1001 Small Business Ideas

1001 Small Business Ideas
Browse our small business ideas below!
Looking for small business ideas to start? Find more than 1,000 business ideas in our comprehensive list of suggestions for starting your own business. Start by reading the tips on what business to start. Then find a good business idea for you in the list that follows.
Launching your own business can be personally and financially rewarding. Technology has made becoming an entrepreneur easier than ever in the past. It’s also led to many new business ideas for startups that didn’t exist just a decade or two ago. Many in the list below are good ideas for home businesses and small towns.
What’s the best business to start?
That’s likely the top question on your mind. Others may include, “What’s an easy business to start?” or “What’s the best business idea to start at home?” But the question you should be asking is, “What’s the best business for me to start?”
To answer that question, consider your skills, interests, and available cash. Here are criteria to consider when deciding what type of business to start:

What do you know how to do and can do well?
How much money do you need to make?
What do you like to do and wouldn’t mind doing daily?
What has a broad enough appeal to sell on a steady basis?
What can be sold at a price that will cover expenses and overhead and return a healthy profit?
Will you be able to reach enough potential customers?
Do you have or can you raise sufficient funds to start the business and keep it running until it becomes a profitable?

As you look at the list of small business ideas below, keep those personal interests, skills and needs in mind.
Small Business Ideas List
We’ve grouped the business ideas into categories to make it easier to find concepts that match your interests and skills. To get to the businesses in any category, just click on the category name below. Alternately, you can just scroll through the entire list of business ideas to find one that stirs your interest.

Small Business Ideas List

Some businesses on the list are one-person business ideas. Some require a significant amount of money and may require you to hire employees to make them successful. Others could be enjoyable but won’t produce enough income for your needs.
If you don’t have cash, you may want to consider ideas for businesses you can start with little or no money. Under some of the types of businesses (artists, for instance), we’ve mentioned products or services that might be offered either as the main business or as one of the business’s offerings.
Startup opportunities abound, so learn to find real business opportunities and avoid scams. Here are ways to evaluate business ideas by deciding what type of business to start.
A deeper look into finding new business ideas: More ways to find business ideas
Once you find a business idea you think you’d like to start, check out our how-to-start-a-business guide to find out how to get ready to launch the business.
Then follow this template to write a business plan. If you already know what business you want to start or want to protect yourself from being personally liable, you can create an LLC or a corporation now.
Small Town Business Ideas
Every small town needs businesses to thrive. Great companies have been launched in rural areas – remember Walmart started in a small town!
Think about the basic human needs of food, clothing, and shelter as the building blocks of successful small-town businesses. Some examples are small or specialty grocery stores, clothing boutiques and local building contractors.

This list of small-town business ideas that will work in your rural area or village because every small town needs these types of goods and services. Some examples of small-town businesses are:

Bagel shop
Car wash

Coffee shop
Clothing store

Florist– People go online to look for and order flowers, so you’ll need an attractive website with good photos of your creations for this business. If you do a good job with your flower shop it will lead to requests to provide flowers for special events including weddings, parties and company events.
You can also ramp up your sales for such special events by reaching out to wedding and event planners and local venues that host large groups.
Ice cream shop – While business may boom in the summer you may be surprised how many people buy great ice cream in the winter, too.
The secret to success: fabulous ice cream and a good, high-traffic location! You don’t need a lot of flavors or specialty products to succeed but whatever you do offer must be great! What about the price, is it important? Not really.

If people really cared about the price they would just go to the supermarket, buy the cheapest ice cream and eat it in their backyard. So focus on quality first.
Toy and Game store

Small town service businesses to consider include:

Gardening and lawn care services
Home repair services

Home help for senior citizens
Kitchen remodeling

Personal trainer – Are you passionate about fitness and do you like working with people? You could be a great personal trainer, helping people get fit and feel good about themselves.
Today you can offer personal training online, such as via Zoom. Or you can train clients in their homes, in your home, or at a local gym. Like many businesses, you can easily run this service part-time. Read more about starting a business as a personal trainer.

These are just a few of the possible businesses suited for a local startup. Check this list of 66 small-town business ideas for more suggestions.
Home-Based Small Business Ideas
Many types of businesses can be started and run profitably from home as long as they don’t disturb you neighbors in any significant way.

Handmade products, for instance, have long been a cottage industry. The art of handcrafted products is becoming more and more appreciated and valued. Creative business ideas you could make and sell include craft items and other handmades such as:

Jewelry
Gift cards
Soaps

Candles
Sculptures
T-shirts

T-shirts
Clothing
Home decor

Tutoring – Tutoring is still another example of a very easy-to-start business. Yet you can grow it as large as you want by hiring additional tutors and ramping up your marketing. The demand is huge.
You can tutor almost anywhere. You can tutor online via video, such as on Zoom. You can go to your client’s homes or they can come to your home. Or you can meet in a coffee shop or a library.
But there are many other types of home businesses that may be more profitable to consider.
This list of home business ideas to start with little or no money includes estimates on the amount of money you might make in each one.
Online Business Ideas
Do you want to be a digital entrepreneur? There are lots of interesting and unique ways to make money online. From blogging to voice over work, online business has never been hotter or more profitable. You can sell your own products or services online or be a reseller.
If you don’t want to deal with keeping an inventory, you can create e-products and e-training courses that you deliver online. You can also use drop-shippers and print-on-demand companies to allow you to promote and sell products online without having to buy and store inventory.
Learn more about how to find wholesale products to sell online.
Here are some trending online business ideas
Social Media Business – Do you enjoy hanging out and putting up posts on Facebook and other social media platforms? Then why not get paid for it? Just about any business that sells something would like to be on social media.
But a lot of business owners don’t know how or don’t want to spend the time to do their own social media. Most customers will want to retain you on a regular basis to keep their social media postings fresh. So you can develop a nice steady income.

Plus you can do most of the work from home. Get started by approaching local small businesses or start by doing some work for a friend’s business. Set up a web page for your own social media business and start promoting that on social media, too. Here are some examples of work you could do
Instagram Marketing Consultant – While lots of individuals know how to use Instagram, many companies have no experience or knowledge of this website platform.
So if you know marketing and how to promote on Instagram, you can run a business that helps companies get new customers, through the Instagram.
Online courses – You can teach just about anything in an online course. Professional skills, business skills, art skills, lifestyle skills and more! Usually, it’s best to focus on a narrow and specialized topic. A broader topic may seem like it has a much larger audience.
But a smaller audience is typically going to offer a better income opportunity. Generally, the more specialized the courses are that you offer, the more people will be willing to pay for them. It’s not unusual for specialize courses to be priced at anywhere from $500 to $2,000. Courses are often about 4 hours to 10 hours in length.

Online dating consultant – As an online dating consultant you will help your clients build their online presence and attract the perfect match. You could offer a full range of services with in depth interviews, evaluations, strategies and on-going advice giving. Or you could offer flat rate pricing for basic services such as for writing online profiles.
Pinterest Virtual Assistant – Another hot social media site is Pinterest, which has grown way beyond DIY and recipes to become a powerhouse for brand promotion with over 433 million users monthly!
Most business owners are not Pinterest savvy and need help to manage their accounts and post “pins”. This is a great freelance new business idea for moms and students.
Podcasting Business – For most people the key to being able to successfully monetize a podcast is not just big audience numbers. It’s specializing and becoming known for a particular topic.
You’ll need to build a deep connection with your audience and do your podcasts regularly, at least once a week. There’s a lot of competition, though, so it can take some time, effort and a little bit of luck to build an audience.
Print on Demand – Use online suppliers to create and sell, unique and custom, print on demand merchandise. There are hundreds of options of print-on-demand products including phone cases, t-shirts, tote bags, home decor, greeting cards, and photo books.
You upload your artwork and your supplier does the rest including shipping items directly to your customers.
Digital products and services
Here are some more examples of digital products and services you might sell:

Voice-over service
Video editor
Online courses

Freelance writer
Ebooks
Email marketing services

Search engine optimization (SEO) – Many companies hire SEO businesses to help improve their search engine rankings. Some businesses will hire SEO firms on a one-shot basis to optimize their website or to compliment their own in-house SEO efforts.
But what you really want is to get a monthly retainers to work with companies on an ongoing basis to maximize their search engine placements. Use these tips to get your SEO business started.
Social media assistant
Software. Writing selling or affiliate sales.
Subscription Box Business – What can you sell in your subscription box? The sky’s the limit. Popular boxes include skincare items, soaps, candles, makeup, shaving items, socks, children’s books, perfumes, apparel accessories, sport items, toys, coffee, chocolates, wines, puzzles and more.
Add your own personal touch by your product selection, your packaging design and your marketing. This is a repeat customer, steady income business. The key to success is to really think through everything including your business niche, your product mix, your offer and your marketing. Then, you’ve got to test and test again until you find out what works best.
Get more online business ideas and research

Continue with this list of 33 of the best online business ideas.
Start a business on Amazon, check out these best Amazon business ideas.

Specialize in a niche
Specialization, aiming at a smaller niche, focusing on a more precise target market, can make all the difference in getting your business going, getting it found, and producing revenue.

A great niche can help you:

Get that difficult and necessary initial traction because your business is more remarkable to specific group of people.
Resonate powerfully with visitors when they land on your website, blog, podcast, workshop, etc., because you’re “speaking their language.”
Connect deeply with your target customers through your marketing materials; focusing on a more specific niche business can make all the difference here.
Come up with easy and effective marketing ideas because you know exactly who you’re making things for. This is another big one! Especially if you, like most modern businesses, will rely on internet content for finding new customers.

Basically, defining a target market and niche that’s both “specific enough” AND currently underserve in the world will help you with everything… literally.
Examples of niche businesses

There are companies that have grown big selling things like casual shirts, comfortable underwear, and even beard oil. You can come up with niches you could serve if you think about what you sell and who might need it. Here are just a few business niche examples.

Yoga for seniors
Websites for medical practices
Deck building
Bathroom remodeling
Commercial cleaning products
Social media marketing for gyms
Products for left-handed people
Pool landscaping
Hammered silver jewelry

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