The Best Small Business Ideas

If you are looking to launch your own small business then 2024 is the best time. What follows is my list of the best small business ideas that are great to start right now.

People have long been saying that if you haven’t started your own small business by this year or that year then it’s too late. Rubbish.

Lots of people have great small business ideas but never even start to fulfil them for fear of failure. Dont let this be you.

If you have a great hot new business idea then follow it. Hopefully, your passion and drive will see you succeed.

Did you know that most profitable home business ideas come from people deciding that they can do a better job than their current employer can? This is how most new business ideas start.

The top 10 small business ideas list is based on low start-up capital. We dont want you to be broke before starting.

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Virtual Assistant:

This is one of the fastest-growing sectors for successful home business ideas.

The internet is a great place for people to start businesses. With so many websites, blogs and businesses out there it makes sense to start as a virtual assistant.

Like most businesses, when they grow they need to outsource some of their work. This leaves them able to concentrate on what’s important. (Usually the customer)

This is where you come in. From managing emails to managing a business’s social media this will all come under the umbrella of a virtual assistant.

An example I have is I know of several bloggers who are so busy writing content that they dont have the time to manage all the social media aspects of their blogs.

They also need someone to create Pinterest templates and manage their Pinterest account as well.

The great thing about becoming a virtual assistant is you dont really need any university degrees.

What you do need is to be efficient in the social media area and to have good computer skills.

I would recommend that you have a very good internet connection and you may need some office software and a good computer.

I would also advise that some level of protection when it comes to backing up files etc. Cloud storage solutions are fairly cheap and can offer protection for you and your client’s files.

To get started I would recommend getting out there and networking. Put yourself out there on social media and Linkedin and get yourself added to local business directories. Sell yourself and your skills.

This is the fastest-growing business out of my top 10 small business ideas.

Etsy Store Owner:

Etsy is an E-commerce website that is primarily focused on vintage or handmade items.

What is becoming more popular on Etsy recently is digital products.

The great thing about digital products is that once they are on the site it is a great way of earning passive income.

If you have the skills to make handmade products then Etsy is the place for you to start a successful home business.

However, if I was using Etsy I would steer myself towards the digital product side.

Here is an example. For my blog, I needed some Pinterest templates.

Simple yet creative designs that could be customized by me within a program called Canva.

I went on and found 10 Pinterest templates being offered for sale that were perfect for my niche. The cost was only £5.99 which seemed very cheap.

This saved me time and money by doing it myself. The Etsy seller was happy as all they had to do was send me the file to my email address.

All done in a matter of minutes. Now imagine as a seller you had a few products like that and were selling them multiple times per day.

This is Passive income at its best. Browse around Etsy for yourself today and see if there is a profitable home business idea there to suit you.

Ebooks:

If you have a passion for something and good knowledge about that topic then perhaps you could write an ebook.

For starters, it will not cost you anything to start. You can start writing it in your spare time around a full-time job.

It may take several months to write the E-book but like most digital products once it is out there on the market then it will be creating a passive income for you.

If it does well then perhaps you could create another and have a series of Ebooks.

You dont need any particular skills just knowledge and passion for a particular subject.

Amazon Kindle direct publishing is just one of the many places you could sell your book.

Lots of bloggers who started out blogging as I did with no clue how to do anything blogging-related are now selling ebooks.

They are also doing really rather well from it so do not think you cannot do it.

Mobile Hairdresser/Makeup:

If you have a skill in any of these areas then this is a great business idea.

You dont have to spend money on renting any premises for you to work out of. As long as you have a car and your equipment then you are set to go.

You could even specialize in events such as weddings or hen parties etc. Weddings are key as this is nearly always a mobile hairdresser/makeup artist that is needed.

You may need to do your first couple of weddings for free. This will be great for getting your name out there and more bookings would surely ensue.

Facebook and Twitter (X) along with Instagram are also great ways to let people know what you are doing and how great you are at your new business. This idea regularly features in the list of top 10 small business ideas.

Blogger:

It was inevitable that I wrote about this as in my list of top 10 small business ideas. After all, you are currently reading my blog so it makes sense for me to add this as I know a little about it.

Lots of people will have you believe that it is too late to become a blogger and make money.

The internet is saturated with bloggers in all types of niches. It is really hard to break into that and be profitable.

Well, I am here to tell you that it is absolute Rubbish. You can blog about any niche and be profitable.

As long as you are passionate about that subject and can write good quality content that people would like to read then the rest you can learn as you go.

You have to remember even the best bloggers out there who make more than 1 million a year didn’t know how to blog when they first started.

The bad thing about starting a blog as a home business is the time it takes. Some people manage it in a few months.

The likelihood is that around a full-time job and family etc, getting your blog to become profitable could take 2 or 3 years or more.

It is a long-term plan but if you work hard, learn from every mistake and write good content then eventually you will make money from it.

It is very possible to replace your full-time income with your blog.

The other good thing is you dont need to invest in loads of blog courses. All you need is your computer and a small investment, to begin with for a domain name and some hosting. After that, you are good to go.

Child Minder:

The great thing about this is as a parent you already have most of the skills to be able to do this job.

This can be a successful home business idea but you do need to do some groundwork first.

You will need to gain a first-aid certificate and St John Ambulance service provides some great courses to help with this.

You will then need to complete a childminders course and register with Ofsted.

Registration with Ofsted can be a long process but is essential when looking to start as a childminder.

There will also be a home inspection as part of the process. Once qualified you can put your services out on Facebook and any local social media outlets and charge per child per day.

The great thing about this business is you are working from home and doing something that as a parent you are used to doing anyway.

There are the initial tasks that need to be completed but once done this can be a great home business idea.

Gardening:

Gardening is a great small business idea. You dont need to have a huge skillset to become a gardener.

As you get better and more established you can always do some courses to improve your skills.

From just tidying up an old person’s front lawn to doing major landscape gardening on a huge scale there are so many possibilities with this career.

You will need to start out with some tools but you could just advertise your services at the weekend in your local area.

This would you earn some money around your full-time job. This would give you the money to be able to buy some proper gardening equipment which would enable you to take on the more varied work that the job would entail.

It can pay fairly well if you are established and prepared to work hard.

A guy I used to do my garden trimmed back a massive tree and cleared a load of rubbish. It took him half a day and he was paid £150 which we were both more than happy with.

The weather may be challenging in the winter but it is ultimately rewarding.

Personal Trainer:

If you are into fitness and fairly fit yourself then starting as a personal trainer is a pretty good way to start a business on a low budget.

You will need some kind of liability insurance and will need to get some personal training courses under your belt but these are all easy obstacles to get out of the way.

Personal trainers can earn anywhere between £30-60 per hour. As long as you are a confident and happy individual with great personal and motivational skills then this could really be the way forward for you.

Take me as an example. I am a runner in my spare time and there are countless times when I will be running along the seafront and see ladies and sometimes men running alongside a personal trainer who is there to make sure they are running with good form and motivating them to push a little harder.

What could be better than taking a group of people who want to improve their fitness and not only helping them to do just that but getting paid for it?

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eBay Store:

As top 10 business ideas, this one is always suggested. eBay isn’t dead in 2024 like some people are suggesting.

It is still a great time to get started. The best way is to start by having a clear-out of unwanted goods at home.

Start up a basic account and then start selling your unwanted goods. When you have finished this you should have a nice tidy sum to use as capital to buy and sell with.

Have a look through the site to see what sells well and my personal experience tells me you want small items that sell for between £10-20 and you can pick them up for between £2-5. High-profit margin even after fee’s and easy to package and post.

Once you have got the hang of eBay fees and PayPal fees as well as the dreaded Returns, You can apply to open a shop.

The basic shop is £25 per month and gives you some support and some tools to get your shop up and running.

The next one up is £69 per month and gives you way more free listings as well as some eBay packaging which comes in handy and some free international listings.

The last shop subscription is £399 per month and is obviously for well-established eBay shops.

Dont get me wrong starting an eBay business from home is no walk in the park

It takes dedication and hard work. There will be many a time when you are tearing your hair out over something but it will all be worth it in the end.

Some eBayers make a good living from their home business.

Freelancing:

If you have a wide range of skills then you could try becoming a freelancer. Sites such as Fiverr and Upwork have a vast array of people looking for help from freelancers.

The type of work people on these sites might need varies from transcription work to designing logos to writing content to proofread.

The great thing about these types of sites is you don’t particularly need any type of qualifications.

Your work will speak for itself. They have a ranking system so you will be ranked based on feedback from your previous jobs.

Many jobs start at just five pounds or dollars hence the name of Fiverr. However, usually, there are further tiers of pricing to your work.

You may design a logo for someone for 5 Pounds. If they want to have unlimited sizes and adjustments for this logo as well as perhaps having it in better quality then that costs more.

These packages are a great way of upscaling your work and making more money. Have a browse around these sites and see if there is a niche you could slot into.

Summary:

Starting a business is a scary thing to do but if you never do it you will never know if it is something you can succeed at.

Dont just think about doing it, get out there and do it. You may just start one of the top 10 business ideas I have listed above.

Please let me know if you have your own successful business or if you are looking to start one as I would love to hear from you.