Time for my small business ideas 2024 edition!
Since 2012, I’ve helped thousands of people start and market their own business, and I can help you too!
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54 Creative Small Business Ideas for 2024
1. Neighborhood Coffee Truck – Why not in a neighborhood where a lot of people are still working from home, especially since “Coffee Near Me” is a top Google search.
2. DIY Vegetable Garden Kits – Food prices have been on the rise, and so have searches for a DIY vegetable garden, so sell a DIY gardening kit, seeds and/or tutorials, even plans for building a garden bed.
3. Home Grown Flowers – Florists are expensive so buy yourself an affordable green house on Amazon and grow flowers for people to purchase for weddings, Mother’s Day, even poinsettias for Christmas.
4. Hiking Store – Interest in hiking as soared over 1,000% in the past year, so a small retail outlet that specializes in the best hiking gear or even selling hiking vacation packages could do well.
Small Business Ideas 2024
5. Conversion of Commercial Spaces – With many office buildings sitting empty because workers are staying home, this means a growing need to be able to convert these spaces from commercial offices to residential living spaces. This would be an ideal contracting business to specialize in.
6. Bungee Workout Classes – Bungee fitness was one of the breakout searches of 2023. You can offer these bungee workout sessions in the park and save on space rental fees.
7. Training for Older Workers – Employers have to train their older employees in new skills such as social media, artificial intelligence and more, so offer this service to local companies.
8. Pop Up Office Rentals – Offer a service to find temporary office space for employers in need, as “office space rental agency” was a top search last year.
Business Ideas for Individuals
9. Dog Trainer – “Private dog trainer” was a top search, with people looking for you to come to their home and train their dog one on one.
10. Pet Anxiety Trainer – A recent study from Finland finds that about 70 percent of dogs likely live with anxiety with not a lot of cures. Someone who would come regularly to the home and work with the dog to help it relax would be something worth paying for.
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11. Therapy Dog Trainer – Consider specializing and becoming a therapy dog trainer. In the USA alone, there are currently 500,000 service dogs helping everyone from seniors to children, so it is a growing field full of opportunity.
12. Amazon Virtual Assistant – More and more people are selling on Amazon, but they do not have the time or expertise to get a shop up and running quickly. This is currently the most in-demand service on Fiverr.
13. Neighborhood Websites – “Near Me” Google searches are at an all time high, so a neighborhood website funded by local advertisers is a great way to connect people with local services as well as their neighbors.
14. Soundproofing – “How to Soundproof” and “How to Install Acoustic Wall Panels” were two top searches in 2023, so you can either offer a service and/or the product itself.
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15. Upsized House Plans for Boomers – Believe it or not, more baby boomers are upsizing their homes rather than downsizing as they want more space to accommodate live-in elderly parents and out of town children and grandchildren. As a result, the type of house has changed where they require more than one master bedroom, wheel chair accessibility, and single level with a first floor owner’s suite.
16. Errand Runner / Personal Assistant – Working couples, particularly those with kids, are overwhelmed with their ever growing daily to do list, from picking up dry cleaning to grocery shopping to meal planning to registering kids for activities to making doctor’s appointments to planning birthday parties to buying gifts for other kids parties, – it goes on and on.
17. Personal Sales Associate – What if you could offer to sell other people’s big-ticket items for them, such as like cars, boats, RVs, jewelry, and the like, and you simply get paid a commission or a finder’s fee (your job is to find and scrutinize all buyers).
Click to download on Etsy!
18. Bargain Hunter – If you are really good at finding the best local deals on groceries, furniture, travel, restaurants, many people would pay for a service that would send them texts or email alerts on the best deals in their city for the things they sign up for.
19. Funeral Officiant – There is huge demand for wedding officiants but just as many people want a someone to officiate a funeral (also known as certified celebrants) and the average rate you can charge is $200 to $500 per service.
20. Resume Writer – New grads have trouble selling themselves to prospective employers, so if you have a flair for writing and sales, offer to write resumes and cover letters. By the way, I offer this service for both resumes and LinkedIn Summaries (you get the benefit of a marketer!).
21. Elderly Walker /Sitter – A lot of working people have elderly parents living with them that need to be checked on throughout the day, maybe even have a conversation with them or take them for a walk. There are some social agencies that offer this service for free, but they are backed up with requests and hurt by a lack of volunteers, making it ideal for a private service offering.
22. AI Teachers – Since July 2022, searches for information on artificial intelligence has grown by 4,000% so show people how they can use it to make money or improve their life with workshops and classes.
23. Language Conversationalist – Many people need to learn a second language as part of a job requirement. Therefore, if you are fluent in a second language offer conversation training whereby you simply meet the person for coffee once or twice a week and speak in your native tongue. You could easily charge $20 to $25 an hour as their company will sometimes pick up the fee.
Click to download on Etsy!
24. Makeup Artist – Whether it is a wedding, prom or even a Halloween party, there is a lot of demand for a professional makeup artist who will come right to your home. In fact, the search “Personal Glam Squad” has exploded in the last two years. Be sure to check out my Marketing Plan for Beauty Products.
25. Seasonal House Prepping – If you live in a cold climate, handle people’s fall and spring house prep checklist for a pretty good per diem rate.
26. College Researcher – Is your child lost when it comes to applying to college – where to go, what to study, what they need to take in high school for particular disciplines, where to find grant money, etc. Save all the helicopter parents out there the trouble and take this on yourself by offering this service.
27. Pop-up Store Liaison – Again, act as a liaison between small businesses who wanted a popup retail presence just for a weekend or week and the lessor or realtor for the property. You make your money by getting a piece of the commission.
28. Wellness Coach – You’ve heard of Life Coaches, but a Wellness Coach focuses purely on your physical and mental health choices and searches for a “certified” one have skyrocketed over the past year. 
29. Pet Nail Trimmer – On average, most dogs need to have their names trimmed every 1 to 2 months. So learn how to do it properly and then you can ask a local pet shop if you can hold trimming sessions in their shop every weekend. Typical rate is $10 per dog for about 5 minutes work.
30. Embroiderer – The personalization market is huge as everyone wants their name or monogram on everything they wear and own. An embroidery machine costs anywhere from $400 to $1,200 so you could pay this off fairly quickly, especially if you target companies and sports teams.
31. Mural Painter – So when I say mural painter, I don’t mean the murals on nursery walls, although that is a good business, but I mean murals for local companies, especially in their boardroom, foyers or on the side exterior walls of their business as free advertising.
Click to download on Etsy!
32. Leather Repairer – Leather furniture is expensive, and finding someone to repair it is a lost art. Lots of demand, little competition.
33. Sleep Expert – It is believed that between 30% and 48% of older adults suffer from insomnia. It is becoming a serious health issue, so a sleep expert who could help solve their problem would be a service worth paying for.
34. Spiritual Awakening Trip Planner – More and more people are investing in their mental health, so they like to seek guidance in far off exotic places that have a tradition of helping with spiritual healing. A great business idea is to be a planner specializing in these types of excursions, especially targeting people travelling on their own.
35. Personal Gift Shopper – Offer to be their personal gift shopper who also hunts for the best gifts at the lowest prices, saying them money so that it becomes a service that is really worth paying for.
Click to download on Etsy!
36. Cabinet Refinisher – Home buyers feel badly about ripping out kitchen or bathroom cabinets due to the expense and the waste. A lot of the time, the cabinets could be refinished, so specialize in this one area, for both residential and commercial businesses.
37. Put Up take Down Christmas Lights – Offer a put up and take down holiday lights service, even offering to supply the lights so they don’t have to worry about storage.
38. Niche Influencer – This small business idea simply uses the power of Instagram. Now, there are “influencers” taste testing Trader Joe products and telling you which ones they like, and making money doing it. So find a hot market niche whereby people want to know more about the product before they buy it, a product they can’t touch, smell, feel or taste online.
Best Rental Small Business Ideas 2024
39. Luxury House Rental – Millennials do not want the burden of owning a house, but they still want luxury accommodations and have no problem paying the rent for an Instagram-able abode, even if it is small. So, find a small duplex or tri-plex and redo it based on the top décor trends you find on Pinterest, and then rent it out to millennials for thousands of dollars a month.
40. Camper Rental – If you have a camper you do not use all year, why not rent it out, sort of like an AirBnB for campers.
Click to download on Etsy!
41. Leisure Boat Rental – People cannot afford all the toys but it doesn’t mean they don’t want to enjoy them. Therefore, if you live near water, purchase a boat merely to be rental to those who want it for a weekend excursion, party on the water, wedding or other aquatic event.
42. Clothing Rentals – Millennials do not like the fact that cheap throwaway clothes are filling up the landfills, so renting clothes seems like a more eco-friendly option. Sites like Rent the Runway have been around since 2009, but more niche rental markets could take off, such as clothes for men, children, prom or formal wear.
Creative Small Business Ideas
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43. Student Furniture Store – A student furniture store is basically a second hand store, but you could fix up the pieces for them and get a little bit higher of a price. You wouldn’t even need to have the store up for long, just a pop-up store from early-August to late-September.
44. Barn Pop Up Store – There is a farm near where I live that every fall rents out its barn to a 8 week long Christmas market. Maybe you have a structure that could work as a pop store for a variety of different rotating vendors and you simply charge each vendor a table fee.
45. Small Scale Furniture – Apartment, dorm room, tiny house or she shed, more than half of Americans would consider living in a home that’s less than 600 square feet, according to a survey done by the National Association of Home Builders. Even Amazon is selling tiny house kits. Therefore, start a business strictly in furnishing these small spaces with small scaled furniture and décor.
46. Comfort Clothing – Searches for “comfort clothing” have quadrupled in the last 5 years, so start a store specializing in this. Check out my Marketing Plan for Fashion Brands.
47. Home Energy Expert – A service whereby you can come in and evaluate a home and provide ways for the home owner to better insulate and cut costs is invaluable, not to mention it can also qualify the home owner for various government rebates.
48. Star and Moon Gazing Events – There has been growing interest in the moon and stars after the eclipse in August 2017 drew such large gazing crowds, and, as such people have been developing events around the monthly full moon from wine hosting events to tarot readings. Also see idea #54.
49. Netflix Cafe – With so many streaming services showing up on the market, no one can afford to sign up for them all, so a café or bookstore that wants to offer the ability to come in and watch on a personal screen or even hold hosting parties in a large party room, might be worthwhile.
Best Product Small Business Ideas 2024
50. Monthly Subscription Box for Teachers – We keep hearing how so many teachers have to pay for their own supplies, so why not start an affordable subscription box service for teachers with lesson plans, room decorations and supplies.
51. Monthly Subscription Box for Seniors – A lot of seniors are shut-ins and love the thought of receiving mail. So set up a subscription box services small business that their far away children (or even grandchildren) can purchase for them with monthly items they would like and need.
52. Mystery Boxes – Mystery boxes have become a new form of entertainment at 60,000 Google searches a month, so how can you ignore the demand? You can offer mystery boxes as a mail subscription service or you can do it as a service for other companies. You would have the most success to focus on hobbies and interests, such as mystery boxes for gamers, readers, makeup, and jewelry as these are the top searches.
53. Vinyl Art Posters – A lot of stores make vinyl wall decals that are small graphics or text that adhere to the wall. However, if you could take an actual art print or poster and make it vinyl so that it is essentially peel and stick, you would have a hit on your hands with the apartment dwellers and college dorm room market, who really need that peel and stick artwork capability.
54. Solar Eclipse Glasses – Did you know that when there was a solar eclipse a few months back, searches for “Where can I find solar eclipse glasses?” soared? Believe it or not, there are only 160 listings on Amazon and another solar eclipse is coming in April 2024.
I hope you enjoyed these small business ideas 2024.
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© 2024 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Small Business Ideas 2024.
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The shutting down of businesses due to the Corona virus outbreak obviously has a trickle down effect. If your buyers are not working, then non-essential purchases are typically the first things they have to stop buying.
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