16 Human Resource Related Business Ideas You Can Start Today
Do you have experience or a passion in human resources and wondering what business can I start with a human resources degree?
The good news is there are several HR business ideas you can focus on and earn a decent income. From recruiting consultancy to a payroll specialist to employee training, the list is endless.
We put together a list of 16 HR entrepreneur ideas you can start today:
1. Start a recruiting agency
The global online recruitment market size was $29B in 2019 and is projected to reach $43B by 2027.
The best way to assess the success of a Recruiting Agency is to review what their clients say about them and the results achieved for those clients.
As a recruiter, you dream of landing your first client, but once you do, you realize it’s only the start of what you hope will be a successful business. Have you ever wondered how to start a recruiting agency business? There’s so much you can learn from books, but nothing beats getting real-world experience.
How much you can make: $100 — $320,000/month
How long does it take to build: 90 days (?)
DistantJob is a unique recruitment agency that specializes in finding full-time remote employees, and with $3 million in annual revenue, they offer small to medium-sized tech companies an edge over big competitors who are not willing to hire remotely.
2. Create an online course
An online course business involves creating and selling digital classes teaching specialized skills or knowledge to subscribed students.
As an entrepreneurial course creator, you identify educational gaps around topics you have expertise in and develop engaging video lessons and supplementary materials.
With flexibility around self-paced or cohort-based structures, building a student base provides passive income potential.
For founders who enjoy information-sharing, launching an online course platform presents a lucrative way to monetize your instructional talents with small startup costs by serving eager lifelong learners seeking convenient access to emerging subjects.
How much you can make: $275 — $1,000,000/month
How much does it cost to start: $2,000 (?)
How long does it take to build: 90 days (?)
Learn how one couple created a successful personal finance blog, The Savvy Couple, that now makes over $20,000 per month and has sold thousands of digital workbooks and courses, by focusing on purposeful content and optimizing their ROI with efficient time management.
3. Start a training software
Online learning software makes it easy for institutions to deliver course content to learners. The learners can be students, employees, or even business people who want to learn a new skill.
Starting an eLearning software can be a profitable investment. Industry experts project that the e-learning market will double in the next few years.
Your business can provide content, create supporting technology, and administer e-learning courses.
How much you can make: $1,500 — $450,000/month
How long does it take to build: 90 days (?)
Trainual is a software platform that helps small businesses effortlessly scale by capturing every process, role, and responsibility, creating a consistent, teachable, and scalable knowledge base. With over 15k users in over 80 countries, Trainual has grown to $2M ARR by catering to businesses looking for something more manageable than an enterprise learning system.
4. Start a human resource recruitment agency
A recruitment agency is a company that finds people looking for candidates and matches them with job vacancies on behalf of the employer.
When a company enlists the services of a recruitment agency, it pays the recruiting consultancy a fee to cover the initial search for candidates. Recruitment agencies have become popular because of their potential to access the best job-seekers and because they save companies time, helping them fill positions faster.
To start a recruitment agency, choose an area of expertise, create a recruitment agency where job seekers can submit their CVs and advertise or market your services to companies.
How much you can make: $350,000/month
How long does it take to build: 165 days (?)
Virtual Latinos is a win-win-win situation platform connecting entrepreneurs and business owners with top pre-vetted talent from Latin America while helping fellow Latinos find jobs with an average salary two to four times higher than in their home countries.
5. Start a payroll business
The global HR payroll software market is expected to grow at 11.2% CAGR to reach $15.37 Billion. The growing workforce and the current trends in the job market led to increased demand for payroll systems.
To start a payroll system, identify a growing field and understand its practice. Then, start making connections with those you know need the payroll system. Establish the system, set new clients and service rates, and create a standard agreement for clients.
How much you can make: $5,000,000/month
How long does it take to build: 197 days (?)
Transformify, a global payroll and payments platform for international contractors, achieved 650% revenue growth in 2021 and reached profitability in 2019, offering social impact programs for various vulnerable groups, vendor management systems for temporary workforce management, and an AI-driven applicant tracking system to help job seekers switch careers amid Covid-19 outbreak.
6. Start a virtual human resources consulting business
Virtual HR consultancy is the practice of delivering all aspects of human resource management as an external provider. The areas include human capital strategy, compensation & benefits, organizational change, and others.
To start your virtual HR consultancy business, find a niche and determine whether the consultancy will provide general or specialized HR services. Then, find the target market and determine the legal structure before launching your operations.
How much you can make: $100,000 — $120,000/month
How much does it cost to start: $2,500 (?)
How long does it take to build: 30 days (?)
CloudDevs, a tech talent platform that sources and vets freelance tech talent and matches them with companies, has achieved $1 million in GMV in its first year, plans to achieve 100% growth year on year, and focuses on customer loyalty through its Net Promoter Score metric.
7. Start a resume writing service
A resume writing service offers professional assistance in crafting compelling resumes for job seekers.
With this service, your day-to-day activities revolve around collaborating with clients to gather their employment history, skills, and achievements, and transforming that information into well-crafted resumes that highlight their qualifications.
How much you can make: $1,000 — $62,500/month
How much does it cost to start: $35 (?)
How long does it take to build: 60 days (?)
Time commitment per week: Min. 8 hours/week
Recruiter Written, a resume and LinkedIn profile writing service founded by Alex Benjamin, successfully launched with a startup cost of $600 and has since generated an average gross profit of around $1940 per month primarily through referrals, and plans to expand to downloadable PDF Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writing guides.
8. Start an employee training business
Companies use different methods and programs to train and develop employees, hoping to boost their performance. A training program also helps build an employee’s confidence by providing a better understanding of the industry and the responsibilities of his role.
To attain this goal, companies hire trainers from private practice.
Starting an employee training and development program can be a great business opportunity for experts and professionals in different sectors like safety, security, cyber security training, etc. To start the employee training business, choose a niche, and develop the training curriculum and a training approach. Popular training methods include computer-based training and on-site and off-site lectures.
How much you can make: $3,000 — $40,000/month
How much does it cost to start: $5,000 (?)
How long does it take to build: 62 days (?)
VORTTX Training and Testing is a virtual emergency response training system generating 1% of its market potential of one hundred million dollars a year in its second year of full-time operation through utilizing email marketing, trade shows, trade events, referrals, personalized LinkedIn messages, and featuring testimonials from early adopters.
9. Start a career coaching business
A career coaching business involves providing personalized guidance, support, and strategy services to help clients navigate professional transitions and growth opportunities.
As a career coach, you design custom sessions to assist with resume building, interview prep, and workplace advancement goals tailored to each client’s aspirations.
With flexibility for in-person or virtual meetings, building a client base lets you empower breakthroughs through specialized advice and accountability.
Launching a coaching practice can be a great opportunity for those with speaking talents and human resources expertise to monetize their natural motivational abilities while setting their own schedule.
How much you can make: $1,000 — $300,000/month
How much does it cost to start: $1,500 (?)
How long does it take to build: 60 days (?)
Wall Street Oasis, the largest online community focused on careers in finance, has over 100 million visitors during its 14-year history and is currently receiving over 2 million visits per month, offering interview courses and mentorship services, in addition to building and investing in a thriving online community.
10. Write an ebook
An ebook is a digital book that can be read on a computer, tablet, or other electronic devices. Writing an ebook is a great way to communicate your message to the world. You can share your expertise and help people learn while doing something that you love.
Ebooks are a great way to build your personal brand, establish yourself as an expert in your field, and gain a following. It's also a great way to make money! This form of publishing allows you to publish your work for the world to see without having to go through a publisher.
You can make money by selling ebooks on platforms like Amazon and Apple Books.
How much you can make: $4,500 — $600,000/month
How much does it cost to start: $299 (?)
How long does it take to build: 90 days (?)
Praveen Malik shares how he started a $17k per month project management blog business in 2016 with negligible revenue, and grew his gross profit margin to about 80% by selling his own eBooks and marketing third-party training programs through his blog.
11. Develop an online survey tool
Online survey tools are a great way for businesses to gather customer feedback. They offer a convenient and cost-effective way to collect data from large groups of people. This service offers a variety of features, including a survey builder, a data collection tool, and a reporting system.
If you are interested in starting a business that helps businesses to gather customer feedback, then starting an online survey tool could be a great option for you. This business is growing in popularity as more businesses are using online surveys to collect data.
Typeform is a popular online survey tool that allows you to ask customers questions and get their feedback on the product. This can be used for many different purposes such as improving services or developing new products. Typeform told TechCrunch on the occasion of today’s funding announcement that its annual recurring revenue surpassed $70 million in 2021 after tripling over the preceding three years.
Building an online survey tool is a good business idea because there is a lot of demand for data collection. Businesses need to know more about their customers in order to be able to make better decisions.
How much you can make: $40 — $1,600,000/month
How long does it take to build: 127 days (?)
QuestionPro's Founder, Vivek Bhaskaran, shares the story of how he started the most robust survey software on the market, which has provided innovative technology to Fortune 100 companies, academic institutions, small businesses, and individual DIY researchers for over 12 years.
12. Start a health and safety training business
The health and safety business focuses on creating a safe workplace by instituting measures to prevent accidents and ensure employees' general wellness.
Health and safety professionals work with businesses to implement an employee health and safety program, ensuring compliance with the regulatory laws.
The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the demand for safety professionals will grow by over 11% in the coming decade. The statistics show a mushrooming demand for health and safety experts. In that regard, starting a health and safety business can be profitable.
How much you can make: $650,000/month
How long does it take to build: 90 days (?)
This case study follows the story of Brendan Torazzi, the CEO of AlertForce, a health and safety compliance training business that reached a peak turnover of almost $5 million per annum but currently remains highly profitable, and how he prioritized his lifestyle and leveraged technology to build a successful business, as well as lessons on the power of being the first and being agile.
13. Start a team-building consulting business
All organizations aim to achieve the best results possible. Two crucial factors affecting employee productivity in any organization are employee input and coordination. Team building activities help employees develop better coordination.
Therefore, companies hire team-building specialists to help their employees foster better coordination. Team-building companies organize retreats and corporate training services to provide employees with memorable and impactful team-building experiences.
If you are interested in starting a business within the human resource industry, a team-building company can be a profitable business idea. Identify potential companies within your area and advertise your business.
How much you can make: $15,000 — $80,000/month
How much does it cost to start: $2,500 (?)
How long does it take to build: 60 days (?)
This case study details how a veteran-owned leadership consulting company was started with one main coaching offer, which has now expanded to include video series, corporate training modules, and custom requests from clients, generating a profit and aiming to make leadership a more diverse and inclusive practice worldwide.
14. Become a labor relations consultancy
Labor relations consultant mediates employment contracts and disputes between employees and their companies. As a labor relations consultant, your role is to advise management on labor policies and inform employees of available labor union resources. Labor relations consultants also investigate grievances regarding potentially unfair labor practices.
To become a labor relations consultant, you must have experience in human resources, economics, management, labor laws, and strong negotiation and collaboration skills.
15. Become a labor & employment lawyer
Labor and employment lawyers represent employers and employees in disputes and negotiations. The professionals focus on industries with labor unions and specialized rules and regulations.
Employers/employees may want to consult a labor lawyer if they are threatened with a lawsuit based on mistreatment, unlawful overtime, discrimination, e.tc.
to become a labor lawyer, you must complete law school training and specialize in industrial / labor law. After the training course, you must work under an advocate to gain the skills and experience to serve independently.
16. Become an occupational psychologist
Occupational psychologists study how people behave at work to increase their productivity, job satisfaction, and overall effectiveness.
As an occupational psychologist, you will apply psychological knowledge, theory, and practice to workplace issues such as change and culture and individual and team problems. You aim to improve the effectiveness of the organization and employee job satisfaction by focusing on employee performance, behavior, health, and wellbeing.
To become an occupational psychologist, you must have at least a master’s degree in psychology or industrial organizational psychology.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
