For most people with an entrepreneurial dream, a shortage of capital often poses the biggest hurdle in achieving this dream. Not everyone has the initial investment to start a brick-and-mortar business. Not to mention, there is significant risk associated. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up on your dream of a profitable business!
With the digital world taking over, there is no dearth of profitable businesses you can explore with little to no investment. So whether you have a ground-breaking product idea to satisfy a new market or wish to generate passive income, running an online business is highly feasible than ever.
Here is a list of the top 10 low-investment online business ideas to kickstart your entrepreneurial journey in 2023.
1. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a feasible e-commerce business model where a third-party supplier stores and ships goods on the owner’s behalf. This business runs on the concept of selling without holding inventory – all you need to do is pass on the orders you receive to the supplier, who will directly ship the product to the buyer.
Featuring low start-up costs and easy set-up, dropshipping is an excellent low-investment business model for people looking to generate a steady stream of passive income.
2. Digital marketing
With the right skills, digital marketing can prove to be a profitable online business avenue. Every business looking to take their company online and market their products want to work with skilled digital marketers.
From SEO specialist to content marketing and social media marketing, you can find your area of expertise and niche to kickstart your business. However, being a skill-based service, it’s important you upskill yourself and be up-to-date with the latest industry developments.
3. Customised gift store
With the growing demand for personalised gifting, a customised gift store makes up for a great low-investment business idea. You can start one with little to no investment and grow it at your own pace.
If you have the creativity and the passion for building a business, this onlinebusiness offers multiple opportunities to sell exclusive items and boost your sales. Apart from individual gifting, you can even explore the idea of selling corporate gifts.
4. Sell handcrafted/homemade goods
Got a knack for creating unique products? Then you have a unique low-investment businessopportunity in product development waiting to be explored! Since the product and inventory are in your hands, you can start with little investment through a pre-order model or smaller batches till you generate steady sales.
5. Design and sell print-on-demand products
If you have a creative eye for design and aesthetics, you can capitalise your skills into a profitable online business.Like the dropshipping model, print-on-demand business puts the costs of inventory and shipping in the hands of a third-party supplier.
All you have to think about is creating unique and aesthetic designs on T-shirts, phone cases, shoes, bags, and more. Besides, you will only have to create designs on-demand, reducing your upfront business costs.
6. Cloud kitchen
Opening a cloud kitchen is another lucrative low-investment online business idea. You can partner with food delivery apps for your cloud kitchen or promote your business on social media at little to no cost. Other than that, you only need to invest in quality kitchen equipment to complete the orders. The best part? You get full flexibility over how you run the business.
7. Fashion store
Turn your passion for clothing and sense of style into a profitable yet low-investment businessoption. You don’t even have to be a fashion designer to kickstart a business – you can source readymade products from the manufacturer or open a thrift store online. In addition, you can follow the dropshipping model to keep the inventory costs low.
8. Sell online courses
If you have a skill that you can impart to others, you can start a low-investment business by selling online courses. Online courses have become a popular tool for people to upskill themselves and expand their knowledge. It does not involve much investment to record and create engaging lessons, and you don’t have to know coding to build your website.
9. Turn your skills into a service
Love photography? Got a knack for creating apps? Or passionate about fitness? Turn your hobby or passion into a steady passive income source. You can create a website or leverage social media platforms to promote and sell your services which only involves a little investment.
10. Online tutoring
If you’re a subject matter expert with a qualifying degree, you can start your online tutoring business. It does not involve high investment as you can tutor and interact with students over video conferencing and find your clients online.
How can you make your business low-investment?
Wondering what makes a businessidea a low-investment one? You can easily drive down your business costs by eliminating the higher costs of inventory, storage, manufacturing, or renting a space in these ways-
A. Sell without holding inventory
Managing and storing inventory can make up for significant business costs. It includes the initial purchase costs, costs of storage and warehouse, packing and shipping expenses to deliver the product on time. But a low-investment businesscan substantially reduce these operational costs by eliminating the need to hold inventory with dropshipping business models.
B. Design and sell digital assets
Digital products and assets are a unique realm which involves almost no investment to create, replicate, and sell. For instance, you put your design skills to good use to design websites or create and sell apps online. The cost of production is limited to your equipment and digital tools, while the marginal cost of creating additional products is almost zero.
C. Explore new niches
Marketing is another significant expense for a business, as its success greatly depends on how and where you reach your target audience. To bring down these costs, consider exploring emerging niches to start your business online. Since your market size is driven down by niche, you can reach this audience via their preferred platform, like marketing through social media, and reduce marketing investment.
D. Turn your hobby into a business
Be it cooking, photography, fashion, designing, and more – if there’s something you’re passionate about, turn it into a business. Provided there’s a market for what you do, you can easily set up a profitable business without higher investments or efforts.
E. Sell a service
When it comes to selling a product, you have to bear the higher costs of product development, manufacturing, stocking, shipping, and more. As opposed to this, selling a service eliminates higher capital investment and operational costs. By monetising your hobby or skill set, you’re essentially selling a service without worrying about a higher upfront investment.
Kickstart your online business
These are some of the best low-investment online business ideas you can explore to fulfil your entrepreneurial dream or generate passive income. While you don’t need a higher upfront investment, you still need a solid idea, market to the right audience, and build your brand to take your business to new heights.
And if you’re looking for an affordable way to cover your business costs, then turn to Tata Capital! Explore our range of competitive business loans at attractive interest rates. Featuring flexible repayment terms and a simple application process, you can apply for a loan online to kickstart your online business.
28 February 2023
7 mins read
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