10 Best Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024
These small business ideas cost little to no investment.
If you are constantly looking for the best (and cheapest) small business ideas you can start this year, then you have come to the right place. I’ll share with you that these are so easy to start and have little to 0 investment on your end.
Once your business starts to scale and grow then you can start upgrading your resources and tools.
Table of Contents
· Why Start a Small Business in 2024?
∘ Top 10 Small Business Ideas to Start with Little to No Money
∘ 10 Small Business Ideas (3 Most Popular Categories with Possible High Profits)
∘ 10 Best Free Tools to Use for Your Small Business
∘ What If You Already Have a WordPress Site?
∘ Final Thoughts
Why Start a Small Business in 2024?
The answer is simply because you can. And with little to no investment, I mean why not?
If you have internet access, a computer or laptop, or even a smart mobile device (or tablet) then you can start a business.
Some successful entrepreneurs started with little and then with hard work, smart strategies, persistence, and meeting the right people has allowed them to grow their business.
The only investment you will need to spend will be time. Time because you will need to spend time learning skills (if you don’t have any) and working on your business.
To gain skills in certain niches or industries, you can learn them for free or low cost.
For example, if you want to be a freelancer in Digital Marketing or SEO consultant you can learn those specific skills for free in HubSpot Academy or for low cost at Coursera or SkillShare.
You can also gain hands-on experience in Digital Marketing through the Acadium apprenticeship. And, it can be done remotely and part-time. (Affiliate Link)
Mind you, this apprenticeship is unpaid. But you gain experience, skills, and social proof.
Top 10 Small Business Ideas to Start with Little to No Money
To help you get started on which business to start, I wrote a list of the top 10 business ideas you can choose from and decide which one is suitable based on your skills and expertise.
And again, no money is needed. You can spend some money if you want to, but it won’t be necessary.
In this list, I will mention the business ideas, how to get started, and what free tools you can use to help you get started.
10 Small Business Ideas (3 Most Popular Categories with Possible High Profits)
Business Idea in the E-commerce Niche (Dropshipping, POD, E-commerce)
Online Art Gallery- Sell artworks and prints online.
Online Book Club- Create a paid subscription-based book club.
Crafting Tutorials- Offer online tutorials for crafting.
Custom Meal Plans-Sell personalized meal planning services.
Sell Digital Marketing Courses- Teach others digital marketing online.
Online Music Lessons-Teach music lessons via video calls or through online courses.
Online Tutoring/Courses/Workshops- Create and sell courses in your area of expertise.
Dropshipping/Print-on-Demand
Stock Photography- Sell photos to stock photo websites.
Best Free Platforms in the E-commerce category:
PayHip-You can sell online for FREE. No catch. Unlimited. Freemium does have higher transactional fees. Great platform to start. You can sign up using my affiliate link.
Big Cartel
Ecwid
Printify Pop-up Store- A standalone store where you can sell print-on-demand products for 100% FREE. All you have to do to get started is sign up for free on Printify and choose “Printify Pop-up Store” as your channel. No fulfillment fees. Available in limited countries.
If you do connect your store to a channel such as Etsy, Shopify, or TikTok, then you will get fulfillment fees.
Beacons.AI
Business Ideas in the Content Creation Niche (Blogging, Affiliate Marketing, eBook writing and publishing, and Freelance Writing)
Blogging
Affiliate Marketing
Writing and Publishing eBooks, WhitePapers, Copywriting, etc.
Social Media
Best Free Platforms in the Content Creation Niche:
Blogger
Medium
HubPages
Vocal Media
Podia
YouTube
TikTok/Instagram
Best Business Ideas for the Professional Services Niche (i.e.: Freelancing, Coaching, Consulting, Tutoring, and Trainer)
Virtual Assistance Services
Social Media Management
SEO Consulting
Digital Marketing Services
Online Coaching
Online Personal Trainer
Nutritionist Services
Online Event Planning
Online Beauty Consultant
Legal Consulting
E-Commerce Store Consultant
Crowdfunding Consultant
Best Free Platforms in the Professional Services Niche:
YouTube/TikTok
Systeme.io- You can use the Freemium account to get started. With the freemium account, you will get 3 sales funnels which are best for obtaining leads, email marketing (1 campaign), a newsletter, a free website, and a free blog.
You can also add with the freemium account an embed form for your signups, a pop-up form, a link-in bio, and an inline form, and you also get up to 5000 contacts.
Limited features with the freemium account. You can upgrade later on when your business starts to scale. Affordable monthly and annual plans.
Beacons.AI- You can create your entire business for FREE with this amazing link-in bio.
My link-in bio on Beacons.AI has multiple pages, an email marketing app, an About Me Page, my affiliate links, my store, and much more. And I use the FREE account.
I used to have a Koji app, but it was sold to LinkTree, so I had to find something better and I did.
I do have my website because I no longer have Koji. I started my website after Koji was sold. And, then I found Beacons.AI through a TikToker.
I have Beacons.AI, so you can check it out here using my link, and you can see for yourself what Beacons.AI can do for your business.
https://beacons.ai/theworkathomeblogger
10 Best Free Tools to Use for Your Small Business
- Beacons.AI
- Systeme.IO
- Canva-You can create lead magnets, ebooks, and promotional assets for free. You can also create digital products to sell online.
- Ahrefs Free Keyword Generator
- Quora Ads Manager for keyword research
- Lasso Simple URL- Free WordPress Plugin
- RankMath-Free WordPress plugin for OnPage SEO
- Astra Theme for WordPress-Free version
- Adobe Acrobat for Compressing PDF Files-For email marketing
- Creative Fabrica-For digital assets to create products to sell. You can find freebies for fonts, templates, images, and much more.
What If You Already Have a WordPress Site?
No worries, you can update your site or blog posts to make it rank higher. I use free plugins such as RankMath for OnPage SEO and Lasso Simple URL for product display that I used for my affiliate links.
Lasso makes the most beautiful product displays for your affiliate links. As soon as my site is growing I am going to upgrade my plan.
I love the product displays from Lasso. Take a look at the screenshot from my website and this is just the FREE plugin. Imagine how amazing the upgraded version would be.
Best Free Tools for Affiliate Marketing on WordPress:
Lasso Simple URL Free WordPress Plugin (FREE with limited features). You will love it and you will want to upgrade later on. I know I do.
I also use the Astra Theme FREE version and yes it does have limited features. But it still works great on my site.
Final Thoughts
Starting a business in 2024 with little to no money it’s possible. So, if you’re planning or even thinking about starting a business and don’t want to risk your money or don’t have much to spend, you still can get started.
It’s all about finding the right resources, planning, strategizing, and finding solutions that will help get where you want to go.
Use a journal or a planner to write down your thoughts and ideas. Or even your plans and goals. Otherwise, it will keep you awake at night. You need your sleep to help you become productive.
Another thing to keep in mind is that no business is an overnight rich-quick scheme. You have to work smart and hard. Make great connections with other peers in your niche or industry. Network a lot.
Also, get social proof. Especially in the beginning, if you can charge a little or free in exchange for social proof. Word of mouth, testimonials, and having a portfolio of your work can help you gain the trust of prospective customers.
Best of luck in your business endeavors. Thanks for reading!
