According to a report by Forbes, almost 33.3 million businesses in the United States are considered small businesses, accounting for 99% of all businesses in the country. While a majority of small businesses operate with no employees, small businesses in the US employ a total of 61.6 million people, 45.9% of the total workforce in the US. The home health and personal care industry is projected to experience the highest job growth of almost 22%. The professional and business services industry currently has the highest number of jobs. The incidence of technology has propelled more people to set up businesses with minimal costs. Such explains why 8 out of 10 small businesses in the United States have no employees. Of the 33.3 million small businesses in the US, 27.1 million are operated by a solopreneur. 19% of the small businesses in the United States have one to 19 employees, and only a small number of businesses have 20 to 499 employees. Self reliance and self sufficiency are key trends in the small business realm. While artificial intelligence and technology are limiting the need for manual labor, it may be a redirection to push more and more people into entrepreneurship. You can also take a look at the best free accounting software.
Some of the Best Business Services Software Providers
Small business owners can immensely benefit from business operations software. SAP SE (NYSE:SAP), Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) are among the companies that provide CRM and business operations software. You can also read about the largest software companies in the world.
SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) offers a top-notch enterprise cloud solution that spreads across multiple business functions. The SAP Business One is an all-in-one affordable solution for small businesses. The platform helps business owners streamline their accounting, finance, purchasing, inventory, customer relationships, and sales functions. Key features include on-premise or cloud deployment, integrated business intelligence, and integration with the SAP HANA platform.
On March 6, SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) announced innovations in its data and analytics offerings. The SAP Datasphere Knowledge Graph enables organizations to make better use of real-world data for generative artificial intelligence. Using data input, the tool automatically develops an ontology that highlights relationships within the data. The tool helps business owners contextualize large sets of data and large language models (LLMs). Business owners can use the data to develop tools, target segments, and improve the functionality of their business.
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) offers cutting-edge CRM and business operation infrastructure to businesses of all sizes. The Starter Suite for small businesses provides a complete all-in-one solution to meet small businesses' marketing, sales, and service needs. Users can generate leads, optimize campaigns, improve ROI, close deals, and provide extensive customer service through a single platform. The Starter Suite for small businesses is available for $25 per month. It also provides dynamic email marketing automation tools and analytics.
On March 6, Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) launched Einstein 1 Studio. The new set of tools allows admins and developers to customize the Einstein Copilot. The Einstein Copilot is a conversational artificial intelligence assistant for CRM. The tools are essentially aimed at enhancing the customer and employee experience. The tools include the Copilot Builder, the Prompt Builder, and the Model Builder. The Copilot Builder helps admins develop custom AI actions to complete important tasks. The Prompt Builder allows owners to establish specific prompts to enhance the flow of work. The Model Builder enables admins and developers to import a range of AI models.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a product of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). It is a 360-degree cloud platform used by companies from across the globe. The platform is widely used by small to medium businesses. The AWS cloud solution helps small businesses experience average cost savings of 31% over five years, a reduction in security incidents by 43%, and a decrease in unplanned downtime by 69%. Business owners can also connect with other small business leaders to garner support.
On March 4, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced that Anthropic's Claude 3 Models will now be available on Amazon Bedrock. The integration will enable users to test, build, and deploy artificial intelligence applications to enhance business performance and operations. Amazon Bedrock is known for its managed large language models and foundational models. The Claude 3 tools include the Claude 3 Opus, the Claue 3 Sonnet, and the Claude 3 Haiku.
Technology has made setting up a business quite simple. With that let's take a look at the 20 easy-to-start small businesses that could elevate your income. You can also read our piece on the best marketing software for small businesses.
20 Easy-to-Start Small Businesses That Could Elevate Your Income
20 Easy-to-Start Small Businesses That Could Elevate Your Income
Our Methodology
To come up with the 20 easy-to-start small businesses that could elevate your income, we employed a consensus approach. We consulted more than 10 similar rankings on the internet to aggregate some of the easy-to-start small businesses. Further, we decided to include small business ideas that belong to industries that have high growth potential. We first categorized the business ideas into parent industries and then sourced their compound annual growth rates and forecasted market values from industry reports compiled by Grand View Research, Mordor Intelligence, and Verified Market Research, among others. Finally, we ranked the 20 easy-to-start small business ideas that could elevate your income in ascending order of their projected growth rates, primarily, and forecasted valuations, secondarily.
20 Easy-to-Start Small Businesses That Could Elevate Your Income
Starting an event management business is one of the most easy to start small business ideas that could elevate your income. Business owners may also look into starting a virtual event management company to deal with online events such as webinars and online conferences. To start users may need a website, a functional team, CRM software, and marketing automation tools.
The market for the global sewing and alteration industry is expected to grow to $14.14 billion by 2032 from $9.64 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3%. While business owners can target a specific niche such as formal wear and casual wear, the focus must be to provide high-quality products.
18. Personal Training
Compound Annual Growth Rate (2024-2028, The Business Research Company): 5.70%
Expected Market Value (2028): $51.69 Billion
Providing personal training services is one of the best easy-to-start businesses that could elevate your income. Obesity is a primary concern for individuals across the globe, especially in North America, ultimately pushing the demand for training and nutrition services. Budding entrepreneurs may also provide training services via online webcam software.
17. Transcription Services
Compound Annual Growth Rate (2023-2032, Reports and Data): 6.10%
Expected Market Value (2032): $35.80 Billion
With rising technological developments, it is easier than ever to transcribe important documents. Business owners can sell their services via freelance platforms or enter into contractual relationships with specific companies. Budding entrepreneurs can also target specific industries such as the healthcare sector or legal sector to develop supporting transcription software.
16. Gardening Services
Compound Annual Growth Rate (2023-2030, Grand View Research): 6.40%
Expected Market Value (2030): $484.79 Billion
The landscaping and gardening market is expected to grow to a value of $484.79 billion by 2030 from $312.55 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4%. Individuals can provide garden maintenance and management services and can target either dual-income households or commercial buildings.
A niche food truck is one of the most easy to start small businesses that could elevate your income. Business owners can target geographic locations with a large tourist influx and specialize in the production of specific niche cultural food items.
14. House Cleaning
Compound Annual Growth Rate (2023-2030, Grand View Research): 6.60%
Expected Market Value (2030): $616.98 Billion
House cleaning and general cleaning services rank among the best easy-to-start small businesses that could elevate your income. The rise in demand for house cleaning stems from the rising importance of hygiene post-COVID-19. Business owners may benefit from targeting dual-income households.
13. Clothing Business
Compound Annual Growth Rate (2024-2028, The Business Research Company): 6.90%
Expected Market Value (2028): $918.71 Billion
The apparel market is expected to grow to $918.72 billion by 2028 from $703.11 billion in 2024 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.9%. Such suggests why starting an apparel business could elevate your income. Business owners can stand out in the industry by penetrating a niche such as customized jackets or customized shirts for a specific segment or age group. Selling online may save costs.
12. Consulting
Compound Annual Growth Rate (2023-2032, Business Research Insights): 8.90%
Expected Market Value (2032): $1.24 Trillion
Digital marketing and strategy consultancy is an interesting way to start a consulting business. These strategies may strictly focus on enhancing the digital version of a business. These include the integration of cloud-based marketing automation software, risk management software, auditing and logging software, and data protection software.
11. Pet Care Services
Compound Annual Growth Rate (2023-2030, Grand View Research): 9.21%
Expected Market Value (2030): $50.07 Billion
Starting a pet care service business is fairly easy. Business owners can not only offer pet grooming and pet sitting services, but they can also sell pet products via online platforms such as Amazon, Shopify, and Alibaba. Dog walking and pet boarding services are particularly on the rise.
Child care services include daycare, early education, and learning software and tools. Business owners may provide parents with daycare and early education services. Additionally, budding entrepreneurs may also invest in launching learning software and tools for the development of the fine and gross motor skills of children.
9. Content Creation
Compound Annual Growth Rate (2023-2030, Grand View Research): 13.50%
Expected Market Value (2030): $69.80 Billion
Producing user-generated content is an interesting income opportunity. More and more companies are looking for influencers and marketers to produce content for their business. The growth in the demand for content creation is particularly fueled by the existence of generative artificial intelligence software.
The market for online food delivery services is expected to grow to a value of $1.3 trillion by 2032 from $347.7 billion in 2022, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.3%. Individuals can not only deliver goods for other producers but they can also produce and sell their own food items. Marketing can be done via social media for a B2C setup, and direct marketing techniques can be used for a B2B business model.
7. Online Tutoring
Compound Annual Growth Rate (2023-2030, Grand View Research): 14.90%
Expected Market Value (2030): $23.73 Billion
Online tutoring is an easy-to-start small business idea. Business owners can simply acquire free software such as Google Classroom, Google Meet, or Zoom to set up their online tutoring functionality. For credibility purposes, business owners may have to establish a website. They can advertise using social media.
Providing freelance content writing, designing, and developing services are among the best businesses that could elevate your income. Individuals can set up their freelance services on prominent platforms such as Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer. To counter the saturation on such sites, individuals may set up a personal website and target large companies in need of those services.
