We are going to go over 23 simple small business ideas you can start today! We have also included 3 bonus ideas towards the conclusion of this post.
If you are ready to form your business now, we have partnered with a company we think offers the best packages that can address all your needs.
Take the first step if you are ready now.
Some people tend to think that starting an LLC is the only thing that needs to be done when starting a business.
To get a break down of all that needs to happen before conducting business legally, check out our article “How to Start a Business the Correct Way”.
23 Simple Small Business Ideas
1)Freelance Writing
Freelance writing is one of those small business ideas that is all the rage right now, and the demand is only growing by the day. People, and businesses all over the world are looking to grow their online presence. Whether it’s through blog post articles like this one, sales copy or even email marketing copy.
It’s not just their online presence, though. Local businesses still need pamphlets and flyers, among other things.
This is where freelance copywriting will come into play.
No matter whether you’re looking up “fishing freelance writing” on google to see if you can land some blog posting jobs, or you are writing copy to entice someone’s viewers to take an action, freelance writing is one of the business ideas that has an ever growing potential to set you up in the long run.
Best tried and proven method for landing clients as a freelance writer: Google research and cold email outreach.
Pay range:
Expect to be able to charge $.20-$.30 per word when starting out. This can move up exponentially over time as you acquire more experience to $1.00 or even $1.50 per word.
2)Proofreader/editor
Proofreading is one of the other small business ideas that you can do from home. All you really need is a decent knowledge of the English language, access to a computer and a Grammarly subscription.
There’s a chance to hone in on the college essay market here, too. There is some deserved stigma revolving around paying someone to write your essay (for both the student and the paid writer), but professors actually really encourage having someone look over your essay to spot grammatical and spelling errors.
These students need an outside peer review, and you can fulfill that need!
Best way to land clients: post flyers on college community bulletin boards, use Craigslist services section and join relative Facebook groups.
What you can charge: I would set a rate you are comfortable with for every 500 words you proofread (adding a charge for actually editing obviously).
3)Affiliate Marketer
Affiliate marketing is a good idea if you want to put in effort upfront to possibly create a substantial income in the long run. It is not for the faint of heart. Many gurus will tell you “it’s the easiest way to make passive income online”.
This quite simply is not the case. To really make it with affiliate marketing, you must put in a lot of effort up front. Granted, we feel like if you treat it as a hobby and really try to have fun with it, doing it in your side time can feel a bit more effortless. It will also allow you to create better content and churn out more in less time. This is a business idea that can pay in spades for many years based off the work you do now.
Try sticking to content that is evergreen. Your content should be something that will always hold true, and never be out dated.
You need to keep your expenses low when you obtain WordPress website hosting for this.
We always recommend bluehost hosting for our clients.
You can get an introductory offer of less than $3-$4 per month for the first year. You can also get a free domain for first year (this is your website name).
Best place to find clients: your best shot is to blog about topics that are of high interest to you. Do this with SEO in mind. Incorporate multi-modal communication to your viewers.
How much you can make: you make money (commission) when someone clicks on one of your links and makes a purchase. Expect little to no money coming in for 6 month to a year. But, if you are really passionate about it, you can expect anywhere from a few hundred a month from your evergreen content, to several thousand a month. If you are persistent, money could start hitting your bank account a lot sooner.
4)Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assistants are paid by people or businesses that use them for virtual tasks, such as; managing a calendar, taking calls, important appointment reminders, data entry etc. Most people could be a virtual assistant. It is a business idea that a vast majority of people already have at least some of the skills to carry out.
There is no limit to the possibility with this one, and you probably already have a few skills you can offer your potential clients!
We’ve partnered with a reputable company to provide you with courses, and coaching when starting a virtual assistant business to make it easier.
5)Course Creator
If you have at least one specific topic you can explain in detail, and can teach other people how to do, then you have a good small business idea you can build a course out of.
Almost everyone has a smartphone (these days that’s more than enough to shoot the videos for your course). All you really need beyond that is the software in which to host your course.
Best place to find people interested in a course like yours: create SEO optimized blog content around the subject. If you charge $47 for your course and 1000 people visit your site per month(very doable), and 10 of those people purchase for $47, that’s an extra $470 in your pocket!
If you charged $497 for your course and only 2 people signed up out of that 1000 viewers, that’s an extra $994!
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6)Window washing
Window washing can be quite lucrative. Home owners will pay good money if you can do a good job washing their windows. Dirt and grime build up on the inside, and outside of windows, making it look bad and lowering that windows lifespan. It’s also not very sanitary at all (the type of grime that can build up around a window seal). Door to door and flier distribution will be your key to success with this business idea.
You could make $1000 or even more each day by yourself. Imagine if you hired on some friends.
4 houses X $250 = $1000
Alternatively, 5 houses X a $199 special = $995
All you need to start is a bucket, a brush and a squeegee. Maybe some rags and you’re good to hit the pavement.
This industry is not going anywhere!
As mentioned before, Bizee has a premium package we suggest, because we know you and your business deserve the very best! It is $299 + state fees, and is the most straight forward priced and comprehensive package on the web today (IOO)!
7)Gutter cleaner
Gutter cleaning is another one of those small business ideas that is not going anywhere! You can charge by the linear foot, or by the hour(up to $100/hr).
If your business charges $60 per hour, that means in an 8 hour day your revenue will be $480. Let’s say you have 4 people doing the work for you 8 hours a day.
That $1,920 in revenue!
You’ll get more business in the spring and the fall. Probably 4-5 months of solid work.
You can use this to your advantage, and post fliers in the month before spring hits.
Something like this:
“Be prepared to clean your gutters this spring and fall- get a free quote today!”
You get the picture!
Make up your mind?
8) Yard Maintenance
Yard maintenance is an industry that I hold near and dear to my heart. I started several years ago using a riding mower, pruning trees and trimming bushes at my Grandmothers 2.5 acre yard for $12/hr.
I later moved up from that, and made $15/hr.
Now, routinely every year, I have a couple handful of clients I charge anywhere from $35-$45 per hour.
I decided to write a post on this business idea all in itself, just check it out “here”.
Not bad for a guy who spent part of his childhood living off of top ramen!
If you’re someone who likes more hands on work, this is your industry!
9) Tree Service
This is one of those small business ideas that can obviously go hand and hand with the previous one but it deserves a mention all by itself.
Just to give an idea of what can be made: My Grandmother just had a 30 ft pine cut down from her yard next to her house, and it was $900.
This was the cheapest quote, too!
It took 4-5 hours with 4 crew members.
Even if you paid them all $30/hr each, your cost would be $120 X 5 = $600, leaving you with $300 for that one job!
That same crew could still do another job that day, not to mention any other crews you have!
10)Pressure Washer
Pressure washing can be a year long small business idea. Sometimes people tend to think it is only during the summer months.
Yes, if you live in a place that gets less moisture i.e rain, you can have a more abundance of jobs throughout the year.
But, pressure washing doesn’t only consist of driveways, decks and houses!
If you get yourself set up with a nice heated power washer, food delivery companies can keep you busy just by cleaning and sanitizing their trucks.
There is always a work around!
11)Home Cleaner
Everyone needs a clean home, and most working class folks do not have the time to dedicate each week to properly clean their abode.
Either that, or they would much rather pay YOU to do the job.
A great way to gain some recurring clients!
Cleaning companies usually charge $100/hr with a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house taking roughly 5.5 hours for a routine clean.
The more frequently they commit to, the steeper the discount!
Luckily, as we stated before, we have partnered with a company that offers the best business formation packages around.
Use Bizee by Incfile for a professional business formation service.
12)Home Painter(inside/outside)
If painting is your thing, opening a painting business can be a great way to propel your career forward.
For some, painting is even therapeutic, which is an added benefit.
Some people tend to think you can only own and operate a home painting business if you get a contractors license.
This isn’t always the case!
For instance, in Arizona you can operate a painting business without a contractors license. You just can’t be paid over $1,000 for any job.
If there was a job you would quote at $2,000, you can sometimes break up that quote and cost into separate payments.
For instance, 4 inside bedrooms = $999, or garage = $999. These figures may not represent actual cost.
Also, I wouldn’t make this a long term solution.
Start with up to $999 jobs. Gain the hands on experience, then go for your contractors license.
Are you ready to go?
13)Small Home Service Business( changing lightbulbs, batteries in smoke and co2 detectors, hanging mirrors etc.)
Some people find small things that need to be done around the house to be monotonous, or they just don’t have the ability or know how to do them.
Changing some lightbulbs, hanging a mirror or changing out batteries in cO2/smoke detectors are some examples.
People will pay good money for these useful, often times essential services.
We have included a branch of this business we think you’ll really like in the 3 bonus business ideas towards the end of this post.
Ready to secure your financial freedom?
14)Drywall Patch and Repair
Another hands on approach to making a nice living with no one to answer to, but the home owners who hire you is drywall patch and repair.
This can be a very lucrative business to start!
Are you good at drywall patch and repair?
This may be the business for you.
15)Floor Cleaning
Floor cleaning can be a money maker. This business idea has made a lot of people a ton of money over the years.
Carpet cleaning and tile/grout cleaning is by far one of the easiest businesses to scale, if you do it right.
Always go above, and beyond for your customers.
A lot of people overlook this, but if you send a generic “Happy Holidays” card from your business to your past customers, that in itself will drum up business.
People like to feel appreciated. Just make sure it says, Happy Holidays and reiterate Happy New Year in your personalized writing in the card. Not everyone celebrates Christmas, so you don’t want to go that route unless you know they in fact celebrate that holiday (just be diligent).
Do you want to start a floor cleaning business?
16)Leather Cleaning and Conditioning
Leather cleaning and conditioning business is a little bit of an untapped industry.
Don’t get us wrong, there are these types of businesses, but not everyone and their brother owns a leather cleaning and conditioning business.
This can prevent an opportunity.
You can charge a premium rate per piece, depending on size.
Ready to take the plunge?
17) Finished wood Polish and Conditioning
This small business idea is highly untapped.
And, considering the average kitchen would take 1-3 hours to get the job done, you can price the job accordingly.
When you polish and feed finished wood I.e cabinets, it makes the shine pop and last longer.
This will give the wood essential nutrients to thrive and last a lifetime!
18)Horse and Barn Animal Feeding and Waste Cleanup
We’ve heard about charging $20 a week to pick up dog poo.
Horse and barn animal stall clean-up can be a lot more work, because it tends to be a lot more heavy lifting.
You can charge what you like, customers can then choose to use your services or not. Just don’t underbid yourself.
This is a needed task. Animals can come up with all kinds of diseases that can kill them when they spend time in an area where their waste is not picked up.
19)Concrete and Paver Sealing
Beings on how you will need to pressure wash before sealing, this can be an add on service.
We suggest making your business name reflect the sealing part of this job. This will show that you specialize in sealing and will land you higher paying jobs.
Markup the price of the material, and don’t forget to add in the foreseen price of travel.
You can charge for the material and 1/3-1/2 of the cost of labor upfront.
Whichever makes you more comfortable.
20)Trash Pick Up for Business Parking Lots
You can charge companies 100-$200 per week to pick up trash on their grounds. Possibly even more depending on the size of the lot.
You can also offer chains with many locations a bulk discount deal.
21)Knife Sharpening
If you make a name for yourself as an expert knife sharpener, you can pretty much charge whatever you want.
22)Trash Can Cleaning
You may have seen those big trailers with a crazy trash can cleaning machine on it. The one with the neon vinyl wrap?
Ya? You don’t need all that!
All you need is a pressure washer, a hose, an extension cord (if you don’t have a battery powered pressure washer), some trash bags and any cleaning chemicals you feel will offer the best experience.
*Bonus tip- not only will people pay for their outside trash can, I’ll bet you can offer an add on service to clean their inside trash cans.
I loathe cleaning those things! I’m sure other people do, too.
23) Electronics Flipping
This small business idea can start out as a side hustle, but phone flipping also has the ability to make you six figures easily with the right systems in place. You could dial in on a specific brand of phone or even just broaden the whole scope with general electronics.
Another situation where it is completely up to you. Get off the sidelines!
*3 Bonus Small Business Ideas
Bonus Business Idea #1: Automotive Window tinting business
Low overhead, plus high profit margin= the big bucks!
Bonus Business Idea #2: Windshield Repair business
I live in Arizona. If you own a windshield repair business here, you pretty much are going to have a good old fashioned money printing machine.
Bonus Business Idea #3: Security System Install
This is the bonus idea I was talking about that is in close relationship to the small home service business. Many places around almost any town sell security cameras, smoke detectors, cO2 detectors and alarms that are loud when the two magnets separate from each other (thing opening a door or window).
You could buy up these cameras and security gear and mark them up however much you’d like, and also charge labor and install fees.
Take the first step…
Are you new to this?
Read our article, “How to Start a Business the Correct Way”.
Conclusion
There are many simple small business ideas you can start, right now. We’ve included 23 in this blog alone (not including the 3 bonus ideas). What business would have a low start up cost and barrier to entry? What is something you are good at, or maybe even have charged someone you know before to do for them? Take the plunge!