Best Small Business Ideas for 2023

Proven Side Business Ideas (for New Entrepreneurs) to Earn Money While Working Full-Time
Let’s speak about some tiny company ideas. Finding the ideal side business ideas and eventually being self-employed is more important than fantastic compensation and good benefits, no matter how pleasant your full-time job is.

We’ve broken down the best of the top small business ideas for novice entrepreneurs to start now in this book. Choosing the path of entrepreneurship is a big step, and you must pursue the appropriate business idea if you want to be successful.

Once you’ve experienced the lifestyle benefits of being your own boss, it will be tough to return to a full-time employment. And one of the easiest ways to gain traction with your new venture is to start it on the side of your day job that pays the bills. So, let’s take a look at the top small business ideas for entrepreneurs in 2023.

And, as you’re surely aware, one of the most proven profitable small business ideas you can start working on right now, with some of the lowest startup costs, is starting your own blog.

Please be aware that some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I will earn a profit at no extra cost to you. Know that I only offer tools and learning resources that I’ve personally used and think to be genuinely beneficial, not because of the modest commissions I earn if you decide to buy them. Most importantly, I would never recommend purchasing something that you cannot afford or that you are not yet ready to adopt.

When I speak with other entrepreneurs, the most frequently asked question is, “How do I determine which business ideas are ideal for me?” This is always followed by the question, “How can I get started on this small company idea while still working my full-time job?” This makes complete sense. With so many company ideas currently out there, it might be tough to identify the ideal side business concept to focus your efforts on. With that in mind, I compiled this thorough list of the 135+ Best Small Business Ideas You Can Start While Working a Full-Time Job to inspire you with tried-and-true ideas that can be implemented while maintaining your major source of income and healthcare coverage.

If I missed any outstanding ones, please share your greatest side business ideas in the comments! Also, use this clickable table of contents list to quickly get to the business concept that interests you the most.

Start a Blog

This is one of the top low-cost small business ideas you can use right away.

Do you believe that blogging is no longer a viable source of income? Consider again. According to recent blogging statistics, tens of thousands of bloggers (including yours truly) are providing profitable material on a wide range of blog themes, including scrapbooking, home cuisine, travel, movies, lifestyle, business, personal finance, and more.

The best part about this tiny company concept? It’s not expensive to blog—about $65 per year. And, on average, bloggers earn around $45,000, with most bloggers earning between $38,440 and $51,906 while working from home and setting their own hours. More and more people are turning their blogs into six-figure businesses by combining email subscribers, affiliate marketing, blog sponsorships, and other revenue streams.

If you want to expedite the process of launching your blog, I recommend setting up quick, affordable, and simple website hosting with a company like Bluehost or one of the other best web hosting plans for bloggers, working through the process of creating a blog business plan, coming up with the right blog name idea, choosing a simple WordPress theme, and working on your first post—in order to set the precedent of prioritizing your time on creating content, connecting with (a) community, and working on your first post. You’ll also need the correct blogging tools to help you expand your blog along the road.

Once you’ve established your blog and begun to build a community around it, you’ll want to invest in truly understanding your visitors so that you can give them more of what they want.

I know firsthand how difficult it may be to learn how to create a blog (much alone make money blogging).

And if you want a deep dive instruction on how to get your blog up and running now, check out my Ultimate Guide to Starting a Blog, create a smart blog strategy, set the correct blogging goals, and then explore my list of all the top blogging courses to take your learning to the next level.

Graphic Design

This small company concept is ideal for creative individuals who wish to commercialize their talents.
While a formal experience in graphic design is certainly advantageous, it is still extremely simple to master the fundamentals of graphic design on your own. Adobe Illustrator and even more user-friendly tools like Stencil and Visme are making it possible for anyone with two opposable thumbs, a bit of creativity, and motivation to earn a side income by designing (and selling) images like these motivational quotes that can be printed onto posters and sold on platforms like Etsy. You can also look for a local startup, small company owner, or photographer who could use some extra help designing or editing photographs.

But before you can graduate from side business and start earning a full-time living as a graphic designer, you’ll need to grow your skills—I recommend starting with Graphic Design School and Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon’s amazing book about how to become more creative. Check out the online courses Graphic Design Fundamentals and if you want to become a graphic designer even faster. Once you’ve mastered your craft, you may advance your schooling and offer more hands-on experiences like design sprints or more in-depth sorts of content to higher-value clients all over the world.

Web Development

Most persons in this industry begin by learning how to code.

As a web developer, you will gain tremendously useful skills that are in high demand. With inexpensive or free online education programs like Treehouse, and CodeAcademy, you can learn how to build websites in as little as a few months.

If you don’t find what you’re searching for, here’s a list of the 45 best free places to learn to code. Once you have mastered HTML, Ruby, Python, Javascript, or CSS, you can start freelancing as a side business idea to create your portfolio and pitch clients on building a new blog layout for them all while still working full-time. Also, check out my audio interview with Laurence Bradford about her road to becoming a freelance web developer. Over time, you’ll develop more relationships, gain more experience, and eventually transition these types of business ideas into a full-time source of revenue.

Web Design

This company concept is the ideal blend of creative and analytical thinking.

Web designers are extremely valuable to technology companies, which is why working as a freelance web designer is one of the top small business ideas available today. Mastering the art of providing a beautiful, value-driven experience for individuals who use a website or app is central to web design. There are always new websites that require professional web design, and foundational books such as HTML & CSS: Design and Build Websites by acclaimed web designer Jon Duckett and Don’t Make Me Think by user experience legend Steve Krug will get you started on the right track to quickly determining whether or not becoming a web designer is one of the most viable side business ideas for you.

Then you can progress to more actionable online courses, such as Modern Web Design on CreativeLive and Udemy, which will teach you anything from basic web design knowledge to earning your first freelance income as a web designer. Furthermore, you can take even more immersive courses and learning experiences with direct instructor feedback and personal mentorship through platforms like Treehouse and General Assembly to get up to speed even faster with this career path and listen to my podcast interview with Ian Paget about how to become a freelance designer as a side business idea. Once you have the expertise, you can even create your own projects, such as ColorKit, that can be marketed as their own websites.

Online Course Instruction

One of the simplest internet business ideas is to educate from your area of expertise.

Using your skills for profit is a recurring theme among today’s top small company ideas. If you’re an expert at something, there’s a large online audience of individuals who would pay to become experts in your field—just like you. If you want to turn your abilities into an online course that teaches others how to accomplish the same achievements you have in your life, profession, or business, start with Udemy, where teacher Miguel Hernandez explains how he makes more than $90,000 per year teaching online. More than 8 hours of video education will be provided to you.

Join my free online course Uncover a Profitable Business Concept today if you want to find a profitable online course idea in the next three days. It will walk you through the technique I utilized to produce over $15,000 in online course sales in a single week. Then, when you’re ready to start teaching your own online course, I propose Teachable, the most user-friendly and cost-effective platform for designing, hosting, and selling your online courses. When you sign up right now, you’ll also have access to a wealth of free educational resources on how to get started with developing an online course (yep, one of our top side business ideas).

Writing eBooks

Selling eBooks can be a very rewarding internet business if you enjoy writing.

If you learn how to locate your target market, you can package your abilities and knowledge into a downloadable eBook (like I’ve done with my greatest blogging books) that gives value to folks looking to master a skill, develop in their careers, or establish their own enterprises (which is why it makes for such sustainable business ideas for many authors). A CreativeLive class I took with Tara Gentile will also show you how to use your existing body of work to learn how to write an eBook in the next week (even if you start with something as simple as a blog post outline to get the process started) and turn an eBook into one of the smartest business ideas you can execute on if you have a knack for writing. Put in some significant effort with your eBook, establish a following, and you’ll have a platform to sell traditional publishers on a book deal—then you can write one of the top business books and truly build your own brand.

Instagram Marketing

Marketers are always in high demand as social media advisors.

As you grow your Instagram following, you may be approached by major brands, gear companies, and other relevant businesses that provide items or services linked to the type of material you share on Instagram, resulting in a slew of interesting side business ideas coming your way. If you have the necessary marketing skills and hundreds of thousands of followers, you can easily charge $500 to $5,000 each post (or more)—making for very successful small business ideas. Once you’ve gained traction, you can make your entire workflow more effective by sharing photos from your Mac or PC to reduce the amount of time you spend uploading images.

 

 

 

 

 

Share this post!