Easy-to-start small businesses
By using your existing skills and some readymade online tools, it's easier than you might think to launch a small business. Here are some small business ideas that you can start today.
1. T-shirt designer
Websites and apps that offer print-on-demand services are perfect for small businesses. With them, you can sell custom products like t-shirts without worrying about manufacturing, shipping, or pre-paying for inventory.
Print on demand is the process of choosing products from a catalog and customizing them with your designs. A print-on-demand company will produce and ship your t-shirts as orders come in. This allows you to create and sell original shirts and other items with branding and unique visuals.
T-shirts, hats, hoodies, tote bags, and more become canvases for your creativity. Create shirts with witty slogans for developers or cute graphics for cat owners. If there’s passion and pride within a community, a potential print-on-demand t-shirt business is waiting to be started.
If you’re not a designer, hire one from freelancer sites like Fiverr, Upwork, Dribbble, or 99Designs. You can even use t-shirt mockup templates, so you won’t need to spend money on a photoshoot to model your designs.
2. Digital freelancer
A freelance service business is another simple form of self-employment. When you offer a service, “time” is your inventory and your biggest investment. That makes it easy to get up and running if you have in-demand skills and a few spare hours each week.
Writers, graphic designers, virtual assistants, SEO practitioners, developers, and others can build a business around their skills. You could offer your expertise as an ongoing service or start a consulting business that advises on projects.
Once you’ve found your first customers, try apps like BookThatApp or Acerill Appointment Booking for easy booking and appointment management.
You can also offer your services through a freelance marketplace like Upwork to increase your chances of being discovered by people who need your skills.
3. Affiliate marketer
Affiliate marketing refers to a performance-based marketing tactic where a business pays people to promote products for them. Every time an affiliate brings in a new customer, they receive a commission from the business.
Affiliates can promote products on their blogs, social media accounts, websites, or in communities. For many, affiliate marketing is a low-cost way to earn passive income.
To join an affiliate program, do the following:
- Find an affiliate program on sites like ShareASale, CJ, or LinkShare
- Choose offers you want to promote
- Get an affiliate link
- Promote that link across your assets
- Get a commission every time someone signs up or makes a purchase through your link
Commission rates vary, depending on the company and the retail price of products. You could earn as low as 5% for each sale, while some commissions can be as high as 50% if you’re promoting a class or event. Some affiliate programs also offer a flat rate versus a percentage.
4. House or pet sitter
House and pet sitting are good business ideas to start if you feel comfortable caring for and staying in a stranger’s home, potentially with their pets.
You can create an online store to market and sell your services, or register for an account on dedicated home and pet care apps. Here are some examples:
- HouseSitter.com: This website is for both house and pet sitting. You can create a profile and apply to postings. People who need house/pet sitting can also browse sitters and reach out to them.
- Rover: Rover is a website and app specifically for pet sitting. On it, you can create a profile and apply to gigs. These arrangements include drop-in visits but not overnight visits (or house sitting).
- Care.com: Care.com is a listing site where pet sitters can create a profile and list their experience. You can also apply to jobs posted by people seeking pet sitters. Care.com is a good site to use if you offer senior care, tutoring, housekeeping, and child care services.
- TrustedHousesitters: TrustedHousesitters is a great place to start if you need experience or testimonials. The platform specifically prohibits paid gigs, so these arrangements are viewed more as an exchange—you get a free place to stay, and they get free sitting.
Consider that some pet sitters offer on-site services while others care for pets in their own homes. You can even add a dog-walking element to appeal to a wider range of people.
5. Tutor
Tutoring school kids or adults who want to learn a new skill can bring in extra income around your regular working hours. You might be great at math, playing the drums, or speaking French, so why not teach others?
Promote your tutoring services on local Facebook groups and in nearby schools to get the word out and build up your client base. If you're planning to create courses for your students, start by watching this guide to making online courses.
6. Personal assistant
Becoming a personal assistant requires little upfront expenditure and means you can work with a range of businesses. You’ll essentially be helping business owners take care of admin tasks, like booking appointments, responding to emails, and taking notes in meetings.
Start by networking with business owners on LinkedIn to build relationships and market your services. Creative effective Linkedin marketing strategies with these tips.
7. Dog walker
Dog walking is a fun and rewarding job (and you get a bit of exercise at the same time). Build a dog walking business by checking your local state laws to see what licensing and insurance you’ll need, then set up a website to advertise your dog walking services. If you don’t want to manage the administrative aspects, sign up with a company like Rover, a directory that owners can use to connect with potential dog walkers.
8. Airbnb host
You don’t need a fancy second home to become an Airbnb host—in fact, the accommodation platform originally started as a way for homeowners to temporarily rent out their spare room for extra cash. If you have the extra space in your house, you can create an account with Airbnb and rent it out at weekends, for overnight stays, or whenever suits you.
Like the idea of running a rental business? Here are some other rental business ideas to consider.
9. Baker
Are you always called on to bake cakes and sweet treats for your friends and family? If the answer is yes, you can sell baked goods to locals in your community. In addition to baking cakes for birthdays and events, your bakery business plan could also include creating batches of baked goods to sell in local coffee shops and cafés, or distribute more broadly through an online store.
10. House cleaner
If you’re a stickler for cleanliness, starting a cleaning business can be a fulfilling way to make money. Create a batch of flyers to stick through doors in your neighborhood and advertise your services on local Facebook groups. If you do a good job, chances are word of mouth will help you organically pick up customers.
11. Car washer
Car washing has long been a source of fundraising for high schoolers, but it can also work as a business for adults too. If you’ve got space outside your house or a nearby yard, you can offer car washing and valeting services to locals. Alternatively, you can go door-to-door to hand out flyers and wash cars on the road while you build up your business.
Best businesses to start with little money
Short on cash and want to start a small business? Check out these cost-effective businesses you can start today.
12. Dropshipping store owner
Dropshipping is a fulfillment model where a third-party supplier stores and ships inventory to customers on your behalf. It’s one of the best businesses to start, because it’s low overhead, hands-off, and scalable.
💡 With Shopify, it’s easy to start a dropshipping business. Sell popular products without the hassle of managing inventory, packaging, or shipping. Orders are sent directly from your wholesaler to your customers, so you can work on what you do best—reaching your customers.
You don’t need to handle any products yourself—you just need to make the sales and pass orders on to your supplier. In fact, it’s one of the quickest and cheapest businesses to start.
You can curate products from one or more suppliers into your own online store under a theme that focuses on a specific dropshipping niche, like gear for yoga enthusiasts or water bowls for dogs. When a customer buys a product from you, the order is sent to your supplier, who fulfills it on your behalf. However, you are still responsible for marketing and customer service.
Dropshipping is a great way to sell trending products and launch a business before you invest in your own original products.
13. Influencer
In today’s connected world, the ability to capture and keep the attention of others is an asset. It’s one many businesses are willing to pay for and one many creators are able to convert into a business with multiple revenue streams.
Whether you choose to grow your following on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, or a blog (or, ideally, on a combination of different channels), you have many avenues for monetizing your audience:
- Sponsored posts on behalf of brands
- Becoming an influencer
- Selling physical or digital products (via any of the ideas on this list)
- Patreon
- A combination of the above (they’re not mutually exclusive)
Taking an audience-first approach to your small business idea means you’re playing the long game (it might be months until you’ve figured it out). But you don’t need millions of followers to do it: Instagrammer Kat Gaskin, for example, pulled off a $10,000 product launch with only 3,000 followers.
14. Child care provider
The rise in demand for child care services with a decreasing supply is a perfect combination for starting a new business. If you enjoy taking care of kids and can get the proper licenses, a new child care business could be a good business idea for you.
Daycares are a particularly good business idea for parents looking to make money from home.
15. Handy-person
Everyone has a go-to maintenance specialist in their family. You know, the person who’s always doom chores around the house: a plumbing issue, installing tile, cleaning out gutters, putting up a fence. They’re always the person friends and family call on for odd jobs. If this is you, why not get paid for your work?
The home repair and improvement industry sits at around $540 billion in market value. Whether it’s fixing a boiler or building a patio deck, if you’re someone who likes to fix things, this could be a lucrative business for you.
Got your business idea? Now start
Thanks to the latest commerce tools, third-party suppliers, and the ability to quickly test ideas online, it’s easier than ever to build a successful business and start making sales without getting caught up in sourcing products, renting space, and managing inventory.
The small business ideas above can be implemented directly, morphed into an original idea, or even combined to start a business that’s uniquely yours. If the idea of sourcing, storing, and shipping inventory has kept you from starting a business before, begin with an inventory-free, low-cost business model and grow from there.
The world of self-employment can be challenging, but with a little hard work and know-how, you can work toward building your own business.
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