101 Small Business Ideas

Small business ideas and opportunities are all around us, yet many of us have trouble finding one when thinking about starting a business. Small business role in U.S economy, and in the world economy, is undoubtedly huge and game changing. And while you may think every small business industry is saturated by now, the truth is that every day hundreds of new business ideas emerge and are turned into profit making realities by entrepreneurs around the world.

When it comes to successful opportunities, new business ideas are not the only ones having success, many creative entrepreneurs are having great success with the old tried and true ideas.

These bold risk takers are building successful businesses by putting their own unique twists on ideas and business opportunities that you and I may consider as “already saturated or too much competition to succeed with”.

Whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur, a college student, a stay at home mom or dad, a person who has just lost his or her job or anybody in between, and whether you are looking for home based business ideas, green business ideas, pet friendly business ideas, franchise business opportunities, or perhaps small town business ideas that stick, or any other kind of business opportunity to start your own company, opportunities are out there, you just have to reach for them.

So many of these great small business ideas are in front of us every single day, we see them, we hear them, yet, we never think of them as that one really good idea that could help us jump start our own business.

I have always been fascinated by the ingenuity of entrepreneurs and how they can turn a seemingly “stupid” idea into a thriving, successful and profitable small business, adding thousands and even millions of dollars to their net worth.

So, I went on a hunt to find as many of these great opportunities as I could. And to no surprise, I found more than I could ever imagine. Here is what I have found, a list of best small business ideas.

101 Small Business Ideas

Looking for specific business ideas?… Please feel free to use these links to navigate!

• Online Business Ideas: 12 Great business opportunities you can set up online.
• Home Based Business Ideas: 11 Top businesses you can run from the comfort of your own home.
• Pet Friendly Business Ideas: 8 Pet related opportunities for animal lover entrepreneurs.
• New Business Ideas: 9 Businesses options that weren’t possible in the recent past.
• Creative Business Ideas: 20 Innovative small business ideas for creative people.
• Small Scale Business Ideas: 12 Business options for those with low-budgets.
• Green Business Ideas: 4 Business ideas for environmentally conscious entrepreneurs.
• Other Profitable Business Ideas: 24 profitable business ideas with no specific category.
• More Good Business Ideas: 4 More ideas for those wanting more than 101 ideas.

1. Virtual Assistant Business
The job of a virtual assistant demands proficient handling of the Internet and administrative skills to provide support to sales personnel, entrepreneurs and executives by offering them a helping hand to take care of some of their routine jobs for which they lack the time to do on a daily basis.

Yes, this job is quite akin to that of a secretary with the exception that a virtual assistant can work with more than one boss without leaving their home and remaining in touch with the bosses through the Internet.

2. Data Entry From Home
If you have good secretarial skills and have a computer with Internet connection, you can work from home and earn money. You should have the ability to search through various websites and locate the desired information for your buyers.

3. Ghostwriter
If you have the skills and imagination for writing, you can start a home based business and undertake writing for others. That’s the job of a ghostwriter with the condition that they don’t get the formal credit of having written the actual work.

In other words, you work as a freelancer, write for others and get paid by them. When your writing is published online or otherwise, your name as an author doesn’t appear anywhere. Once you have been paid for the writing, you transfer all the rights to your client and that’s the end of it.

4. Membership Website
Having your personal website may be fun, but you can transform that to a business website and earn money. People don’t mind paying for online content. However, building such a website can be interesting or a pain. To get started, you’ll need to choose a Domain name and a hosting company to host your eCommerce site.

5. Blogging
Blogging professionals prepare blogs for individuals and companies with the intent of increasing traffic to their blog or website. They continue to offer professionally written content.

Many blogs need help to gain an online foothold and understand what direction the blog should go, assess their target audience and the expectations of the readers. It’s a perfect home based business if you know what you are doing.

6. Freelance Writer
There are many who make a living by writing for self or others from their computer at home. If you are good at writing, you can be a freelance writer and earn money working on your computer at home. For a dedicated writer the opportunities are endless.

7. Internet Marketing
The number of internet users is growing at a rapid pace. As more and more people start using the internet for everything from shopping and dating to researching and socialization, more online money making opportunities are emerging.

You can start an internet marketing business with virtually no money (or little money) depending on what route you take.

8. Spyware & Virus Removal Business
With the ever increasing number of people depending on computers for their businesses, computer security has become a major issue. Everybody using the computer expects a secure system devoid of any virus and spyware.

The more is the number of users, the more liable is the information to be exposed to the risks of viruses and spyware. This phenomenon has caused a splurge in the demands of virus and spyware removal businesses. This is easily the best time to venture into this business.

9. Computer Programming
Primarily, the job of a computer programmer is to make programs that businesses, industries or even individuals could gainfully use. Other than that, a programmer can do coding, trouble shooting, testing of programs and prepare manuals for their use.

The developments in technology are changing so fast that at times what you produce today becomes obsolete tomorrow! Without innovative programming the pace of developments would slow down. That’s why programming is the third fastest growing industry of the present world. There is a tremendous demand for professionals in this field and the opportunities are almost endless.

10. Search Engine Optimization
The ongoing boom of Internet marketing is progressively adding to the business of search engine optimization. For the Internet marketers to be successful in their business, it’s imperative that their product gets maximum exposure. Good informative sites are soon picked up by search engines, meaning more exposure to your products and that translates to more chances of getting new customers.

SEO people can make your sites very prominent which are seen on the top of the lists to get viewers’ attention. There is an ongoing demand for this business that doesn’t require any formal education and can easily be learned. With more than three hundred million daily users of search engines, it offers great potential for growth.

11. Day Trading Business
Day trading refers to quick buying and selling of stocks and currencies on the same day. People who indulge in this kind of trading are known as day traders. The lure of quick results, prompts people to join this business.

Day traders buy stocks; hold onto those for a couple of hours or even minutes, and sell it back the same day to book quick profits. With the coming of the Internet, this form of trading is getting more popular as the Internet facilitates quick information. Because of the very nature of this business, it becomes a full time business.

Not long ago, this business was confined only to large financial institutions and professional traders or private investors, but now it’s enjoying patronage from casual traders too.

12. Computer Repair Business
These days, almost everyone has a computer and computers need repair here and there. You can start a computer repair business even from your own home. To stand out from the competition, offer lower rates and over the phone services or maybe even 24/7 service.

13. Home Based Craft Business
If you are innovative and can demonstrate your creativity by producing eye catching brilliant craft items, you can exploit your hobby to have an excellent home business selling those crafted items. You are at liberty to work from within the comforts of your home, and choose your most convenient working hours

14. Work From Home Selling Books Online
Books are one of those few products that are always popular. If you have shelves full of books that you will never read, you can turn them into cash. You can either create simple website of your own or use sites like Amazon to get started. You can even buy cheap books from thrift stores and clean them up and sell for a profit.

15. Earn Money Machine Quilting
Quilting is a great hobby that can be turned into a profitable at home business. It doesn’t require much but a quilting machine and a passion for the craft. You don’t even have to be skilled at quilting to start a business, there are so many simple and easy designs that anybody who can sew a straight line can work with.

16. Bed and Breakfast Business
These days travelers are savvy. They want to see and experience the city from a resident’s point of view while spending less on travel related expenses. That’s where you come in. If you have a large house with a few spare rooms, you can start your own bed and breakfast business.

It’s a win win situation, you make money from extra rooms in your house while giving a traveler a unique experience and a warm place to stay. This business can thrive in towns with lots of tourist attractions.

17. Home Based Jewelery Business
If you have a love for making beautiful jewelery and are good at it, you can start your own home based jewelery business with ease. The best part of making money doing something you love is that you actually enjoy doing it, which makes it easier to grow the business.

18. Cookie Making Business
Cookies are something that almost everyone likes and that makes a cookie making business a guaranteed kind of business. If you are good at making different kinds of cookies and enjoy doing it, start a cookie baking business and deliver some fun and sweet memories to your customers.

19. Starting a Perfume Oil Business
As long as you are a spirited entrepreneur, the Internet offers great potential for starting a personalized businesses like home made perfumes that find a wide market these days. That’s because people prefer to have distinctly individual perfumes at affordable prices.

Gone are the days when suppliers insisted for huge minimum quantities to be ordered that demanded heavy investment. Now, you need not carry out any research as most of the information, recipes and needed raw materials are available through the Internet.

You can find many suppliers who would ask for minimum order quantity that you’ll find viable for starting a new venture. If you can cautiously choose the scent to be produced, you can start this business with a very low investment.

20. Home Based Travel Agent
More and more people are getting attracted to this type of small business. The reasons are not difficult to guess. Once again, you can have your own work schedule and work from within the comforts of your home. Then, you also have the freedom of investing as much money as you can easily afford. That means you can start with small money and expand on finding it profitable.

The more you invest in the form of money and time in booking clients, the more is your profit.

21. Scrapbooking Business
Lately, scrapbooking has become a very favorite hobby of many. People find it relaxing and fun to the extent that some of them are getting addicted to it for spending their leisure time.

As you share your scrapbooks with friends and visitors, your social gatherings become more colorful, offering you an opportunity for making money. This hobby allows you to take advantage of your talent of producing beautiful pieces of art and earn money in the process.

22. Greeting Card Business
If painting, drawing or photography be your forte, you could utilize your talents to make money. It will be added help if you love to write short poems, rhymes or little witty things. Making and selling greeting cards is an excellent home business.

Will it surprise you to learn that Americans buy seven billion greeting cards every year?… That’s the kind of potential this business offers. Initially, you may take it up as a part time business and once it gets going you can expect to earn about $50 per hour!

23. Laptop Repair Business
The outstanding advantages of having laptops coupled with their present affordable prices are adding to their popularity and hence increased sales. That makes it very logical to start your own home based business for repairs of laptops. Here is an excellent opportunity for being on your own and earning good money.

24. Dog Bakery
It’s heartening to know that an ever increasing number of people are getting conscious of the health giving properties of not only their food, but also that of their pets. Pet foods produced on a mass scale are sure to have lots of preservatives, additives and chemicals, making pet lovers apprehensive of the quality of such foods.

Undoubtedly, pet lovers would prefer to buy locally produced fresh food that’s devoid of chemicals and preservatives and thus provides the much needed nutrients to their loving pets. The rising demand for such foods could make dog bakery business quite a viable business proposition these days.

25. Pet Photography Business
Photography is a very interesting and satisfying hobby that you could exploit commercially to make money. These days photographers specialize in different aspects and subjects of photography and pet photography is one of these. People like to get photographed with their loving pets to preserve those moments which they relish for years to come.

Pet photography presents an easy way of making money for people who are good at taking photographs of animals. Good photographs of pets with their owners will keep them coming back to you.

26. Doggie Daycare Business
Pet owners like to ensure that their pets are safe when they are away for work or vacation. Sending their dog to a daycare center for the dogs relieves the pet owners of the anxiety while they are away from home.

Taking care of the dogs while their owners are away makes a profitable business, demanding very little investment in the form of advertising. However, this business is slightly different than the job of a dog sitter.

As a dog sitter you may choose to have convenient working hours and just spend a couple of hours with the pet. But if you want your doggie daycare business to be successful, you should be prepared to carry on with the animals for long hours and you may long to have a holiday. Perhaps you could hire some dog sitters to help your business!

27. Animal Behavior Consulting Business
An animal behaviorist essentially studies the manners and actions of animals, preferably in their local habitation, with the intent of correcting their unusual behaviors like biting, aggression and improper abolition and such issues that cause anxiety to the pet owner. Most often they work in association with veterinarians who suggest their clients to consult a behaviorist who then makes a visit to the pet’s home.

The behaviorist studies the animal’s conduct to diagnose the problem and suggests remedial measures for correcting the erratic behavior of the pet. Cultivating positive behavior through training forms part of the corrective plan.

Qualifying as an animal behaviorist needs education from a formal college and training for obtaining the necessary certificates and degrees.

28. Beekeeping Business
Beekeeping is a very interesting hobby that allows you to earn an extra income, though many do take it as a full time business too. It’s a rather inexpensive hobby with great potential for making good earnings.

Ideally it needs to be carried on a piece of small land, but people have devised ways of carrying on with the business of beekeeping even in cities and suburbs. However, before venturing into this business, you’ll need to check state laws and regulations.

29. Dog Training Business
Dog trainers train the dogs to help their mental growth. They train the dogs to obey various commands of their owners. Training of dogs is a time consuming process that demands a lot of patience and understanding on the part of the trainer who should posses the skills and experience of handling dogs. Acquiring a certificate from a specialized dog training school goes a long way in helping setting a profitable dog training business.

30. Dog Walking Business
The present day lifestyle of many people leaves them with little time for taking their dog for a walk. This limitation on the part of many pet owners led to the business of dog walking.

If you love dogs and understand their behavior to some extent, you can offer your services as a dog walker and earn money. You just need to assure the owners that their pet will be well taken care of and get the same love and affection as they expect their pet to get. Your only investment may be by way of advertising through some local channels.

31. Pet Sitting Business
It’s imperative for the pet owners to ensure that their pets are safe when the owners are away. An easy way for them to get over the anxiety of the safety of their pets is to hire the services of a pet sitter.

You can earn a handsome amount of money by starting a pet sitting business. You won’t have any overheads and get flexible hours of working. In the beginning you may like to spend some money for advertising locally. You may very well advertise in the local paper or on the Internet.

32. Dog Grooming Business
Pet owners treat pets as a member of the family and want to give the best treatment to their pets. However, the owners have their limitations and hardly have any time for grooming their pets.

If you love animals and understand their behavior, your emotions can fetch you cash through a dog grooming business. It’s not difficult to understand that dog grooming business is only for dog lovers. Unless you are really fond of dogs, you won’t be able to take the expected care of other people’s pets.

33. Jewelry Booth
If you love to design your own jewelry and get compliments from friends and family, you should seriously consider selling jewelry designed by you. Even if you never tried making your own designs, but feel enthusiastic about it and think you have that creativity in you, it will be worth considering having your own jewelry booth to sell your products.

People love to have their jewelry in exclusive personalized designs and this business has vast potential. If you are willing to invest hard work and remain dedicated, you should surely succeed.

34. Professional Organizing Business
Very few people have the time and inclination to do all their things by themselves and most are prepared to pay others for helping them organize their work at home and office. Professionally organizing business of others is a growing trend that is going to be in high demand. If you can quickly answer your customers’ requirements, you can be a successful entrepreneur in this business.

For being successful in this business, you need to have organizational skills for managing not only your business affairs but that of your clients too. This kind of business allows you to work from home and be your own boss with substantial earnings. You may just provide ideas to your clients to help them better organize their business or do the entire organizing for them.

You earnings will naturally depend upon the extent of your involvement, and may vary from $35 to $50 per hour.

35. iPhone App Business
If you are an experienced web designer, the idea of creating an APP or a novel game might have crossed your mind at one time or the other. An App is just an easy to use interface for a small screen.

If you have the experience or are willing to acquire some additional skills, you can the proud owner of your iPhone App Business. There are many novel ideas for Apps that people are talking about already. You can sell on your own or may opt to sell through App stores.

36. Personal Shopping Business
Many people would rather have someone else do their shopping and other errands, so that they don’t have to deal with the traffic and wasting time going from store to store to find what they need.

As a personal shopper, you can provide such a service and help your clients focus their time and energy on other expects of their lives.

37. Life Coach
These days you can hire professionals for improving any aspect of your life from personal relationships to health and career. The person offering professional advice to help improve the quality of your life is known as a life coach.

Some professionals offer advice on a number of subjects, while others restrict their advice to a particular subject. For example, one specialist can educate you on how to manage your time better while others can train you to be a good speaker and acquire leadership qualities. As a life coach you’ll be helping others discover their hidden potential.

38. Become a Tutor
If you have the qualifications and an inclination to help others academically, you could easily earn money by offering private tuition to students and help them score better grades. This can be in a classroom, your home and online too.

You need not necessarily be a trained teacher as long as you understand the subject and communicate well on that. This business is ideal for retired people who can share their knowledge and experience with youngsters.

39. Talent Agency Business
The entertainment industry is growing bigger and bigger. Lots of people around the country would love to break into this industry, but they don’t know how and where to start. So, they need someone to show them the way and help them get auditions. As their talent agent, you earn a percentage of what they earn for managing their meetings, auditions and related matters.

40. Delivery Business
Between work and kids, many people barley have time to get anything done. You can offer to help people by picking up and dropping things for them. It could be anything–delivering grocery, dropping clothes at the dry cleaner, delivering packages to the post office, dropping the kids at school, picking up someone from the airport.

41. Concert Promoter
The job of a concert promoter is to organize a live music event. It essentially involves arranging a rented location, taking care of the advertising and sales promotion of the event and performers, booking of appropriate hotels and transportation for the troupe and such like things to ensure success of the vent.

Promoters are paid a definite percentage of the profits at the end of the show. First class and reputed concert promoters are known to earn more than $1,000,000 in a year.

42. Christmas Light Installation Business
You can start your own venture and earn money by procuring colorful lights and offering to install these during festival times. For instance, people like to decorate their neighborhoods during Christmas and would welcome you to do the job of decorating their houses and pay you for your efforts and goods.

43. Cake Decorating
Well, the taste of cake may be in its eating, but you can always make the cake more inviting by appropriately decorating it! There are countless occasions like anniversaries, birthdays and weddings that are best celebrated by including a cake in your scheme of things. Decorating the cake as per the occasion makes it all the more enjoyable.

There is a definite demand for well decorated tasty cakes, but the present day lifestyle of most leaves them with little time to make or decorate cakes. That leaves them with no choice but to depend on the services of others to provide them with decorated cakes for celebrating the occasion.

So, if you are good at making and decorating cakes, here’s a business opportunity for you.

44. Party Planning Business
You may be very good at planning and organizing your work or business, but planning a party to celebrate an occasion like wedding or birthday is a different game altogether.

As a host you would like to ensure a smooth, uneventful function that your guests would cherish for long. Planning such a function calls for a lot of patience, time and effort, which most people don’t afford and they wish someone to take care of all that planning for the event. Here is an opportunity for you as a party and event planner!

45. Business With Your Hobby
Did it ever occur to you that you could turn your hobby into a gainful business venture! Many people did that and benefited in the process, making it a very likely idea. You follow a hobby just because you feel enthusiastic about that subject and love it without really expecting any monetary gains in return. But imagine making money from something that you love doing!

You would surely enjoy it better than any formal job and earn some extra bucks. The idea is worth trying and if it clicks, you’ll be the proud owner of your business.

46. Antiques and Collectibles Business
You would have surely known somebody who loves to collect antiques as a hobby. But do you know that dealing with antiques is a very interesting and profitable business. Antique dealers look for these valuable pieces and sell them at a profit.

For dealing with antiques and collectibles, you’ll be required to look for different sources for their procurement, learn to evaluate them and then buy these for selling to your clients. It’s considered a low risk business that yields high returns. You can very conveniently pursue this business from home as most of the sales are conducted online these days.

47. Become a Cartoonist
A cartoon is a freehand drawing with a funny or witty message. It is generally contained in just one strip or three strips, though some run into many strips. Newspapers and magazines carry political cartoons, editorial cartoons and caricatures.

We all need a bit of humor in our daily lives otherwise life would be dull and boring. When you are stressed or something goes wrong during the day, humor sets it right and rejuvenates the body and mind.

There are quite a few institutes offering short-term courses to help you draw cartoons. Having learnt that art, you can work as a freelancer cartoonist and sell your creations to publishers of magazines, books and newspapers etc.

48. Candle Making Business
Candle making is a very interesting and creative business that you can start with very nominal expense. Moreover, it doesn’t need any special skills, as you just need to pour molten wax into molds.

This is a consumable item. About eighty percent of households in the US regularly buy candles. Apart from households, hotels and restaurants regularly purchase candles. You can expect to make huge profits from this business.

49. Soap Making Business
Soap making is a very paying home based business that doesn’t require a heavy investment. Many are making profit by producing and selling exclusive soaps and spa products.

In the beginning you may start with just three or four items and gradually go up once the product has found market acceptance. There is a wide variety of organic materials available from which you could choose to make your own exclusive blend. If you use quality raw materials and create something exclusive, there is huge potential in this business.

50. Micro Brewery
If you love beer and have tried and tested you brew, you can turn your hobby into a rewarding business. Going by the recent reports the number of independent brewers has gone up to 1,500 and expected to keep rising in the near future. The company that sells you the equipment will also help you by providing the needed know how.

Many entrepreneurs have already known that microbrewery is a profitable home business. It’s the right time for you to go ahead and demonstrate your entrepreneurial spirits.

51. T-Shirt Business
If you follow the most up-to-date trends of the present generation, you’ll get a fairly accurate idea of the most recent slogans. You can print these slogans with help of inkjet transfer paper and create your own designs on your personal computer at very negligible expense and transfer these to t-shirts. You can sell the designs and printed t-shirts at local festivals in small towns and make some quick and easy money.

52. Art Drawing Business
Some people have a natural gift to draw and continue with that as a hobby, but very few realize that they can gainfully exploit their talents to earn money by selling their creations.

Perhaps, a majority of people good at drawing are not very confident of their works or lack the initiative of going out to market their pieces of art. The others may not get inclined to sell their art as they may not really know how to break the ice and gain a foothold in the commercial world of art.

If you are good at it, you could certainly take some useful tips by regularly spending some time on the Internet and look for different avenues for displaying your works of art.

53. Start a Home Party Business
If you have a good personality and possess talking skills with good products to offer, you can start a home party business. You may need to buy a startup kit comprising of training manual, marketing material, samples and contact information.

54. Self Publishing Business
Are you a good writer who has written a book or is thinking about writing one, but are afraid of not getting published by any publisher?… Well, you don’t need a publisher. You can start your own at home business by self publishing through platforms like Amazon Kindle.

55. Gift Basket Business
Gift baskets are one of those gifts that can be used for almost any occasion. If you are a creative person who can make beautiful gift baskets, you can start a home based business making gift baskets for all kinds of occasions.

56. Song Writing
For this kind of business you have to have love and passion for creating music. You need not necessarily be a great singer or skilled at playing any musical instrument for making lyrics for songs.

Earning your money from this business needs a lot of hard work and inspiration. You have to feel passionate about it if you want to succeed. Some people reach a stage where they don’t like to work just for earning money. Instead, they want to do something that brings them pleasure and sense of satisfaction. If you want to do something creative, songwriting is a good option.

57. Interior Design Business
Everybody doesn’t have the time and talent to design interiors in a manner that reflects their style and personality. As a result, a lot of people depend upon interior designers and decorators to do the job for them. This is causing a boom in the business of interior designing and decorating.

The job of professional interior designers is not restricted to decorating just homes and offices but goes to include malls, hotels and restaurants and stores. As the need for interior design and decoration exists in every city of the world, a designer can get business almost anywhere. Interior designing is a good career option for young people with a creative and artistic bend of mind.

58. Tour Guide
If you know the geography and history of your town or any other city for that matter, you can make good money by offering to guide tourists to the city. Tourists like to visit important historical sites and other things of local interest in the town they are passing through. It’s a good home based business that can fetch you good money.

59. Home Staging Business
Home staging is the art of making a home look more attractive and appealing to prospective buyers. It’s considered a hot business that’s easy to start with limited investment. It’s not a highly competitive business and breakthroughs are not difficult to come by.

This kind of business doesn’t require you to have any formal education or a certificate of any kind. It’s a very rewarding business, offering great opportunities to make profit. It essentially involves decorating the home in a manner that makes it more elegant and comfortable before you put it for sale.

60. Event Planning
Event management is another business that seems to be catching well these days. For any event to be successful, you need to plan it in detail beforehand. It’s the creativity and hard work of people behind the scene that make an event successful.

These days people find it too much of a time consuming effort to plan an event and prefer to rely on the services of professionals to manage the event for them. If you have organizing skills, you can make good money, organizing social affairs of others.

61. Decorative Wall Painting
Here is another opportunity for you to earn money if you have the caliber to demonstrate your creativity and love for painting and decoration.

You don’t need a very large investment for starting a decorative wall painting business. However, like any other successful business it needs dedication, planning, and a strong desire to succeed. If you are willing to put these inputs, you’ll find it an enjoyable and rewarding venture.

62. Hot Dog Cart Business
An important feature of starting a hot dog cart business is that it needs very low investments. Low initial investment translates to higher profits. The best part of this business is that all your collection for the day is in cash. Daily business means daily cash.

If you want to make good money from this business, you should be prepared for hard work and keep yourself awake till late hours.

63. Translation Business
Technological developments, particularly in the field of telecommunications have significantly changed the way people conduct their businesses.

It’s not very long ago that marketing and advertising of a product was generally confined to its country or origin, mainly because language proved to be a barrier. Now, you can buy or sell any products or services from any part of the present world. That’s because man learnt to translate and narrowed the gaps caused by different languages.

Translators help you translate your advertising and sales promotional messages into a language that your buyers can well understand, allowing you to explore new markets for your business.

Because of the Internet, learning a new language has become rather easy and affordable. Learn a new language and exploit your newly acquired talent to earn money.

64. Become a Personal Trainer
If you know how to maintain a good figure and good health, you have a good option of being on your own as a personal trainer because an increasing number of Americans like the idea of working at home.

To help others work at home, you’ll need to go out to work. If you can smartly schedule your appointments you’ll have an enjoyable family life.

65. Resume Writing Business
Almost everybody needs a resume at one point or another in their lives. And since it takes a skilled writer to create a resume that can secure the job, resume writers are always on demand. A resume writing home based business can be started with little to no financial investment.

66. Make Money as a Wedding Planner
In the last decade or so, weddings planners have become a normal part of most weddings. These days, every bride wants her wedding to be the best, the one that wows the crowd. And they are willing to pay top dollar to achieve that. You can start a small business as a wedding planner with not much capital.

67. Catering Service Business
Catering services are becoming increasingly popular as our lives are becoming busier and busier. There are millions of people who don’t have the time to cook and at the same time don’t want to spend money eating out every night. You can start your own small business by providing catering services.

68. Kettle Corn Business
Kettle corn business is a low cost business and would best suit people with innovative ideas for selling their product. Kettle corn is a kind of popcorn with a seasoning of salt and sweetener. Colonial American years witnessed the extreme popularity of this yummy snack. It was prepared with help of cast iron kettle that was heated on burning wood and sugar was sprinkled on corn before offering it to customers.

Over the years, sugar has been gradually replaced with honey, molasses and cane sugar. It’s slightly sweet with a tinge of salt. You can sell kettle corn during fairs and social events.

69. Cupcake Business
Cup cakes are fun and prepared in many special ways. You get them in a range of flavors and exciting decorations which make them so inviting. Cupcakes are often given a top covering of butter cream or whipped icing before displaying them on a cupcake tier. Sometimes these are arranged to form a shape with icing on the top. It’s a low investment business needing an industrial mixer and usual pots and pans and cake boxes.

70. Ice Cream Truck Business
Having your own ice cream truck is a very rewarding business and offers the potential of growth. You may start with just one truck and work without hiring any help and having tested the business add more number of trucks and employ a few helping hands to make big money.

71. Vending Business
Of course, you have seen vending machines that dispose of number of items including edibles and non edibles. These machines can be employed to sell almost any product that you may consider to be profitable.

The design and looks of these machines have undergone many changes over the last few years. You can fix such a machine on a wall, position it on a table top or just leave it straight on the floor. You can earn money by installing a couple of vending machines at prominent locations.

72. Cake Decorating
There is no business like food business and cakes definitely form a part of this business. There are many celebrations which would be incomplete in the absence of a cake. You necessarily need a cake for celebrating birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, graduation and the like. Each cake requires appropriate decoration as per the occasion.

Decorations make the cake inviting while giving you an opportunity to display your talents and earn money. This business needs a little investment for procuring pans and pots and an industrial mixture.

73. Lawn Care Business
Everybody wants to have a beautiful lawn. It’s part of the iconic image of “the American Dream”- a small house and a white picket fence. Unfortunately (fortunately for you), lots of people don’t have time to cut their own grass.

If you’ve always wanted to work for yourself, a lawn care business can be your ticket. All you need is a few hundred dollars to purchase a few lawn care equipment (if you already don’t have them) and a willingness to work hard.

74. Cell Phone Recycling
These days almost everybody has a cell phone and it seems like every day there is a new model out. All the old and out of style cell phones create a great opportunity for anyone who wants to earn money by starting a cell phone recycling business. The best part is that you don’t need much money to invest into it and you can acquire old and used phones for free by simply asking people.

75. Carpet Cleaning Business
Capet cleaning is a very profitable business. However, you’ll need to invest in buying tools and machinery and cleaning chemicals, though you’ll be able to recover your cost pretty soon.

You may start this business on your own or be a franchisee of a renowned company and get the know-how for starting this business. Like any other business, you’ll be your own master if you decide to opt for carpet cleaning business.

76. Start a Junk Removal Business
It’s quite usual for most construction companies to employ a contractor for removing junk from their site after the construction is over. Realtors operate from rented property and when they vacate that property, they want to dispose of furniture, electronic equipment of domestic and commercial use and other hardware. Likewise, many homeowners like to get rid of many unwanted items when they undertake cleaning of their garage or storage.

Now, if you own a truck or can manage to hire one and a couple of helping hands for removing all that junk, you can start a junk removal business.

77. Office Cleaning Business
You can own and operate your own office cleaning business.

The best part of this business is that it doesn’t need a huge investment. All that you need is a vacuum cleaner and cleaning chemicals, which can easily be procured from any dollar store. Your clients will expect you to be regular and punctual.

It is recommended to check with local authorities for licensing before you get going with this business.

78. Storage Auction Unit Business
There is little denying the fact that there is always some element of risk involved with any business venture and this business of storage unit auctions is no exception. Nevertheless, the key to a successful business venture is detailed planning and employing strategies that minimize the chances of losses. You can surely profit from these auctions, provided you adhere to the defined policies and take professionally logical decisions.

Quality and pricing are the two most important features for making your business profitable. So, you need to ensure that you procure quality storage auction merchandise at very competitive prices to which you add a reasonable amount of profit to make your offer attractive to customers and make money in the process.

79. Daycare Business
These days, in most households both parents work. That leaves their kids with no one to look after them during the work hours. That is why daycare business is booming. The good thing is that you don’t need to rent a place, you can use your own house.

80. Handyman Business
As long as we live in houses there is going to be a need for handyman. If you are good at fixing things, you can start a small handyman services business fairly easily. Remember, not all handyman works are complicated and require years of experience. There are lots of simple things that almost anyone can do, but many homeowners don’t have the time to do it themselves, so they hire a handyman to do it for them.

81. Consulting Business
Businesses are always on the look out to improve their performance. If you are good at finding week-points and making suggestions for improving them, you can start a consulting business.

82. Home Security Business
Protecting family and home are at the top of any family’s agenda. If you are knowledgeable about making homes safer, you can help families feel safer in their own home by examining their home security and making suggestions to improve and make it even more secure. You can either make money charging a fee for your examination and suggestions or by installing the security system. Of course, you can make more money by doing both.

83. Sell Scrap Gold
You don’t need any special training for selling scraps of gold to make money. Perhaps, now is the right time to start this business because of the rising gold prices.

You have to look for people who would be interested to sell gold items they don’t need anymore or want to sell their items in gold to benefit from the present spurt in the prices of this metal.

84. Bounty Hunter
A bounty hunter is a person who traces criminals that don’t turn up at the appointed court after the bond agency has already posted bail. It’s the responsibility of the bounty hunter to locate and bring the fugitive back to the county where they committed the crime to justice to be awarded.

To qualify as a bounty hunter you must get familiar with the laws of the state concerning bail and bonds. Some states demand the bounty hunter to have undergone training and possess a license.

85. Secretarial Services
These days businesses have a lot more to take care of than the old days. So, they are more than willing to outsource some of the lesser important and more time consuming tasks to other reliable people. You can help these businesses by taking care of their paper work and general secretarial duties.

86. Video Game Business
The video game industry is growing ever more increasingly as demand for new video games and new consoles and platforms keeps growing. However, video game prices are rising as well. A video game rental business can make it possible for anyone to play their favorite games by renting games, which is much cheaper than buying games and most gamers would rather rent than buy.

87. Life Coaching
The present day lifestyle of most has undergone significant changes over the recent years. Many are finding it difficult to catch up with fast paced life and get stressed as a result. Many people are devoting their time and effort for others to help them lead a better life. Yes, if you can be a good patient listener to whom people would love to talk their problems and help them take logical decisions in their personal and professional life, you can make good money for yourself.

That’s what life coaching business is. More than the money that you make, what matters more is the sense of achievement that you get on seeing someone succeed because of your help.

88. Horse Race Betting
Horse racing is a very exciting sport. It’s indeed difficult to resist the temptation of betting on those lively animals if you happen to visit the tracks. But once you indulge in that, you are most likely to get addictive to betting. Though many claim to keep making money through betting on horses, it’s a very risky venture and the stakes are very high. Well, you might get a jackpot, but the likelihood of losing big money in one stroke is quite high. One needs to have a strong acumen for managing money and perhaps lots of luck to make money from this sport.

89. Medical Billing
If you are looking for a home based business, you may like to consider working as a home transcriptionist. It would require you to interact with doctors and hospitals for filing of insurance documents.

As a medical transcriptionist you will need to correctly and speedily transcribe and edit recorded reports onto your home computer. These may include operative and physical reports, x-ray and pathology reports, clinical and consultation notes and psychiatric evaluations etc.

90. Used Car Dealership
Getting started with business of used cars doesn’t necessarily mean that you should know the ins and outs of a car. Nevertheless, it helps if you have some knowledge about cars; else you’ll need to hire the services of someone who understands cars and that will eat into your profits. In any case, it will help you to spend some time on the Internet and get some reasonably good idea about the prices of new and used cars.

If you happen to be a mechanic, it would be of great help as you can cut down on refurbishing expense of a used car. Of course, you need to have capital for investing in used cars, which you can refurbish and then sell the same and make profit in the process.

91. Flea Market Business
Flea market is an old and tried way of making money. Many people indulge in this business with the intentions of raising funds or just to earn an extra buck.

Starting your flea market business is not difficult, primarily because it doesn’t require a big investment. You can get started with little or no investment. But if you really want this business to grow for you, be prepared to invest some funds for advertising and networking.

92. Export Business
Export business has been known to mankind for generations, though it’s also known to be the cause of many wars. It essentially involves selling your produce to new customers away from your country.

In this civilized world, there may not be any wars, but export business is highly competitive as you compete in a global market. Nevertheless, it will be wrong to conclude that export business is the domain of large international business houses.

The Internet makes it so easy for you to explore worldwide markets for the kind of services and products that you may have to offer. If you possess any special skills in any field of art or science and have a computer with an Internet connection, you can be an exporter and earn money. Thank the Internet!

93. Medical Transportation
With the rising population of the aged, starting a medical transportation business is a very viable business proposition. This kind of transportation is needed for transporting the old people to hospitals, adult day care centers and the like. The demand is already there and sure to keep going up in the foreseeable future.

This kind of service, also known as Ambulette service, is non-emergency transportation designed to help the elderly who need to be moved out from one place to another. The clients look for safe, reliable and friendly transportation service that they can’t expect from taxis. The elderly may be in wheelchairs or stretchers.

94. Restaurant Business
If you are contemplating on starting a new food business, let not the many existing restaurants discourage you from the idea, for there is always room for a new one in this business if you can be innovative in some respect and offer something new by way of food, ambience or service.

For making your business profitable you need to carry detailed planning and well manage its execution. Any new business essentially requires some good helping hands to set the ball rolling and food business is no different.

If you can plan and effectively mange execution of your plans with people you decided to hire, there is no reason why you shouldn’t succeed to make money in this business.

95. Business Broker
A business broker acts as a middleman between the seller and the buyer. Business brokers work in association with businessmen to help them sell their businesses. It’s already being considered as a high income business that you can start from your home with nominal or no investment at all.

If you are organized, a good trouble shooter with skills in public relations, you can look forward to a rewarding career as a business broker.

96. Window Tinting Business
As the awareness about the benefits of using window tints increases, more and more people are beginning to use window tints in their homes and offices and especially in their cars. Window tints help block harmful infrared rays of the sun and prevent heat from entering the room or your car.

With many people prepared to incur the expense of installing tints in their homes, commercial premises and cars, a growing number of people are venturing into this business as it offers a vast potential for growth and expansion, making it a very profitable project. Even if you decide to do this business on a part time basis, you’ll find it rewarding.

97. Transcription Business
Of late, there has been a tremendous demand for people who can offer transcription services from their homes. The job of a transcriptionist is to type word for word from a given tape or digital file.

Professionals from different fields, especially medicine and law, and many businesses are increasingly hiring the services of transcriptionists who work from home to transcribe and edit recorded reports.

Medical transcriptionists change reports recorded by doctors into written reports. Likewise, legal transcriptionists prepare and edit documents from the dictation of a legal professional. If you have a good command over the English language and are familiar with the terminology used by these professionals, you can start working from home and be your own boss.

Once you have gained experience and developed contacts, your may employ others to start your own transcription company.

98. Bookkeeping Business
Bookkeeping is not the same as accounting. Bookkeeping doesn’t require very thorough knowledge of accounting. It simply involves keeping a record of expenses and income, preparation of employees’ payroll and taking care of bank statements.

This business of bookkeeping that hardly needs any major investment can turn out to be a very easy and paying home based business.

99. Upholstery Business
If you have ideas to give new life to old pieces of furniture, you can earn money by starting your own upholstery business. You should understand that it’s not only household furniture that needs to be upholstered once in a while. Many commercial establishments like hotels, restaurants, bars, commercial offices, automobiles and movie theaters periodically change their upholstery.

Apart from all this, the green fabric you would have surely seen on pool and billiard tables needs occasional repairs or replacement. Now, that’s a good business opportunity for you.

100. Pre-school Business
Education of their kids is always on the priority list of most parents. Parents are keen that their children are mentally well prepared for formal education in schools and to prepare their kids for that they want good pre-schools.

Here’s an opportunity for anyone who loves to be in the company of growing kids and can take care of some of their basic requirements for a few hours on a regular basis. Parents would need to be assured that their children are in the custody of safe proficient hands. It may take some time for this business to go grow and prove rewarding, but the potential is great.

101. Become a Massage Therapist
The present day lifestyle of many people includes visiting a masseuse at the end of a hard day at the office. The trend is on the increase. A masseuse helps to relax tired muscles and nerves and rejuvenates the body. Though a variety of massage machines are available, people prefer human masseuse.

If you like working in a quiet atmosphere without any kind of supervision, you could have good earnings by offering your services as a masseuse.

102. Party Rental Business
Party renting business involves renting of items that are generally required for hosting a party. It means you need to invest in procuring items like tables, chairs, linens and machines for making coffee and popcorn etc. Once you have these items in stock, it’s quite easy to start your business.

103. Mobile Catering
If you have the inclination for food business, but lack funds for buying or renting appropriate premises and the connected infrastructure, you can still be in the food business by selling your food through a catering van.

You need not necessarily carry all the cooking in your van as you can pre-cook certain food items at home and just reheat the same in your van before offering the same to your client. However, you may like to cook some of the items like French fries and barbecue on the spot.

104. Forex Trader
Forex is an abbreviated form of foreign exchange market. It’s an international market for trading currencies. Anybody can enter this business and trade in foreign currencies from their home or office.

You may gain acquaintance to this business by spending time on the Internet before you really start trading currencies. This market works 24 hours a day and is closed on weekends.

105. Elder Care
After a certain age, many people are unable to take care of themselves and need constant personal attention and assistance for carrying on with their daily life. If you love to be in the company of elders and help them with some of their chores, you can enter this business of taking care of the elders and help them mitigate their loneliness to a great extent and make money in the process.

Caregivers spend a lot of their time and energy for taking care of an elderly member of the family and try their best to avoid the member from getting admitted into a nursing home.

Final Thoughts

Many of these small business ideas may sound stupid to you and me, but the truth is that hundreds of entrepreneurs have proven otherwise. They have taken the risk and are now reaping the rewards. Small business opportunities are all around us. You just have to be creative and willing to take the risk. Of course, just having great ideas won’t do you any good, you must turn your small business idea into a real business to benefit from it.

I hope you have found an idea that you like, or perhaps reading this rather long list of business opportunities has given you a few unique and new business ideas of your own that can help to turn your entrepreneurial dreams into a successful reality.

I am sure there are many other ideas and opportunities that I have missed. So, please use the comment box below to share with us if you know of any other good small business ideas.