find an actual location).
- It might take a while before your customers start coming back regularly. You'll need to build up your reputation by being friendly and reliable.
Blogging
Blogging is another business that can outsource itself to run without your presence. You can set it up to run automatically and publish itself regularly. When you write a blog post, the system will publish it at the specified time and date.
You can write a few posts in advance and schedule them for publishing later. If you already have a blog, you can use this software to automate its publishing.
Steps on how to start blogging
- Decide your blog's purpose. It would be best to decide what purpose your blog will serve before you can get it started.
- Design your blog. You need to create a design for your blog that will help people recognize it from other blogs in the same category.
- Choose a name for your blog. You need to pick a name that will be easy to remember and recognizable.
- Create your blog's content. You need to create the actual content now that you have a name for your blog and a design.
- Promote your blog using SEO strategies. A great way to spread the word about your blog is through search engine optimization (SEO), including free keyword research. Use social media. You can also use social media to promote your blogs on Facebook or Twitter.
- Plan out future posts. Now that you've created your first post and are ready to put it online, you need to start planning out future posts.
- Create a schedule. You'll also want to create a content schedule that outlines when every new post will be published.
- Update your blog's design. Updates and redesigns are a great way to keep your blog's visitors from moving to other blogs in the same category and losing interest.
- Focus on research. It would help if you also did some research on blogging. A successful blog requires a thorough understanding of the subject matter.
- Make your first post. Finally, you can start by writing your first post and putting it online for everyone to see and read.
- You must decide how long you want to stick with blogging. You can keep going if you wish to, or you can determine that this slowly becomes too much work for you and then stop before it's too late in the game.
- Keep your blog updated. Finally, you'll want to keep your blog updated as often as possible. There's nothing worse than creating great content for your readers only to have them lose interest and stop coming back.
- Grow your blog. When you write great content and have healthy traffic, you can grow your blog to make more money than you ever thought possible.
Blogging - Pros and Cons
- To establish a blog, you don't need any specialized knowledge or equipment to get started.
- Just set up an account on a blogging platform like WordPress or Tumblr, then start writing!
- Writing a blog is a great way to share your expertise with the world, and if others find your posts helpful, they might even tell their friends about you!
- Easy to set up and maintain
- You can make money by promoting products and services on your blog.
- You have complete control over what content is published on your blog. You don't need approval from an editor or anyone else before posting something new.
- Blogs are easy to create and maintain once they're set up correctly.
- Once they're up and going, they won't consume much of your time or energy (and if something goes wrong, there are plenty of online tutorials).
- The cost is minimal, and you can write from anywhere.
- Blogging requires regular maintenance—you'll need to post new content regularly for people to keep coming back for more!
Conclusion - is it time to run businesses that don’t require my presence?
I sincerely hope this blog has provided you with some food for thought. There are a few things you need to know if you wish to manage a self-sustaining business:
You must first be willing to relinquish some of your power. Allowing yourself to move away from the day-to-day operations of your business requires that you have confidence in your personnel and can delegate responsibilities to them.
Second, you need to have a plan for when things go wrong. When things go wrong for me, I take a deep breath, put on my big-girl pants, and get it together—but when things go wrong for my employees?
Let's say we've had some exciting conversations about how they're going about their work.
Finally, make the most of it! Make sure that you and everyone else who works with or for you continue to have a positive experience with this endeavor by ensuring that it continues in this vein.
So, what's the conclusion?
You can do it! You don't have to worry about running your business. The key is to find a way to automate everything. Automate your marketing, automate your sales, and automate your customer service.
When you've done that, you'll have more time to focus on what matters: ensuring that every detail of your business is functioning at its maximum potential.
Congratulations, you have a business that runs itself!
I know it's not easy to get there. I've been there too, and I remember how it felt to have no idea what was going on or what I was doing.
But then I realized: if you love your business and want it to succeed, who cares about the details? Just do whatever makes sense for your business and go with it.
And remember: if your business is successful, then YOU are successful. Your customers will love you, your employees will be happy working with you, and even if something goes wrong once in a while (which will happen because we're human), everyone else will still think YOU are awesome!
