Unique Business Ideas to Inspire You in 2020

Online education a Skillshare

Do you ever find yourself wishing you could go back to school, or maybe even teach a course in a subject you’re skilled in? Skillshare, founded in 2011, makes both of these things possible. The company allows experts to teach online courses on a subject they choose via short videos while students can watch classes at their own pace and use the community to get feedback. Students can even take classes offline via smartphones and tablets if they’d like to learn on the go.

Unlike college or graduate school, with their high tuition rates, Skillshare costs $10 per month, with a free 14-day trial. Half of that fee goes to pay the company’s teachers, so if you’re an expert in something, it’s a great way to make some extra money.

Skillshare also gives back: According to the company’s website, for every annual membership purchased, Skillshare donates a membership to a student through the company’s scholarship program.

Package-free shopping

Consumers are increasingly concerned about how much resources are wasted in the food packaging process. Often, cardboard, plastic, Styrofoam and twist ties are not recycled, leading to environmental waste. Package Free Shop, a zero-waste pop-up shop in NYC, has a unique solution. It offers convenient and simple alternatives to single-use plastic products. Since opening, the company has estimated it has kept 597,640 plastic straws, 851,950 plastic bags, and 490,856 non-recyclable cups out of landfills.

Flexible, shareable workspaces

Every day, technology makes it more and more possible for employees and entrepreneurs to do their jobs and run their businesses from anywhere, which means businesses don’t necessarily have to invest in their own office space

Freelancers who prefer to work outside of their homes can have a more reliable workspace than a local coffee shop, and companies and other teams can have a place to collaborate and hold meetings and events.