With the world’s economy dropping and many people losing their jobs, there has come a great extremity for everyone to stand on their own feet. Now, you might get worried thinking about doing something on your own. Will it work? Will I make a profit? What if I lose my money? What if it fails? All these questions might have already been choking you. Don’t you worry! You’ve come to the right place for ideas.
Here are 50+ inexpensive business ideas that will hold your back. These businesses not only require low capital, but they’re also sure to click. Think no more! Now all you have to do is read this article till the very end, choose what’s best for you, make a plan and start your metier.
60 Low-Cost Small Business Ideas of 2021
We’ve classified the article into five parts to help you find your choice faster:
- All things Online
- Services to Offer
- Shops & Stores
- Production & Sales
- Schools & Training
So get reading and take notes because you wouldn’t want to miss anything.
All Things Online
All things online are for those who want to do something with zero or minimal capital. All dealings and trading will be online.
Blog Writing
Blog writing is for the ones who love to write. If you keep a diary and write everything in it, you could just turn your blog into a digital diary. Whatever field you may be interested in, technology, medicine, law, wildlife, parenting, and many others, you can start a blog and write in it. It’ll take some time for your blog to start paying you. Until then, you’ll have to keep writing and posting to grab attention. You can do it as a part-time service while you work.
Customized Products Selling
This business requires you to be creative and experimental. You could create a Facebook or Instagram page and post your products there to grab attention. You can be as creative as you want and include customized cushions, bags, lamps, candles, notebooks, keychains, wallets, etc. You’ll have to find ways to digital print on them; that’s all the capital you’ll need for this one.
Digital Library
This is the business for bookworms and library lovers. You’ll need to set up a website domain and purchase some books, making them available on the website. As time passes, you can expand the availability of the books. The capital for this business will only be the money to buy your domain name and the books. You could share your domain on social media, and people will rush in.
Freelance Writing
This business is, again, for writers. If you’re a creative writer who can bring your imagination to life with the help of words, here’s where you can make money out of it. There are various types of writing you could do in this field. Creative writing, short story writing, article writing, songwriting, blog writing, poetry writing, etc. This doesn’t need any capital, just a lot of your time.
Online Illustrations
This is where artists can turn their talent into money. There are various apps and websites for illustrating. You could learn how to do it and offer illustrations for children’s books, novels, fiction, etc.
Online Photo Printing and Delivery
This is the one for photographers. You’ll have to maintain a studio for printing photos, create a business domain or an app, and learn how to print photos. The more varieties and sizes you offer, the more profit you’ll earn.
Resume Writing
Various job seekers struggle with their resume making. You could help them create their resumes uniquely and charge them for it. You could start by putting up your service ads on social media or register on a freelancing website.
YouTube Channel
Lakhs of people are making money from YouTube now. The only way to get noticed among the huge crowd is to be unique and creative. There are all kinds of YouTube channels, and if you stand out, you’ll be famous and rich in no time.
Services to Offer
These are the businesses in which you can offer various kinds of services. For this type, you’ll need to have the main office where people can find you, or you could go to the people who need your service.
Closet Organizing
This one is mainly for those who love to keep things organized. You’ll have to go to people’s houses and organize their closets. In addition to that, you could also pick up and drop off their laundry. To get noticed, you could set up a domain name or distribute brochures or pamphlets.
Consultancy Service
For this service, you could set up an office where people could come for many consultations. You’d have to hire professional counsellors, or you could get yourself trained.
Delivery Service
As mentioned in the name, here you’ll be delivering. For that, you’ll need to hire a delivery truck or van. It’d be better if you had your own one. You could get associated with an online marketing site or set up a website for delivery orders.
DJ
This is really a service, but it’s mentioned here because it doesn’t belong to any other categories. And it doesn’t need an office either. You’ll need to maintain a website domain to get any calls for a job at a party or college fest. Once you get a gig and perform well, word will spread, and people will likely ask you. Or you could even get associated with a club. For all of this to click, you need to take a course on DJing and get certified, perhaps.
Event Planning
This is the one for social butterflies. If you love attending social events, you’ll love to organize them too. You have to manage an office for clients to reach you out. Unlike many, you’ll have to give a lot of your time for this business but not much of your money.
Food Truck
This business is for cooking experts. You’ll definitely need a food truck for this and a really creative menu to get attention. You could prepare your dishes all day, and at the end of the day, you could go to a college or a park or a playground where people will buy your food. If you prepare them well and people like them, they’ll coming looking for you next time.
Laundry Service
Can you remove an ink stain without leaving any marks behind? Have you been an expert in laundry cleaning that everybody asks for your advice? Then this is where you make money from it. You’ll have to buy a couple of washing machines and a place to set up a service centre. If you provide good customer service, you’ll get regular customers, and your capital will come back to you with added profit in no time.
Rainwater Harvesting
Almost every house and building in the world opt for Rainwater harvesting. It’s a way to reuse rainwater effectively. It increases the water supply and effectively decreases the storm flow of rainwater. There are various rainwater harvesting methods; you could learn about them and make them available in your service.
Tutoring Service
This is one service that’ll never go in a loss. You could do the tutoring yourself or hire people for that. You could maintain a tutoring service centre where students could come, or you could do home tutoring. There can be students of all ages, from 8 to 23. You could make batches for different age groups if you’re going to keep a tutoring centre. All in all, profit is good, but the students need to be guided thoroughly.
Shops and Stores
These businesses are the ones where you’ll have to maintain a shop. You’ll need some extra capital over here for the shop; it’s goods and items.
Aquarium or Pet Store
Aquariums are what everyone loves to have in their house. You could keep various kinds of fish from tiny to big. Additionally, you could also sell fish food and other pet supplies. You could also keep birds, rabbits, hamsters, and dogs for sale.
Bakery
If you’re a good baker and love to bake, this is where you can make good money out of it. You can go ahead and experiment with different flavours of cakes and cookies.
Beauty Parlor for Women
To open a beauty parlour, you’ll have to get certified first. After that, finding a place will be quite a challenge because you’ll have to keep it in a place where people can notice you easily. And the capital you put in will be for the beauty and makeup items for your parlour.
Boutique Store
This business requires a store and a creative set of clothes that will attract customer attention. The capital you spend will be on clothes. You could buy them at a wholesale price and sell them at MRP. You will get at least a 20% profit on each clothes you sell.
Burger Joint
This one is for those who excel in burger making. You can be creative as hell in making different kinds of patties and burger fillings. You could also add in some beverages and fries.
Chats Shop
Chats shop is for those who can make good chats like Pani puri, Masala puri, Dahi puri, Sev puri, etc. You can create your own new different kinds of chats and be creative with the ingredients. You’ll be a hit in no time if you keep your shop near a college or a workplace.
Coffee Shop
This is the one who loves coffee. Actually, this business is for the ones who love to make it, not just drink it. You’ll have to set up a shop and buy a good coffee maker. You could also add in other beverages and juices along with some cookies and snacks. It’ll best work if it’s near a school, college or workplace.
Digital Printing
The digital printing business requires a place to set up your shop, a computer, and an all-in-one printer. Your shop will begin to do good instantly if it is near a college or a workplace.
Electronics Store
Firstly, you’ll have about the electronics you choose to sell, to keep an electronics store. When you have good knowledge of them, you could easily convince customers to buy them. You’ll have to make sure to sell them good products and provide good customer service.
Fish Shop
In a fish shop, you’ll mainly be selling fish and other seafood like crabs, octopus, oysters, etc. You could buy them from an export or farm fish on your own and supply them to restaurants and catering service providers.
Flower Shop
This business would work best if you grew your own flowers. You could start small with around five varieties of flowers and then increase them as your business grows. You could also learn to make bouquets, and it’ll be in great demand on special occasions. You could make rare flowers like a lobster claw, magenta ghost flower and some expensive flowers like Kadupul flower, Juliet rose and hydrangea for a good price.
Fruit & Vegetable Shop
Fruits and vegetable shops will give you more profit if you keep it in a residential area or near a hospital. Making fresh and good quality fruits and vegetables available in your shop is the key to success.
Furniture Store
Furniture stores are always needed as people give importance to their interiors. You could hire a carpenter to make furniture for your store, or you could purchase from elsewhere and resell them. Good quality of furniture stock will make customers come back to you.
Glass & Plywood Store
Glass and plywood stores, as in the name, sell glass and plywood for houses. This business will need you to gain knowledge about glasses and plywood making. Good and various qualities of glass & plywood will get your attention in the market.
Grind Mill
A grinding mill will give you success in no time, provided it is in a residential area. You’ll just have to buy a few grinding machines. You could get associated with restaurants or caterers to do grinding or do grinding for individuals.
Grocery Store
This is the one business that’ll always give you profit. You could set it up like a small grocery store if you have a small place. If you have a bigger place, you could turn it into a supermarket. The trick is to make those things available in your store that isn’t available in the neighbourhood.
Home Decor Store
Home décor store could include all items used for home decoration. They will never go out of use as there are always new kinds of decors available in the market. You could have curtains, designer pillows, cushions, hanging chairs, door hangings, wall hangings, paintings, picture frames, wind chimes, etc., along with some designer furniture.
Interior Designing Store
To open an interior designing store, you’ll have to study interior design. There are many courses you could opt to study interior design. For your store, you’ll need a little bigger place where you can showcase your interior design. You could also set up a website domain to get more attention.
Jewelry and Accessories Store
This store will be the main allure for women. So you have to keep in mind to get jewellery that they’ll like. Of course, each person’s choice is different, so it’s unlikely that any jewellery will not get sold. This will need a bigger capital because you’ll have to have more varieties of jewellery and accessories.
Juice Bar
A juice bar will give you the most profit in summer. The only money you’ll spend will be for your shop rent, a juicer mixer and the fruits. Along with juices, you could also include milkshakes, lassies, and other cool beverages.
Locks & Keys Store
There are various locks and keys available today, and there is a hell of a demand for them all. Locks and keys are available for wholesale purchases. You could buy them wholesale and then resell them with added profit. Or you could even hire a blacksmith for you and do customized locks and keys. In addition to that, you could also have burglar alarms and fire alarms in your store.
Photo Studio
For a photo studio, you need a good camera, a computer or laptop, a photo printer, and a good place to set up your studio. Additionally, you could also do photoshoots for models, fashion magazines, etc. For that, firstly, you’ll have to become an excellent photographer and have good editing skills.
Pizza Shop
A pizza shop can typically be maintained by chefs and experts alone. A pizza is a little harder to make when compared to burgers. But there are many pizza lovers, so you will have customers rushing to you very soon. You’ll have to be creative with the pizza toppings and provide cost-effective pizzas to have customers come back to you.
Salon for Men
To open a salon for men, you’ll need to take a course on haircutting and hairstyling. It’s less complex when compared to a women’s salon. But it’s not all simple either. And now that people style their beards too, you’ll have to be careful not to disappoint your customers.
Sandwich Shop
Opening a sandwich shop is as easy as making one. You’ll have to be creative and include a variety of choices. You could also include chips, fries and some beverages. Again, keeping it near a college or workplace will get you more customers.
Stationery Shop
A stationery shop will give you profit no matter where you keep it, residential area or commercial area. The more items you make available in your shop, the more people will come to you.
Tailor Shop
A tailor shop is for those who like to work with clothing. You’ll have to take a course first. Once you’re done with that, you’re free to open a tailoring shop. You could stitch blouses, gowns, dresses, and formals for women; and shirts, pants, and suits for men.
Theme Based Gift Shop
Gift shops are what people look for when there’s any festival. You could include gifts for all important festivals like Diwali, Dusshera, Christmas, Easter, etc., and many occasions like Valentine’s Day, Teacher’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc. Or you could target your favorite and keep gifts for that festival alone. Whatever you choose, you’ll have your capital back with extra profit in the blink of an eye.
Toy Store
This business will definitely bring out the kid in you. So you have to be sure to be alright with that. Keeping a toy store in a commercial area will be good, and making all kinds of toys, from small to big, available at your store is the one way to click.
Production & Sales
This category is where you’ll produce and sell the goods. Don’t be alarmed. Production means it isn’t a large scale. Below mentioned are small scale productions that you can sell and make good money. And it’s cheaper than the other categories because you’ll be buying raw materials that cost less and turn them into products you can sell for a large amount.
Bed and Mattress Making
There are many kinds of mattresses available. But the most common types are memory foam, innerspring, hybrid, latex, and adjustable air. There are machines to make these mattresses, and when it comes to beds, you could hire a good carpenter and buy some raw timber and make beds out of them. Here too, quality is a must to make a good profit.
Handmade Baskets and Bags
There is a huge trend for handmade products these days. And everyone would love to have a handmade bag. There are various fabrics out of which you could make them like jute, cotton, denim, etc. You could easily purchase the fabrics from a wholesaler and make bags giving in to your creativity. It isn’t easy, but practice will make you perfect.
Handmade Jewelry
Handmade necklaces and bangles are a sight to behold and a pleasure to wear. You can make them from different beads, pearls, stones, glass, and even mud. It’s like pottery, hard at first and then a cakewalk. You can learn how to make them and when you’ve got the knack, you’re all set to make money from it.
Handmade Soaps
Handmade soaps are not that hard to make. They are a lot safer than machine-made soaps as they don’t contain as many chemicals as machine-made soaps. There are various handmade soaps available right now, and people prefer them to machine-made ones.
Perfume Making
This business requires careful planning, research, and patience. There are various courses you could opt to learn perfumery. At first, you could create and market your own small roll-on perfumes. Later, when you’ve gained experience, you could launch your own perfume line.
Pillow & Cushion Cover Making
This is by far the easiest one in this category. All you need to do is buy good fabrics wholesale, stitch pillows & cushion covers out of them. It isn’t complicated because pillows, cushions all come in one size. You could keep that size in mind and stitch them all in those sizes, with different fabrics.
Organic Cosmetics Making
Now, even actresses prefer to use organic makeup because they are not harsh on the skin. Unlike the usual makeup, they don’t damage your skin, and they have the same effects as the usual cosmetics. Buying raw materials for cosmetics can be done wholesale, which will save you a lot of money. It’ll take some time to excel in it until you could give your products to your friends. But once you do, you can easily sell them to the public.
Schools & Training
These are the businesses where you can conduct classes and train people. This category’s advantage is that you only need to take up certain courses for your teaching choice and do your own house training. You won’t have to rent a place or hire anyone. And most importantly, you get to follow your passion and do what you love here.
Cooking Classes
This one is for the experts in cooking. If you know all the tips and tricks for yummy food, then this is what you should do to make money. At first, you could teach kids and young girls. Later you can go ahead and open a cooking school. Or even go online and start a YouTube channel after you’ve become good with all the ingredients and measurements.
Dance School
If you’ve been crazy about dance since childhood and still dance well, if dance is your passion, then this one is made for you. Here you can help others live their passion while you do what you love.
Gym
If you’re a fitness freak and love to exercise, you could open a fitness centre and help people stay fit. There are various fitness centres like Zumba fitness centre, aerobics centre, Pilates centre, yoga centre, etc. You’ll only need to get a certification, and you’re all set.
Music and Instrument Classes
If you’re a musician and play instruments, then you can easily conduct classes to make money. You’ll need to get a certification first. And once that’s done, you’re good to go.
Painting Classes
A painting looks beautiful, but only the artist knows how much he had to work to make it beautiful. You could teach that to other artists and help them create beautiful paintings. There are various types of paintings, like oil paintings, cloth paintings, pastel paintings, glass paintings, etc. You could get trained in them all and teach them to make more money.
Pre-school
This is one of the simplest businesses yet tiring. Taking care of kids, especially crying kids, will surely take away all the energy in you. But if you can manage it well, this will be a cakewalk for you.
Yoga Classes
Yoga is becoming a kind of trend now. It’s the healthiest habit one could have. It helps in concentration, fitness, etc. It also soothes you increasing your inner peace. You’ll have to get certified to teach yoga. After that, you can take morning and evening sessions at your home or even at a park.
Conclusion
So these above are the small-scale inexpensive businesses with assured profits. There are, obviously more than these available but the above-mentioned ones are to give you an idea. You can be creative and do something different, and it definitely will get people’s attention. Whatever you do, customer satisfaction is important because that’s what business is. It’s all about satisfying your customer’s needs.