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Retiring doesn’t have to mean you stop working if you don’t want to. Keeping busy and challenging yourself is a great way to stay active, both mentally and physically. In fact, retiring is the perfect time to start a passion project, creating a business just because you want to do it — not because you have to. Here are some great ideas for you to start your own business, right in your very own home.

Get writing

A lot of budding writers say their least plentiful but most valuable resource is time. There’s just not enough hours in the day to work fulltime and write as well! But now you’re retired, you’ve got an abundance of time, and these days there are plenty of ways you can make money from writing.

For a start, you could start blogging. Writing regularly about something that interests you can be a great way to build up followers online who share your interest. Once you’ve amassed a following, you could place PPC, CPA or CPM ads to earn a little money on the side.

Or you could host sponsored content on your site from businesses related to your blog, charging a little each time. There’s lots of ways to make money blogging, so do a little research and see what’s on offer.

On the other side of blogging, there is the ever growing self-publishing and copy-editing industry. With a huge need for high-quality online content, you can help businesses with their content, or fulfil your dreams of becoming an author. The best self-published books tend to be in a popular sub-genre, don’t cost a lot of money, and come as a series. To establish yourself as a copy-editor, put some listings up on freelance sites, and collect client testimonials and ratings.

Start your own radio station

If you’re passionate about something but you don’t have the chops required to write regularly about it, why not start your own radio station? With the rise of the internet, you don’t need to have an aerial and sophisticated recording equipment anymore. Instead, all you basically need are an internet connection and a microphone!

There are plenty of affordable radio hosting services online that make it quick and easy to start broadcasting. Once you’ve gotten your name out there and built up a good listenership, you can start offering ad space to businesses from your field of interest.

Similarly, podcasting hosting is something that more and more people are embracing. It’s a pretty low-cost business idea, and if you can find a good topic to podcast about, it’s one that is likely to take off pretty quick as the popularity of podcasts continues to grow.

Become a professional coach

Throughout your career, you’ve probably accumulated a wealth of knowledge, skills, and wisdom. A lifetime of learning (and making a few mistakes along the way of course!) has given you a deep well of experience. But just because you’ve retired doesn’t mean it ends there. Why not share it with others and become a professional coach?

There are plenty of people out there who want to learn from you, to get firsthand advice that will help guide them in their career. Maybe you managed a successful business before you retired — that will have given you exactly the kind of hard-earned knowledge that young entrepreneurs could benefit from. Create an online profile that showcases your work history and start networking. You’ll find scores of people willing to learn from you!

Become a tutor

Instead of passing on your knowledge to people in the workplace, why not pass it onto people in school as well? Parents want their kids to do the best they can, and will happily pay for someone to give them extracurricular lessons outside of normal school hours if it gets them ahead.

You don’t necessarily need to have any qualifications to do this, you just need to be knowledgeable about something. It could be a hobby like playing an instrument or a sport, or you might have a passion for maths or history that you’ve nurtured over the years. Pass on your knowledge and passion to the next generation and help them grow because of it.

Start a second-hand store

After a lifetime of working hard and raising a family, you’ve no doubt accrued a trove of bits and bobs. Record players, furniture, collectibles, clothes — the ephemera of life can build up very quickly without you even realizing it. It might be tempting to just take them all down to the junkyard and get rid of them, but as the old saying goes: one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. So why not sell them online?

Now you’ve retired, you’ve got plenty of time to start going through your old things and finding what can be reused. Even if it’s broken, you might find it a nice little side project to fix it up too. Digital marketplaces like Amazon, Etsy, and eBay are easy to use, and with the entire internet at your fingertips, you’re bound to find someone willing to buy what you’re selling.

Turn your hobby into a business

Most of you reading this will have a hobby of some kind: gardening, playing an instrument, baking, photography, model-making, the list is endless. While it might have kept you busy in your leisure time before retiring, and even provided some comfort to you when you needed a distraction, you might never have imagined it could provide you with an income.

However, retirement is the perfect time to start making money out of that thing you enjoy doing most. For example, if you enjoy gardening, you could offer your services out to others, of course. Or you could create an ebook or video tutorials on gardening to share your knowledge with others. Almost every hobby can be monetized, you just need to find the right angle….

For some, retirement might be the perfect time to put your feet up and have a well-earned rest. But for others, it might be an even better time to really get busy. With so many business ideas out there that you can start today from your own home, why sit around twiddling your thumbs? Get thinking and start your business today!

**If you want to see more on starting a home business, check this out- How to Set Up a Small Business at Home. 

This is another informative post contributed to Leisure Freak by author Kayleigh Alexandra.

Kayleigh Alexandra is a content writer for Micro Startups — a site dedicated to giving through growth hacking. Visit the blog for your latest dose of startup, entrepreneur, and charity insights from top experts around the globe. Follow us on Twitter- getmicrostarted.