Take a look at “Top 20 Hot New Small Business Ideas To Start” These 20 company concepts need little funding and are supported by solid growth trends.

A tremendously successful business can be sparked by a fresh new idea for a venture. But how can you think of a company idea today that would make you happy tomorrow?

The largest market trends are first identified.

Starting a business in an industry that is seeing rapid growth is like having the wind at your back since there is less competition, more potential overall, and larger profit margins.

This article presents 20 small company concepts that may be started for little to no money and are all supported by rapidly expanding trends.

What Makes For A Hot New Business Idea?

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in business is the idea of a Star Business. I first heard of the concept from Richard Koch (#312 on the list of London’s richest people).

Koch defines a Star Business as a business in a high-growth market (at least 10% year-over-year total market growth, but ideally a 30% growth rate) that is also a leader in its niche.

The business ideas below are already in high-growth markets. The hard part is creating a business that’s a leader in its niche. For that, Koch’s advice is to create your own niche.

For example, instead of offering digital marketing services to everyone, aim to become the first agency that specializes in a specific high-growth area — think of things like TikTok, or Airbnb hosts with multiple properties.

Even with a small scale business idea, the natural market growth of your industry means you can go from small to wildly profitable in a surprisingly short amount of time.

Top 20 Hot New Small Business Ideas To Start

This article highlights 20 of the hottest small business ideas right now, broken down into online business ideas and offline opportunities.

Obviously, there’s a little bit of crossover between those two classifications. For example, if you start a digital marketing agency, you might find most of your clients online but also work for local clients. In today’s marketplace, the line between “online” and “offline” is much less rigid than it used to be.

#1. Online Publisher

Key stat: Global internet use has grown by 82% since 2012.

One way to take advantage of the massive growth in internet users is to start a blog. Blogs are wildly popular and can be a lucrative business. NerdWallet launched as a blog in 2009 and went public just 12 years later with a market valuation of more than $1 billion.

Many bloggers hire ghostwriters to produce content, editors to format and publish the content, and social media experts to promote the blog. As your blog grows in popularity, you can also add on services like consulting, email marketing and course sales.

Of course, you don’t need any of those people to get started. You can start making money blogging on your own, and then scale up your business as your readership grows.

Learn more: Becoming the industry expert in a fast-growing blog niche is the shortcut to a successful blog. Read our post on good blog niches, which highlights the more general categories (e.g., personal finance, fashion, etc.) that you’ll want to find a sub-niche in to garner the best results.

#2. Content Agency

Key stat: The global content marketing industry is expected to grow by $417 billion between now and 2025.

There’s a lot that goes into running a website as a business. And when your website grows to the size of a site like The Ways To Wealth, you may find that you’re spending less of your time writing and more of it on other aspects of the business.

These days, I spend more of my day managing staff, researching revenue opportunities, networking and strategizing than I do writing.

For some people (like me), that’s great; while I love writing, I also love the business side of things. For other people, that might sound like just the opposite of what they’re looking for. Unfortunately, the reality is that it’s difficult to make a blog profitable if the only thing you’re interested in doing is writing.

The good news is this: there’s an equally profitable alternative. You can start an agency and produce content for other people’s publications.

When you start a content agency, you lead a team of creators who produce content for clients. Websites of all shapes and sizes — not to mention magazines and countless other types of publications and businesses — need content.

The big driver of this need for content is customer acquisition via Google. If you can produce content that ranks in Google (a process known as search engine optimization, or SEO), you can drive revenue to a business. And this is a very valuable skill in today’s marketplace.

In fact, Microsoft listed SEO as the most important skill for marketers to learn over the next decade.

And while the written word is still important, there are also other forms of content you can create, such as videos and images. And it’s these spaces where you can carve out your own niche.

For example, you can specialize in repurposing existing content. One example would be reformatting existing blog articles for YouTube content and for use on TikTok.

#3. Digital Marketing Firm

Key stat: In 2020, U.S. digital advertising spending surpassed $378 billion. In 2024, it’s expected to surpass $645 billion.

As more businesses turn to the internet to sell their products and services, the demand for digital marketing specialists is skyrocketing. And while you can get started in digital marketing as a one-person show, it’s also a prime opportunity to develop an agency.

That’s because there are numerous niche skills within the field, including social media management, paid ad management, and even running an affiliate marketing program.

Clickminded’s guide to digital marketing lists seven different areas of specialization inside the field.

They are:

• Sales funnels: writing and organizing content that turns prospects into paying customers.
• Content marketing strategy: producing and promoting content that helps brands build their profile.
• Search engine optimization (SEO): optimizing content so that it performs well on Google.
• Email marketing: writing great emails that drive action, and targeting them to the right people.
• Digital advertising: buying targeted ads on Google and other online platforms.
• Social media marketing: buying micro-targeted ads on platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
• Web analytics: reading and interpreting traffic trends to help clients better understand their website visitors and customers.

Out of all of those, if you’re a beginner, one of the best places to get started is with social media management.

What’s to like about managing social media accounts for other small business owners is the recurring revenue. Once you attract a customer, you can keep serving them month after month.

Social media management is also a business that doesn’t require high-level skills or experience to start, but offers a lot of opportunities for growth (such as managing paid ads) as your skillset expands.

#4. Bookkeeping

Key stat: Entrepreneur magazine listed accounting/bookkeeping as the most profitable business to start two years in a row.

You may be a little surprised to see bookkeeping on this list of the best small business ideas. But the reasons why it appears here are pretty simple: it offers high profit margins, and more people than ever are leaving the traditional workforce to start their own businesses.

Think about it like this: if you start a blog or a content agency, will you know how to properly monitor and account for your revenue and expenses?

Sure, you can do this yourself with Quicken or some other software suite. But that’s time-consuming, and often difficult to master. And if your business is thriving, you should be spending your time working on that instead.

So, people in that situation turn to freelance bookkeepers.

The business itself requires a little investment, and there is some recommended bookkeeping training. However, there are potential clients everywhere, as any profitable business needs this service.

#5. E-Commerce Company

Key stat: E-commerce sales have been growing at a pace of 25% per year.

These days, people buy literally everything online (and especially on Amazon). That makes this a premier online business opportunity.

Not all that long ago, everything offered on Amazon was sold by Amazon. But today, Amazon is also a platform for third-party sellers. And getting started selling on Amazon is easier than you might think.

There are a few different ways to operate an Amazon e-commerce business:

1. You can list your items on Amazon and ship them to your customers. You’ll pay Amazon about 20% of the final sale price, and you’ll be responsible for all aspects of customer service and delivery.
2. You can ship your items to an Amazon warehouse and sell them through the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program. With FBA, you still get to set your own prices, but Amazon takes care of customer service and delivery. One of the main benefits of FBA is that your items become Prime-eligible, which makes customers more likely to buy them.
3. You can “dropship,” which is selling items you don’t have in your possession. By starting a dropshipping business, you don’t even touch the product. When a customer places an order, you simply pay your supplier to ship the item directly to the customer. You’ll still be responsible for customer service, but this dramatically cuts down on your workload and overhead costs.

Here are a couple of other useful tidbits about starting an e-commerce business:

You can use FBA to sell items on platforms besides Amazon. Want to list your items on eBay, Etsy or your own Shopify storefront? The shipping rates offered by Amazon are often much lower than what you’d pay on your own. Amazon even has non-branded boxes (i.e., plain brown boxes with no Amazon tape), which you can choose for an extra fee.

One of the best ways to make money selling on amazon is through white-labeling, which is when you purchase items in bulk — often directly from the manufacturer — and then brand them with your own name and packaging.

#6. Web Design And Development

Key stat: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates an 8% increase in demand for web designers between 2019 and 2029 — a rate much higher than most careers.

The huge demand for quality web designers makes this a great business idea by itself. What’s better is that web design is surprisingly easy to learn and that people are willing to pay huge sums for quality web development work.

Complete websites can fetch anywhere from a few thousand dollars up to $100,000+ for corporate clients, with average rates often well over $100 per hour.

Graphic design is a key element of great web design and a lucrative business option in its own right. Graphic designers typically start with rates around $50 per hour but can earn well above that with experience. Learning how to do great graphic design work can be a good first step on the path to establishing a web design agency.

#7. Sell Hand-Crafted Items On Etsy

Key stat: Etsy stores generated $1.72 billion in 2021, up from $818 million in 2020.

Etsy is a favorite of entrepreneurial-minded creative types because it’s a great way to sell unique, hand-crafted items without any of the hassles of setting up your own retail store.

The beauty of Etsy is that it already has a built-in audience of shoppers looking for handmade and vintage items. Therefore, you can leverage network effects with a high-quality product your customers love.

As an Etsy store owner, you’ll be responsible for creating your own product listings, managing customer service, and shipping the items yourself. While Etsy does take around 8% of the sale, there are no other significant costs associated with opening a store

#8. Become A Reseller

Key stat: In Thredup’s annual fashion resale market report, the company found that 33 million people bought secondhand clothing online for the first time in 2020.

Think of reselling as the act of buying an asset and selling it for a higher price. Your inventory can be anything — from designer clothes to vintage clothes to rare books, old video games and everything in between.

And you can sell on a range of platforms including your own website, Amazon, Poshmark, Etsy, eBay and many others.

The key to a successful reselling business is to have an information advantage. That means understanding the market for what you’re buying better than the person selling the item.

A reselling business can start small, even with items you have on hand, but then scale up quickly by buying more inventory through places like wholesale markets, where you can purchase items in bulk.

#9. Service-Based Agency/Consulting Business

Key stat: In Q2 of 2021, revenue on the freelance marketplace Upwork increased 50% year-over-year to $875 million.

Upwork, the largest freelance marketplace, publishes data regarding the fastest-growing jobs on the platform. This data shows the most in-demand, highest-paying jobs and skills

The current list shows opportunities such as:

• Automation specialists.
• Data analytics.
• Mobile application skills.
• Machine learning.
• Video production.

If you’re competent in any of these fields, or if you take the time to become competent, there’s no shortage of highly-paid freelance or consulting work available to you. An alternative option to learning a new skill is to find reliable contractors to do the work for you.

Once you’ve started to freelance and gain experience yourself, it’s then you can start an agency or consulting business that specializes in that service. Consider even combining these skills with market trends, such as doing video production for TikTok creators, and you can have a successful service-based agency fast.

#10. Direct To Consumer (DTC) Food And Beverage Company

Key stat: Food and beverage is now the fastest growing online market, with sales of more than $20 billion per year and growing.

While grocery delivery is a fast-growing trend, so is ordering food directly from the suppliers themselves. These businesses ship high-quality fresh food right to the customer’s door, bypassing grocery stores altogether.

While you can certainly create your product yourself, many DTC businesses get products from a third-party supplier, put their own branding on the package, and are then able to sell the product through their own online store or Amazon.

Often, there’s a slight twist on the product, as well as the branding, such as targeting a specific demographic (e.g., paleo, keto, vegans, etc.) that allows these companies to thrive.

Best Offline Small-Scale Business Ideas

The small business ideas listed below incorporate some sort of physical aspect. Many parts of the business can be outsourced or run online, but each idea requires some type of physical location or asset to succeed.

#11. Airbnb Host

Key stat: Airbnb grew more popular than ever during the pandemic, as travelers increasingly looked for ways to avoid large hotels. In Q2 of 2021, Airbnb announced that bookings increased 300% over the same Q2 in 2020.

Setting yourself up as an Airbnb host can be one of the fastest ways to generate a profit — and you don’t need to live in a mansion or an exotic location to make it work.

There are multiple ways to turn almost any space into a money-making asset.

Most people are familiar with the platform, but if you’re not, here’s how it works: Airbnb is a website and app that lets people offer their homes to travelers who are looking for short-term accommodations.

• You can list almost any type of accommodations — from an air mattress in your basement to an entire home.
• In most cases, you’ll have the opportunity to screen and interview guests before accepting a booking request.
• You set your own nightly rates, and have the option to add on cleaning fees.
• You’ll keep most of what you earn, as Airbnb only takes a 3-5% commission.

People book all kinds of spaces on Airbnb. Couches typically go for $25 to $35 per night, depending on location, but private rooms and full spaces (such as an entire apartment or house) can bring in a lot more.

Know the best destinations and experiences in your hometown? You can earn extra money offering everything from casual tours to custom itineraries based on your guests’ particular interests.

One of the reasons travelers opt for an Airbnb over a hotel is because they’re looking for a more authentic experience. They often want to get to know the place they’re visiting and the people who live there, as opposed to just hitting up the usual tourist traps.

#12. Dog Walking And Other Pet-Related Businesses

Key stat: Americans spend more than $100 billion per year on their pets.

In some ways, a dog walking business probably seems more like a job or a side hustle than a business. After all, you’re ultimately earning money on an hourly basis for providing a service to clients.

But if you enjoy working with animals and you have an entrepreneurial mindset, it can pay to apply your business acumen to this industry.

Rover is a great place to get started. Think of it as the Uber for pets: people will pay you good money to show up at a set time and take their dog for a walk.

As you’re building up a clientele and reputation on Rover, you should also be thinking about ways to scale up and transition from being a freelancer to running a pet business. This can include offering other pet owners related services like training, grooming and boarding. You could also consider starting other types of businesses, such as an e-commerce business selling pet supplies or creating online courses for pet owners of a specific breed.

#13. Wedding Planner/Event Planner

Key stat: According to wedding website The Knot, 27% of couples now hire a wedding planner.

Planning weddings is a small-scale business idea with big-time earning potential.

For most people, their wedding is among the most important days of their life. And for better or worse, the rise of social media platforms like Instagram has made the day even more important.

After all, there will be thousands of pictures taken by both the professional photographer and the guests, and those pictures will be enshrined on the internet forever. So brides and grooms understandably feel pressure to get the planning right and ensure that everything looks incredible.

On one hand, this is a boon for the wedding planning industry. If you can keep the trains running on time and know how to make a wedding look great on Instagram, you can earn a huge price for your services.

But on the other hand, people are reluctant to take a risk on a planner with little experience or a limited portfolio. Working for a wedding planner in your hometown, even for a little while, can be a good way to gain some legitimizing experience.

If that’s not an option, you might be able to offer to help your friends and family with one specific aspect of their wedding for free, and then use your successful execution of that responsibility as part of your portfolio.

If you don’t love the idea of being around weddings, there are many other opportunities in the event planning business. Other specialties include corporate events, conferences, formal parties, concerts and conventions.

And if you like weddings but don’t love the idea of being the go-to person for the couple, the wedding industry itself is filled with profitable business ideas, such as photography, videography and music.

#14. Green Deep Cleaning Service

Key stat: The market for green cleaning products is expected to grow to nearly $12 billion by 2029.

More and more offices are looking for deep cleaning services that will come in and fully sanitize their space. Another trend is that both consumers and businesses are looking for environmentally friendly cleaning options.

Combine those two trends and you get an opportunity that’s in extremely high demand today and offers plenty of long-term growth potential.

While not as flashy as some of the other ideas on the list, cleaning is a high profit margin business. This is due to the fact that you can use independent contractors, where you’re only incurring costs when you get paid (as opposed to keeping employees on payroll).

#15. Start A Home Delivery Service

Key stat: Global food delivery revenue surpassed $150 billion in 2020, triple the rate since 2017

These days, people get everything delivered. And that makes delivery one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy.

Grocery and food delivery jobs are probably what first come to mind in this niche, and if you need money fast, they’re a decent place to start. However, people are increasingly looking to expand their delivery options, which presents many promising business opportunities.

Other profitable business ideas inside the delivery business growing in demand include egg delivery, furniture delivery and assembly, and water delivery.

#16. Medical Courier Service

Key stat: The market for medical courier services is expected to reach $6.4 billion by 2025, up from $4.8 billion in 2020.

A medical courier service transports medical records, specimens and other medical supplies between healthcare facilities. This is a high-demand service, as many hospitals and clinics are downsizing their staff and hiring third parties to fill critical roles.

The licensing and other requirements to become a medical courier vary by state. In addition, certain vehicles are needed for practical use cases, such as transferring organs. As such, startup costs are higher than some of the other business ideas on this list. However, since you’re providing a service with high demand, there’s a lot of work available quickly and you’ll be able to recoup your initial investment.

#17. Catering/Virtual Kitchens

Key stat: The ghost kitchen industry exceeded $43 billion in sales in 2020.

A catering business, as well as the closely related meal delivery service, may not come across as sexy, but it’s still a proven business model.

One of the most innovative ideas to come to this sector are ghost kitchens (also known as virtual restaurants).

Ghost kitchens are take-out only restaurants and catering services. Often, they share space with other entrepreneurs. For example, a ghost pizzeria and a ghost Chinese restaurant may operate side-by-side in a single hub, even sharing certain communal equipment.

With apps like UberEats, GrubHub and more, food delivery is booming. And these virtual-only restaurants can help you enter the space with far less capital than what a traditional restaurant would cost, as your only employees are those preparing the food.

#18. Senior Care

Key stat: 75% of adults age 50 and older want to remain in their home as they age.

The combination of our aging population and the fact that this population wants to live in their homes as long as possible means there’s massive potential for specializing in senior care within the healthcare industry.

Services you can offer include:

• Home health and personal care aide agency.
• Respite care agency.
• Non-emergency senior transportation services.
• Mobile beauty services.
• Home repairs and renovations that allow seniors to stay in their home longer (e.g., making the home wheelchair-friendly).

These are just a few ideas, but you can see how many different services this niche offers.

#19. Personal Training

Key stat: The BLS reports a 39% increase in demand for personal trainers (much faster than average) through 2030.

Personal training is likely something you’re familiar with, and for good reason: the demand is high. With increased healthcare costs and increased expectations of how we look, more people than ever are looking to get into shape. And they pay big bucks for it.

And because of the one-on-one nature of this service, you don’t need any specific licensing or accreditation to start — you’ll just need a background in fitness and what it takes to get people motivated to exercise.

The business itself is harder to scale up than most if you only work 1-1 with clients. Yet there are a lot of additional revenue streams available for personal trainers, especially those that specialize. These opportunities include offering online courses, sponsorships, and even opening up an online store featuring their favorite fitness products.

#20 Test Prep And Other Educational Services

Key stat: The test prep market in the United States is expected to grow by more than $10 billion.

Parents are increasingly turning to private companies to help their children prepare for college entrance exams as well as to support their overall education. So while test prep is a great business to start, so is private tutoring, educational consulting, or for the more ambitious, an online-only charter school.

These businesses are relatively low-cost to start, besides opening a charter school, and you can often run them out of your home. The key is finding the right market to focus on (college entrance exams, K-12, homeschooling parents, etc.) and then tailoring your services around that.

Hot Business Ideas FAQ

Hottest Small-Scale Business Ideas Summary

You don’t need a formal business education to take advantage of these small-scale business opportunities, but you will need to spend a little bit of time thinking about how they mesh with your current level of resources, as well as your current and future life goals.

Do you have the time it takes to start one of these businesses, and do you have the wherewithal to stick with it even if success takes longer than you expect?

The reality is that even the best small scale business ideas will face obstacles and suffer setbacks along the way to success. That’s the nature of the beast. But the rewards for becoming your own boss are immense and absolutely worth it. And in most cases, you’ll have more income, which gives you more freedom to prioritize the things in life that matter the most to you.

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