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Online Business Ideas You Can Start Even with Small Capital

Running an online business and being your own boss definitely has its appeal. In fact, it’s so enticing that the number of registered online businesses in the country is now 40 times more in the past five months^[1]. Definitely, the internet is a great medium to connect with customers without leaving home. However, starting an online business also has its challenges—the biggest one is coming up with enough money for capital. But don’t worry because there are many online business ideas you can start for as low as PHP 2,000.

Want to take the leap? Keep on reading to learn more about online business ideas in the Philippines you can start in 2020.

Online Business Ideas 2020

1. Make Artisanal Candles

Aromatherapy candles can help people relax after a tiring day. They are perfect to cap off a busy workday, especially now that most professionals are working from home. They’re quite easy to make as well. Add your own flair and essential oil blends to create the most calming candles.

Starting capital: PHP 5,000 – PHP 20,000

Materials and equipment needed:

Double boiler
Candle-making wax
Wicks
Essential oils
Coloring agents
Molds
Dried flowers (optional)
Tin can or glasses as containers

Candle making is one of the easiest online business ideas out there. You can do it at home, even if you have a small space. The profit margin is also high, with quality, artisanal candles selling for as much as PHP 1,000 each.

Read more: 10 Steps to Starting an Online Business in the Philippines

2. Offer Online Tutorials

online business ideas 2020 - online tutorial — online business ideas 2020 – online tutorial

The country has been in quarantine for more than seven months, forcing students to take their classes online. Students find it hard to

Medicare has online tool to compare nursing homes, doctors

Suppose you or a loved one needed to get cardiac bypass surgery. Wouldn’t it be useful to be able to consult one online tool to find and evaluate a surgeon and hospital as well as a nursing home and home health services for rehabilitation after this surgery?

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is betting the answer is yes.

Last month, CMS unveiled Care Compare, a streamlined redesign of eight existing CMS healthcare compare tools available on Medicare.gov.

Care Compare aims to give Medicare patients and family caregivers a user-friendly online tool to make informed decisions about healthcare based on location, cost, quality of care, volume of services, and other data, and the site is compatible for use on smartphone and tablets.

Patients can find information in eight areas: doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, home health, dialysis centers, long-term care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation and hospice groups.

“By aggregating all eight of CMS’ quality tools into a single interface, patients can easily research different providers and facilities before they entrust themselves to their care.” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma, in announcing the new tool. The goal, she said is “ensuring the tools are robust and beneficial to patients.”

The consolidation could also boost patient awareness.

Emma Boswell Dean, assistant professor of Health Management and Policy at University of Miami’s Miami Herbert Business School, said before Care Compare, the tools were somewhat underutilized separately. “In talking to Medicare patients, they don’t even know all the tools available. Bringing them together in one tool is a really smart idea.”

Still, Dean and other experts gave Care Compare mixed reviews. While all agreed the amount of information available is important and deep, some said the tool could be easier to manipulate for seniors, while others question aspects of the underlying data. However, they all

Pacific Design Studio offers homewares at online shop | Home | Spokane | The Pacific Northwest Inlander

click to enlarge Hand-painted striated vases are some of the finds at Pacific Design Company's online shop. - KAYLEEN MICHELLE PHOTO

Kayleen Michelle photo

Hand-painted striated vases are some of the finds at Pacific Design Company’s online shop.

Little Pacific Design Studio isn’t so “little” anymore. Under the new moniker of Pacific Design Company, the Spokane interior design firm owned by Shaleesa Mize now offers an online market of home décor items reflecting what she terms a “modern organic aesthetic”

“Whether I’m curating products for the shop or creating designs for homes, I like to bring a mix of modern style with earthy materials,” says Mize, who sources wool or cotton textiles (versus synthetics) and ceramic and recycled glass (not plastic), she says.

click to enlarge A green stoneware tea pot is another online product at Pacific Design Company. - KAYLEEN MICHELLE PHOTO

Kayleen Michelle photo

A green stoneware tea pot is another online product at Pacific Design Company.

“You will also find plenty of other natural materials like leather, marble, brass and copper, reclaimed wood, etc.,” Mize says.

The bone and olive wood spoons are functional works of art and, along with tea and bath towels, are among the most popular items.

click to enlarge Customers can also find organic wool pillows. - KAYLEEN MICHELLE PHOTO

Kayleen Michelle photo

Customers can also find organic wool pillows.

Mize deliberately seeks out not only high-quality natural materials, but also fair trade and unusual items. Recent additions to her offering include fair trade baskets from Africa, products made from hand-woven textiles dyed with botanicals, and the Massa pillow crafted from cactus silk.

Visit the Pacific Design Company store at shop.pacificdesignco.com.

Source Article …

Designer and Educator Mira Henry to Present ‘Kitchen Table Talk’ Lecture Online on Oct. 12

Image courtesy of Mira Henry

Rough Coat, an architectural installation.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Mira Henry will present a virtual lecture at 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12, as part of the fall lecture series in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. Henry is co-principal of the collaborative architectural design practice, Current Interests, which she runs with her design partner Matthew Au. She is also a member of the design faculty at Southern California Institute for Architecture and is currently visiting faculty at Princeton University.

Henry’s built work is grounded in notions of material specificity, color relationships, assembly details and an engagement in critical cultural thinking. Her formal research and writing focus on architecture, race and materiality. She is the recipient of the 2019 Architectural League Prize, Henry Adams AIA Award and Archiprix International Gold Medal. Recent publications can be found in the journals Log and Pidgin. She received a Bachelor in Art History from the University of Chicago and a Master of Architecture from the University of California, Los Angeles.

The Fay Jones School’s fall lecture series focuses on issues of equity and justice in the built environment. The series is presented in collaboration with Places Journal, an internationally respected online journal of architecture, landscape architecture and urbanism, and the University of Arkansas Office for Diversity and Inclusion. The series is also made possible in part by a gift from Ken and Liz Allen of Fayetteville, part of an overall set of commitments the Allens have made to the school’s programs and initiatives in diversity, equity and inclusion.

Registration for the entire lecture series is available on Zoom.

In her lecture, “Kitchen Table Talk,” Henry will sit at a table in a small room next to her kitchen as children likely flicker in and out of

Lowe’s Gains From Home Improvement Business & Online Sales

Home renovation and maintenance activities have been gaining prominence lately, thanks to increased stay-at-home practices amid the coronavirus pandemic. The trend has been benefiting certain home improvement market players, including Lowe’s Companies, Inc. LOW. This apart, the company’s efforts to expand digital offerings is worth appreciating. These upsides were well-reflected in the company’s second-quarter fiscal 2020 results, with the top and the bottom line improving year on year. Let’s dig deeper.

Bright Prospects in Home Improvements Market

Growing inclination toward home improvement projects is quite visible in Lowe’s second-quarter fiscal 2020 results. Comparable sales (comps) for the company’s U.S. home-improvement business increased 35.1% in the second quarter, following an increase of 12.3% in the first quarter.

In the reported quarter, comps gained from sturdy project demand from DIY and pro customers across channels, product categories and geographies. It saw comps growth of more than 20% across all its merchandising divisions, while all the U.S. geographic regions posted comparable sales increase of at least 30%.

Industry experts point out that that consumer spending on home improvement products are likely to remain favorable in the near term. Safety concerns and continued work-at-home practice amid the pandemic have compelled individuals to stay inside. As a result, DIY projects for remodeling, decorating as well as maintenance of furniture and fixtures are being widely undertaken. We expect Lowe’s to keep gaining from such trends.

Digital Investments are a Key Growth Catalyst

Lowe’s is investing toward boosting its omni-channel operations for a while. When shopping preferences began witnessing a major shift with the onset of the pandemic, Lowe’s accelerated its efforts to expand digital offerings. In this context, the migration of Lowes.com to the cloud as well as the roll out curbside pickup helped the company sustain online growth.

We note that the company has been