BEST SMALL BUSINESS IDEAS

With the age of entrepreneurship, women empowerment and just general support of society, many people are taking up their dream of starting a business. There are quite a few advantages of having your own business and being the boss of you. Even so, living in a country like India, the economy has been in a boom and the ease of starting a business has also been possible. While you are thinking of starting a business with a plethora of options available, choosing one can be quite a huge task. This article simply aims to break down all the different types of small business ideas you can take up.

But before we get into listing the different types of small business ideas you can take up, we’re going to address a few points one needs to consider before starting a business. While starting a business can have quite a few advantages there need to be some checkpoints that need to be insured they are in place.

Things to consider before starting a business:

1. Nature of Business

The first thing you need to consider in your business idea is what sort of business you want to get in to. What are you going to sell in your business? You can choose one of the following nature of businesses to get in to

Service: IT Services, HR Services, Food business, Salon &Spa

Merchandising: Wholesale, trading or distribution like a grocery store, retail business

Manufacturing: Raw Materials, manufacturing of parts equipment, textile

2. Target Customer

Appealing to everyone appeals to no one. You need to focus on your target audience and style everything, from your website to your marketing campaigns, around them. Make sure you are targeting the right people by sending out questionnaires, speaking to your customers through social media and holding focus groups. 

3. Your Unique Selling Point – USP

Customers will only stop buying from other businesses in favour of yours if you offer something better or different. Your USP (unique selling point) defines what is special about your offering; what customers can’t get elsewhere.

Carefully sculpt your USP: perhaps it’s your product if it is genuinely unique, or maybe it’s about customer experience, after-sales support, the way you price or offer payment, or perhaps everything you do is organic.

4. Funding

Another important consideration before starting your business is the type of funding you chose to fund your business with. you can either bootstrap the entire business through your savings or take on some kind of debt or give up a part of equity. All options have their own pros and cons, you need to evaluate the option that best works out for the course of your business.

5. Mode of sales

There are different modes of sales for your product/service/ manufacturing unit. It is on you and the scope of the business to find the best way to sell your product. You can either choose a supply chain, online portal or retail stores, etc. The method you choose will help you with your business and that could define the success of your business.

Now that we have addressed the few necessities that need to be taken into consideration before starting a business, let’s jump into the different types of small business ideas you can take up.

Event Management Business

This comes under the service category of different types of businesses. The sector of event management has boomed lately and the scope is even greater. This is a fast-growing business with no inventory costs or major initial investments. If you have good networking and you can move things quickly, then you could be successful in this small business. This is one of the good business ideas with low investment and high profits.

Chocolates and dessert confectionary

Who does not have a sweet tooth? Coming from an Indian background we always have a place for dessert and sweets. Even more, with so many festivals people always gift each other some sweet. This is a great business to get into if you have the skill to make chocolates and likewise products. The investment required is minimal as you need to buy products only when orders are placed and hence reduced inventory cost.

Textile and clothing

The textile business is great in our country with a variety of materials and different textiles available. Getting into the textile/clothing line can be a great business plan if executed well. Be sure to get the right kind of manufacturers and suppliers who agree to buy goods on credit basis and return policies. With the rise of online portals, selling your goods PAN India is also possible.

Online Marketing  

Digital and online marketing is the next big business. With so many companies booming in their field, they need the expertise to run their marketing for them. Online marketing just requires a knack of creativity, skill and an art to selling something. If you are good with making products more visible to the audience you can get into this business. All you require is a desktop/laptop, good internet connection and creativity.

Furniture BusinessWhether you live in the city or the outskirts, furniture is always required. It is just the difference in size regarding the place. You can find good furniture suppliers and get into the retail furniture business. Many individuals are looking for easy, foldable and portable furniture. This market has a great scope. However, the initial investment required in this line of business could be a little higher as compared to the other business ideas. However, once word goes out, the growth of this business is fast.

Café/restaurant Service

Significant disposable income and good purchasing power make it easier for people in big cities like Mumbai to dine out frequently. A small scale restaurant or a café targeted to a specific or a combination of various cuisines can prove to be a good return on investment. Even if you cannot open a restaurant, starting with taking away kiosk should ideally work in almost any busy area of the city.

Home food and snacks

With everyone becoming busier day by day due to work, people are ready to pay for services for home-cooked meals and snacks. Home food and snacks are a great market audience with a minimum initial investment. You must have skills and interest in cooking and a network of people to whom you can connect your business with. with further growth, you can even move onto a kitchen space and make it bigger as time passes.

Online plumber/ carpentry works

This is a unique business idea which is not yet implemented in India. You can assemble a few plumbers and carpenters and start online plumber/carpenter works. Customers can call on a toll-free number and you can provide this service and make out good money. This is one of the nice creative small business ideas for men. Eventually, you can even move on to other services such as car wash, house cleaning etc. This idea does not require major investment, just a good app or a website and a networking marketing team.

Custom made festival gifts

While we have covered chocolates and sweets as festival gifts before, custom made gifts and hampers are a great selling point too.  Many countries celebrate various festivals during the year. You can work on custom made festival gifts. These would do wonders especially in countries like India where there are over 20 big festivals during the year. These hampers can be customed made according to companies and if they like your products it is possible to even get orders in huge numbers.

Computer Training Institute

The computer training institute is an ideal business opportunity for aspiring computer-savvy professionals. Running a computer training institute with some other value-added services can be a profitable and self-rewarding business. The only criterion is you have to be knowledgeable enough about computers and the internet. Along with this, you would also require to secure some financing for the equipment of computers and internet connectivity and marketing for the students to join your classes. A similar idea can be used for different types of training institutes such as cooking, education, stitching, etc. These are a few of the best business ideas that can be started with minimum or less investment. You need to choose a business plan that suits your needs in regards to time, money, risk, and return.