We’ll be discussing the 13 trending small business ideas that are trending now and are guaranteed to be a great source of income in the next few months and several years from now. We live in a world of business that seems to change every day. What was a popular business idea five years ago is not even close to trending today.
Therefore, if you want to dabble in this world, you have to remember that your idea can look good right now, but will it continue to be that great in a few years or even months?
Adapting and making sure your business idea is stable is the best you can do, and fortunately, several ones are already being exploited, and you can enjoy them as long as you give them your own touch.
We know many are afraid of trying trending business ideas since it is believed there’s no space for more people. However, you only have to make the decision now before it is really too late.
Ready? Set? Let’s Go!
Translators Are Always Needed
Anyone would think, “why would I invest time and effort in this when there is software like Google Translate?” Short answer: because they aren’t as good as having a skillful and reliable translator that doesn’t provide a machine translation.
Since businesses are more global than ever before and this will continue this way, people bet for translations because they are always needed. This can be your opportunity to start a business.
You don’t need much, only your knowledge in your native language and a foreign one that is to a level that allows you to offer high-quality services (if you are an official translator, that’s even better), and free time to work online more than offline.
It is inevitable to start working around a business idea yourself and be the main force, boss, manager, and needed role. However, when you start achieving results, you can expand this to a bigger business.
Some people started in Fiverr and Upwork, built their clientele, and right now are able to offer great services to more than a few clients thanks to the team they have built over the years.
Remember that a business idea and its evolution depend on you. If you want to stay alone and earn a lot of money with translations, that’s up to you!
In advance, we want to let you know that most of the business ideas (including this one) will mostly focus on online business options. Still, since we also want to include other alternatives, we decided to go for the best business ideas when it comes to physical or “more traditional” businesses.
Online Stores Are Massive
And whoever says the opposite is clearly not reading enough news and trends.
eCommerce is one of the best ideas people have had over the last decade, and despite what others would think, online stores are even more in trend than before.
No one wants to go out and buy a few items and have to go all the way to a store that is probably 30 minutes or more away. Instead, they visit the store, request the items, and wait for them to arrive at their doors.
This has also helped people find better sales and discounts for a wide range of items and products, which encouraged people to stop visiting stores and go online to buy everything they need.
This means that if you’re not working around this online business and are waiting to find a space where you can start, you are losing a lot of time.
You can just open one and then worry about logistics if you want to open a physical store, which isn’t necessary over 40% of the time.
However, opening an eCommerce is not that simple due to all the tools, skills, and knowledge you must have to do it right. It also represented an investment some couldn’t afford.
Although the completion isn’t easy, many tools are easy to use and also free nowadays, giving you many advantages in this business idea.
Shopify is the most popular one, and you can create your online store thanks to all the alternatives and designs it offers.
Now, what should you sell? Research for products and items on-trend. Clothes, shoes, and technology are three markets that are just growing, so you can consider them for your online store.
This can start as a small business idea, but we guarantee you it will pay off quite well if you are able to elevate the result by working hard and using all the tools available for every online business.
Digital Marketing Campaign Manager
Digital marketing might have the same principles of marketing as we all know it. However, with the evolution and how new media works, professionals in this specific type are required everywhere, especially now that it isn’t going anywhere but rather starting to play an even more important role than before.
What does this have to do with a business idea? If you have knowledge about digital marketing and how to handle campaigns and provide results, what are you waiting for? This is one of the most profitable business ideas with another plus: you don’t have to leave your home or place most of the time.
Although there are professions nowadays that allow people to be certified in it, you can easily learn with courses and other workshops while gaining experience and expanding your knowledge, which is why you don’t have excuses to consider it impossible as your business idea.
You can start your career as a digital marketing campaign manager by studying online courses, using those resources, and experimenting independently.
Understanding things such as advertising, SEO landing pages, calls to action, social media marketing (including Facebook ads) is essential.
Once you know what you are doing, try cold-calling local businesses and ask them whether they would be interested in your services.
Content Writing Is Crucial
You might not know this, but content marketing is crucial for a business or company to attract customers and generate leads in the first place. Therefore, content writers are always required, and many companies actually focus on providing the services that are just growing in demand.
The best part about this business is that it isn’t a professional entirely (in terms of college degrees or specific education). Of course, if you can embrace informal or formal education, that’s ten times better, but you can start without much information as long as you’re a good writer and have the inspiration to follow.
However, for this business idea, keep in mind that a content writer should be able to digest all types of topics (complex or not) and turn them into posts that will engage many people, is optimized for search engines (SEO), and can generate more leads for the client.
You can say this business requires knowledge in more areas than just writing, especially if you want to turn it into something big and not only small later.
Also, you might face a bit of a difficulty: people who are willing to pay for your services.
Copywriting is a great option, but many underestimate how crucial this professional is and end up offering payments that have nothing to do with what a person dedicated to this business should earn in exchange.
Podcasts Are the YouTube in Audio
Podcasting wasn’t the best idea for many only 3 to 4 years ago, but what about now? It is definitely a boom.
People consume more audio content instead of visuals alone, which has led podcasts to their current booming status, and don’t worry; you’re not late for the trend. Instead, you can enjoy this business opportunity by taking advantage of the many users and listeners every month compared to previous years.
However, you might be wondering how you make money with something that is usually free—simple answer: sponsors, endorsements, advertisement, and more.
Consider podcasting as YouTube of audios, and you usually generate money with the basic ideas everyone follows for the rest.
In the beginning, it will be a fantastic way to make a few bucks on the side, but it can easily turn into a gold mine once you start gaining relevance and audience.
The big question is, what can you talk about in your podcasts? Believe it or not, it isn’t necessary to give it too much thought. Just choose something you’re passionate about and know a lot of information that can be shared and educational at the same time. Are you a fan of video games? Books? Anything else?
Then, you already have the business idea complete.
Now, do you need way too much equipment to handle the task of starting this business idea? We don’t think so.
There’s no perfect business regarding how much you will spend, so don’t expect things to be completely free. However, you can save a lot of money while getting the equipment you need when it comes to podcasts and everything.
A good microphone, headphones, and software to edit your podcast before uploading it to the platform will be the key to your success, and you can use them non-stop until you start making money with your new business.
Antique Is Always a Great Business
It can include more work, and it is definitely not online, but the money you generate and earn will always be worth it.
If you don’t believe us, ask refurbishers how much they are earning for working with valuable objects made of wood that many collectors and people overall quite request.
You would be surprised by the zeros and numbers they make every month or even day.
However, for this business, you must be knowledgeable in how antique objects are and if they’re truly valuable to take the risk of usually buying them, refurbishing the wood and items, and reselling them later.
Otherwise, you could end up spending lots of money without any type of revenue after betting for the wrong items and investing effort and time where it wasn’t worth it.
A con we might have to mention is that collecting or finding antique items isn’t that simple. You have to research, travel to some states in your country to get them, and well, it does involve a lot of work compared to online options, but it doesn’t make it less profitable or trending, thanks to how much you can earn and enjoy if you are a fan of those objects.
Event Planning Is Booming
You must be used to having to hire someone to plan your special occasions and events or do your best to make them look amazing as a result of the low budget available.
Whatever it is, this business idea we will introduce is on-trend for two reasons: it can be done offline and online, and people are making at least six figures every year.
Planning events isn’t easy, and you can agree with us by just thinking about all the schedules, items, and elements to buy, organize, and handle. It is exhausting, and despite the effort invested, you might not do it right over 50% of the time.
This is why people hire planners to make it perfect and guarantee everything looks amazing and runs without any issues.
Therefore, if you are organized, have some talent to decorate, know about trends, live shows, and special events, you should give this business a try, and it won’t disappoint.
With COVID-19 finally leaving our lives, people are starting to organize more events than ever before, and well, regardless of what we do, clients will always come in this business model.
So, give it a try, and don’t worry about investment since you need your knowledge and experience (if the latter applies) to start this business.
Delivery Services Won’t Go Anywhere
They were already working before 2020 but not as popular as you would believe.
However, in 2021, people love using any new app that offers them coupons, discounts, and the simple service of taking their purchases directly to their doors.
Like online stores, delivery services are big and won’t go anywhere after even people who didn’t try them before the pandemic started to love them.
Yes, everyone wants to go to restaurants and have the normality we all need. Still, deliveries are crucial worldwide, and you can quickly start by working with a company or offering independent services.
It isn’t hard to either make some extra money or live thanks to the salary and payments you earn based on how you work and are paid (per hour or a commission).
As a future business idea, it has a lot of potentials, and companies are just improving.
Unless you want to be later than you are already, you should start with your plan and execution as soon as possible.
Web Developer in Need
Web developers will always be needed as long as there is a web or Internet, which is why you can’t continue to miss this opportunity.
Modern web development is more than just HTML and CSS. It requires learning PHP or JavaScript. This means it isn’t something done by a person who goes to websites like Wix and builds one. This is a huge no.
Developing webs needs to be done accordingly and with more than basic knowledge of UI and UX. This makes professionals in this area be quite requested, and services from either freelancers, independents, or companies are always searched.
A web developer must be familiar with the latest frameworks, technologies, and trends to compete. Taking low-cost online courses is a good place to start if you want to give this a try, but make sure you expand your knowledge and truly know how to get a web design from zero to 100 or more.
Once you have earned some experience and gone through the beginners’ phase, you can upgrade this business idea to an opportunity that includes more people and more income.
Uber & Lyft Are Still Great Options
It can sound old and a bit too cliché to recommend this, but driving services are more used nowadays since they are safer compared to stopping a taxi out of nowhere (yes, we were also worried every time we had to do it).
Apps and services like Uber and Lyft have more users registered and using their services than two years ago, and their companies seem to only continue growing for the next decade.
What is your role here as a business idea? Either work as a driver for any of them or start your own company even if it is quite small and with yourself as the only driver.
We would recommend you start with the apps and companies. Then, you can start making a clientele thanks to the usual passengers you drive home or somewhere else.
As we mentioned in a previous option, it is all about approaching the variation in the idea and taking advantage of it.
Transcriptions Are Very Low Cost
A transcription service can be a great business idea if you are a good listener and can type fast.
Besides, it allows you to work remotely with a flexible schedule and without too much physical effort.
Medical transcription services are especially needed as voice recognition technology proliferates for healthcare provider dictation. You can accept any number of transcription jobs you wish, even if you don’t want to take on all the work at once.
You can increase your business prospects by becoming a certified transcriptionist and delve into some specialties to justify higher rates.
The medical field is not the only one that needs you but also the entire legal, technical, or simple general topics.
Just keep in mind that it usually takes 24 hours to complete transcription work, so be sure to keep track of which jobs you accept.
You can accept a limited number of requests to get started, so you can scale up when you’re ready. This makes transcription an easy service to begin slowly, and the best part is that there is no startup cost or overhead. All you need is a computer and the right software.
Cleaning for Better Income
You can turn your passion for cleaning into a profitable business, and even if you don’t love it (probably like us), you can still make a lot of money with it with some hard work and patience.
You can provide cleaning services for homeowners, apartments, and commercial properties with a couple of staff members and a variety of cleaning supplies.
Most cleaning services charge between $25 and $50 per hour, and it involves a simple business that requires little overhead. All you need is planning, dedication, and marketing to get your company noticed.
You can add premium services such as exterior power washing or floor waxing to make it stand out from the rest. These services can make the difference between your new cleaning company and established companies with too many clients to offer that level of cleaning.
Not enough money to hire some staff members and buy specific products? You can start low and work around the number of clients you can take on your own and based on the products you can access.
Home Care to Help Thousands & Make Money
An education in hospitality and caregiving can be a great asset to housebound seniors who need in-home support, and believe it or not, this service is in high demand and will only grow.
The number of adults over 70 years will increase exponentially due to the overpopulation and how we’re getting to the next phase in humanity. As a result, many people will require care and assistance, sometimes in their own homes.
You don’t have to have a healthcare background to help seniors while also running a successful business or when you’re planning to do so.
However, those skills are highly in demand, and if you have them or there’s someone you can get for your team, it will be a great plus.
Seniors need assistance with everything, from house repairs to running errands. You could grow your business and offer services such as moving, packing, and storing furniture to seniors who are moving to assisted living facilities.
The Best Business Idea for You
If it is on-trend, it doesn’t mean it is the best you can choose and should bet for.
You have to determine if it is affordable if you meet qualifications and how possible it is to handle the business idea.
Many people jump into action and don’t consider things properly. Like skills required, how much it will cost, if it is expensive or not, how long it can take to see some revenue, etc.
Also, you have to know yourself in order to understand what can fit your needs the most and what business opportunity can bring more revenue, and it doesn’t have to be on-trend necessarily.
However, the previous ideas are big since they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, so you should consider them before any other unless you find others as good and on-trend as these.
Does this mean we consider them to be the best business ideas at the moment and for the next few years? Yes and no.
We have mentioned on other occasions that not everything is about how much money you can make in a specific period of time but also how long your business can last in the market and be actually profitable.
Therefore, look at your options with a more open mind, and we guarantee you will understand what were are talking about.
Now, if you want a few extra options since you might have some difficulties starting any of those business ideas, here are a few we can add:
- Virtual assistant.
- Food truck.
- Consulting business.
- Freelance writing.
- Create an online course.
All small business ideas that look profitable and a good way to start can also be considered, even when they aren’t usually considered to be a good way to make money in the long run. Which one are we talking about?
A few like dogs walking, pet sitting, personal trainer, anything related to graphic design, tax preparation, and any that would allow you to be part of the business owners group.
How to Start Your New Business Idea
It is very important to prepare well before you decide to start your business. We know that sometimes, some opportunities will come and you have to take them as soon as possible.
However, don’t let the need for organization and a few thoughts leave your side if you want your business to work in the short and long run.
That being said, be aware that many things could go wrong, and if you want to avoid as many as possible or be able to overcome them, you must keep in mind a few tips:
You must be flexible to change to run a successful business.
A key part of creating a business plan is conducting in-depth market research in your field and the demographics of your potential clients. This includes conducting focus groups and surveys as well as researching SEO and public data.
You must build your brand before you can start selling your product.
Name and logo creation are easy tasks. But what about the more important, less well-known, yet equally important steps?
The workload can quickly mount, regardless of whether you’re establishing your business structure or creating a detailed marketing strategy.
Therefore, every detail is crucial. We suggest you focus on every one of them instead of feeling regretful for something you could have avoided or fixed with just a bit more dedication to it.
The Local Lead Generation Process for Your Business
All right! So, everything is about building properties and generating leads. But how does the process actually take place? Are there other steps I need to know?
The steps I mention below are what students from our local lead generation program follow to generate leads for businesses like yourself. So I’ll help you see what we do. And how if you join our program, you can simply generate leads for your own business (unless you want to start a side hustle and build a laptop lifestyle business).
Essentially, our lead generation can be divided into four steps:
The first is prospecting. You need to take the time to do market research on a niche (industry) and determine how many phone-driven businesses are there.
Keep in mind that this is local research as you need to know how many companies need leads. For example, you may search for “plumbing services Youngstown OH.”
You will find dozens or even hundreds of businesses trying to get themselves in front of the customers by ranking on Map Listings, organic results, and even Ad.
The second step, building. When you find a niche (plumbing, tree services, a software company, real estate…), you will need to start building your digital properties. You don’t need to be an expert in HTML or coding. It can be easy with the right tools.
The third step is now taking time to rank your lead gen website. With the site done, you need to work on SEO strategies and start dominating those Google search results. If you’re new to SEO, it stands for Search Engine Optimization.
To keep it simple, it consists of the entire process of growing a company’s visibility on search engines like Google and generating organic traffic. And remember this, local lead generation is part of the strategies.
Moving on to step four, once you rank the site, you will start getting your ROI and profits. You only need to rent it out to a local business interested in the leads the site generates. You can offer a couple of free leads to their move on with the actual pay per lead.
To review steps 1-4 above, I described it to a normal student who is building a lead gen business to help local service providers generate more calls. But replace the student with you as the business owner. And replace sending the leads to a business to simply siphoning the leads to your personal business.
By the way, fun fact, about 20% of our students in our local lead gen program are actually business owners who went through the program. And they use the skillsets we teach to generate leads for their own business.
An Example of Lead Generation: Home Advisor
You must be thinking, “if lead generation sounds so good so far, how come I haven’t seen any company?” That’s the thing; there are many out there. You just don’t know they are dedicated to it.
HomeAdvisor is one of the best examples you can find on the Internet as it is a top lead generation company that has spent millions building its brand but also earned even more zeros for this same reason.
They started small as everyone else but invested in building their brand awareness to make people who are looking for home services go to their website and find what they need. They are over 75% of people’s first choice when they need those services.
If you don’t get HomeAdvisor that much or need a refresh, users need to submit their information to request a service and get a professional or expert who can provide it.
HomeAdvisor’s job is to share your information, which makes you a lead, with local companies so they can contact you and offer the service you’re requesting. For sharing this lead information, HomeAdvisor gets paid by the companies. This happens for every single lead they send to multiple businesses.
Business owners who don’t have marketing skills or don’t even know how to have any online presence will always rely on those pages to list their services. They will save time and effort, but companies like HomeAdvisor can make them spend lots of money as leads aren’t exclusive (one lead is sent to multiple companies after all).
Using Facebook Ads aka Paid Ad Platforms: Do They Generate Leads?
They DO generate leads. If not, no one would use them.
However, you need to remember two facts:
- Paid ads or platforms can be expensive.
- They don’t generate “natural” leads.
Whenever someone sees or clicks in one of those ads, over 80% of them did it by accident or are trying to close/report it.
Why? Because they aren’t looking for those services. At least not at the moment.
What those ads do instead is interrupt their time on the platforms. Users aren’t there to find companies or businesses unless they are searching for a specific company’s user, and for that, there’s a search bar. This is why it is hard to convert them to actual customers who will show interest in the companies’ services. Also, you’re limited by a budget.
When using lead generation, everything is organic. You aren’t forcing others to pay attention to your business but rather being there when they need you. This is why Google’s organic traffic will always beat paid ads, and the reason companies continue investing in it, which is a lot cheaper as well.
What Is Local SEO?
Don’t worry… I didn’t get it at first either. Following the short explanation, local SEO focuses on scaling businesses’ visibility on search engines. However, this is only for those who serve their communities face-to-face.
What does this mean?
Experts and professionals like painters, plumbers, and dentists (but not only them) offer their services to their local customers. Why? Because they can’t deliver them unless they are located in the same area of their customers.
To make sure those businesses get more leads, you need to rank them locally by claiming the business listing on Google to place them on Map Listings. Local SEO also involves online reviews, citation management, and how you manage your entire online presence in the local area.
If you are going to bet on lead gen, you need to adapt yourself to today’s world: The Internet.
Keep in mind that although traditional channels and methods like billboards, warm calls, and pamphlets still work, they aren’t part of your tools. Whenever someone needs a service, they go to Google and search for it.
“Dentist in Miami” or “plumbing services in Orlando,” etc. And you can keep coming up with services or professionals people need and look for. Thus, you need to make sure you’re using Google to get the companies in front of their clients.
Users will always click on the first search results (those near the top), and many of them will be either Ad links (people paid to place their websites there), Map Listing, and then you get websites. Almost all of them are your goal and where you should always aim to place yourself.
Can My Business Utilize a Local Lead Generation Strategy?
If you want customers, you better know you need it. Following the previous explanation, lead gen is all about placing businesses in front of their customers, choosing them over their competitors.
Put it simply – it’s all about closing deals and having clients for those companies to make money. The main difference with the usual methods companies use for this is how lead generation approaches different channels to get them in the right place of the market to get customers.
Those channels are all focused on the Internet as most people are searching for products but also services across the net. The issue is that the Internet is way too broad, and businesses don’t know how to place themselves. They usually try, but they get one common result: losing money and time.
How Powerful Are Organic Leads from Google?
For companies looking for customers, it’s everything. For you? Pretty much the same. When you build a business with digital properties, you get to make thousands of dollars a month.
This isn’t a “get started today and get rich tomorrow” thing, but it is HIGHLY scalable, and ROI + positive results are guaranteed. Learning a fairly decent and very needed set of skills to create your digital properties and start ranking them on Google is required.
I have invested in several online businesses over the years, and if there’s something uncertain, whether you will get your ROI or not, even more than the actual profit.
However, this business moved my earnings from five figures a year to a month in ONLY passive income while sitting comfortably at home.
On my laptop. Anywhere. Anytime.
You can look at one of the first sites I built back in 2016, and it continues making me over $1.000+ every month. The best part is that I don’t need to touch it or the rest I’ve built over the years, just like this digital property.
What Makes Lead Generation SO Alluring?
Here it goes: you can work from home.
The main issue with regular business opportunities is how much you need to invest in staff, equipment, or rent to have a place to sell your products or offer your services.
We all know the hassles of traditional businesses that involve regular expenses, which are extremely high. Can you afford it? I don’t think so, and even if you can, is it worth it? Now, it isn’t only about the money. You also need to put in a lot of work, and it isn’t only during the first couple of months or years. Usually, it is as long as you continue running it.
You can save yourself those headaches and bone-breaking tasks and expenses with lead gen since it is more about generating leads with digital channels—mainly websites.
Websites can be VERY cheap to build, and with many tools online, you get to do it in a couple of hours instead of days. Any virtual or digital business is scalable and won’t need constant maintenance.
So, let’s summarize this:
- You save money in regular expenses with traditional and most online businesses as what you need is yourself and digital properties (websites).
- You can bet on passive income.
- There’s no need to hire more people to get started.
- You can generate leads in multiple industries, which allows you to work on any niche you want.
How Can I Get Started in the Local Lead Generation Program?
Anyone can start and learn. That’s the beauty of this business model. I knew nothing about SEO, Map Listing, and everything I’ve mentioned so far. It is all about learning the skills, gaining experience, and deciding to take the step.
Remember that this business model will never get old as business owners are always looking for leads. They need to do business and scale their companies. Why not do the same while helping others and still making money?
You can start with this local lead generation course highly recommended for anyone wanting to grow in the business. It is a close training that will take you through each step and make sure you are able to get your ROI, profits and take control of your life.
You will be added to an incredible lead generation family ready to help you 24/7 when asking questions on the group. Anyone is welcome who’s willing to put in the work. Click here to watch the lead gen webinar.