10 Small Businesses you can start with little investment

This post presents a compilation of small business ideas with minimal capital requirement. Anyone passionate about starting a business can pick any of these ideas and implement. 

While these ventures are profitable, there is no express guarantee that you will become an instant millionaire in a matter of days. That is because the profitability of any business depends on the resourcefulness and diligence of the entrepreneur. For an enterprising entrepreneur out there, the sky can indeed be the limit for that person.

Its important to match your idea with the real need in the market segment you are focusing on. You should also consider your competitors providing a similar service, not that you should fear to venture because of competitors. You should instead study the strength of your competitors to be able add value to your product or service. What your competitors are doing, you should do it smarter, and possibly better than them.  

This list is compiled to augment the efforts of hardworking people wanting to have a better life and financial independence by venturing into profitable business.  Whether you are jobless and you need a means of livelihood, or whether you are working and you want some extra bucks, this is a starting point for you.  

All the best as you pursue your small business.


1. Public/Motivational Speaker. You need little capital, or in some cases no capital at all, your speaking skills is your capital. You can advertise your services by word of mouth, which by far is the strongest means of advertisement because, a client referred to you by a friend trusts more the information she/he gets from other advertisement channels such as newspapers.

2. Interpreter/translator. If you are multilingual with a professional touch, then interpretation is your untapped gold mine. Whether you are interpreting for a researcher, or translating languages for international organization, the financial benefits are enormous. It such a wonderful niche because it is something that leaves you with time to do other things you like, and you don’t need a lot of money to venture into this.

3. Market research. A lot of businesses are springing up every day, and even the existing ones are trying to get new markets. As a market researcher, most of this task can be outsourced to you. The internet makes internet research even easier.  

4. Fact checking.  All responsible newspapers, magazines and other publications wouldn’t want legal liability resulting out of publishing wrong information. Publishing wrong facts may impact negatively on their brand names and profitability. If only to save themselves from these and many other repercussions of publishing falsities, media outlets will be more than generous to pay for your services. You just need a laptop with internet connection, telephone and you are good to go.

5. Travel Agency. Every now and then people love to take a break from their daily routine to relax outside their usual towns and cities. This is an opportunity you can easily tap and benefit immensely from. All you need is a good website, complete with search engine optimization.   

6. Song writer. Did you know that most celebrity musicians are so busy with their career that they hardly have time to write songs for themselves? Some who are not busy may be short on creativity. And that is where you can come in, if you are such a creative individual. These musicians make lots of money out of their songs, and they can’t refuse to pay you handsomely for writing a song that may be their next big hit.

7. Scholarship and Overseas Study consultant. Many potential students wishing to study overseas would need the services of a consultant to guide and help them in the process of studying abroad.

8. Telephone Answering service. Most organizations wouldn’t want to have their own staff answering telephone calls. It is increasingly getting easy to operate a call center, where you can answer complaints from clients of a particular company that has outsourced their call center to you.

9. SMS marketing. SMS is an instant way of reaching customers. This is because people are always with their mobile phones and SMS is a cheap technology for marketing goods and services.

10. Online internet training. People are getting to busy to find time to attend lectures or short course at brick-and-mortar campuses. That is where internet comes in, you can organize an online lesson in your field of expertise and get paid.