The 92 Best Small Business Ideas for 2023 | Ranked by Category

With one of these best small business ideas for 2023, you’ll be able to attain financial freedom, escape the rat race (your full-time job of 9-5 working), and live on your own terms. In fact, you’re certainly not alone in your quest to start your own small business.

Over the past few years, a record number of people have been exiting the corporate world, and many more are simply on the search for an extra side income. Regardless of your reasoning, here you’ll find 92 lucrative online business ideas that are easy and cheap to start. Ready to learn all the best startup ideas? Let’s dive right in.

The Best Small Businesses to Start in 2023 | Our Verdict

With different kinds of business ideas, we’ve split our top startup ideas into 4 main categories — Stability, profitability, ease of starting, and creativity.
One that ticks all the boxes and proves to be the best small business to start from home is web development. Here are our top picks for each category:

1. Best stable small business — Childcare owner
2. Best profitable small business — Event planner
3. Easiest small business — Notary
4. Most creative small business — Travel planner

12 Best Small Business Ideas From Home

Remote work is where the world is headed — why leave the comfort of your home to spend most of your day stuck in traffic, when you don’t have to? With remote work, you’ll have the freedom to enjoy a better work/life balance, avoid the costly expenses of commuting to and from work, and more.

Here are your top remote online business ideas, where all you really need is a stable internet connection:

1. Make a Blog

Blogs are an excellent way to generate a steady passive income. If there is any topic that interests you or any niche you have knowledge of, you can turn it into a source of revenue. Besides an internet connection, all you’ll need is a functional development platform like WordPress, domain and website hosting, and evergreen engaging content for your blog to be a hit.

Once your blog starts attracting a substantial number of users, you can promote affiliate links or make money from advertising.

Best Tool to Create a Blog: GoDaddy

GoDaddy is easily the best web hosting service. It’s a popular American domain registrar and web hosting company best known for its affordable plans, a wide variety of domains, and a user-friendly Si panel to manage your domain.

Best Features

Here’s what we love about GoDaddy:

• Domains of Every Extension — GoDaddy has an extensive database of domain names; it has you covered irrespective of whether you’re looking for a .com, .net, or .org website.
• SSL Certificate — GoDaddy also extends its services to providing SSL certificates to keep your website secure and healthy.
• Diverse Hosting Solutions — Different business sizes have different server needs; GoDaddy caters to all of them with its diverse hosting solutions.
• Flawless Customer Service — One of the best features of GoDaddy is its flawless customer service available 24×7 to customers worldwide.

Pricing

• Domains start from $0.01/year for the first year.

2. Join an Affiliate Program

Affiliate marketing is a fantastic business opportunity, particularly if you already have an audience to market to. All you have to do is promote another company’s products or services to your audience, and you’ll earn a sizable commission for every sale, lead, or sign-up.

Our Top Pick for Affiliate Programs: Affiliaxe

What makes Affiliaxe one of the most sought-after affiliate programs is its variety in terms of product verticals. You’ll find products from various industries, giving you the flexibility to choose items that are suited to your target audience.

Best Features

Here’s what we love about Affiliaxe:

• Flexible Monetizing Options — In addition to using your affiliate link to make money, you can also make money from deep linking, XML product feeds, product redirection, etc.
• Affiliate Manager — Once accepted into the program, you get your very own affiliate manager to help you maximize your earning potential.
• Multiple Traffic Channels — Affiliaxe doesn’t care where you get your traffic from; it can be social media, emails, videos, or websites.
• Globally Available — Affiliaxe is a globally renowned affiliate program available in 24 countries, including the USA, UK, Romania, Portugal, France, etc.

Pricing

• Unlike most affiliate programs, Affiliaxe doesn’t charge any fee in the name of training or onboarding.

3. Make an Ecommerce Site

Consider owning a store and taking your online business game to a whole new level with your personal eCommerce site. Don’t rely on eCommerce giants like Amazon or eBay to control your business. Instead, create your own space online and sell physical or digital products your customers will love.

Our Top Pick for Ecommerce Tool: Shopify

Shopify is the #1 choice of all aspiring eCommerce businesses, and for good reason. Available in over 175 countries, Shopify is one of the most popular eCommerce development platforms on the market right now.

It’s known for its extremely effective integrations that make managing your store a cakewalk and brilliant, and engaging themes that make creating your own eCommerce site easier than ever.

Best Features

Here’s what we love about Shopify:

• Shopify App Store — The Shopify App Store consists of more than 6000 applications that you can seamlessly integrate with your Shopify account.
• Shopify Expert — If you find creating your own eCommerce site from scratch a challenge, visit the Shopify Marketplace to hire an expert to scale your business.
• No-code Themes — Not everyone aspiring to build an eCommerce store is a coding expert. That’s why Shopify allows you to drag and drop pre-design elements to build the perfect storefront.
• Multiple Selling Points — Shopify allows you to sell on multiple platforms, including websites, applications, Instagram stores, etc., and that too, from the same account.

Pricing

• Starts from $29/month

4. Become a Freelance Writer

Being a freelance copywriter or blogger is a lucrative profession that offers ample opportunities and scope for growth. This is because businesses these days are content-driven. After all, creating content is one of the easiest ways to reach out to customers.

However, not every company has the time or resources to have an in-house writing team. That’s why they hire freelance writers from all over the world, and you could be one of them!

Our Top Pick for Best Freelance Writing Tool: Grammarly

Before reaching out to potential clients for freelancing gigs, you have to ensure that your writing is flawless. That’s why we recommend Grammarly, a powerful AI writing assistant. It identifies grammatical errors in your writing and offers additional tips to improve the tone and engagement of the piece.

Best Features

Here’s what we love about Grammarly:

• User-friendly — Tips and suggestions offered by Grammarly are extremely easy to follow. All you have to do is click on a given suggestion, go through the problem, and solve it in a jiffy.
• Generous Free Plan — Grammarly’s free plan is a god-sent for those who don’t have the financial capacity for the premium plan. It offers insightful reports on grammatical as well as clarity-related issues.
• Goal-focused — Grammarly takes into account your target audience and your content’s goals to serve you better suggestions.
• In-depth Analysis — Grammarly not only corrects English grammar-related issues but also offers insights into the tone, clarity, and engagement quotient of your content.

Pricing

• Paid plans start at $12/month

5. Become a Project Manager

Large multinational organizations like Amazon rely on outsourcing to manage their work better. In fact, project management is one of the most commonly outsourced positions by such companies.

It entails hiring individuals to manage the daily tasks of a given project remotely and maintain steady progress on the same. It’s also an excellent way for individuals like you to make a steady income, not to mention you can even turn it into a small business.

Best Tool for Project Management Tools: ClickUp

ClickUp is a popular project management tool known for its advanced features and diverse services that extends to every aspect of managing projects remotely and enhancing team collaboration.

Best Features

Here’s what we love about ClickUp:

• Easy Imports — Migrating to ClickUp is a simple 1-minute process irrespective of the project management tool you are currently using.
• Multiple Project Management Tools — Whether you need a kanban board or roadmap to manage different projects or Gantt charts to work around deadlines, ClickUp has a native tool for every need.
• Team Collaboration — Chat with your team in an instant or use the Zoom integration to schedule a meeting; communicating with your team on ClickUp is a breeze.
• ClickUp App — Want to make the most of your remote job? Work on the go with ClickUp’s responsive mobile application.

Pricing

• Starts at $5/month

6. Become a Social Media Manager

Social media management, like project management, is often outsourced by influencers and businesses.

The hired individual is required to maintain social media accounts, the content calendar, post timings, engagement, and advertising campaigns on behalf of the company or the individual, as the case may be.

Plus, they’re also responsible for the growth and establishment of a brand on the chosen social platforms.

Our Top Pick for Best Social Media Management Tool: HootSuite

Managing multiple social media platforms manually isn’t feasible, even for a social media manager. That’s why we recommend tools like HootSuite that act as a unified dashboard for all your social media channels.

From maintaining your social calendar to getting insightful analytics on each post, HootSuite is the only tool you’ll need to level up as a social media manager.

Best Features

Here’s what we love about HootSuite:

• Automate Scheduling — HootSuite allows you to schedule social media posts in advance so you don’t have to do them manually.
• One-stop Dashboard — Track all your posts and social media messages from a single HootSuite dashboard.
• Post Recommendations — Get real-time recommendations on your post and find the best time to create content to receive maximum engagement.
• Custom Reports — Gain powerful insights into every social media platform and create custom reports to show the brand’s progress.

Pricing

• Starts from $49/month

7. Become a Freelance Developer

Thousands of new startups enter the business scene every year, but not every founder is as technically adept as their business acumen might be.

That’s why they require professional freelance developers to create their dream website that is functional, responsive, SEO-friendly, and engaging. Web development is a highly lucrative career, and reaching your clients without any middlemen would result in you enjoying higher profits.

Our Top Pick for Web Development Tool: WordPress

Before reaching out to potential clients for web development gigs, make sure you’re proficient in CMS software like WordPress. It’s a popular open-source content management system known for its extensive database of plugins and cutting-edge features that makes creating and running a website extremely easy.

Best Features

Here’s what we love about WordPress:

• Plugins — WordPress has a compatible plugin for almost every website need, reducing the workload on the developer’s part.
• Editable Themes — Whether you want to create a new theme from scratch or edit an existing template, WordPress’s editable themes make customizing websites a breeze.
• Multiple Integrations — Your client will naturally want a fully functional website, which is why WordPress offers extensive integrations with tools that look after pop-ups, contact forms, email marketing, etc.
• Easy Team Management — Create different access levels for different team members, allowing them to work together to create the perfect website for your client.

Pricing

• Starts at $15/month

8. Get Into Childcare Business

After entire families were stuck at home together for months on end, daycare providers are in high demand for parents who transitioned to remote work. The best part? If you’re a stay-at-home parent, you can offer daycare out of your home and take care of your kids at the same time.

Avg. yearly salary: $29,000

9. Become a Virtual Fitness Trainer

During and after the pandemic, gyms saw huge drops in membership numbers, and influencers had a field day with DIY at-home videos. People figured out that they don’t need to go all the way to a gym to exercise. And the rise of video fitness trainers created an interest in a variety of exercise experiences. Which is a fancy way of saying that online fitness training, on YouTube, Instagram, via the MindBody app, and more, is a thriving business model.

Salaries for trainers range from $30,000–$70,000 per year, but the money you make online would depend on your pricing model.

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Fitness trainer or not, video is the way to go. Follow our tips on how to get more video views and rank higher on YouTube.

10. Become a Web Developer

Learning to be a web developer does require training. However, there are plenty of boot camps that will get you up to speed, with ample free resources, too. And the best thing about web development is that you can choose a plethora of specialties, from focusing on marketing websites to e-commerce to blogs — basically anything you can browse on the internet.

If you’re not looking to actually be a web developer, consider starting a small business to manage them. Freelance web development is in high demand. Web dev salaries are fairly high, starting around $60,000 per year and going up to $150,000 depending on your skill set and location.

11. Become an Executive Assistant

As the economy experiences massive growth through tech, there are plenty of up-and-coming c-suite executives who somehow never learned to schedule meetings (shots fired). But really, being an executive assistant can take place from the comfort of your home at a remote company, and if your executive is looking for part-time help, you can take on more than one. And there you have it, a burgeoning small business from home.

12. Get Into Non-Profit Work

Starting a small business is a lot easier when you know you’re contributing a net-good to your community. Starting a nonprofit isn’t easy, but it can be done remotely, particularly if you’re looking to run this business yourself. Pick a cause that you feel passionate about and dive right in.

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Always-Good Small Business Ideas

What do we mean by “good” small businesses? We mean evergreen, stable businesses that provide a service that people will always need. Anecdotally, my grandfather heard Hoover promise to put a chicken in everyone’s pot. People will always eat chicken. So he started a chicken business. Don’t worry, these small business ideas don’t require plucking feathers.

13. Translator

As the world becomes more global, the need for translation services continues to rise. Some of that involves translating emails, documents, and content, but others are more service-oriented, like accompanying groups or business leaders on international trips. It’s important to note that you’ll not only need conversational translation skills, but also a grammatical and structural understanding of a language.

14. Tutor

If you’re an adult who has graduated from high school and/or college, you likely have something to teach kids. If you have an affinity for teaching, try out tutoring first. Not only can you tutor multiple students, but you can also dabble in different subject matter, like SATs or remedial Spanish. The time commitment stays according to what you want and small tutoring businesses are in high demand, even remotely.

15. Nanny

People just keep having babies. If you love playing with kids, using your imagination, and packing snacks, a nanny business might be for you. Depending on your level of commitment to one family, sometimes nanny positions offer food, board, and benefits, or you could be a part-time nanny.

16. IT Consulting

This is a small business that’s always needed by other small businesses. If you know your way around an IT stack and know how to fix it when it breaks, make a website and start collecting payments because you’re in high demand.

IT professionals are well-compensated by job or by the hour.

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17. Online Advertiser

At this point, to say that digital marketing is an ever-growing industry is to say that the sky is blue. It’s a fact and businesses that want to survive must invest in online marketing strategies, but small business owners wearing many hats don’t have time to learn or keep up with the ever-changing platforms. Consider starting an advertising gig for small businesses. You might even end up starting your own agency.

If you want to learn about online advertising, you’re in the right place. Here are our best recommendations:

• The 9 Best Free Google Ads Training Courses for Any Level
• The 8 Facebook Ads Courses for Every Level

Small Profitable Business Ideas

Why start a business if you’re not sure you’ll make money? We all work to live (hopefully), and these small business ideas will make you the most money to keep your bank account plump and your vacations fancy.

18. Handyman

Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one. Anyone in the process of renovating knows how appreciated a handyman is. If you’re handy around the house and like figuring out how to fix things, a handyman business could be for you.

Payment for handymen varies based on the type and length of a job.

19. Event Planner

This may fall into creative small businesses, but it’s also a fairly steady job (despite the pandemic). People will always celebrate birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and holidays, and need help with planning the events. If you’re hyper-organized, can herd cats with the best of them, and have attention to detail, consider planning events.

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20. Transcriptionist

With video content becoming more popular by the year, transcription services become even more important. In fact, I was desperately searching for transcriptions just last week. Now, I’m referring to casual marketing video transcription, but for a legal or court transcriptionist or medical, you’ll need certifications that are fairly affordable to get.

Transcriptionists make an average of $52,000 per year.

21. Movers

We’ve seen a rash of big moves in the past few years with people exiting urban areas to purchase homes in the suburbs—and some migration back to big cities as well. Moving isn’t fun for anyone and small moving companies have made a fortune on this real estate boom. Get in on the action by starting a small moving business.

Movers typically get paid per hour or per job, if it’s a multi-day, out-of-state move.

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22. Antiquities Renovation

Okay, it’s likely you’ve never heard of this one, and it likely mostly applies to people who live in historic areas. However, there’s a niche market for people who are able to restore and reinstall original fixtures in old homes, from cabinet pulls to bricks and old window panes. In fact, I just bought 200-year-old bricks specific to my town to place in the house I’m renovating. So if the vintage charm is your style, this small business may also be.

Easy Small Business Ideas

Looking for a side hustle that doesn’t take too much effort? Same. We found the easiest small businesses to start that’ll also be (we hope) fun too.

23. Pet Care

Not to disregard the effort that goes into raising pets, taking care of pets can be the best job ever. You can be a dog walker, a cat sitter, check on chickens, feed horses, and the list goes on and on. You can choose which jobs you want to take, and what hours you want to work, and sometimes you’ll get to house-sit as an added bonus.

Pet sitter businesses make between $10-$25 per hour, depending on the number of pets and your location.

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24. Proofreading/Quality Assurance

I’m pretty stoked about this one. Yes, being a proofreader and a QA specialist is different… but also very similar. If you’re a good writer and have a knack for noticing tiny details, these jobs might be for you. They’re always in high demand, because who has time to check their own work these days. You can easily pick up work on UpWork or a number of other freelance sites until your portfolio is ready to launch your small business.

Proofreaders and QA specialists can get paid up to $80,000 per year.

25. Notary

Ever need something notarized and don’t know where to go? Luckily, I know some small business owners who have a notary on-call. Becoming a notary isn’t the easiest process, but it isn’t expensive. And once you’re done, you too can be an on-call notary or offer your services to courthouses and small businesses full-time.

Notary salaries have a broad range from $20,000-$52,000 per year. But being able to choose when to work (or not) while you have a high-demand certification will come in clutch.

26. Short-Term Rental Manager

Once upon a time, my parents rented out half of their house on Airbnb. They made a killing in their little hotel-less town with grandparents visiting family, families in between homes, and business people staying for a consulting project. Eventually, they stopped Airbnb because it was too much work for my mom to clean and sanitize after every guest.

Point of the story: rental managers are largely successful and become even more so with the rise of home rentals. Reach out to local Airbnb and VRBO hosts to see how you can help manage their rentals acting as a sort-of superintendent for guests.

Rental manager salaries are dependent on where you are located but are most profitable in urban centers.

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27. Personal Shopper

Being a personal shopper is the dream of so many fashion students. Imagine being able to shop for the perfect jewelry, clothing, and furnishings, and not actually having to pay for any of it. With the expansion of online eCommerce stores, most of this job can be done remotely. And personal shoppers are well-compensated, earning about $60,000 per year.

Creative Small Business Ideas

Want to start a small business to lean into your creative juices? Maybe you work in a corporate environment and excel sheets have dried up your brain. I’m all for having a creative outlet, and if you can make money off of it, even better. Here are our creative small business ideas.

28. Landscaper

If I had leaned into the plant-mom craze, I might want to be a landscaper, but I hate gardening. However, if you’re the type of person who gets stress relief from gardening, landscaping might be for you.

This can be one of the most satisfying, creative jobs. You’ll have the ability to transform properties into magic gardens—or at least maintain green lawns, flower beds, and ponds, and make people happy.

Landscaper pay can be between $10-25/hour, or you can price your services on a project basis.

29. Gift Kit Creator

Ever receive a box in the mail full of customized snacks, wine, gadgets, and knick-knacks? I’ve been loving the gift boxes I receive now that I’m working fully remote. And you better believe I love working with gift kit creators, who search markets far and wide to curate the perfect batch for their audiences. Gift kit businesses don’t require too much upfront, as you can ask the buyer to pay before purchasing and drop shipping any items.

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30. Travel Planner

This is my dream job. Travel planners get perks galore, from discounted hotel rates to inside info about airlines and tour guides. It can be the most creative small business through planning trips in a niche–maybe your specialty is South America or Iceland trips for college kids or seniors. Even better, this business can be run from home… or anywhere in the world.

Travel agents typically get paid between $35,000-$67,000 per year.

31. Influencer

While some people might not consider being an influencer of a creative business, I certainly think the trendsetters of the world would differ. There are plenty of courses to take that’ll help train you to be an influencer in this brave new world of social media.

Being an influencer comes with a lot of scrutiny and variable pay; this is truly a pick-your-own-adventure type of gig.

Influencer or not, the fact that influencers exist speaks to the power of social media marketing, so make sure you’re using it for whatever business you start.

32. Thrifting Reseller

Thrifting, altering, and upselling vintage goods was the way NastyGal got its start—and has now become somewhat of an online business. If you have an affinity for spotting diamonds in the rough, hit your local goodwill, grab some clothes, make an eBay account, and get selling. You can be your own boss, designer, brand, or whatever you please with this creative small business.

How Do You Find the Best Business to Start?

The most successful businesses solve a problem for a specific group of people. When you’re looking to start a small business, not a big corporation with investor funding, look for a niche that you, and you alone, are the best person to step into.

It’s okay if you don’t know what your passion is yet. Don’t put pressure on yourself to figure it all out on day one. These ideas are meant to be just that, ideas. Iterate on them, make them your own, and we can’t wait to help you succeed.

The Best Small Businesses to Start | Quick Recap

From all that we covered above, here’s the full list of the best small businesses to start in 2023:

1. Childcare business
2. Fitness trainer
3. Web developer
4. Executive Assistant
5. Nonprofit Work
6. Translator
7. Tutor
8. Nanny
9. IT Consulting
10. Hospital janitorial agency
11. Handyman
12. Pet care
13. Proofreading/Quality Assurance
14. Landscaper
15. Gift kit creator
16. Travel planner
17. Influencer
18. Thrifting reseller
19. Notary
20. Short-term rental manager
21. Personal Shopper
22. Event planner
23. Transcriptionist
24. Movers
25. Antiquities Renovation

But we’re not done yet. Keep scrolling to find out why.

Even More Great Small Business Ideas

At the end of the day, the best small business for you to start depends on your motivation for starting a business. Is it to work from home? Monetize a hobby? Start a nonprofit? Spice up your life? Here are some more great small business ideas to consider.

At-Home Small Business Ideas

Here are some at-home small business ideas for introverts, the homebodies, or the homebound:

1. Publicist
2. Voiceover-er
3. Grant writing
4. Photographer
5. Accountant
6. Dropshipping store
7. On-demand printing
8. Social media manager
9. Online advertiser
10. Freelancer (write, code, design, video)

Always-Good Small Business Ideas

There are tons more evergreen needs out there to give you small business ideas. Here are just ten:

1. Home inspector
2. Snow clearing
3. Online therapy
4. Eldercare
5. Senior move manager
6. Junk removal
7. Bicycle repair
8. Credit repair specialist
9. Career coach
10. Ecommerce store for sustainable products

Small Profitable Business Ideas

Aside from our five above, ten more of the best small profitable businesses to start are:

1. Caterer
2. Auto repair
3. Food truck
4. Carwash
5. Electronics repair
6. Interior designer
7. Virtual Assistant
8. Locksmith
9. Real estate brokerage
10. Electrician

Easy Small Business Ideas

If you want to run a side gig, here are some easy small business ideas for you:

1. Resume writer
2. Pet care
3. Proofreading/quality assurance
4. Notary
5. Short-term rental manager
6. Personal shopper
7. Affiliate marketing
8. Jam seller
9. Data entry
10. Menu planning

Creative Small Business Ideas

Art is literally everywhere. These creative small business ideas afford you endless outlets of expression:

1. Landscaper
2. Gift kit creator
3. Travel planner
4. Influencer
5. Thrifting reseller
6. Photographer
7. Baker
8. Professional organizer
9. Jewelry designer
10. Homemade natural beauty & cleaning products

Cool Small Business Ideas

Last but not least, here is an eclectic mix of interesting small business ideas to get you intrigued:

1. Hot-air balloon operator
2. Home staging
3. Drone trainer
4. Christmas tree farmer
5. Online dating consultant
6. Tour guide
7. DJ
8. Herb farming
9. Mobile anything (pet grooming, hairstylist, bike repair)
10. Freelance bartender

Conclusion — Which Small Business Should I Start?

A straightforward answer to this question isn’t easy. There are a plethora of ways to earn money online with a small business, but, according to us, one of the easiest ways to get started is by becoming a web developer or through eCommerce. Both mean that you can create a niche product and charge big bucks, providing it presents a solution to a gap in the market.

You can get started easily with ample free online coding resources, or with Shopify, our #1 pick for eCommerce businesses. With affordable pricing starting at $29 per month and a no-code platform, you can get your eCommerce website up and running in no time without the need for a website developer.

Read more:

• Examples of Referral Program Ideas for Small Businesses
• Small Business Trends That Are Steadily on The Rise