There are plenty of advantages to being a business owner. First, owning a small business provides the opportunity to earn more money. Also, being a business owner means you are in control of everything. You decide when to work, where, and what to sell.
Meanwhile, the first step to becoming an entrepreneur is finding a small business idea that works for you. In this article, we go through small business ideas to serve as inspiration for beginners.
Table of Contents What is a small business, and why start it online?
Anyone can start an online business as long as you have a small business idea and a working internet connection in this age and time. Today, you have all the tools to set up your own business online.
Any business that functions on a small scale involves less investment and less human/machine labor to operate is a small business. Most entrepreneurs with huge companies and corporations started by running small businesses .
Meanwhile, social media and online technology make it easier than ever for anyone to start a small business. This includes entrepreneurs who run businesses as their full-time job and those who run them as a side hustle.
With a profitable B2B online business, you can: Avoid expensive startup costs,
Choose your working hours
Work as little or as much as you want
Pick a niche that you are knowledgeable or passionate about
More importantly, starting an online business makes it easy to be your boss and earn money from anywhere. Best small business ideas to start with little money
Before starting any business, it’s essential to decide on what to sell and analyze if it’s profitable or not. The last thing you want is to invest time and effort in a business that isn’t profitable.
Here are 21 low-cost small business ideas that Alibaba.com picks you can consider for your entrepreneurial journey: 1. Start a dropshipping business
Dropshipping is a profitable business to start online, especially if you do not want to buy products in advance. Some entrepreneurs make up to $100,000 a year from drop shipping. 1
How does it work?
Dropshipping involves sourcing from suppliers at wholesale prices and then selling them to consumers without stocking inventory. Many B2B e-commerce stores like Alibaba.com make it easy for drop shippers to find suppliers and sell to consumers.
Dropshipping is also a low-risk and profitable small business because you do not need to incur running costs, unlike wholesalers. You can specialize in any product as a drop shipper, but it’s best to focus on products that sell well and are of high quality. 2. Develop and sell a niche product
Carving out a niche product for a specific target audience is another great small business idea. Instead of depending on suppliers and manufacturers for goods, you can develop your product.
Before racking your head for a product idea, it’s best to choose a specific niche first. For instance, if your interested niche is fashion, you can produce apparel, lip gloss, or skincare. If you’re more interested in art and creativity, you can offer notebooks, journals, and so on. Different niches have multiple product ideas, and it’s up to you to decide what you want to produce. 3. Design and sell print-on-demand t-shirts Another profitable yet inexpensive small business idea is to offer customized t-shirts to customers. In 2020, the printing t-shirt market was valued at $4 billion. 2 Print-on-demand t-shirts are an excellent dropshipping idea for entrepreneurs who want to enter the fashion or design industry. Also, you do not have to worry about inventory or stock as you only print on demand.To start this small business, you will need to create t-shirt mockup designs (there are templates online) to allow customers to preview the design. Once a customer orders a shirt, you can leverage platforms like Printiful to create designs or outsource to a print-on-demand service. Also, the trick to being successful in this industry is to offer unique and cute designs that showcase people’s identities and personalities. 4. Sell print-on-demand posters, greeting cards, and prints There is something very unique about custom-made and artistic products. Even though the world can now leverage technology to send their messages, most people still prefer sending customized greeting cards. A study showed that nine out of every ten households buy greeting cards each year. 3 Also, many people love artistic posters, prints, and wall hangings which you can offer through print-in-demand services. If you are an artist, designer, writer, or have a thing for […]