A reader asks:

Can you suggest any creative business ideas that my wife and I can pursue? We’re both creative people who want to start our own home based business.

Well I’d argue that all entrepreneurs are creative, the act of starting a business is itself a creative act. I’m not alone either, the well know Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter coined the phrase creative destruction to describe the process of entrepreneurship (you can read more in the post: Schumpeter’s Gales Of Creative Destruction). In fact creativity is an important part of all businesses and is often essential for a business to retain a competitive advantage. As such teaching others businesses how to be creative and how to think creatively is quite a lucrative business opportunity itself.

If that doesn’t appeal or you’re looking for a creative business idea along the lines of creative writing, musical composition or art and craft then some of the following creative business ideas might be of interest:

• writing – be it fiction or non-fiction although non fiction offers the best chance to build a business around writing (think: copywriting, freelance writing, tutorials and guides);
• graphic design – you can do anything from illustrations in fiction or non-fiction books to logo design and advertising layouts;
• jewellery – as I’ve mentioned before lots of people like handmade jewellery;
• picture framing;
• sculpting;
• photography – be it for weddings, news articles, press releases, advertising or just art there’s a big market for photography;
• video creation – just as there’s a need for still photograph there’s also a need for video shooting and editing.
• art design – rather than being an artist you can focus your artistic skills on the development of art for organisations;
• interior decorating;
• greeting cards;
• scrapbooks - to my surprise there’s quite a few creative business opportunities around scrapbooks, have a read of my post memoirs for one example;
• pottery shop – there’s a shop in a local town that lets you create and glaze your own pottery;
• image consultant – use your creativity to help others look better, be that to create a better business image or improve their chances with members of the opposite sex;
• catering;
• brewing beer or making wine;
• creative recycling – turn old oil drums or gas canisters into wood burning stoves or items of furniture;
• teaching – you can teach other people how to develop your creative skill, i.e. teach musical theory or how to play a musical instrument.

There are of course many, many more creative business ideas, but hopefully the above will give you some inspiration. If you’ve got any other suggestions for creative business ideas please feel free to post them in the comments section (below).

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