5 Great Small Business Ideas

If you are like millions of other people in the world, you may be dissatisfied with your current job. Maybe the schedule doesn’t fit your lifestyle, or maybe you are stuck doing something that is completely boring and dissatisfying. You might be considering starting your own small business or are looking for a job to do in addition to your full-time job. Here is a list of five small business ideas that you can easily do to have some additional income or to be your main income stream.

Drive for Uber/Lyft

One great small business idea is to start driving for a company like Uber or Lyft. This is a nice side job because it allows people the flexibility to work at another job or attend school and pick up routes when it’s convenient for them. If you have other work or family commitments, you aren’t required to work which is probably one of the bigger selling points for this style of work. However, this job doesn’t apply to everyone since certain cities don’t allow these companies to operate, also you will need access to a vehicle to work. But, it can be a good side job or even a full-time job for someone who lives in an urban area who owns a vehicle.

Rent Your Space as a Vacation Rental

This is a similar concept to being a driver, but rather than providing a vehicle, you are providing people access to your home or living space. This is a great way to earn passive income if you have additional space in your home. These services make it very easy for people to find you so you don’t have to worry about advertising your space. If you don’t want to rent on certain days you can mark your listing as unavailable, and you can even rent a space when you’re away from home.

You will need to maintain the space, do laundry, cleaning, and help guests check in, but this is a pretty low-stress job. It’s great for people who live in higher tourist destinations, but people look for places to stay in most places in the world, so it can still work for you even if you don’t live in a major city.


Personal Services Trades

This type of work includes jobs such as massage therapists, estheticians, or a personal trainer. These jobs usually require some certification, but they are great because you still have control of your schedule. Depending on where you live you may even be able to start a salon, spa, or business space in your own home. Since these trades require a type of license, you will need to do some form of schooling or training, but you can charge more because it is a more specialized skill.


Network Marketing

Many types of business such as cosmetics companies have made this into a well know industry known as network marketing or direct selling. These days it’s not only a business model for cosmetics companies. Rather, companies in the health and wellness space or travel space such as inCruises are entering the space and seeing significant success.

These large corporations help reduce the overhead cost of individual representatives who sell the product or service provided by the company. Individual representatives will make commissions based on their sales, and usually will earn some form of bonus for referring someone to the business. This type of job is good because it allows people flexibility but is best for people who are more outgoing and do well interacting with others.


Home Repair Trades

This is similar to personal services trades but focuses on work done on homes or properties. This type of work may require some form of specialized license or insurance, but there are many types of work that most people could do such as lawn care, window washing, or cleaning rain gutters. These jobs may be seasonal, but there is usually high demand for these services when they are needed. You can also charge more money than other part-time jobs because these are tasks that are inconvenient for most people to do on their own.

Get Started Today

This is by no means a complete list, but it is a good place to start. See what types of projects are needed by people in your area, and find a way that you can solve that pain. People may not even know that they need what you’re offering until they see it. For more ideas, check out this list of jobs you can do on your own.