Top Small Business Ideas in India – Today we are experiencing a 21st century breakdown, where regardless of any circumstances, money and business is taking over.
Technology, Internet and Networking together have created a land of opportunities for newbies and startups to begin a successful business and evolve into a master.
Be it online shopping, social media, consultancy, education, fashion, Movies, Music, etc. Business today is everywhere. No business has ever begun or begins as a million dollar venture.
Many passionate young Indians always have a question in mind that what are best small business Ideas in India? they can start.
Facebook initiated from a Dorm room. Metallica began inside a garage. WhatsApp was made by people who were rejected by Facebook.
All these big names started with a low investment budget which later evolved into a national or international phenomenon. So clearly investment is never a road block if you are passionate about your business and want to make it big.
Today India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and a hub for IT and business startups. Thus, in this article, we will discuss the best small business ideas for India with low investment.
20 Best Small Business Ideas in India with Low Investment
Since Internet technology has become the backbone of every established business, let us begin with the business ideas that are majorly or solely based on Internet usage.
#1 Social media services
Social media has completely taken the scene of communication, advertising and online marketing to the next level. Any well-established brand or business you name today has a social media handle to manage its advertising and marketing to dish out sales and earn higher profits.
Apart from this, Newer Social Media apps are being developed every now on then with an aim to make it big in the market.
While Facebook Facebook is the global leader here, Linkedin took it to a newer level as it solely focused on promoting people’s business and networking through social media.
Today Linkedin is globally touted as “The Facebook for business”. Even Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, has an account on Linkedin.
WhatsApp, the world’s number one instant messaging app today has an Indian rival in going by the name “Hike”. WhatsApp was doing great and still is.
Hike messenger gave instant messaging a different turn by adding features like video stories, live filters, stickers, games, etc. Today Hike has a user base of over 150 million worldwide.
All you need to do is
– Come up with a new idea or twist an existing idea in a more creative and unique manner.
– Approach a reliable app developer to create the app.
– Approach an advertiser for pricing and promotion.
– Target the right section of the audience and deliver.
– It’s a simple logic, “It’s not about who has it first. It’s about who has it best!”
#2 Blogging
Since the last decade, blogging has created a platform for people and businesses to share and spread knowledge and opinion through online contents and posts.
It has now become a profession that earns you both income and respect. If you go out on a survey today, you will find at least one blogger in every 10 people you come across.
More than that, you will find that every startup that has just began, is moderately successful or even well established, is a blogger. Blogging is considered a backbone for every successful business.
It has gained much popularity lately and has had crucial impacts on the worlds of politics, business, and society. People and businesses around the world are recognizing the power of bloggers as online influencers.
Becoming a blogger is pretty easy, but keeping up with it requires sincere dedication and passion. There are numerous free guides available online that can help you create a blog within minutes.
To become a successful blogger, you need to
– Know your passion and choose the right niche. Just having a business idea is never enough. You need to be passionate about it and willing to take it to the distance. Pick the right niche for your blog that targets the right audience.
– Decide whether it is short term or long term. Never choose a niche that has no future existence or popularity. The niche you choose should be long-term and sustainable if you want to keep earning stable profits.
– Decide how to monetize your blog. Once you have created a blog, you need to decide which advertising program to sign up with to earn money.
– Stay up to date with the latest trends and information revolving around your business niche.
Let me take you through a brief run through of the types of blogs that you can choose to create.
“Rogue” blogs
These are blogs which post contents that are sharp and honest, whether in favor of the issue or against it. Rogues blogs attract attention of readers very easily, be it both good and bad.
A rogue blogger is never afraid to bend the rules and go critical against the topic. They take bold stances and put forward sharp cut reviews and opinions on trending hot issues. This quite evidently garners both admirers and haters.
Guest host blogs
In this is the type of blog you basically act as a host for publishing posts that mainly came from guest authors and you yourself don’t write too many posts for your blog.
What’s interesting is that your blog will regularly feature frequent posts from other guest authors and you as the creator and editor of the blog, can also regularly step in and write few posts of your own.
“Crash test dummy” blogs
As you can roughly guess by its name, a Crash Test Dummy blog tests and reviews various techniques, tools and strategies. The next stage is that it shares what works and what doesn’t, so you can sensibly know what to implement and what to avoid.
Niche blogs
A niche blog is a site that focuses on a narrow group of audiences and readers in a larger market with a common specific interest, which basically means that this kind of a website works best at targeting a specific section of the audience.
These kinds of websites are usually capable at attracting high website traffic as it can easily satisfy the visitors with one common and targeted interest.
This basically means that a niche blog works best when you are targeting a specific section of the audience as it lays their stress on only hyper-specific topics and issues rather than focusing on broader topics.
“Giver” blogs
If you ask me to define the term “Giver blog”, then here is a brief description. A Giver blog simply gives away useful bonus content with every post for free. These are free bonuses are called “content upgrades” and are created for a specific blog post.
A giver blog is a great way to deliver more value to your audience and are given away in exchange for an email address.
Guide blogs
There is really nothing to really explain about a guide blog. A Guide blog simply showcases posts and contents that help readers with their personal or professional lives. The most popular topics that bloggers utilize for a guide blog are topics like personal development, educational guidance, career
The most popular topics that bloggers utilize for a guide blog are topics like personal development, educational guidance, career counseling, life coaching and so on.
Homer blogs
Any kind of blog that showcases content of over 2,500+ words falls under the category of a “Homer” blog. A Homer blog can focus on anything starting from Fashion & lifestyle, health & fitness, Spirituality, Step by step guides, Educational coaching, and so on.
Creating contents for such blogs often requires excessive brain storming and research to deliver effective and observable results. What you are reading RIGHT NOW is a Homer blog.
“Tell-All” blogs
A Tell-All blog frequently showcases posts that feature exciting and new facts and details for its readers. The contents have highly valuable information/lessons learned.
This is the best place for experienced bloggers who have explored, experimented and have massive expertise in that topic.
The bloggers need to dig deep into what they explore and come out with fascinating facts and experiences for their readers.
Personal brand blogs
Personal Brand blogs are ideal for those people who are seeking to position themselves as experts or masters in a particular business.
This is the perfect type of blog when you are building a brand. This type of blogs majorly helps in personality development and portraying it as a cornerstone of the blog you are building.
A personal brand blog primarily portrays you as the creator and mega-mind behind the blog and always tends to showcase your name and face all over the home page.
Enterprise blogs
Last but not the least is the “Enterprise blog”. As you can easily guess from its name, an enterprise blog is a blog built for a company or organization rather than an individual.
Typically, a team of writers create content for this blog that is relevant and valuable to the section of audiences that the particular company is targeting to dish out their sales.
This way, the content and the blog is successful at attracting those potential customers to the website, where they can learn more about the company’s products and services.
#3 Web Content Writing
If you are confident about your grammar and literature skills, then you can do really well in the field of Web content and script writing.
Bloggers and businesses today are always in the hunt for skilled and efficient content writers who hone good literature skills and are willing to write high quality content for websites good.
Content writing is an art that requires you to write and express one topic in 5 different ways.
– You can choose to sign a contract with some brand or organization to write exclusive contents for them.
– You can sign up on various portals like Freelancer.com as a freelance content writer and get hired by multiple brands, bloggers and companies.
#4 Domain and Hosting services
While blogging is the backbone of every business today, Domain and Hosting services are the backbone for blogging. A proper and reliable hosting service ensures smooth and proper functioning of a website. Hosting services is a
Hosting services is a fast growing business that allows other businesses relying on websites and blogs to grow effectively.
There are numerous new hosting services popping into the scene every second day, each with distinct and appealing features to provide bloggers the best results.
There are big names like BlueHost, GoDaddy, GSuite, NameCheap, Domain.com, etc. and new promising services like HostGator, FatCow, Hostinger and JustHost.com with compelling and cost effective features.
You can take advantage of the fact that online brands and companies are looking for the best hosting services to expand their business online and come up with your own Hosting and Domain service.
#5 SEO Consultant
One important thing that needs to be considered by every blogger, to be successful is to focus on getting ranked in search results. Search results shown by Google, Yahoo, bing, etc. are ranked on the basis of what the search engine considers most relevant for its users who are always more
likely to trust the websites that show up in the top 5 positions of the search results. This is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
This is where the need of SEO consultants has increased over time. Today every blogger looks for good a SEO consultant to optimize their website to achieve higher rankings in search engine results.
#6 Translation services
One thing that Internet and blogging has done right is it has bridged the gap between influencers and audiences across the globe.
Influencers today are for interpretation services that provide multilingual broadcasts of their posts and services. Translation services are getting global recognition as blogging from international influencers are aiming that language should no more be a barrier.
There are numerous international brands that are aiming to expand in India and are looking for reliable Translation services that can aid them in promoting their work in multiple regional languages in India.
This trend has resulted in many Translation services popping into the scene, so much so that Translation itself has become a reputed business today.
Interpretation and Translation is now a business that requires less investment and delivers more. All it requires is personnel with a solid grip on a particular International language along with a corresponding knowledge about regional Indian languages.
#7 Freelancer
21st century has been the “Age of the freelancers”. You can act as a freelancer and work freely on any project of your own wish.
The biggest advantage of such a business is that you will not be bounded by any contract and can work for as many projects you want from multiple sources.
You can work on your own time and charge a fee based on your skill and project delivery.
Even in the freelancing category, the most popular professions that are chosen by people today are:
Freelance Photography
Freelance Content Writer
Freelance Web Designer
Freelance App Developer
Freelance Graphic Designer
Freelance Animation
Freelance Illustration and Logo Designing
Freelance Video Editor
Freelance Music Composer
Freelance Cinematography
Freelance HR management
#8 Education services
Education service is one thriving business in today’s world of growing inventions, knowledge, technology and competition.
Creating a network of skilled professionals to teach, train and guide students and adults in various fields is a reliable and popular choice of business at a small scale that can expand overtime.
Search the web and you will find countless online and offline tutoring programs for helping students at school and college level with education. This business requires more of skill, knowledge and networking and less of investment. You must be skilled and passionate enough to ensure positive results and reputation.
This business requires more of skill, knowledge and networking and less of investment. You must be skilled and passionate enough to ensure positive results and reputation.
#9 Career Guidance
With education come growing competition and multiple career options, due to which parents or students often get confused and they seek professional advice from experts.
You can build a network of experienced counselors and professionals and create a Career guidance and consultation program to help them by charging a nominal fee. This field is experiencing growing importance with time and can be done both online and offline.
#10 Cyber Security & IT Security
When it comes to Internet, Social networking, Social media, Finance and blogging, Cyber security is an important aspect that needs to be taken seriously to prevent cyber crimes. Internet crime has grown up drastically with the rapid use of Internet today.
There are many cases of online thefts and hacking that come into the limelight every now and then. As a result, organizations and forensic departments are always in the hunt for good cyber and IT security experts.
If you are very good at IT security services, then you can turn this skill into a full blown business idea. You build a reputed network of skilled IT professionals and your team may get hired by top organizations that are in need of cyber and IT security services.
#11 Financial Planning and management services
Currency is dynamic and is transforming every moment. Today money is everywhere, every second in one form or the other. Money is flowing in in the form of Incomes, Salaries, Funds, Interests, Taxes, Debit, Credit, Hard cash and online transaction and expenditures from every corner you can imagine.
People and businessmen are always looking for reliable and trustworthy services for financial planning and management to keep an organized track of their money and plan their future investments.
You can build a service to provide advice to the customers about investment & financial planning. However, before starting this, it is highly recommended that you become certified financial planner if you want people to trust your credibility in the financial planning business.
#12 Start a Franchise Store
You can create a website to promote your franchise and even launch a smartphone application with attractive deals and offer to enable online purchasing on the go.
If done the right way, then your small franchise business can become a national or international name in a matter of months.
“Fashion, Clothing and Lifestyle” is one such business that expands faster than any other business. Fashion is something that experiences various trends in a short period of time due to growing population and interests.
You can choose to start a franchise of your own and build a full blown business around it. This is one business that requires equal amount of human workforce and online promotion.
#13 Photography
Becoming photographer is the business itself. If you are very good at clicking pictures, you can try your hand at becoming a professional photographer.
There are multiple occasions like weddings, receptions, workshops, seminars, concerts, exhibitions, book/music launches and other individual or business occasions where people call for the photographer.
You can either sign up with some photography organization.
You can choose to work as a freelance photographer.
You can even choose to create your own business to deploy photographers to different occasions as and when needed.
The only investment you need to make is on your portfolio and the gadgets required for photography.
#14 Advertisement Agency
Apart from online advertising, a brand’s reputation also severely banks upon how it is promoted publically offline. It is a regular scene outside, where you get to see massive hoardings of brands, products and services in public places.
It really does make a difference as such hoardings are always likely to catch the attention of people.
You can create an advertising agency, take advertisement from an individual or from the company and display it on hoarding at public places. Such a business doesn’t require you to have any prerequisite experience or skills. You just take an advertising offer and deliver.
#15 Advertisement Making
You can use your creative bent of mind and become an advertisement guru. Companies and brands quite often seek someone who is creative, expressive and possesses the ability to showcase their products to the public in a manner that adds value to the advertisement.
#16 Animation
Animation is one profession that is growing in importance as technology is developing with time. Today you can sit and create animated videos at your home itself with the most basic of hardware, using just the right software.
If you are a skilled animation professional, then you can create your own online and offline business for providing training to several others who are willing to take up animation as a profession. This will also enhance your credibility I the field and you will be approached by brands, companies and organizations to create animated videos and documentaries. Needless to say, that this is a very high paying profession.
#17 Online Tutorials
One big thing that Internet Technology has done today is that it has bridged the gap between talent and audiences. Today YouTube and personal tutorial websites have enabled artists and professionals to share their talent, knowledge and skills with their followers.
The biggest advantage is that this helps you build a reputation and image and helps you grow a reliable follower base. The earnings keep rising as followers, shares and subscriptions increase. The most popular online tutorials that you can see today are.
Music tutorials
Cooking tutorials
Dance tutorials
Art & Craft tutorials
Academic tutorials
Tech tutorials
Domestic hacks and household tricks
#18 Green store and Consultancy
As they days are passing by, the awareness and concern towards Earth and its environment is rising, people need to learn how the earth is being damaged by us and what can be done minimize the effects. Today there is a need to promote and use products that are green and do not harm the
Today there is a need to promote and use products that are green and do not harm the environment. Though such products are being manufactured in full swing, but access to such products is not always easy. However, if you tie up with some Environmental organization or NGO and open green products store, then you can make these products easily available through an online one.
This step can be a great good business idea. Promotion and selling of these green products can help you garner widespread recognition since environment is an International affair. Apart from this, more and more business today are opting for green technology.
You can provide green consultancy to companies and organizations so that they can plan their green journey ahead. If you have the skill and knowledge of energy-saving and eco-friendly activities, you can start this business.
#19 Estate Agent
What increasing urbanization and industrialization has done is increased the need for more land and people looking for a good house for living. People either choose to purchase it or take it on rent.
Now in both cases, they require an advisor or real estate agent. Thus, you can a start estate agency. The advantage of behind this business is that be it a middle class man or a rich man, everyone is ready to invest in property and you will find many contacts who are in search for some good property.
But it is also one business which is prone to many frauds and scams and thus requires you to build a lot of trust. So it is strongly recommended to stay away from any such fraud offers and stay true to build a reputation among the masses.
#20 Human Resource (HR) management
India is one country where labor force and human resource is available in abundance. As a result of which there is a growing demand for Human
resource management. Labor recruitment and workforce management has become very essential and helps allotment of workforce to the right jobs.
You can take advantage of this fact and start your own human recruitment firm of providing recruitment services to other companies. All you need to do is create a good and reliable data of candidates looking for Jobs. Your prime objective is to refer a candidate whose profile matches the requirements of the company and get money or commission out of it.
This mode of business is very promising and successful in today’s Indian scenario where there is a rapid rise in population and cut throat competition to achieve something.
PLEASE NOTE
The list of small business ideas I have mentioned above is strictly on the basis of the existing competition and work environment prevailing in India as of mid-2017.
These business ideas are the ones which are the most in demand according to population and other national and international trends which have a direct or indirect effect on the Indian markets. Thus the importance and value of any of the above may tend to change as trends change with time.
Another important thing to keep in mind that, there is no 100% in any of the businesses mentioned above that it will yield you favorable results.
Always remember that you need to be passionate about the business you choose and must be willing to see it through to the end.
DO NOT choose a business just because it is highly in demand or switch between various jobs. You should have an undying interest in it. It will be mindless for you to start a tech tutorial as it has a high demand, while your passion lies in cooking!
This may also require you to invest an important amount of time and some money. If you are not willing to invest in your business, then you probably don’t have what it takes to succeed. Always remember that “Rags to riches” is never a stroll through the park.
It always takes time and you will have to spend a minimal amount of money to expect profits and favorable returns.
But yes, the biggest plus is that all the 20 jobs mentioned in the article have got the lowest financial barriers to entry as compared to any other businesses in the Indian market today.
You can literally start these business ideas in India with a minimal budget of as low as ₹5,000 depending on the field you choose.
Just dig deep, research hard, brainstorm well and choose the perfect one that suits you and showcases your knowledge, skills and expertise to the audiences.
ALL THE BEST!
Please Share your views and experiences in comments.