There has never been a best to time to start a small business than now. With the present economic situation in many countries and an increase in unemployment, starting a business is the next resort for most individuals.

That doesn’t go without saying that starting a business is not an easy task in itself. A lot of effort is required to start and scale your small business.

One of the first task you will encounter is deciding which business idea to fly with. However,

Even hobbies can turn into the best small business ideas with a little online marketing. Take dog walking for instance. It may not seem like a legitimate business idea at first.

But once you start running it solo and understand the ropes of pet sitting, you can build your dog walking agency, hire other dog walkers, create an app, and build your puppy walking empire.

This article will help you save time in doing so much research, as we will be providing you with 30 small business ideas you can consider. So please read on to find out.

• What Products Are in High Demand?
• What Are The Most Lucrative Small Business Ideas

What Products Are in High Demand?

Not sure what type of business to start, or which products can help increase your market share? Here’s a list of the top-selling products in 2020 and how we think they’ll perform in 2021.

Natural skincare and cosmetics

Natural skincare and cosmetics have become increasingly popular as more consumers become aware of the effects artificial ingredients can have on their bodies and the environment.

Read Also: Small Business ideas for busy Mothers

Consumers are turning toward personal care products that are made with natural ingredients such as aloe vera, active charcoal, tree oil, and more.  

A great example of a fast-growing all-natural product is PiperWai, an aluminum-free deodorant that is also cruelty-free, certified vegan, and made in the US.

After gaining visibility from being on Shark Tank, their high demand products took off, so they partnered with ShipBob to fulfill a high volume of orders.

In response to the pandemic, PiperWai launched an all-natural cleansing hand gel, which they believe will remain a commonly purchased product long after COVID-19 ends.

Finding ways to offer a new product that’s in high demand during the pandemic can help your business move forward while supporting those in need, especially those working in the front lines.

Eco-friendly products

Sustainability and eco-friendly products are gaining popularity, especially with millennials and Gen Z consumers.

These younger consumers want to order from businesses that show they care about the environment and are doing what they can to keep the planet healthy.

Doris Sleep is a great example of an eco-friendly brand that offers machine-washable hypoallergenic pillows made from recycled plastic water bottles from landfills. They partner with ShipBob to maintain a positive buying experience. 

Even during COVID-19, many consumers still prefer essential products to be eco-friendly — as long as their favorite, go-to brands are able to keep up with the demand.

Boie USA is an eco-friendly personal care brand that saw fast growth after a successful Kickstarter campaign. They chose to partner with ShipBob not only for faster order processing, but also for the support ShipBob provides to meet high demand.

Specialty teas

Tea is seeing a surge of popularity and will continue to be a best-seller in 2020. Many tea-based brands, such as Herbaly, have grown by selling specialty tea blends that aren’t available elsewhere.

Matcha is also a popular and trendy tea option that comes with many health benefits. For instance, fast-growing tea brand Cha Cha Matcha offers different matcha iced tea flavors along with high-energy branding that makes them stand out from other tea brands on the market. 

When researching potential high demand teas to sell, look at the types of teas available and the benefits they provide. 

Diet fad products

Health and fitness has been on the rise in ecommerce. But with COVID-19, now more than ever people are looking for alternatives and opportunities to stay healthy while staying home.

Sticking to a healthy diet may seem challenging, but many ecommerce brands in this high demand diet market are findings ways to help their customers sustain a healthy lifestyle during novel times.

Synchro is nutrition and wellness brands that offers gluten-free, non-BGMO products, including keto-friendly foods, powerfoods, and more.

Synchro customers depend on their products to relieve pain, provide energy, offer mental clarity, and even recover quickly from workouts. That’s why Synchro partners with ShipBob to make sure their products are sent to customers quickly.

Subscription food services

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many people who are stuck at home are encouraged to grocery shop less frequently. Ecommerce meal kit companies, like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron are seeing challenges in sending high demand fresh meals to customers on time.

Similarly, meal replacement products that don’t require refrigeration are seeing a surge in sales due to their convenience and longer shelf life.

For instance, Ample Foods is a meal replacement brand that uses real-food ingredients that don’t require refrigeration.

Since they partner with ShipBob, they are able to get orders shipped quickly, including subscription orders, by storing inventory close to their customers.

Apart from selling any of the above products, there are other small business ideas you can make money from.

What Are The Most Lucrative Small Business Ideas

1. Create Online Courses

Any form of education is commonly considered as priceless. Think of running an online course – teaching a second language or even English (particularly for immigrants), news writing, design, SEO techniques.

The possibilities are endless, depending, of course, on your area of expertise. You can provide a course on real estate brokering or the stock market, auto mechanics, or any subject a student is interested in learning.

This is a profitable business venture, and once you establish a base of students, it can be one of the most profitable businesses since the overhead expenses are meager.

You could work out special arrangements with other digital content companies that can provide you with tools to help carry out your lessons.

The most costs involved in this would be the minimum amount you pay for your domain name and hosting space or the fee a digital content outfit will charge you for featuring your course in their platform.

2. E-commerce

Putting up an e-commerce site sounds easy enough. Set up your website and wait for a surge of orders, right? Nope. It’s a lot harder than you think getting internet users to visit your site.

It’s an uphill battle to have your website ranking on the first page of search engine results. Of course, there’s advertising you can buy to drive traffic to your site, but it’ll cost you plenty.

And, when you do get people to visit your website, you’ve still got to worry about converting these into sales and revenues. If e-commerce is in your mind as a business venture, it won’t hurt to think again.

3. Lawn garden tools and supplies store

This is a niche market. We have seen above that it can actually be a very lucrative business in rich states with warmer climates like Florida and California.

Still, in most of the other states, there’s no need for year-round access to lawn and garden supplies and equipment. Winters are bad, and your potential customers would most likely stop tending their lawns from about mid-October to about March.

And, when the tough times come – what non-essentials do you think homeowners will cut? Outsourced lawn care. What you need is an all-year business that will provide you with good, steady revenue.

4. Retail business

When you’ve got the Walmarts and the Kmarts of this world (and other large discount department store chains either steadily increasing their market share or threatening smaller retailers in various kinds of categories), retailing gets to be tougher than ever before.

Not only that – you will also have to contend with big names like Amazon and a host of other online retail shops. Retail business is simply too competitive, and making a decent profit is like pulling teeth. It hurts!

Sure, you can compete with these giant retailers, but it’s hard. You will need a strong strategy that will give your business a proper motivation for shoppers to choose your store.

5. Pet Handling Services

Most people regard their dogs, cats, and other pets as family members. They’re not a big fan of leaving their pets alone without anybody looking after them.

Many pet owners, on many occasions, go away for short or long periods and need to have someone to look after their pets’ welfare. If your business can offer a place to keep the pets, you could earn some good money depending on the duration of their stay.

Along with this, your services could include dog walking, training, and grooming. Some start-up capital will be needed to cover the costs of setting up a website, getting a mobile pickup, and stocking up on grooming materials.

6. Courier Services

A courier service is a service that allows someone to send a parcel or consignment from one location to another.

Courier services are distinguished from ordinary mail services by features such as speed, security, tracking, signature, specialization, and individualization of express services, and swift delivery times.

Delivery doesn’t cost much — other than gas. However, getting contracted by a large firm, such as Amazon, can prove to be profitable for couriers.

You can even go fully independent if you have established the right connections of people who will use your services, especially if your fees are more affordable than the fees at larger companies.

7. Copywriting

For the past couple of decades, the increasing number of hours people spend on the internet has raised the demand for quality web content.

This is where somebody with a true talent for language and creative imagination can succeed as a copywriting entrepreneur. Good copywriters create advertising and marketing materials that a lot of online and offline businesses need.

What’s more, you don’t have to have a big, expensive commercial space as most copywriters work from their homes as freelance writers with practically no overhead expenses.

8. Graphic Design

Companies are always on a lookout for graphic designers for branding purposes.

From designing marketing collaterals, including banners, posters, and logos to creating stunning designs of landing pages, the opportunities here are immense.

You can pitch your design skills to small business owners or individuals to start your gig. Graphic designers can also join freelance websites like Flexjobs to find relevant work.

If you have prior knowledge of this field, then getting clients would be helpful. However, learning the basics of graphic design from scratch is pretty easy, with a vast number of online courses.

You can leverage graphic design software like Adobe InDesign or Photoshop to learn the foundation of graphic design. Alternatively, you can use other user-friendly online tools like Visme to hone your graphic design skills further.

9. Web Development

There are over 4 billion internet users in the world. And to cater to this massive online population, 6 out of 10 small businesses have a website.

This is why web development is a valuable skill to cater to the surging demand for launching and upgrading websites.

Start by developing websites for your friends and family to polish your skills. New businesses are always looking for efficient coders at cost-effective prices.

You can kickstart your career by offering competitive prices for your services and then slowly transform it into a more lucrative business plan by solidifying your portfolio.

Every web developer must have basic coding skills in computer languages like CSS, HTML, JavaScript, and Java. There are several free or cheap online courses including Treehouse, the Web Developer Bootcamp on Udemy and Codecademy that can help you learn to code and get started with web development.

10. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing has been an important factor in the marketing arena for quite some time.

When someone asks how to make passive money online, a lot of people automatically envision affiliate marketing. Brands that want to sell products online create new affiliate programs and allow affiliates (publishers and bloggers) to promote their products and earn commissions.

According to one blog income report study, bloggers making between $7500 — $25k per month make 38% of their income from affiliate marketing.

In simple terms, Affiliate marketing is a business model where bloggers and influencers recommend services or products they like or find useful, something that will be genuinely helpful for their followers, and earn a percentage of profit for each sale that follows.

To get started, register with network like ShareASale, Awin, Rakuten, Clickbank, or Skimlinks to start making money from the type of content being published on the website. The income will gradually grow along with the growth of your website – Sky’s the limit here.

10. Phone Case Business

There are more than 2.5 billion smartphone users in the world, and the number is increasing every day.

Since everyone worries over the safety of their Smartphone, Smartphone cases are one of the top-selling mobile phone accessories. As a result, mobile case sellers are raking in 6 or 7 figures income by selling smartphone cases in huge volumes.

Mobile cases don’t have to be bland and boring. People today are showing interest in various types of mobile case designs, with interesting artworks, witty quotes, or funky designs.

You need to be creative and innovative to create a collection of smartphone cases that your audience would be attracted to. One Etsy store managed to sell handmade cases worth $60,000 in its first year.

The idea is to find your own unique niche. You can easily list your collection of new products on ecommerce giants like Amazon and eBay.

Once you start making some money, there is always the option of launching your own boutique website on a platform like Shopify to cut down commissions.

11. Virtual Assistant

You can use your excellent organizational skills to create an extra stream of income. Virtual assistants are in high demand by corporations, freelancers, and every kind of business.

It is also an excellent opportunity to know successful and influential people from different fields of work to build a vast professional network.

At the same time, it also provides you the opportunity to work from anywhere in the world while developing your professional skills.

People are always looking for efficient Virtual Assistants on freelance job websites like Flexjobs.

12. Interior Designer

People have become more aware and tasteful about how their homes look. There is always a need for an interior designer who can tell which color will suit your walls and what is the right place to put your armchair.

You can take inspiration from Pinterest, which offers plenty of interior designing ideas to take inspiration from. You can even start by pitching your expertise to people in your acquaintance to gain confidence before going starting officially.

Here is the list of free interior design courses you can opt for to get a formal education.

13. Social Media Manager

Billions of people are on social media, and businesses are spending millions to reach their target audience through various social media platforms.

If you are glued to social channels and understand how the eco-systems work, then you can put your knowledge to good use and start your own social media marketing business.

Small businesses, start-ups, and influencers with massive social media presence are always looking for capable social media managers to help them grow their social media presence.

You can pitch for social media account management and help businesses run paid ad campaigns on Facebook, Twitter, and other channels.

Websites, including Flexjobs, CareerBuilder, and Fiverr offer a lot of jobs related to social media management.

14. Travel Consultant

If traveling is your passion and you are always updated about things like best airplane ticket options and hotel deals, then you fit the bill.

You can start by helping your family and friends, securing the best travel deals. It will help you earn free word of mouth publicity and kickstart the growth of your freelance travel consulting business.

Create pages on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp to promote your business and connect with people who want to leverage great deals.

When you develop a solid follower base, you can also collaborate with travel agencies to cut exclusive deals for your customers.

To make it a full-time career, you can also consider earning a certification in travel consulting.

15. WordPress Website Expert

WordPress is the go-to platform for small businesses and budding bloggers to start a website of their own. If you are well versed in how to set up a WordPress blog, then people can pay you hundreds of dollars for your skills.

Apart from WordPress consulting, you can also offer digital marketing services to your clients to diversify your revenue stream. It will help your clients bring relevant traffic to their website.

If you build a successful business as a WordPress website consultant, you can even transform your business into a full-fledged digital marketing agency.

16. Wedding Photographer

Wedding photography has become grander and fetches handsome pay per project. Professional wedding photographers can charge anything between $2500 – $10,000 and even more for each photoshoot.

At the start, you can build your clientele by searching online and registering on aggregators, including MyWed, to find the business. You can also reach out to potential clients through Facebook and Instagram.

To hone your skills, you can either take online wedding photography classes or learn by reading this detailed guide. Here is the list of wedding photography gear you would need to start your wedding photography business.

17. Build an App

There is an app for anything and everything – and they are making thousands of dollars. Bet you won’t be able to find a niche for which there is no app built yet.

The best part is that you don’t have to worry if your coding skills are good or not. Head to this course to learn about how you can build apps with little or no coding skills. But before implementing it, do some market research about the competition, revenue model, and feasibility of the app.

Look at some of the successful apps, including Instagram and Snapchat; all were built for a specific target audience and are now worth billions.

18. Translator

Your expert knowledge of another language can help you earn some money. Translators are always in demand, but high-quality translators are rare to find.

You can land lucrative jobs if you know by combining your strong language skills with the best grammar checkers to ensure your written content is of the highest standard.

There are thousands of jobs listed on Flexjobs for translators.

19. Create a YouTube Channel

Several YouTubers are making thousands of dollars by vlogging about their passion, skills, travel, food, reviews, and stand-up comedy videos, among others.

Pick a niche you are passionate about and have sufficient knowledge to create engaging and unique videos. The more entertaining content you post, the more views and subscribers you will gain.

Several successful YouTubers earn millions by posting videos. However, an average YouTube earns around $3 to $5 per 1000 views.

Before starting your YouTube channel, learn about YouTube guidelines and how to use its tools. Also, invest in a good camera and microphone to make quality videos for greater earning potential.

20. Tailoring

Style and fashion are always a topic of discussion. Naturally, being a good tailor is a great business opportunity. Your expertise to design and make designer-clothes within a limited budget can help you get access to a wide array of customers.

According to Entrepreneur.com, the business of alteration and tailoring requires a minimal investment of $2000. But you always have the option to start small and build your business gradually.

You can take an online fashion designing course from Oxford Home Study to gain more technical expertise in clothing and styling.

21. Invest Your Money

If your money is lying unused in banks and earning you minimal interest, then you might consider investing in more lucrative schemes. Warren Buffet is the most prominent example of being a smart investor who has made a fortune out of his intelligent investing habit.

You can start small with short term trading while learning the ropes of the stock market. Invest smartly in value stocks to grow your wealth steadily.

You can also take online stock market courses to get a better understanding of other financial investment options like cryptocurrencies and blockchain.

22. Ghostwriter

Ghostwriters might not get the credit for what they write, but they sure make a lot of money. Jeff Hadden has made millions just by writing for famous and successful people. He started writing as a side gig and ended up making a lucrative career out of it.

You can secure ghostwriting gigs on FlexJobs. Beginners can expect to earn anything between $15 to $30 per hour depending upon their quality of work. Once you gain experience and develop a portfolio, your remuneration can increase exponentially.

Learn the ethics and rules of ghostwriting before entering the arena.

23. Stock Photographer

From websites and banners to social media and marketing, stock images are used everywhere. If you have a DSLR and decent photoshop skills, then you can easily sell your images to stock photo websites including Pexels, Unsplash, and Shutterstock, among others.

Every time a client uses your photo, you get paid with a markup amount. You can later build your own website to secure better corporate projects.

Before considering the profession, learn about the type of equipment and investment, you would need to start stock photography. Here is a list of 18 best photo editing software for photographers, which might come in handy while building your stock photography business.

24. Child Care Services

Single parents and nuclear families are always short of time to take care of their children. Hence, there is always a demand for compassionate childcare professionals. It is a lucrative career option if you love being around kids.

But before taking the plunge, be sure about the age-group of the kids you are willing to look after. As you gain experience, you can also open your own day-care center to look after the kids and expand your business.

To increase your chances of finding success in this arena, you might want to earn formal certification in childcare.

25. Computer Repair

There are more than 1 billion computers in use right now. No wonder the market for credible computer repair services is huge. According to statistics, the computer repair industry earned a total revenue of $19 billion in 2018.

Given the high repair costs at authorized service stations, you have a great opportunity to earn money by offering cost-effective repair services.

If you’re a handyman, You can start by approaching small businesses and neighboring homes to get computer repair projects. Gradually you can expand your team to take bigger orders from medium or larger enterprises.

From learning to fix networking issues to replace the crashed hard drive, opportunities are immense in this field.

26. Real Estate Broker

The real estate market is back to booming in the USA, and though not quite a boom, it’s picking up in the UK too.

However, people want to avoid the hassles of getting the paperwork done and legal permissions required to acquire their property so they are looking to a broker or online letting agent to facilitate.

You can broker the deals to help buyers and sellers have smooth transactions. Build a healthy pool of clients by assisting them in buying and selling commercial and residential properties. You can also build a small sales team to approach the customers more efficiently.

Do proper research on how to become a real estate broker, take up required real estate courses, pass the examination with good grades to properly facilitate your real estate career.

27. Hand-made Jewelery

Hand-made jewelry is the new fad. Teenage entrepreneurs including M3 Girl Designs’ Maddie Bradshaw and Bella Weems of Origami Owl have raked in tons of cash by selling handmade jewelry.

There are huge opportunities in the industry, with its growth projected at 5-6% per year. With no big corporate players in the field, the entry to this segment is also easy.

You can start selling online to earn a name, and if you end up becoming a household name, you can even open up a brick and mortar storefront.

Take a diploma or opt for online courses to understand the nuances of jewelry design and its making.

28. Mobile Laundry Service

Laundry service is worth more than $40 billion in the USA. People will never stop wearing clothes, and as a result, they would continue to require laundry service.

Read Also: How Does a Small Business Become Profitable

Several home pickup laundry services have mushroomed over the years, but there is still potential to open a reliable mobile laundry service for locals by offering better services at a lower cost.

You can do a course in retail laundry and cleaning to understand the proper usage of chemicals and fabrics.

29. Personal Chef

Becoming a personal chef can help you earn big bucks for your exemplary cooking skills.

The majority of people are too busy with their profession and get little time for themselves. You can help such professionals out by preparing delicious food of their choice.

The personal chef job market is expected to grow by 5.2% between 2016 and 2026. The demand for chefs capable of cooking healthy and delicious meals is only increasing with time.

You can learn how to make new dishes on YouTube or take a certification in personal cooking to make yourself more employable.

This can even lead to you opening up your own brewery, restaurant, bar, or coffee shop where your culinary skills are put on display to the public.

30. T-Shirt Printing Business

T-shirts with exciting graphics and funky logos are in high demand. T-shirt retailing business is worth millions of dollars and relies on efficient t-shirt printers to meet the supply.

Several suppliers are already in the business, but there is enough room for new players. You can take the orders from multinational brands or local businesses or even launch your own line.

Moreover, this industry allows you to work on your terms, i.e., you can either choose to work from a small room or start off with a big factory-based production.

You can take a print production course from LinkedIn Learning to understand the dynamics of dyes and printing technology

Bottomline

All of the professions and small business ideas mentioned above can help you earn a decent income even after starting on a small scale. Take the right pick depending upon your skills, interests, and pocket size.

Never opt for a business idea just because somebody else is also doing that – listen to your true calling to become a successful entrepreneur.