This article lists the top 30 business ideas for startups that nearly anyone can launch. You don’t need to make huge investments or have the considerable professional expertise to try your hand at them.
Top business ideas for startups. Food and drinks
Food truck
It’s one of the best startup ideas for sociable people who enjoy cooking. If you dream of opening a restaurant one day, you may start with buying a food truck. You’ll appreciate the flexibility of this business format. You’ll be able to try new locations and types of food as often as you find necessary. Keep measuring your success and analyzing the statistics to discover which offer generates the largest demand. Don’t let yourself get carried away by emotions and stay always focused on figures.
Ice cream stand
Compared to a food truck, a mobile ice cream stand occupies less space, and it might be easier for you to find a good location for it. Apart from the location, the second secret for success is the choice of flavors. You can try to offer a mix of traditional best-selling tastes (such as chocolate and vanilla) and extravagant ones (gin and tonic, pizza, or pickled mango). Ice creams with unusual tastes should be so delicious that after trying them once, customers will come back for more.
Coffee shop
Some entrepreneurs might say such a startup business idea in the USA can’t take off. The competition is too fierce, and there are so many large chains around. But if you genuinely love coffee, you should be able to offer something valuable to your target audience.
Some customers avoid larger franchises because they tend to compromise on quality. You can try to attract clients with coffee grinds and recipes that others don’t offer. The unique designs of your mugs and menus might win over people’s hearts. You should strive to create a space where people are welcome to have a cup of their favorite drink, hold business meetings and romantic dates. Of course, the location is essential as well.
Fast food joint
To succeed in this industry, try to
- offer genuinely appetizing food,
- establish competitive prices,
- invent an eye-catching logo design and a name that’s easy to memorize,
- organize quick order delivery.
It should help you compete against KFC, McDonald’s, and other giants. The demand for your products should be particularly high if you launch your business in a neighborhood where chain fast food joints are scarce.
Bakery
To succeed with this startup business idea, you should know how to bake products that are both tasty and visually appealing. You can choose from the two approaches to generate a sustainable income:
- Bake bread, cookies, and cakes at home to deliver them to your clients
- Rent a brick-and-mortar shop to sell them
To cut down expenses, it would be wise to start with the first approach. You’ll need to focus on social media marketing and post your goods on Instagram, Pinterest, and other similar apps. Show your potential customers where they can buy your baked products and at what price. Don’t forget to offer discounts to your subscribers. Plus, you might consider teaming up with some of your local shops so that they could include your goods in their product ranges.
Home food delivery
Today, people like to order home food when they don’t feel like cooking. You can start with a short menu that includes the most popular meals in your area. You might need to hire one or two assistants to handle the orders. Then, you can expand the choice of meals and offer your clients monthly or yearly subscriptions.
Best online business ideas
Product / business reviewer
This startup business is perfect for people who love to write and have an analytical set of mind. Manufacturers and vendors are always looking for content creators who could explain the benefits of their products to consumers.
You can either join a freelance website or launch your own blog to publish reviews. If you opt for the former variant, it should be easier for clients to find you — but you’ll need to share some part of your income with the platform. If you prefer the latter option, you’ll be more independent and keep all the income for yourself — but you’ll need to invest in your website’s promotion and look for clients all over the Internet.
With this business model, you don’t need to invent anything from scratch. Just read the reviews of established writers and try to stick to their style and format.
Bookkeeping services
If you have bookkeeping skills, you can offer the following services to your clients:
- Managing income and expenses
- Processing payrolls
- Preparing tax returns
When an entrepreneur is starting a business, they might not be able to hire a bookkeeping professional full-time, so it might be cheaper to outsource you. The more clients you find, the more money you’ll make.
Website design
Nearly any business today needs to have a website to attract clients and inform them about the available goods or services. Each company should revamp its site every few years to keep up with new trends and meet the evolving expectations of its target audience.
To get started in web design, you should create a portfolio for yourself. If you have never made websites for real companies, you can design several landing pages for imaginary organizations to showcase your skills. Your clients should be able to assess how you structure the data, choose fonts and colors, and arrange navigation. But if you already have some experience, it would be great to showcase your customers’ testimonials about your work.
Digital marketing
No matter where in the world you are, you can help other businesses to find clients, grow, and become more profitable. Digital marketing is a very dynamic industry. You should always keep exploring new tools and solutions. Most likely, you’ll need to hire assistants to help you cope with the workflow.
If you lack skills, you can complete online courses in digital marketing or find a lot of free educational materials on the Internet. Then, you can start looking for clients on the following platforms:
- Freelance websites
- LinkedIn and other professional communities
- Social networks where you can place your ads
It would be great if you could back up your skills with a portfolio. If you have no cases to show, you can offer free services to your friends or family members. You’ll help their businesses to get in touch with their audience, and this experience can be used to impress your potential customers.
Mobile app development
This option might inspire you if you’re into a technology business ideas startup. By the end of 2022, the number of smartphone users worldwide is expected to reach 2.87 billion. Companies from various industries launch mobile apps to
- strengthen their customer loyalty,
- expand their customer base,
- sell goods and services,
- make money on ads and partnerships, etc.
You can start building apps for businesses if you have relevant expertise.
Content creation
Creating content can be considered a part of digital marketing. You might focus on texts, photos, video or audio content. Today, most businesses strive to stay in touch with their audience through social networks, blogs, and their own media. They aim at regularly reminding consumers about themselves. To reach this goal, they should create content that is equally useful and eye-catching. Instead of hiring an in-house team, they might prefer to outsource talents — and this is your chance to make good money.
Trading
You can make money on trading currencies, gold, crypto, and many other assets. It’s one of the top business ideas for introverts because you don’t need to get in touch with other people. Here is how it works.
- Get some initial capital.
- Complete trading courses, read books, and gather as much information as you can.
- Choose a reliable platform with affordable fees and handy trading tools.
- Sign up for this platform and practice trading in trial mode (if such an option is available).
- Switch to full-fledged trading and start making money.
Professional traders rely on bots and tools of technical analysis. You should be ready to spend long hours in front of your computer and calculate a lot. The popularity of mobile trading has been increasing too.
The main shortcoming is the need to take risks. From time to time, you’ll be losing money on deals. But the more experience you gain, the more you learn to trade without losses.
Event-related business ideas for 2022
Event planning
You’ll excel at this job if you’re detail-oriented and know how to stick to a schedule. First, you should choose which kind of event you’d like to specialize in:
- Networking
- Company meetings
- Birthday parties
- Weddings, etc.
The greatest thing about this business is that it can snowball very quickly. If your first customers love what you do, they will recommend you to their acquaintances. In this industry, word of mouth is crucial. The second benefit of event planning is that clients will pay you in advance before you start the preparations.
Photography
Even though everyone can take photos with their phones today, people still hire professional photographers. All the guests at an event want to have fun, socialize, and enjoy food and drinks. Someone needs to stay vigilant from start to finish to take high-quality pictures.
To become a photographer, you’ll need to buy a camera and some accessories for it, such as a flash and a tripod. Plus, you’ll need to install software on your computer for editing visual content. But sometimes you might be able to only work with your phone and edit photos in an app. To promote your services, launch a personal website and share the portfolio of your best shots. Also post your photos with your watermarks on social networks.
We list this business idea in the “Event-related” category, but in fact, you can start taking pictures of anything. Fashion, accessories, decor and furniture brands want photographers to shoot their catalogs. Instagram bloggers need professionals to edit their content before it goes live.
You might also want to try your hand at creating and editing videos. But it requires more skills and experience. Plus, a videographer’s equipment costs much more than a photographer’s.
Make-up artist
To get started, you can volunteer at a few of your friends’ events. You can help your sister get ready for a prom or set up a make-up stall at your neighbor’s wedding. “Before” and “after” pictures and videos would be great for marketing, but don’t forget to ask for your model’s permission before posting them.
The demand for the services of a make-up artist doesn’t fluctuate too drastically during the year. It’s recession-resistant and provides excellent opportunities for creative self-expression.
Startup ideas in caretaking
Pet business
Walking someone else’s dogs is one of the easiest ways of making money for teenagers who still go to school. But cats and dogs require many other services, such as grooming, training, delivering food, and so on. It’s a matter of prestige to have a pet and surround it with all the possible care. You should create a brand that highlights your business idea: each pet is unique and precious, and you know how to look after it.
Daycare
Even though the market for daycare services seems saturated, it’s hard to find a professional whom parents and kids will love equally. The small ones want to have fun with, but mothers and fathers dream of finding someone honest and reliable.
If you genuinely love children, start promoting your services in your neighborhood. It would be great if a few families could recommend you as a superb professional.
Homestay
People who travel frequently don’t want to stay in hotels anymore. They say hotels are soulless and identical. Instead, they prefer renting rooms with a unique character — so if you have a spare room or two, you can offer them for homestay.
The demand might fluctuate depending on the season. You should keep the room clean and cozy and make sure your guests have access to all the necessary facilities. Typically, prices for homestay should be lower than in hotels.
New business startups ideas. Education
Yoga studio
People of all ages practice yoga because it’s equally beneficial for the human mind and body. If you have some experience in doing yoga, you can try to open a studio in a new residential block or in a neighborhood where the competition is not too high. To be able to attract and retain clients, you should offer something unique and innovative. For instance, you can specialize in such a variety of yoga that is not too well represented in your area.
Online tutoring
You can start teaching what you’re good at, be it maths, a foreign language, or programming. Your target audience can be kids, teens, or grown-ups. You can join an educational platform or conduct individual classes in Skype, Zoom, or any other software.
The best thing about this business is that you can find customers from any time zone. Before you get started, ask your students about their goals. Do they need to fill gaps in knowledge, perform better at school, or find a well-paid job thanks to the skills that they gain? This is important since each goal requires a different teaching approach.
Cooking classes
You can try this idea as an offline or online business. The offline format might work if you already have a place where you could conduct classes. It can be a spare room in your house, a barn or, if the weather permits, your garden. As an alternative, some local organizations might agree to rent you a convenient space for a reasonable fee.
To attract clients, you should teach them to cook food that
- is delicious, nutritious, and good for health,
- includes affordable ingredients,
- doesn’t require solid cooking experience or costly equipment,
- looks just as good as it tastes.
If you prefer to start with online cooking classes, you should make sure to preserve constant visual and emotional contact with your customers. They should feel involved and realize that you’re ready to interact with them.
Arts-related ideas for 2022
Dance studio
If you have a premise that can serve as a dance studio, you can make money on it in two ways:
- Organize dance classes
- Rent the studio to other dancers, performers, or models to use it for training or making photo/video content
Dancing videos are extremely popular on TikTok and YouTube. Many people would love to learn how to dance. You might want to focus on short-term courses and teach people to move their bodies to the sounds of hit songs. It might be easier to start and grow such a business than opening a formal ballet school.
To make money on rent, you should make sure the space is always clean, full of light, and looks stunning in photos and videos. To do that, try to include tasteful decor accents, such as graffiti on a wall or fancy curtains.
Music studio
It would be great if you had some experience in sound recording. If not, you can ask someone to consult you about the necessary equipment.
Singers and musicians will be renting your studio to record songs there. You might need to hire one or several assistants to take care of the music instruments.
Ideas for a business startup. Design
Interior designer
Everyone wants to live and work in stylish interiors. But not everyone can boast a perfect eye for color and an impeccable sense of proportion.
Learn to hear your customers. You need to understand what exactly they mean when they show you a photo of someone else’s interior and say, “I want it like this!” Your task is not just painting walls and furnishing rooms — instead, you will be creating certain vibes and evoking emotions.
Decor business
You can either create your own decors or get them from vendors. In this industry, you might want to specialize either in office or home decor. If you can afford to open an office, do it. Other than that, you can operate your business online.
Extra ideas to make money
Print on demand
You don’t need to be good at design to try this business idea. Your clients can send their designs so that you print their images on various objects:
- T-shirts
- Tank tops
- Hoodies
- Socks
- Tote bags
- Aprons
- Hats
- Cups
- Phone cases
It will take you just a couple of days to launch such a small business. You won’t even need to maintain a warehouse. You should pay primary attention to the quality of your prints and the items you apply them to. Plus, you should guarantee fast and secure financial transactions, and always meet the deadlines.
If you wish, you can try to sell goods with your own designs. You can either create them yourself or outsource a talent whose style you fancy.
Gift wrapping
To launch such a business, you only need good taste and some money to buy colorful ribbons, papers, flowers, and so on.
You can rent a stall in a shopping mall. Make sure to decorate it so that people can see it from a distance. You should be able to listen to your customers’ wishes and, if needed, suggest your creative ideas proactively. You need to understand equally well the tastes of conservative people and the demands of teens who’d like to stand out from the crowd.
Agriculture
It’s easy enough to find a profitable business idea in the agricultural sphere. Here are some options:
- A vegetarian farm to grow crops, fruits, and vegetables
- Dairy, fish, and poultry farming
- Beekeeping
- Fertilizer production and distribution
- Dried flower business
- Basket weaving
The biggest challenge is finding vacant land that is suitable for agricultural activities. It would be wise to think about distribution channels before you buy seeds, bees, or livestock.
This business requires more investments than wrapping gifts or teaching cooking classes online. But when it takes off, you should be able to make great profit.
Clothing boutique
This startup requires a thorough business plan. You need to:
- decide which clothes you’d like to sell,
- make a list of supplies,
- come up with a cool name for your shop,
- select a good location,
- hire trained people.
Some entrepreneurs sell clothes through Instagram and other online platforms. This approach better suits influencers who have a large fan base and release their own merchandise. If that’s not your case, keep in mind that people want to try clothes on and touch them before buying.
Final thoughts
Hopefully, this article inspired you to start your own business in 2022. You can try your hand at web design, mobile app development, selling clothes, taking care of pets, doing makeup, offering digital marketing services, writing product reviews, and so much more. The startups that we listed require modest investments, and you can gain the necessary skills in just a few weeks.
