While some people are happy working at an office desk or behind a shop counter, others crave the great outdoors. Working outside can have many mental health benefits – the fresh air, sunshine, natural sights, and increased physical activity that comes with an outdoor job can lead to reduced stress and better sleep quality. While you may be able to find a job working outdoors as an employer, starting your own business could give you the freedom to work on your own terms. You can determine your own hours, set your own rates, and choose your own customers.
Just what are business ideas that involve working outdoors? There are so many potential startup ideas to consider, but here are 10 options that are relatively easy to break into without too much training or investment.
Dog Walking
Lots of dog owners struggle to give their pets their daily walks due to work and other commitments. As a professional dog walker, you can get paid to walk people’s dogs for them. This is the perfect job for those who love dogs and enjoy working outside – you don’t need any qualifications and you don’t really need any tools to do it. Just be prepared to do a lot of walking in all weathers.
Photography
If you’re skilled at using a camera, you could consider starting a business as a photographer. While not all photography work is done outdoors, a large majority of it is likely to involve outdoor locations like wedding venues, festivals, and local events. Do some voluntary work to build up a portfolio and then start promoting your business locally.
Landscaping
Landscaping is a great business option for those who enjoy gardening and doing DIY work in their backyard. This could involve general landscaping or a specific type of landscaping such as laying patios, lawn maintenance, installing fencing, or digging ponds. In all cases, you get to spend each day outdoors seeing progress before your eyes – which could be very therapeutic.
Outdoor fitness
Are you a fitness fanatic? Organizing your own fitness classes outdoors could be another business idea to consider. This could be any type of fitness you desire (a few popular options include yoga, pilates, circuit training, and boot camp workouts). You’ll meet lots of people, help them stay fit, and potentially get a workout yourself – all while being outdoors.
Pressure washing
Getting paid to clean people’s driveways, patios and exteriors with a pressure washer could be another great outdoor business idea to consider. Pressure washers don’t cost too much and are easy to learn to use. All you need is patience and the ability to market yourself.
Food truck vendor
If you have a background in catering, a fun business idea to consider could be starting your own food truck business. While buying and converting a food truck isn’t cheap, you could save a lot of money compared to opening a cafe or restaurant. You can also travel freely around the country serving at roadsides, markets, and events. And you can enjoy a degree of shelter working from a food truck while still receiving plenty of fresh air and sunshine.
Pool cleaning
Pool maintenance can be a hassle for many people who own swimming pools. Starting a business as a pool cleaner could be relatively straightforward once you’ve learned the basics of pool chemistry and cleaning. You’ll need to buy a few supplies, but these shouldn’t be too large a cost.
Mobile car repair
Those with experience as a car technician could consider setting up a mobile car repair business. This is much cheaper than launching a car repair center – you can work from a van. Unlike working in a garage, you’ll also get to work outside in a variety of different locations. You could consider providing general repairs, or you could select a niche such as a wheel/tire repair, windscreen repair, or brake repair.
Farming
While your general crop or livestock farm is likely to be very expensive to start up and not easy to run, there are cheaper and simpler farming business ideas. This includes beekeeping, growing herbs, flower farming, and microgreen farming. If you’ve got the land, consider whether such a business could be right for you.
Walking tour guide
If you live in a city and don’t mind public speaking, starting your own walking tour could be an option. This is a great option for history lovers – a ghost tour or tour themed around a historical person/era could be fun to research and organize. Meanwhile, you get to be outdoors every day walking the city, meeting tourists, and sharing facts.
