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Many people believe that starting a business is complicated and expensive, but that’s not entirely true. In reality, there are numerous ways to begin a business that require less focus on logistics and upfront expenses, allowing you to concentrate more on turning your ideas into reality. Don’t worry if you think, “I want to start a business, but I have no ideas.”
Here are 26 small business ideas that are perfect for beginners, bootstrappers, or individuals with busy schedules. These ideas serve as an excellent starting point for a side business without requiring you to give up everything else you’re doing.
Best Small Business Ideas For 2023
1. Dry Clean Service
You will be surprised to know that dry cleaning service can give you a massively profitable business. Even after being a daily need of half a billion urban Indians, it is still underrated as a small business idea.
If you are not well versed with how to start a dry cleaning business, you can join a successful dry clean franchise. To analyse which option is better, you can read more on franchise V/S own Business in the laundry industry.
Do you know?
Laundry is India’s 7th largest industry. Even though it is popular among people, a laundry business offers better profits than many mainstream businesses.
You can join India’s No. 1 Laundry Chain & kickstart a successful business journey.
2. T-shirt printing
The T-shirt printing business has immense scope for growth as the industry is consistently growing. The T-shirt printing market has been valued at $3.64 billion in 2020 and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.7% from 2021-2028. You can easily acquire the necessary equipment for a T-shirt printing setup. If you enjoy designing prints you can launch your own designs and you can also license someone else’s designs.
In case you doubt the potential of T-shirt printing as a business idea, you can go through the case study of some brands like Bewakoof. The brand was founded by Prabhkiran Singh and Siddharth Munot in 2012. Initially, they focused on selling printed t-shirts on their website. Today, the brand, Bewakoof is one of the largest D2C (direct-to-consumer) brands in India.
3. Elder care services
Elder care services help elderly or medically unfit people to live safely in their homes. Generally, such people are unable to live independently, take care of their daily necessities or need therapy. Professional elder care services provide them with special caretakers such as nurses, therapists, etc. These services are required for short-term as well as long-term depending on the ailing or elderly person’s requirements.
A majority of people don’t think of it as a business idea, however, the global number of centenarians has already crossed 6,00,000. This shows that there are immense scope and business opportunities in this sector for dedicated and reliable professionals. Hence, you can start your elderly care services business.
4. Home Cleaning Service
With a shift to urbanization, the demand for home cleaning services has grown tremendously. People now prefer professionals for deep cleaning of their homes because they often don’t have the time and energy for these purposes.
You just have to build a strong business plan and grow yourself as a brand. This business idea can give you a massive expansion as the sector is quite scattered but the demand for home cleaning services is high and never-ending.
5. Online Teaching
Tuition classes are an excellent, cost-effective business option that has a wider market reach and gives high profits. All you need is subject matter expertise, patience and time to teach effectively. In terms of set-up, you will need a whiteboard or a surface to write, some markers, digital notes, books and some space to fit all of these things. That’s it.
Today, you can also teach online via video platforms like Zoom and Google Meet, etc. The pandemic has helped coaching centres earn huge profits, by transitioning to teaching online thereby cutting down on the time and fuel expenses taken to commute. This has already made online coaching a highly profitable business opportunity.
6. Medical Courier Services
You might already know Netmeds. It is a leading online pharmacy run by Reliance. While many people consider it a dominant competitor, there is still immense scope for new businesses. First of all, you can learn from the business model of Netmeds. And you can definitely build space by aggressively marketing your business in your target areas. The good part is you don’t have too many giant competitors in this business. For example, if you start a fast-food chain, there is Domino, McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway and many more. But in medical courier service, there is only one big business organized involved. So, you can definitely go with this business idea.
You still have a chance to join one of India’s 7th largest & golden industry of the decade.
7. Professional Organizing
Professional organizers offer a varied range of services ranging from designing a functional wardrobe to organising a room set-up. They help in improving the proper management of time, resources and possessions. Hence, their services are considered valuable in urban areas.
Currently unpopular, this business idea is steadily coming into the limelight. This is the right time to enter this realm, build contacts, offer the best quality service and advertise aggressively. By doing all of this, you can establish yourself as an unparalleled brand and dominate the market in the upcoming years.
8. Cloud Kitchen
Cloud Kitchen, also known as Ghost kitchen has created a buzz around. It is basically a shared kitchen space between various restaurants. You should only have a well-equipped cooking space in a commercial area. Unlike mainstream restaurants, cloud kitchen facilitates online food orders at low cost. Due to this reason, they are expected to have substantial growth in upcoming years.
As per some reports, the domestic cloud kitchen market will reach USD 1.05 billion by the end of 2023. This is a clear indication that a cloud kitchen can give a profitable business in India with low investment.
9. Pharmaceutical Products
The global pharmaceutical manufacturing size was approximately $486.62 billion in 2021. The good part is that India holds a great share in this sector, we are the largest exporter of generic drugs. In 2022 alone, the size of Indian drug and pharmaceutical exports was 2196.32 million dollar. These huge numbers clearly shows the great scope for growth in the pharmaceutical business.
Pharma is one of those realms which did not slow down during the pandemic. In fact, it is one of the most profitable small business in India. Even though there are industry giants who are dealing with pharmaceutical products on a large scale, you can still have a lot to do on a smaller scale as well. Also, there are multiple gateways to enter this industry such as manufacturing, research, raw material procurement, etc.
10. Exclusive Nursery
Gardening is a much-loved hobby of many people. Even people with small homes manage limited space for gardening. Plants are also widely used as home decorations and natural air purifiers. And with increasing awareness, everyone considers plantation as their responsibility and contribution towards reducing global warming. Therefore plant nurseries are in demand in both small and big towns.
Want a perfect business idea that requires minimal time and effort?
11. Selling Accessories
Scrunchies, phone cases, jewellery, watches, wallets, and so many other products are counted as “accessories”. You can actually start a small or large-scale business in this realm as per your budget.
Those who consider there is no great growth in this business idea should study the market size. As per reports, the accessories market in India was valued at INR 285.6 billion. Today, people (irrespective of their gender) show an inclination towards fashion accessories. You only need a little creative sense and a reliable source of beautiful and futuristic fashion accessories to rule the market. And this can be one of the best low-investment business ideas, especially if you are trying to do it as a side hustle.
12. Resume Writing
If you are good at writing, you should try a small business of resume writing. While it may not seem substantial to a lot of people, there is a lot of potential. Most people (including freshers and experienced ones) find it tough to create resume, cover letter and portfolios, and they hire experts to do the same.
Hence, resume writing becomes one of the great business ideas for those who are looking to start a side hustle. You will have to assist your clients with well-tailored resumes, appealing cover letters and portfolios and increase their prospects of getting their desired job. The good part is you can always refer to free resume templates for reference. If you don’t think that’s enough you can even go for short-term courses from Cousera or LinkedIn Learning. These small efforts will make your skills sharp and let you stand alone amid competition.
13. Online Marketing
The boom in the IT sector also made online marketing and advertising services one of the most profitable businesses in India. You can secure a good deal with website owners for your clients. You need contacts of the website owners and the business sector to make clients.
Good media management skills are the prerequisite for this business to succeed. You can do online courses if you don’t have in-depth knowledge.
14. Event Catering
Whether it’s a wedding, baby shower, product launch, or a store opening, we Indians love to celebrate everything on a grand scale. Hosts don’t have the time to do everything with such big celebrations. Here comes the role of an event management company. They are rarely out of business.
You need an office as your base, a workforce, and contacts of multiple reliable vendors to run an event management business successfully.
15. Day Care Services
Daycare services are extremely in demand by the working class. If you have reliable resources to provide ideal care to children while their parents are at work, you should definitely consider this business idea.
As per IBIS World, the daycare business has a profit margin of around 15%. And according to Technavio reports, this market is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 9.57% in India and scale to $957.86 million by 2026. There is no end to opportunities, demand, success and growth for those offering trustworthy daycare services.
16. Tiffin Service
While tiffin services are majorly associated with Mumbaikars, it is very well spread in other parts of the country as well. The concept is simple, you just deliver fresh homemade food to people who are either living away from their homes or cannot manage to eat homemade food while being at work.
If you are looking for a business idea in India with major budget constraints then also tiffin services is doable. It is one of those small businesses which are always in demand. The key is to keep the functionality on point. To gain success, you must be very particular about the operations to maintain consistent good quality and on-time delivery.
17. Blogging
Blogging is undoubtedly best for those who are interested in an extremely low-investment business idea in India. Because all you need is to have fluent writing skills to start your own blog. People are running their blogs as a side hustle while working 9-5, you can do it too.
Here is what all you need to do:
- Select the blog’s niche
- Select hosting service and free domain
- Select blog name
- Develop content strategy
- Promote your blog
- Keep it updated
Blogging isn’t a business idea in India that will give you quick profits. In the initial phase, it may take time to get traffic. However, once it will get monetize you will definitely gain hefty profits depending on your efforts and focus.
18. Baking
This startup business in India is a better option for those who want to work from their home. This startup business opportunity will work better if anyone loves to do all kinds of bakery items. People love to eat tasty bakery items and eagerly go to the Bakery shops. If someone is good at bakery skills, this startup business idea in India can run well. One needs a very low setup cost before doing this startup business in India.
The best part of this business opportunity in India is that one can make a great profit. A good margin can be gained. By beautifully decorating and adding delicious taste and hygiene, anyone can do well. This startup business in India can be initiated from home or a shop.
19. Fitness Coaching
The buzz around health and fitness these days is hard to miss these days. And those who are looking for business ideas in India should never miss something that’s mainstream. Hence, the fitness coaching business deserves your attention.
The global personal fitness trainer market was estimated to be valued at USD 39.750 million in 2022. Whereas, in India, the total revenue is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.39% and the expected value is USD 34.60 million by 2027.
20. Pet Care
Pet care covers pet healthcare, pet food (majorly dog food, cat food, and fish food), pet dietary supplements, etc. Your startup business idea can be centred on one or all of these categories. There is high scope for growth and profits in the pet care business. Because, the pet care sector recorded positive growth even during the worst phase of Covid 19 pandemic, and growth has been consistent. As per some reports, it is expected to grow with a value CAGR of over 16.5%. Thus, you can definitely consider it an optimistic business idea in India.
21. Self-Improvement Coaching
With a growing hustle culture, people now prefer having mentors in life. They are valuing external perspective, support and guidance to achieve their goals. A self-improvement coach provides people with all these things.
You can research how to become a self-improvement coach and upgrade your skills in this realm. If you think you cannot enrol on long-term courses, you can build an agency and hire qualified professionals. In such a set up your role will be to market the organization and maintain its operations.
The “self-improvement” or “personal growth” market was boosted in 2020 due to Covid 19 and the recession it brought. As per GrandViewResearch, the global market size was valued at USD 41.81 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.5% from 2022 to 2030.
22. Mushroom Farming
Mushroom is loved by Indians and used massively everywhere from households to restaurants and hotels. Mushroom farming can provide you with a profitable business with low investment.
There are three types of mushrooms that are cultivated in India: straw mushroom, button mushroom and oyster mushroom. All three of them need specific temperatures to grow. This implies if you want to grab this business opportunity, you will have to consider multiple things for mushroom farming, such as a green room where the temperature can be controlled.
23. Party Décor
Party décor or event décor business is one of the most-demanded services as parties, celebrations and events are an inseparable part of India, they happen at all scales in India. If you want to start a low-investment business this niche will suit you. Later on, you can scale up the business as well.
This small business idea in India will give you better results if you are ready to invest time and efforts in the venture. In the initial stages managing a party décor business along with a full-time job or an already existing business may not be sustainable it requires major involvement.
24. Handicrafts
Handicraft is a great startup business idea in India. Because it is one of the most promising and important sectors in the Indian economy. You can deal with products like handprinted textiles, sculptures, products containing special embroideries like zari, attars, glassware, pottery, woodware, imitation jewellery, art metal wares, etc.
There is a huge demand of authentic Indian handicrafts in both domestic as well as in international markets. And, handicrafts can be easily sourced from rural areas. Hence, if you are looking for a profitable business by spending less money, handicrafts can help.
26. Real Estate Business
Even though real estate has some major veteran players ruling over it, small businesses can still sustain and grow. Because there is huge scope for realtors or real estate agents.
In general, it is not easy for a lot of common people to navigate the housing market. While people aspire to find their “dream home”, they struggle to choose the ideal property that suits both their wishes and budget.
This is where the role of real estate businesses comes into the picture. You need to have strong social skills and a consistent will to assist your clients. It is definitely going to be a time-consuming and tiring affair, but the profits will be worth it.
Do you need someone who can help you in starting a profitable business?
Key Takeaway
Choosing and proceeding with a small business idea is never an easy task. It requires consistent research, time, and effort to keep going. This is why you must prepare for hustle until find the perfect idea. Because, if you will not choose the right or suitable thing, it may not work well and all your efforts will go in vain. Thus, always ensure that your business idea aligns with your schedule, keeps you motivated and makes sense financially.
If at any stage you think you need help, do not refrain from approaching friends, family and even experts.
In case you think it is going to be tough for you to start a business from scratch, you can go for franchise options. Find yourself a successful and helpful franchisor. They will help you at every stage of business and your chances of success will never be stunted.
FAQs on small business ideas
There are three types of small business structures: sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability companies (LLCs) and corporations.
It is always better to consider the laundry while checking growth status of any business. When the entire industry is on a growth spree, the business will also flourish. Some industries which are currently growing in India includes laundry industry, technology, and healthcare support.
Some small business ideas from these industries are:
- Laundry service
- Dry clean service
- Pre-natal & Post-natal support
- Psychological help
- Elder care support
- Web development
- IT support
- Cyber security
A lot of small business ideas have potential to grow and scale up. If you have a product or service with high demand and a robust business plan, you can definitely grow a successful business. Some common small businesses with immense scope of success, includes laundry service, post-natal services, elder care service, digital marketing, affiliate marketing, web development, etc.
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