Thanks to a number of innovations in the world of business, the global workforce is seeing a massive uptick in freelancing, gig economy gains, and other small business ventures. If you’re feeling the entrepreneurial spirit, there’s never been a better time to go into business for yourself. Still, one of the hardest parts of launching your business is coming up with ideas on what to sell, what services to offer, and where to market yourself.
Here’s a brief but comprehensive list of small business ideas to get you started. Maybe you’ll glance over this list and have a major eureka moment, or maybe these ideas will spark your creative drive and assist you in developing something brand new. Either way, these options are teeming with possibility.
Graphic Designer
If you’re interested in launching your own small business, and you have a passion for art, why not try your hand at graphic design? There are tons of outlets available for artistic people to work directly with individual clients, big brands, and other paying customers, which will allow you to leave your 9-5 job and set your own schedule. Depending on your preferred design methodology, the barrier for entry as a graphic designer can be as high as a decked-out computer system or as low as a box of dollar store art supplies.
Those looking to break into the industry with no formal background in design can market themselves on freelance platforms such as Fiverr, Upwork, or LinkedIn, or even post a few flyers around your local neighborhood. Free sites like Canva even offer simple graphic design tools that anybody can use, making it easier than ever to design a logo, book cover, or banner image for your first paying client.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a business model that has seen a major uptick in recent years, as many content creators have taken to advertising it as some kind of infinite money glitch. Like any other small business idea, dropshipping is only profitable when you work hard at making your vision a reality. Don’t try to join this saturated market unless you’re prepared to put in your 10,000 hours of training.
Still, those that are willing to do the work to set themselves apart from the competition can make a killing in the dropshipping business, and launch their store at an extremely low barrier of entry.
For those that don’t know, dropshipping is the practice of selling items from a personal e-commerce store without keeping your stock on hand. This means that, rather than having boxes upon boxes of shirts taking up space in your apartment, orders on your online store are manufactured at an off-site location and sent directly to your consumer.
This small business model allows you to act as a middleman to customers and manufacturers, by designing and advertising items without needing to hand-craft them. Sites like Etsy, Shopify, and even the TikTok Shop are rife with dropshipping businesses, allowing you to take in nearly passive income with a small up-front investment.
Personal Trainer
If your interests lie less in artistic endeavors and more in the active space, consider launching a small business as a personal trainer. There will always be a market for people looking to get in shape, especially during the early months of the year, as many people make daily exercise a New Year’s resolution.
While most people tend to think of personal trainers as being employed by their local gym, there are many ways that you can freelance your way to freedom as a trainer, by assisting friends, loved ones, or acquired clients in getting fit.
Depending on your personal strengths, you could launch your small business by starting a jogging club and recruiting local runners to join, or build a home gym and provide specialized focus to individuals looking for assistance on their weight loss journey.
Landscaper
If you’re not scared to get down and dirty, try driving around your local neighborhood and offering your services as a landscaper. Unlike some of the other small business ideas on this list, landscaping does require some start-up funding, as you’ll need access to a lawnmower, weed whacker, and a suitable vehicle before you can begin. Still, there are numerous ways to make money from trimming lawns, shaping hedges, and beautifying your neighborhood.
Several small landscape company owners have also taken to filming their progress and uploading before and after videos to social media sites like TikTok and YouTube, in order to double-dip on their profits via viral marketing. Clearly there is a large audience of internet followers within this niche, meaning a job in landscaping could open doors for a wide variety of opportunities. Landscapers also tend to swap out their range of services by the season, by offering snow plowing and other winterization efforts in colder climates.
Power Washer
Like landscaping, power washing is a business model that has blown up on YouTube in recent years. The only start-up cost associated with this gig is the purchase of a power washer itself, which should more than pay for itself after your first few jobs. You would be positively shocked just how many local establishments are in desperate need of a good power washing, and just how drastic the difference between a freshly cleaned surface can be when utilizing these miracle machines.
Unlike a few online-oriented options on this list, this small business venture is limited to your surrounding area, though power washers have been known to rake in millions of views on their before and after posts online, so marketing your services should be an absolute breeze.
Photographer/Videographer
There are dozens of ways to launch a career behind the camera, from offering wedding video services, to snapping stock photos, to selling pictures of Spider-Man to your local newspaper.
This small business can truly be anything you make it, and allows you to bask in the breathtaking views of the great outdoors along the way. Those looking to leave their stuffy office job for something more creative, fulfilling, and adventurous, should try their hand at snapping a few professional pictures today.
With modern advancements in technology, your personal smartphone is likely good enough to get you started. Once you become a successful photographer, you may feel compelled to upgrade to a prohibitively expensive DSLR setup, but this is by no means a requirement.
Depending on your specific community, you may already know some people in need of senior photos, headshots, or engagement party coverage, so don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, offer your services, and show the world what you can do with your keen visual eye.
Life Coach
Like personal trainers, life coaches truly have an unlimited breadth of specialties to offer their clients, depending on what you’re comfortable with. Life coaching can be done online, in person, or over the phone, and allows you to set specific rates for your time, effort, energy, and up-front investment.
If you’ve spent any time bettering yourself, learning a trade, or gaining fascinating worldly experience, you have the background to coach those around you in the same discipline. Like some of the other entries on this list, you can launch this small business via TikTok, as story time videos tend to regularly trend on the app.
Translator
You may not realize it, but there is a ton of money in language translation services. If you’re one of the 3 billion or more people on Earth capable of speaking more than one language, this small business idea is really a no-brainer, as it requires very little work on your end beyond simply reading a few emails or listening to a few spoken word passages.
Obviously, you could attempt to work as a translator with the assistance of tools like Google Translate, though the margin for error would be significantly raised unless you’re at least conversational in both required dialects.
Freelance sites like Fiverr are a great place to offer your services as a translator, and they even allow you to set your own rate per page, per word, or per hour. Those who are truly proficient in this discipline can even see advancement opportunities in important educational or government roles if they so wish.
Freelance Writer
Finishing off our list of the best small business ideas, we have freelance writing. Writing is an excellent career path since it allows you to set your own hours, carve out your own niche, and work entirely from the comfort of your home, provided you have an internet connection and a functioning computer.
While there are hundreds of writers offering their services on freelance platforms like Upwork and LinkedIn, the constant stream of content bread by the internet and the 24-hour news cycle means there’s always room for fresh faces with bold ideas to enter the arena.
Those interested in academic writing can reach out to professors and peers alike for guidance, while those with an interest in current events and pop culture would be wise to seek training in SEO. Alternatively, blogging is a fun and simple side hustle that could easily expand into a full-time job if you manage to build a large enough audience. Over time, you may even have the opportunity to launch a paid newsletter which allows you to write your own thoughts and feelings to an audience of awaiting readers. The field of writing offers numerous possibilities for paid work, as long as you know where to look.
