41 Top Small Business Ideas for 2024

It isn’t always easy to think up good business ideas. However, with just a little pre-planning and prep work, launching a new small business is achievable.

Whether you want to supplement your income or you want your small business to provide for you completely, launching a small business is easier than you think. The first thing you’ll need to do is create a business plan.

But even before that, you’ll need to decide what your business will be about. The small business idea that you choose should be one that actually works for you.

Table of Contents

What Makes for a Good Small Business Idea?

For some small businesses, you’ll need to invest more money and effort. However, there are others that you can launch with little startup capital.

In some cases, you may already have everything you need to start your small business. While you’re working on starting up your business, you’ll also need to work on saving money.

This money will come into use later on for rent, supplies, training, and anything else your business might need.

But how can you tell if a small business idea is good? Here are some things that make a small business idea good.

It should take minimal training

You should ideally be able to leverage the expertise you already have, without requiring additional training. This will reduce the amount of time it takes for your business to launch, and you’ll find yourself spending less money on training and education as well.

This is money that you can now put into your business.

When you have expertise in what you’re doing professionally, you’ll also be more confident in how you approach work.

Should take little or no capital

The small business ideas that you focus on should not be expensive to get started. For the best small business ideas, you’ll just need to set up your business website with free AI Website Builder tool such as ZipWP, and maybe purchase a few supplies.

Should take little effort for inventory and supply management

To execute a great small business idea, you should need nothing more than a few supplies and know-how to manage your inventory. But managing inventory shouldn’t be completely hands-on.

Take, for example, a small business that sells clothes online. The business owner could use dropshipping as a way to ensure that customers get their purchases.

Can be managed online

running business online, picture for representation — *Source: Unsplash*

The best small business ideas allow you to run your business using nothing more than your personal computer. You may be able to run your business out of your home.

This reduces the amount of money that you’ll be spending on commuting. You can also enjoy flexible working hours as well.

Needs a few people to run

Most business owners don’t have the funds to hire multiple employees when they start out. That’s why it’s essential to choose an idea that you can manage independently and scale with only a few helping hands.

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What Are The Best Small Business Ideas?

Now that you understand what makes a small business idea successful, you’re ready to choose one that aligns with your strengths and interests.

Once you’ve decided on a small business idea, the next step is to write your business plan. Following that, you’ll need to go through the process of registering your business.

But those are topics for another blog post. For now, let’s explore some promising small business ideas for 2024.

1. Cleaning Service

Not everyone is good at keeping spaces clean. From residences to commercial spaces, you can find cleaning work in all kinds of buildings.

You’ll also be able to make good profits, by running a cleaning service business. You can offer house cleaning services, vehicle cleaning services, carpet cleaning services, as well as graffiti cleaning services.

2. Amazon Kindle Publishing

Amazon Kindle allows you to make passive income through your writing. As soon as you finish writing your book, you’ll need to upload the book to the Amazon Kindle platform.

Then, a team from Amazon’s end will review your work. As soon as your book gets approved, it will be available for purchase on their platform.

3. Pet Grooming Business

Pet grooming picture by Metlife — *Source: Metlife*

If you like taking care of animals and grooming them, then starting a pet grooming business can be a great idea. There’s a lot of demand for pet groomers, so if you’re good at grooming animals, this can be a profitable business idea for you.

Consider offering home services to clients as well.

4. Daycare

If you enjoy spending time with kids, then running a daycare can be a good idea. There are also very few upfront investment costs to get your business off the ground. Some people even run daycares out of their homes.

You might need to get a permit, however, to start your daycare business.

5. Website Theme Business

Do you have coding skills? Do you excel at front-end development? Consider using your coding skills to build a business where you build and then sell various website themes on the internet.

If you’re adept at coding, you can even build WordPress themes and sell them online, for example.

6. Property Management

If you have real estate experience, then consider running a property management business. Many property owners, especially those with multiple properties, find it difficult to manage all their properties.

They look for property managers who can handle tasks like collecting rent, fixing broken items, and evicting bad tenants. You can also use property management software to make running your business much easier.

7. Virtual Assistant Services

pexels-person-working-with-laptop — *Pexels*

Often, business owners look for help to run their businesses. They might be too busy to manage various business tasks themselves and look to hire someone to manage those tasks for them.

This is where a virtual assistant comes in. You can book appointments for the client, send replies to their emails, call their clients, answer customer queries, and a lot more.

You don’t even have to be physically present to do these, as they can be done virtually remotely.

8. Selling Online Courses

Selling online courses is another lucrative business idea. If you have a skill that you can teach others, then you should consider making money from it.

You can create courses on specific skill sets, such as making your own cooking course and setting up an online store to sell it.

Your courses can be on anything, from gardening and copywriting to guides on how to fix broken things and more. You can teach people how to make a digital brochure that sells products like hotcakes or how to crochet a sweater.

9. Personal Shopper Business

A personal shopper helps people who don’t have the time to go shopping themselves. You’ll be shopping for them instead. There’s almost no startup capital required to start this business.

You’ll need to start by marketing your personal shopping services to various people. Create a business website as well, so people can book your services online.

10. Affiliate Marketing

How does affiliate marketing actually work? First, you’ll need to find a digital or physical product that you want to promote. Then, you’ll help drive traffic toward that product.

Each time a sale is made through the people you sent to the product, you’ll be able to earn a commission.

11. Handyman

Starting a handyman business is easier than you think. All you need to do is create your business website, and you’re set to begin.

You could also choose to specialize in a particular area. Some handymen offer Drywall repair services or painting services.

You also don’t need to be certified to work as a handyman. In some states, however, you may need a license to do certain kinds of work, such as electrical work.

12. Freelance Developer

As a freelance developer, you could find yourself creating websites and delving into mobile app development for different businesses. You may also need to provide technical support for some projects as well. Good web developers have strong technical skills.

You will need some training before starting your own freelance development business. Even if you’re a beginner, multiple boot camps can help you get up to speed.

13. Graphic Designer

graphic designer working on his small business — *Source*

You can enjoy flexible working hours, choose the projects that you want to work on, and also build a great portfolio for your business. A graphic designer could be asked to do website design, or you could find blog graphics-related work as well.

There are a lot of businesses that hire freelance graphic designers who have the experience to act as support for various subjects.

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14. Personal Trainer

You can offer consultations to clients, in the comfort of their homes. You can provide them with personalized nutrition charts as well, and create exercise regimens that can help them achieve their ideal weight.

Create free mini-exercise videos for people to try as well. You can also provide them with healthy recipe videos as well. A lot of fitness gurus have chosen to use the digital world to build their brands.

During the pandemic, millions of people were stuck at home. They were bored and wanted to take the down time to start working on their health. Fitness and diet apps have exploded in popularity.

MyPTHub personal training software is an example of an all-encompassing platform. Set your clients up and provide them with exercise and nutrition plans tailored to their needs.

15. Life Coach

One of the best small business ideas is a life coaching business. It is easy to start, does not take much investment, and can work wonders.

In case you have experience in dealing with changes in your professional and personal life in a successful way, you can help others who might be in similar situations. A lot of people are looking for guidance, not just for their careers but also for their life as well.

16. Freelance Writer

Do you have good writing skills? There’s always someone willing to pay for written content. These days, everything from blog posts to magazine articles is written by freelance writers.

Remember that you should constantly save the work that you’re proud of. Add these to your portfolio, so you can show them to prospective clients.

Having just a few sample pieces on you can be very helpful. If you want to become a freelance writer, you’ll also need to choose the area you want to specialize in.

17. Videographer

If you want to work in the media and entertainment industry, then consider starting a videography business. However, for quality video production, you will need to invest in decent equipment.

This can make your setting up costs higher. You should also create a reel of the best work that you’ve done, to show off your work.

18. Photographer

If you enjoy taking photos, whether of people or of nature, you can consider becoming a photographer. You should also think about specializing in a particular niche.

Like videographers, photographers too can benefit from choosing a field to specialize in. You should also develop authority and a strong reputation for your business, even after you choose your niche.

19. Food Truck Owner

Do you enjoy cooking? From fast food to gourmet food items, you can sell any dish you like from your food truck. Opening a food truck can also help you learn about food and restaurant licensing laws within your state.

You’ll need to make a large upfront investment to start your food truck. If you don’t want to buy a food truck, you can choose to rent it instead. It’s usually better to rent food trucks for festivals and events since renting costs can be high.

20. Translator

If you speak one or more foreign languages, consider starting a translation service. You can specialize in a particular kind of translation, such as medical translation or financial translation.

To become a translator, you should be fluent in at least two languages. This means having native-level fluency. While you don’t need specific credentials, being certified can help you get clients.

21. Blogging

Yes, you can make money through blogging as well. Take the case of Timothy Sykes who makes around $1 million per month!

To find success, you’ll need to have strong writing skills and focus on a specific niche. Build your authority within that niche and after you get enough traffic, you can contact advertisers or even look into affiliate marketing.

You’ll also need to choose a hosting solution that suits you. Consider using a platform like WordPress if you’re new to blogging and want most of the technical tasks to be managed for you.

22. Food Delivery Business

As a food delivery business owner, you’ll be helping people get the food they ordered online. You can create an app through which your customers can order food from nearby restaurants.

Then, once an order has been placed, your app will assign a delivery professional to deliver the order to the customer. A lot of people like getting takeout, so starting a food delivery business can be profitable.

23. Social Media Management Business

For many businesses, having a solid social media presence is crucial for business success. It helps them stay relevant in the modern digital age.

This is why more and more businesses are keen to establish themselves across various social media platforms. As a social media manager, you’ll be helping various businesses run and manage their social media accounts.

24. Coffee Shop

If you love brewing coffee, then you can turn that love into a professional business by starting a coffee shop. If you don’t want to invest time and money into building a coffee shop from scratch, you can consider franchising as well.

You could also purchase an existing coffee shop and then rebrand it.

25. Home Tutoring

You can offer your home tutoring services online or in person. You can also teach anything, from math to swimming, coding to languages, and more.

As long as there’s demand for what you’re teaching, you’ll be able to find steady work.

26. Handmade Crafts

Do you know how to make handmade items like mittens, beaded caps, embellished bags, shawls, and more? If you do, then you can consider selling them.

Platforms like Etsy and Shopify will allow you to sell your handmade crafts online.

27. Digital Marketing

With almost everyone using the internet these days, a digital marketing business is one of the most trending online business ideas.

You can start an agency and provide various solutions ranging from website building to SEO services.

Alternatively, you can start small and focus on one area at a time, such as managing Facebook ads or working as a social media consultant.

With time and experience, you can hire more people to help you, and expand your small business.

28. Event Planning

If you like planning, collaborating, and making things happen, you should start an event planning business.

From finding and fixing venues to arranging decorations and making sure food and seating places are in order — you will oversee all of it as an event planner.

This is an exciting business idea for someone who likes a challenge.

29. Cartering Business

Do you love swooping people off their feed with delicious food? Can you handle the pressure of managing multiple tasks, such as preparing large batches of food, managing transportation, overseeing staff, etc.?

Then, you can dabble with a catering business.

This business is ideal for someone who enjoys the art of food, thrives under pressure, and takes pride in delivering exceptional culinary experiences that make events unforgettable

30. Dropshipping business

Dropshipping business has been a successful business model for a lot of people.

If spotting trending products, managing logistics, and handling customer service without the hassle of maintaining inventory sounds appealing, then this startup idea might be the perfect venture for you.

You can start your own dropshipping business by setting up an online store, partnering with reliable suppliers, and leveraging digital marketing strategies to attract customers.

31. Interior Designing

Got an eye for aesthetics and a passion for creating beautiful living/office spaces? You can start your interior design business.

Interior designing is a blend of creativity and functionality as you have to ensure that the spaces are beautiful as well as suited to the client’s needs.

You can start small and offer to decorate your friend’s homes and build a portfolio. You can even take a course to gain more legitimacy as an interior designer.

32. Car washing

As often as the sun rises, the cars need washing. With proper advertising and services, this is one of the most foolproof business ideas in any car-centric city.

You can start with basic car wash services and expand to offer detailing and interior cleaning.

Investing in the right equipment and providing excellent customer service will help you build a loyal customer base.

33. Auto Repair

Following the logic from the previous examples, the cars need repairs as well.

There’s always a need for someone who knows their way around a car and breathes life into worn-down vehicles.

With the right skills and proper advertising, starting an auto repair business can be highly successful.

34. Dry cleaning

Like people, clothes too need special care. And you can start a business to provide that.

A dry cleaning business can be a very profitable venture in any busy neighborhood. The downside is that a dry cleaning machine can be expensive but you can always take one on lease.

35. Storage business

A storage business is a great business idea for those who are willing to invest in a venture with a reliable ROI. People always need extra space for their belongings, after all.

You can start with a few units in a leased space and expand as your customer base grows. Remember to provide good customer service and excellent security.

36. Ice cream shop

Who doesn’t like ice cream?!

The key to a successful ice cream shop is variety and location.

Offer numerous flavors and options such as yogurt ice cream, lactose-free, and coconut milk varieties.

Choose a high-traffic location near schools, parks, or shopping areas to attract customers.

With quality ingredients and a welcoming atmosphere, your ice cream shop can be a sweet success.

37. Florist

At the risk of repeating myself, who doesn’t like flowers?!

If you like taking care of flowers, arranging them into beautiful bouquets, and decorating events with stunning floral displays, then the floral business is for you.

As with every business, you can start small and offer floral decorations for small events and gatherings.

With time, experience, and a loyal customer base, you can expand or even start your own florist shop!

38. Landscaping services

Some people love cleaning their lawns. For others who dread the chore, you can start a landscaping business.

You can start with basic lawn care, like mowing and weeding. As you build trust and experience, you can move into specialized services like landscape design, hardscaping, and installing irrigation systems.

39. Travel Planner

If you can save someone the headache of planning the ins and outs of a trip, consider becoming a travel planner.

Many people would be more than happy to pay you to make sure their trip goes smoothly. Some of your tasks will include booking flights and accommodations and creating detailed itineraries.

With experience, you can even start a full-fledged travel agency.

40. Moving Company

25.6 million Americans changed homes in 2023, and guess what services did most of them need? Reliable moving services!

If you enjoy helping people during stressful times, consider starting a moving company.

With a reliable truck, packing materials, and a trustworthy team, you can offer packing, loading, transporting, and unloading services.

41. Makeup Artist

Being a makeup artist is another successful small business idea. There’s always demand for skilled make-up artists for weddings, photoshoots, comic cons, and other events.

One of the best things about this business is that the startup costs are relatively low. You can begin with just the essential tools and products.

As you gain more clients, you can invest in higher-quality products and expand your kit.

Conclusion

These are some excellent small business ideas for you to consider. If you want to start your own business, you’ll first need to settle on an idea for what kind of business you want to start.

You should then write your business plan before you work on registering your business. Remember, a good idea is one that is easy to work on all by yourself, requires little capital, involves some of your expertise, and can be managed online.

If there are small business ideas that we forgot to mention here, but you think they’re great, please do mention them in the comments, and we’ll update our article 🙂