Are you looking for a small business idea you can start with low start up costs and can start right away?
Some jobs are easier to start doing than others. Check your local laws for any permits or licenses required. And keep up with your taxes, too, to avoid trouble later.
Don’t waste anymore time in starting your side business. Most of these jobs can be done in your spare time but may blossom into full-time careers. See below for our recommended small business ideas:
1. Accounting and Bookkeeping
Other small businessowners need help with their taxes and other financial issues.
2. Writer
The written word is in demand. Sites like Verblio and Crowd Content hire content writers. Freedom with Writing sends out calls from magazines, blogs, and book publishers seeking articles and stories.
3. Baked Goods
Turn your love of baking into your dream job. Specialize in cookies or cupcakes, or in personalized decorating. Invest in a food printer to turn photographs and corporate logos into edible cake toppings.
4. Personal Chef
People love a home-cooked meal. Make meals at someone’s house or prepare meals-to-go that you deliver to clients.
5. Personal Trainer
Specialize in a sport like running or triathlon training or help clients with overall fitness or weight loss. Instructors for yoga, pilates, and CrossFit are popular choices, too.
6. Dog-Sitter/Dog Walker
Share your love of animals with others who need pet care. Check out sites like Wag! and Rover.com for clients near you.
7. Babysitter
Parents are always in need of quality childcare. Start at a website like Care.com to look for opportunities in your area.
8. Editor
If you find yourself cringing over typos and misused apostrophes, check out sites like Upwork and LinkedIn to find editing and proofreading jobs.
9. Handyperson
Not everyone has the expertise or the physical ability for projects around the house. Use a site like Handy.com to find jobs that may range from assembling furniture to advanced carpentry projects.
10. Personal Assistant
Run errands or perform household chores for people in need. Use a site like Task Rabbit to find a variety of opportunities or one person who needs you as a regular assistant.
11. Landscaper
If you enjoy being outside, search sites like Handy.com and Task Rabbit for lawn care and yard work jobs.
12. Virtual Assistant
Busy professionals often have a lot of online tasks that an assistant can perform from anywhere. Check out sites like FlexJobs and PeoplePerHour to find the job for you.
13. Rental Host
With a spare room or an empty house you can make money hosting renters through AirBnB or VRBO.
14. Driver
Friday nights, weekends, and days with large events in your city can be especially lucrative for drivers. Check out Uber and Lyft to find out more.
15. Food Delivery
If you don’t want to drive people around, drive their food instead through Uber Eats, Door Dash, or Grubhub. In some cities you may not need a car as these services allow deliveries on bike, scooter, or foot.
16. Sewing and Tailoring
From sewing a woman’s wedding gown to tailoring a suit so it fits just right, anyone handy with a needle and thread may find this to be a lucrative opportunity.
17. Travel Agent
If you love planning trips and finding travel deals, get paid to do that for others.
18. Event Planner
From weddings to birthday parties to corporate launches, someone needs to be in charge of all the minute details for pulling these events together.
19. Antique Furniture Restoration
If you have a knack for sanding and painting, give old furniture a new life. Find pieces at yard sales and flea markets to fix and resell on sites like Etsy or your own flea market booth.
20. Crafting
Lots of crafting hobbies can make money on Etsy. People love a hand-made look without all the time it takes to make it themselves.
21. Housecleaning
Whether it’s a busy family with little free time or someone with an injury that prevents them from keeping their house as clean as they’d like it, housecleaning is in demand. Get started at Care.com or Task Rabbit.
22. Catering
If you love cooking, get paid to prepare a meal for a large crowd. Specialize in your favorite cuisine or develop menus based on local, seasonal foods for parties and other events.
23. Growing and Selling Produce
Vegetables, flowers, and herbs from your garden can be sold from your yard or a booth at a local farmers’ market.
24. Making Soap and Spa Products
Homemade soaps, scrubs, bath bombs, and other spa products are in big demand and they’re simple to make. You can sell them on Etsy or at local craft fairs.
25. Jewelry Making
If your friends are always complimenting your handmade jewelry, turn it into a business. Sell your unique items on Etsy and at craft fairs.
26. Music Lessons
Pick up a few dollars teaching others to play your favorite instrument in your spare time.
27. Tutoring and Teaching
Tutoring can easily be done online now in just about any subject. Connections Academy, Wyzant, and Tutor.com can help you get started.
28. Teaching English
There’s high demand for online English teachers, from conversational to formal grammar lessons. Check out VIPKID for more information.
29. Social Media Manager
Some businesses and brands don’t have the knowledge or the time to manage social media, but if you’re a whiz at Twitter and Instagram, you can do that for them.
30. Product Design
If you have some great graphic ideas or catchy slogans, set up a design store through a site like CafePress or Teelaunch and they’ll print up t-shirts, coffee mugs, and stickers as people order them.
31. Website Designer
Even with sites like Squarespace, Weebly, and WordPress that make website building easy enough for anyone to do, there are people who are willing to pay others to do it for them.
32. Online Sales
Pick up merchandise at a low cost and resell it on Ebay, Amazon, and other sales sites.
33. Snowplowing
Invest in a plow for your truck or Jeep. Or start smaller by shoveling driveways or using a snow blower.
34. DJ
There are always weddings and birthday parties looking for a DJ to get the party started.
35. Woodworking
From furniture to toys, woodworking is a hobby that can become a cash stream. You can sell your items on websites like Etsy or at local flea markets and craft fairs.
36. Interior Decorator
If you are constantly designing your dream home, consider designing for others. And use some of those professional discounts on yourself. Your home can represent your best work.
37. Photographer
People pay big money for family portraits and wedding photography. You can also shoot your favorite subjects from nature and sell the images to stock photography sites like Shutterstock.
38. Ebook Publisher
Writers and editors sometimes want to publish books without dealing with the technical details of self-publishing. If you know the ins and outs of publishing on ebook platforms such as Amazon Kindle, you can do it for others.
39. Pet Grooming
With pet owners being busier than ever, there’s high demand for pet grooming. You can do it from your own home, go to others’ homes, or have a mobile service from a van or truck.
40. Auto Detailing
If you have attention to detail when it comes to cleaning then auto detailing might be a good fit for you. Lots of people pay detailers to clean their cars while they’re parked during work hours.
41. Gardening Services
Some people want the benefit of a garden but can’t do the initial work to get one started. Use your green thumb to create a garden and teach people how to care for their vegetables and flowers.
Obviously, this is just a snippet of the possible small business ideas that are available. We hope you can find the one you love and put your dreams to actions!
