Starting up a business may seem like a daunting proposition, and the
decisions during the first few years of a firm's existence are absolutely
crucial to a firm's long-term financial success. These decisions need to be made
by experienced business managers, or at least by members of the young company
who understand business issues more than other members of the new company.
Delegating responsibilities to the most appropriate members of a staff serves as
the single most important priority for a company. This is true for all companies
regardless of the specified market a company wishes to penetrate, the proposed
market share a company may wish to capture, or the particular unique sales
proposition a young company may be choosing. Making business decisions or
planning financial decisions that dictate whether the business sinks or floats
can be an overwhelming proposition. These managerial decisions can be made even
more difficult if the person making these decisions has little or no formal
business training or experience. Although starting a company can be a risky
proposition, taking risks and making your own way in the world can also be very
exciting and fun.
There are numerous low-budget business
ideas out there so don't focus on the idea that starting a company has to be
financially straining. Many small business ideas hinge on activities and hobbies
you may already engage in, such as sewing or growing your own organic fruits and vegetables.
Planning and formulating a business is going to take a lot of time and
effort. Certain training, certifications, or licenses may be required just to
begin conducting business. Prior to hiring employees or making any type of
business investments due to the extremely time consuming nature of operating any
type of business, every would-be manager should sit down and really decide if
running their own business is really something they can manifest into a
profitable reality. Keep in mind that even though a business may be a low-budget
operation, it's still a business and a certain level of professionalism should
be maintained. Here are 15 low-budget business ideas that have been successful
in the past that help to serve as a starting point and a place to see how the
ideas bouncing around in your head may stack up to ones that have been
successfully brought to fruition in the past.
15) Furniture Making
If you’re handy with various carpentry tools and have some practical experience
with woodworking,
then furniture making could be the right low-budget business idea for you. You can
set the prices for the pieces you produce as a function of cost. The variables
of the cost function include the price of materials and labor valuation that
come directly from your own wood-working experiences. In the twenty-first
century it is imperative to have a web presence and likewise it is very
important to utilize the Internet to advertise your skills on a website or
forum. If you decide to create your own website showcasing your skills, then
make sure to place photographs that really sell your mastery of carpentry. Make sure you follow some sort of
business plan if people like the furniture
you create and want to make additional purchases, don’t take on too many
different projects at once. You can contact local furniture stores to see
if they would be interested in purchasing a couple of pieces from you if you run
into a situation where you have a surplus of stock. Craigslist posts are a great
way to unload inventory as Craigslist acts as the classified section of today's
digital age. Craigslist is one of the best ways to target local customers. If
you do decide to rely on local companies for the source of your materials then
make sure you establish a good working relationship with them, before ever
relying on them for deliveries. While the Internet allows you to make
connections very easily and at your fingertips, most connections originating
from the web don't always produce the most trustworthy contacts.
14) Wedding Planning
If you have exceptional organizational skills and happen to love everything
there is about weddings, then becoming a wedding planner is a great low-budget
business proposition for you. There are many, many details to be ironed out when
planning and executing a wedding. Some couples may be too busy or may not even
know where to start when it comes to planning their big day. Many couples try to
go at it on their own often at their own peril. Couples will break-up as a
direct result of issues surrounding wedding plans. An entire industry has boomed
out of weddings and wedding planning so trying to go out there to capture some
of this emerging market as a wedding planner, could be a good fit for you if you
feel very passionately about weddings. If you want to start up your own
wedding-planning business then first search online, making sure that your area
doesn't already have an exhaustive list of wedding planners. While there aren't
any professional certifications associated with being a wedding planner, getting
your business incorporated is defiantly a good idea as it is for any
small-business plan. Often wedding planners
need to work in the evenings or over weekends to meet clients as your schedule
must be very flexible. Figuring out a profitable pricing strategy will
probably take time to tweak, coming primarily from your personal experiences
with vendors and clients. There are numerous details that go into planning a
wedding and many unforeseen variables will emerge. Your main goal will be
working to satisfy the couple who hired you and running into a potential "bridezilla"
can be an extremely stressful encounter. When encountering a "bridezilla" the
single most important thing for any wedding planner to focus on will be bringing
a client all of their hopes and dreams, in the form of the wedding they have
planned.
13) Tutoring
Tutoring is another great low-budget business idea that can be a profitable
financial solution if you possess mastered knowledge of a specific subject
matter. Certain tutoring positions have typically been dominated by the image of
graduate students doing most of the tutoring for all levels of students, but the
reality is that tutoring instructors come from all walks of life. The assumption
that most tutors are graduate students who are looking for extra money comes
from most people's limited exposure to tutors. Unifying characteristics of a
tutor are mastery of a certain subject matter, and the ability as well as
willingness to educate. Generating an income by offering your tutoring services may take a bit of
effort as far as finding your niche is concerned. Visiting local schools,
universities, museums, and libraries is a great first step as far as weighing
how much your services will be in demand. After ascertaining the demand for your
specific tutoring services, the next step would be to ask whoever you first
inquired about demand if it would be okay for you to post a simple flyer
describing your services. Keep your flyers simple, sticking to the most
important information like contact information and the amount you’ll charge for
services. The idea of these flyers is to keep it as brief as possible, making
sure the focus is only on the most important points. Let's assume that your
skill of mastery happens to be engineering. Advertising for math and science
tutoring at local schools or at the Engineering Departments of local
universities will be the best use of your advertising efforts. Traditional
tutoring services in the form of person-to-person contact should not be the only
source of business for your little tutoring business. If you’re good with a computer you may even be able to offer
your tutoring services online. Instant messaging services, scanners,
and video chats make it possible to work together even when you’re miles away
from your students.
There are even websites for tutors that offer specialized resources you can use.
To emerge as the most profitable tutor you can possibly be, do some market
research and find out what other tutors are charging before selecting a price
scale for your own business. This will ensure that your prices are as
competitive as possible and to make sure that you keep people interested in your
tutoring services. This may seem like a no-brainer but it is imperative that you
are in fact mastered at whatever material you are claiming to offer tutoring
services for. If people were to find out that you were a fraud, there would be a
no way to recapture your perceived credibility in the community.
12) Pet Yard Clean-up
If you live in a residential area with lots of houses and dogs, then starting a
business cleaning up pet waste could be a great low-budget business for you. Let’s face it,
cleaning up dog droppings is pretty gross. No one really wants to pick up their
pets' droppings and the fact that most people do not want to deal with dog
droppings, will serve as the "in" for your little business venture. Some people
who have multiple jobs or just one very time consuming job, are just too busy or tired to spend their time picking up dog waste. If
you have a strong nose and don’t mind picking up the stuff that other people
don’t want to pick up, this could be the perfect business for you. Starting up
your business won’t cost you a lot either, as the materials you need are very
inexpensive. You’ll need to be well stocked with certain
items such as disposable bags, plastic gloves, disinfectants, and any necessary
tools that may make disposing whatever you pick up easier for you. Advertising
your services online and with local flyers posted around neighborhoods, serve as
the best promotions strategy for your droppings business. A good source of
market research would be to drive around surrounding communities and
neighborhoods, looking to see if they happen to have a lot of dogs. If you notice houses
that obviously have dogs, make sure to leave fliers on the
doors that include your prices and contact information. Make sure to come up
with some policies for your clients to follow, like rules and policies about
leaving their dogs out on the days of your clean-up and refund policies. If you’ll be working alone,
always tell someone else where you'll be working just to make sure there aren't
any psycho killers in the neighborhoods you are working in. Safety first!
11) Pet Sitting
Pet sitting is a great business for people who may not have families or simply
have a lot of free time on their hands. It costs a lot of money for people to put their pets in
kennels or other pet sitting services, and kennel fees for just one dog are
almost just as expensive as putting a person up in a hotel. You can start your own
kennel of sorts by running a kennel-type operation out of the comfort of your
own home as long as you are very comfortable handling all sorts of animals. The
best part would be you could decide which animal to board and which ones to turn
away. Just remember that if you turn away too many animals, your little
pet-sitting business may earn a bad name for itself in the community. This
budget business allows you to offer services like dog boarding without requiring
a lease on an additional building or hiring full-time staff. The best part of being a pet sitter
beside the temporary companionship of all different kinds of pets is that you can set your own hours,
and the number pets you are willing to take in. In this budget business
situation it is imperative that you understand any of the laws pertaining to
sheltering animals for money, as specific laws or bonding requirements vary from
region to region. Certain states and municipalities may even have laws
pertaining directly to pet-sitting or things like the number
of animals you can keep in your house, could be determined by fire code
statutes. As with every one of these budget businesses, planning is a central
concern. Make sure to advertise your services on local forums, outlining your
prices and why clients should choose your services above traditional options
like kenneling. You might also
want to take classes like animal CPR, and you might also want to make sure
you’re well stocked up on first-aid items in case something happens while a
dog's owner is away. The beauty of owning and operating your own
pet sitting business is that you can choose to accept or decline any pet with
your own pet sitting business and if you want to take a day, week, or even a
month off, you can.
10) Landscaping
Landscaping is another great low-budget business idea to explore further. If you’re good with
your hands and enjoy being outdoors, then a landscaping business could be the perfect
business for you. There are few real expenses related to getting started with a
landscaping business and most of them cover tools such as a lawnmower, rakes, and shovels.
Its really not very appropriate to ask clients to borrow these items and doing
so will destroy any sort of professional credibility you are attempting to
establish. Doing some research and getting lawn application certifications may
be a good way to set yourself apart from other local landscaping companies. The
more knowledgeable you may be about lawns, the more likely you will generate
sales from potential customers. Its hard to be an expert on a subject like lawns
if you have very little practical knowledge in the field. The more experience
you have from getting out there and doing projects, the more mastered you will
become and appear to current and potential customers. You’ll want people to hire you
because you can do something that they cannot. You want to be able to offer your
customers a level of work they could never hope to achieve on their own. Landscaping business isn’t for the weak or faint of heart
as it can be extremely physically demanding.
You might have to spend hours outside in the heat, moving wheelbarrow after
wheelbarrow of mulch until the entire job is completed. You may be working with
dangerous chemicals or tools especially during lawn fertilizing jobs. Also there
are typical hazards associated with working outside like stinging bugs, snakes, and things like rats
or mice just to make your job even more demanding. If you are able to see past
all of these hazards, then having your own landscaping
business could be a great way for you to make money out on your own. Where your
business will be generated is simply from the fact that many homeowners out
there may desire a beautiful yard, but do not want to or cannot put in the time
necessary to have one on their own. And that where you come in and by offering
these services at competitive prices, you will be sure to rake in the revenue!
9) Sewing and Alterations
There are
thousands of people who look for unique, tailored, and customized clothes that
will fit them perfectly. These types of demands make sewing and alterations a
fantastic low-budget business idea. Retail-store clothing typically comes in standard
sizes and often customers cannot find garments in their
size, or that they don’t like the items readily available in their size. General
practices dictate for a customer to buy certain garments that do not fit them
and then later pay someone else to let them out or take them in, depending on
the size considerations for the customer. Demand for sewing services come from
resell and retro clothing stores and wardrobe suppliers. Wardrobe suppliers are
company's that put together sets of clothing to be used as costumes for plays, re-enactments, and cosplay.
Sewing is one of those skills that will always be in demand and even with the
growth of the internet, and sewing jobs have still experienced stable growth and
still remain a popular skill that is sought after. A good tailor is hard to
find, just as a good mechanic is hard to find. Just like the furniture making
business idea, prices for a sewing and alteration company are a reflection of
time and supplies needed to complete orders. Use the many resources of the internet and advertise your services
and skills online. Websites such as Etsy, eBay, and numerous cosplaying websites
are easy to sign up for and advertise on. If you’ve made clothing or accessories
for friends or family, ask them to spread the word around about your business as
word of mouth continues to be the best way to get your name out there. Make sure
you have reliable equipment and that you know how much work you can take on and
how quick your turnaround will be. Most people do not want to wait months and
months for their purchases and you need to be honest about the turn around time
on their orders.
8) Senior Citizen Assistance
Senior citizen assistance is another great low-budget business if you’re
looking to make money while simultaneously helping others. Many of the aging
baby boomers are looking for people to help take care of their aging parents,
and many small businesses have grown out of this new kind of demand. Many
everyday chores like washing clothes, carrying heavy bags, and washing cars may
seem like the impossible to an elderly person. People are no longer able to
complete these types of tasks either due to health issues or just simply because
they are getting older. This is where you and your budget small business will
come in, as you will make your living from completing most of these household
chores and tasks on behalf of your clients. Things can be a hassle or seem
confusing to some senior citizens, and often they are very reluctant to ask for
help even when they absolutely need it. The best way for you to go out and get
potential clients will be to have an outreach type of marketing strategy,
comprised of knocking on the doors of retirement communities or at residences
you know for a fact are owned by an elderly person. Making personal
relationships will be critical to making this kind of business profitable and
actually work for you. You have to gain their trust before any elderly person
will ever let you into your house even to do the simplest chores or tiding up. Figure out the things you’ll be willing to do and come up with a price list for
your services. Contact local doctor’s
offices that specialize in geriatric medicine and ask them if you can advertise your business
in the form of a flyer left at their office. Also, make sure to get any
certifications that you may need and getting trained and licensed in CPR is an
absolute must. If you decide to pursue a senior
citizen assistance business it is a good practice to validate and approve all
leads firsthand. This is one of the perks of going into business for yourself,
and is the only way to know that working with clients will be both safe and comfortable.
7) Produce Selling
Do you consider growing vegetables and fruits a personal passion? Have you always had a green
thumb and get a great sense of accomplishment from growing food from the dirt? If
you consider produce and farming one of your personal passions, then you can start your own business
comprised of growing and selling produce to everyday people. People are
often discontent with some of the fruits and vegetables found in grocery stores because
they use strong pesticides that effect the safety and taste of foods. Also food
prices continue to rise as overall quality slowly decreases. Many consumers are
beginning to see store-sold produce as a waste of money. Using this food
situation to your advantage and starting a business selling
produce, will allow you to generate an income from this gap in food quality.
You'll want to survey your community
to see what people want and then plan your planting scenario to reflect the
foods that are in demand. If you have a big enough space to cultivate from, you
can even contact restaurants and farmer’s markets to see about selling surplus
foods to them for additional profit. When seeking out additional resellers for
your homegrown produce don’t limit yourself to just your local community, restaurants, and
farmer's markets. Instead use the internet to see if there are any other options
you typically would not of considered due to their geographical distance. When
selling your produce, give your customers the whole story as far as what kind of
soil it was grown in, where the seeds came from, and any other details customers
may find intriguing. Selling foods with a story has been the keystone of the
organic foods movement. Even details you may not find interesting could be very
interesting to your customers. Make sure you let people know everything you have
even if you think it’s something that wouldn’t interest them. Making your
produce stand apart from comparable produce at the grocery stores will be
central to making your produce company a profitable venture as most people are happy to pay a decent price for
good produce in comparison to some of the stuff you’d find in grocery stores.
6) Meals to Go
Meals to go is a fun and neat idea for a low budget business if cooking and
cuisine intrigues you. Even if cooking isn't your passion don't be discouraged,
consider that almost every successful restaurant is ran by someone who knows
almost absolutely nothing about cooking. If you can find someone to work with
you as a partner for this venture then you can do the planning and coordinating,
while they do the cooking. With people who are always on the go, often they do
not have time to sit down and enjoy a properly prepared meal. Often mothers who
work don't have enough time to cook healthy meals for their husbands or
children. Many times people come
home from work late or are working more than one job and don’t have time to cook
or eat. When they finally get home they will probably be too exhausted to
prepare dinner, often resorting to unhealthy and greasy foods as poor substitutes
for a healthy, home-cooked meal. This is where you and your new business will
come in and by offering home-cooked meals to be delivered in a convenient
manner. Your company will not only offer a solution to help get every member of
the family back to the table again, but your company will offer a solution for
eating much healthier food. You can
set your own prices and plan out your meals and everything in between. As with
any other business, you’ll have to make sure you get the proper licenses and
certifications to sell food, and will most likely be subject to food safety
codes whose ultimate authority would be the health inspector. You must also be okay with having the local health
inspector visiting to make sure your operation is up to the same standards as
any other restaurant
5) House Cleaning
House cleaning is another great low-budget business idea. As people lack the
energy or time to clean their homes and don’t want to deal
with expensive maid services or hiring untrustworthy people, you will capture
this gap in the market to hopefully make a profitable business out of it. You’ll
have to make sure that your business capitalizes on something that sets you apart from all the other people who
may be offering house-cleaning services. Think of what you specialize in and
shape your business to reflect those unique specializations. Let
people know how long you have you been cleaning and what you feel sets you apart
from all other services that may be out there. When you arrive at a person's
house, you need to be
completely organized and have everything in its proper place. You want to give
your client a reason to hire you, and always take advantage of opportunities
where you can effectively market yourself.
Advertise your services on local online forums and make your own website to give
your home cleaning business that professional touch. Arrive
promptly and finish the tasks you said you were going to finish, completing them
in the quoted amount
of time you initially specified. You want to impress your client so that they’ll call you back. If
you’re going to be working with other people, make sure they’re trustworthy and
not prone to theft. If you’re going to be working all by yourself, always make sure a friend or family
member or really anyone else knows where you are. People can be very creepy and
not everyone is on the up and up.
4) Cleaning Services for Businesses
Much like a house cleaning business, a cleaning service for businesses is
also a good low-budget business endeavor. Many companies need someone to clean
the offices and rooms that make up their place of business, and many don’t want to deal with the more expensive
commercial cleaning companies that are available.
Depending on the business and what is inside their offices, you might need certain machinery and equipment
to perform specific cleaning duties for special machines or instruments. Make
sure before you ever actually go out and clean their premises that you have a
meeting with a representative from management, making sure their expectations
are reasonable and your cleaning strategy matches those expectations. Also
quotes should only be agreed upon after both you and the representative from
management sit down and mutually agree on prices together. Advertise your
business locally and online. Contact local businesses to see if they are
satisfied with their current cleaners or to see if they even have cleaners in
the first place. Try to price your services as competitively as possible.
3) Website Design
Website designing is a neat low-budget business idea if you have some exposure
to HTML and web design programs like Adobe Dreamweaver or Microsoft Web
Expression. It may appear that making websites is a very easy task, but the
reality is there are many specialized skills involved with bringing a website
from idea to realistic fruition. Building websites isn't for everyone and lots
of effort as well as a brief understanding of codes will be necessary to make
even the simplest websites. Lots of experience and lessons learned that can only
be learned through trial and error, are essential to making something like
website design into a profitable business. Only people who have mastered
building websites by using all different types of programs as well as codes,
should attempt to make a small business out of website design. Potential jobs
could come from companies who have an overflow of work and need to farm it out,
corrections being made to a website by a company who again finds more work than
they'd like to do on their own, and web startups who are looking for people to
generate web pages as quickly as possible.
2) Cookie and Candy Maker and Cake Decorator
Cookie and candy making, as well as cake decorating, are all fun and tasty
low-budget business ideas. Since you’re handling food, you may have to have
proper licenses and certifications depending on your operation's location. The
upside is that you’ll make enough after selling just a few items to cover these
costs in no time. People have been enjoying cookies, cake, and candy for years
and that probably won’t be changing any time soon. You can advertise your
services on online forums or with local organizations such as community centers
and public libraries. Ask your friends and families to tell other people about
your services. Offer free samples every now and then so that people know exactly
how good your delicious creations are. Who doesn’t love a free
sample? Use free samples attached with your bakery company's contact
information. You may want to look into classes or even do-it-yourself videos to hone
in your baking skills. You want to make sure you’re giving your customers beautiful and
mouthwatering treats, and that may take some time and effort. You should
research what to charge for your treats. You don’t want to overcharge, but you
also don’t want to undercharge. You want to get the most out of your hard work
because you deserve it.
1) Jewelry Making
Jewelry making is a wonderful low budget idea and its also a really fun option
to generating some extra income. You can
design your jewelry in any way you like and chances are someone out there will
appreciate your style even if you don't really have any formal art training.
Purchasing art supplies will be the single most expensive component of this
business, and once you put together the bare essentials you’ll be able to profit from any pieces that
you sell. Look online to see what types of jewelry are popular. There are many
varieties of pieces you can learn to make and then sell to the public. You can
sell your jewelry online and post flyers in your community about your
jewelry-making services. One way to generate extra income will be take
specialized orders from customers, and building them custom fashions they are
sure to enjoy for years to come. The best part about having a jewelry-making
business is that you can make every piece customized and truly unique.
People would be willing to pay handsomely for art that they can display on their
bodies or give to their friends, family, and loved ones. When events take place
in your town, you can see about renting a booth where you can sell your jewelry.
You can set your prices based on the materials, effort, and time spent on each
piece. Best of all, when birthdays and holidays come around, you can give your
handcrafted jewelry as gifts. The more popular your jewelry becomes, the better
the chance you’ll have of reaching more customers.
Conclusion
This list offers you a few low-budget business ideas that you probably never
even considered as a source of sustainable income for yourself. If you have any special talents or are particularly good at
something, you might be able to start up your own business utilizing them as
well. Maybe
you’re an exceptional piano player or a really good guitarist, maybe you can offer
lessons to people who want to learn how to play these instruments. Perhaps you
have fantastic grammar and editing skills. You can start up you own editing
business for writers or other people who have a lot of written content that
needs checking. Maybe you’re good with building and fixing computers. You can
even start up your own business doing that. The possibilities are endless when
it comes to coming up with low-budget business ideas. You just have to be
creative, passionate, and dedicated in doing the best that you can. Learn free
or low-cost marketing strategies to get your name out there so that people think
of you when they think of the service that you provide.
