6 small business ideas with little to no investment

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Currently, there are a large number of young professionals who are dreaming of starting their own business someday. Though most budding entrepreneurs never get a chance to see their dreams turn into reality due to the paucity of funds for investment. And out of the remaining few who do get that chance, only 10% will survive the first 5 years of their birth.

Now, let’s not be disheartened. The important thing to understand here is that businesses, like wars, thrive on the creation of a perfect plan by mixing in the correct elements required to do business (or war) and the courage along with smartness and a bit of judgemental behaviour to properly execute that plan.

Luckily, if you do possess some special skills (don’t worry, this is entirely optional), you can easily start your own small business with little to no investment, many of which can be operated from home while others may require you to lease small premises. As for starting out, you can always begin with whatever little capital you have or can easily procure a loan on soft terms from community organizations and cooperative credit societies (if need be).

But first, you will need a great business idea that’s not only unique enough to stand out among million others but also practical and in-demand. And to help you start out, I have presented 10 such business ideas to get the wheels moving.

1. Event Planner- If you love throwing parties and organizing meetings, then this business is for you. Starting out as an event planner is a great way to monetize your hobby by helping individuals/corporations to plan their needs. You do need to focus on a few things though -

• A healthy patience to deal with client’s demands.

• To have a keen eye for details.

• Learn to be calm and stress-free during trying situations.

2. Website Developer- The digital world that we live in requires every business to have its own site in order to drive in traffic and make sales. Starting your own web development company in India doesn’t need much investment if you just have the required skills.

A Tip: At the beginning, use free platforms such as WordPress and Magento to build websites. Later on, you can learn code writing through Codeacademy.com whenever you feel like upping the game.

3. Pet Care- We all know people care as much about their pets as their family members but its rarely possible to take them along whenever they travel for holidays or business. As a result, they often look out for services that can take care of their pets while they are away. So, if you love pets and know how to handle them, this is a great business opportunity you may consider that requires very low investment.

4. Antique Furniture Restoration- We all have our sentimental values attached to some antique furniture or another and that’s why we are so reluctant to part with it. But if you do possess the required skills and the love for aesthetics, then I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t pursue this business of restoring and repairing damaged antique furniture.

A Tip: Even if you don’t have the skills, you can always hire craftsmen to do the restoration work though you would need excellent workers to handle intricate furniture.

5. The Ice-Cream Shop- Tell me honestly, is there anyone who doesn’t love ice-cream? Everybody does and yes, setting up your nice little ice-cream shop will fetch you a lot of money, you can count on that. You don’t even need a big parlour for that, just a small space on a busy street will work out fine. But do consider perfecting your art of ice-cream making before starting out.

6. Freelancer- 21st century has been rightfully dubbed as the age of freelancers as it gives you the freedom to work on any project of your choice from the comforts of your home or wherever you wish. Not only this, since you are not bounded by any contract, you can take up as many projects from as many sources as you want.

For e.g. you can freelance as a chat support executive for a company that offers BPO services India while content writing for a 2nd company, composing music for a 3rd one etc. I mean, you get the idea, right?

Conclusion:

I understand giving up the comforts of your 9-5 job to venture out into the unknown world of start-ups takes a bit of courage and is not everybody’s cup of tea. But if you are willing to take this risk then I can promise what you will find on the other side is a new-born freedom and a sense of pride that only comes from doing something that feeds your passion.