14 Small Business Ideas For 2022

By Juan Fajardo Juan Fajardo has been verified by Muck Rack's editorial team
Published on January 10, 2022

With January of every year come new purposes that have the potential to change the life of billions of people around the world. Some of these dreams are related to health, love, education, and others, to financial freedom. Most people have already come with some small business idea but are just wondering if the dream is achievable Well, running a small business in the United States is certainly possible!

According to the U.S Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, there were 32.5 million small businesses in the United States in 2021, which accounted for 99.9% of all US businesses. The relevance of these businesses in the US labor force and the economy was substantial too, as they hired over 61.2 million employees.

With small businesses being such a relevant cog in the US’s complex financial system, it is no surprise that there are a lot of incentives to help them flourish. 2022 might be a great time to make the American dream true for you by starting your own business. These are 14 Small Business Ideas to consider this new year, all of which you can start doing by yourself before hiring more people as your business grows!

Become a Reseller of People’s Stuff

Many people have personal possessions in their garage or around their house that they’d like to get rid of. If they can make some money off it, even better! Unfortunately, or fortunately for you, many people are not familiar with online marketplaces. This means that you can take advantage of people’s lack of knowledge and time for setting a Craiglist or eBay post.

The beauty of this is that you might not even need to buy or store items for your new clients All you have to do is set up a Craiglist or eBay post which takes a few minutes, wait for someone to show interest, arrange the logistics, and collect your money. The more active and familiar you are with online commerce, the better!

When creating a small business around this model, not only will you be making money but also helping your clients make it too while also decluttering… but, where can you start? Well, let’s make it easy. Find one person or somebody you know (a friend or family member) that needs something to be sold, we all know someone like that. Why not help them reduce the hassle and make money in the process?

Also, if you don’t feel entirely sure about it, just take it slow. You don’t have to create business cards or elegant presentations at all. Find one person who needs to sell their stuff and you are set. Chances are that word of mouth will start getting you new customers organically. It might not be your cup of tea, but you don’t know unless you try. If you like it, just rinse and repeat!

Offer Podcast Editing Services

Nowadays, more and more people are starting their podcasts and need help with editing as they have enough work on their plates already. This hustle can even make you more money faster than having your podcast as you can focus on different clients. So the question now is, what skills are required to become a podcast editor?

Well, it is important to have knowledge of audio editing tools such as Garageband, Adobe Audition, or even Audacity. Being able to take an audio file, remove all the mistakes, and make it sound great can be extremely valuable. If you are familiar with one of these, great! If not, there are multiple free online courses you could take advantage of… as long as you are interested, of course.

The best way of reaching these podcasters is through social media. A lot of them are published online and they are easily reachable. You can work and talk with them, see if they have an editor, and take your shot.

We can assure you a lot of podcasters would love to get an extra 5 to 10 hours a week to get away from editing. That time can be useful for them to build relationships with their audience or create more content.

Become a Community Manager

With COVID19 disrupting everyone’s normal life for more than 2 years now, the importance of communities is now clearer than ever. Online Groups and communities are the real deal in these times, especially niche communities which are popping out everywhere. Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Clubhouse, Discord, and other platforms are just getting increasingly crowded these days!

This translates to more and more communities finding themselves in the need of people who help manage all of these members. You can help and serve creators by becoming a community manager. This will not only free time for them but also grow their communities in a healthier and more organic manner.

Whether the community makes use of a free or paid platform, you can get paid to attract more followers or even turn these into fans. There are also many other things you can do as a community manager. These include helping with the moderation of live streams and chats, taking care of posts, creating content, auditing applications, etc.

Whatever the case may be, this is a high value to creators that understand the importance of people. To get started with this, it all comes down to vision. You can help the creators to analyze what the possibilities are or where they might be lacking. In fact, you will find that your feedback becomes essential as you advance as a community manager!

While It is best if you are already involved with the community so you can step up to take charge and bring it together, this is not always necessary. What is important is that you can understand what this will do for the creator, the more value will be seen in you.

Help Authors Build Online Courses

You can help authors specifically build an online course to continually educate their readers to get paid for it too. Help that author make more money and you can expect to get handsomely compensated as well.

There are authors, especially those of older demographics, who just don’t have the technical knowledge to create an online course. What would you have to do to get a spot here? Well, it’s all about pitching!

You could look for authors on platforms like Goodreads or Amazon which you believe could be potential clients. After this, try reaching out to them via social media or even create a video for them. Talk about the idea of creating an online course to support their book. If you can convince them, work together to create something great!

If you don’t know how to create an online course or program, don’t worry. There are plenty of free available tutorials out there. The great thing about this small business idea is that while training, you are able to come with your own model!

Start An E-Commerce Distribution Center

This is one of the best ideas for 2022. With the enticing statistics of the percentage of e-commerce growth in the U.S, an e-commerce distribution center helps small businesses. How’s that? Well, these let them store, ship, and distribute their products. By doing that, you ultimately made their online sales.

If you live improving processes, storing inventory, coordinating deliveries, and any type of logistical challenges, this could be the right business for you. We will be honest and say this is not the easiest small business to run… However, its potential in the long term is huge!

This takes out the implications of managing that operation by small business owners. The market is set to grow further and it’s a perfect opportunity to make a good amount of money.

Start a Website Design Business

A website design business can be started from home with a very low investment while being extremely profitable. There will always be a demand for websites as new businesses get started and already existing ones want to improve their own.

The work can be done from anywhere and allows you to flexibly balance family or personal needs. On top of that, you can expand your business over time by offering complementary services as you gain experience.

Most designers charge a minimum of $50 a project. This can include at least 3 pages and additional pages later down the road. It is a great idea if you have a creative mind and know how to make a business look great.

While you must find yourself thinking “I know nothing about programming”, there is no need to worry. Sure, these skills might prove useful but they are not essential. There are a lot of “point and click” solutions out there, which means that you can still use this small business idea if you have an eye for design and the patience to realize your client’s vision.

Become a Custom Photographer

The photography industry generates $11.5 billion in annual revenue and is growing at a rate of 0,4% every year. This growth is expected to propel over the next 5 years.

When starting this type of business, you’ll need to decide whether you’ll be a versatile photographer or specialize in a specific niche. Specialization makes it easier to find clients and to focus your marketing efforts. Some of the fields you can focus on are portraits, sports, events, or wildlife. Try making people get to know your business by sharing your previous work on social media and targeting your posts to a specific clientele.

The main tool for starting will be a camera. This startup can cost you less than $1k, which is not much in the large scale of things. Once you get a bigger clientele, you might be able to charge higher for your services and reinvest into buying better equipment.

You may also need some editing tools to deliver the best possible photos to your clients. Some accessible editing software for photography is Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop. Just like with some of our other small businesses idea, you can start by offering services to family and friends!

Start a Lawn Mowing Business

This business idea has a very low startup cost and can net you very big profits. You can snag a commercial-grade lawnmower for around $1,000 or even less if it’s used. Once you start making enough profit, you can reinvest it to buy additional equipment.

The best part of lawn care is how easy and cheap it is to get started. A good advertising plan, a small investment, and a desire to provide great service is all you need to succeed. So, what should you take into account when creating a lawn mowing business?

Well, your location of course is extremely important. You might be able to transport yourself to your client’s house, but you will need to be in proximity to your clientele. This is necessary to cut fuel costs and labor costs associated with ride time. A great location for a landscaping company would be in a warehouse part of town with close access to the interstate.

Something you need to know is that lawn care businesses owners can earn anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 in their first year. Considering how much you are starting your business with, this sounds like a pretty good investment in the long term.

Start a House Cleaning Business

Another business idea that requires very little startup costs is the house cleaning business. Starting this type of business can be lucrative. There will always be homes that need cleaning and it’s a job people are eager to hand off, after all.

Your upfront investment can be next to nothing, especially if you are willing to do a lot of the work yourself. You will need to buy essential cleaning supplies which include the right cleaners, bags, rags, scrub brushes, and anything else you need to make a good job.

Residential cleaning, where you are cleaning homes, is an easier business to get into than commercial cleaning. Large cleaning companies dominate the market that cleans office buildings and the like. Cleaning at this scale also requires extremely expensive equipment.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can’t expand your business later and bring it to a large level. However, if you want to invest your first $1,000 on something profitable and easy, you might give house cleaning a shot.

While house cleaning might not sound like a glamouring job for many, as with any business you need to think in the long term. You might not even need to do the cleaning yourself to start with if you can afford to hire employees from the start, which is very possible even without prior savings. After all, we all have friends who are in the need of such services!

Information Technology Consultant

This option can be very lucrative as revenues of the IT consulting industry in the US are projected to reach $471 billion by 2022. By becoming an IT consultant, you will pass to form part of one of the fastest-growing industries, which is important if you want sustained growth over time.

This is also a very flexible and customizable career field. Within the industry, you can find different areas you can focus on with your IT consulting business. You can choose to offer hardware repair, software consulting, or cloud services depending on your knowledge and skills.

To invest your money, first, you’ll need to invest in hardware or software, which will vary depending on the services you are providing. Insurance is also recommended, in case of any accidents.

To grow this business, you need to build a network of companies where you have relationships with key decision-makers. Connect with people at events or conferences, and watch how your community starts to grow.

Become a Mobile Game Developer

Most people don’t know how profitable this niche is if exploited correctly. The top 200 apps generate on average $82,500 each day back in 2016, which has only increased ever since. For example, the Candy Crush series of mobile games generated $1.500.000.000 in microtransactions alone back in 2018. Well, many of the most successful games and apps have started being developed by a single dev or a small team!

Microtransactions, which are extra prices to pay within the game, after the initial purchase to acquire more content, have made it easier than ever to monetize games. This is why most mobile games offer microtransactions as in-game currency that clients can use to buy extra items. These are very important in your business since they’re going to bring the income.

We all think that developing a high-quality mobile game will require a lot of money but with only $1,000 you can begin creating a small mobile game with microtransactions. From there, your business will grow onwards and gain popularity.

For this business, you also need to take into account marketing and promotion costs. These will function as an investment to reach your target audience and possible clients. When a game is well made, everyone will be talking about it.

Start an Instagram Clothing Line

Fashion is becoming an increasingly profitable industry, especially when it comes to small clothing brands and new designers. If you have an eye for fashion, this is a great way to spend $1,000 and begin growing your profits. You will need to spend part of the money to manufacture your first drop of products.

Make your clothing line innovative and high quality. Your products need to stand out in some way, so make something original and unique. Also remember to work on the appearance of your brand, such as logos and profile visuals, as well as to post high-quality pictures of the products, use the right hashtags and maybe reach out to influencers who will be able to reach bigger audiences.

From there and after proving the quality of your products with some sales, your client base will begin to grow. Keep the engagement with your viewers and make people interested in your clothing line using your Instagram business account. Remember to use marketing strategies and keep in touch with customers.

Help Others Learn New Skills

Being a tutor is a great business option that can be easily set up from the comfort of your home. The private tutoring market is even expected to hit $171 billion by 2028, which makes it a great time to start a small business in the industry.

Now that online teaching has become more common than ever, this type of at-home tutoring is easy to get into. Sharing your knowledge with students via online calls is a very convenient way to make money. Home tutor services don’t require startup costs, and they don’t need to be restricted to academic teaching. It can be any skill you excel at, such as cooking, music, photography, or anything else.

To make your tutoring startup known, share it within your community and acquaintances that may know people in your target audience. Social media or the internet are also great ways to put your business out there, often costing nothing at all.

Babysitting/Daycare

Babysitting is most commonly described as a go-to job for young people for many reasons. It is quite flexible in terms of time and it’s easily available since most working parents are always looking for trustworthy babysitters. If you are young, this business might be a great fit for you. That being said, you may not be a teenager more and might want to focus on the logistical aspect of it.

Start babysitting for neighbors or acquaintances to get to know the basics, and with time you’ll start getting positive reviews from satisfied parents. This will bring new clients and even more, people will hear about you. There are numerous advantages of a home-based daycare business such as great flexibility in determining your days and hours of operation and a fast startup time. The overall costs of this business are also quite low.

Think about dedicating a room to this business if you want to set up an “at home daycare”. You can set up a play area, reading corner, and napping spot. Fill the room with kid-friendly decor.

Now promote your business through social media or spread the word in your community. You can use flyers, look for advertisers, or even make a website.

How to Grow Your New Small Business In 2022…

Having your own business can be challenging and rewarding at the same time. If your business isn’t growing, it may be because your strategies are lacking in some areas. To have a successful business, try to practice some of these things:

  • Focus on your customer: How your business is doing is directly related to how many satisfied customers you have. To increase customer satisfaction, listen to your customers and be involved in their buying experience.
  • Become more competitive: Differentiation is the key to successful selling. It all comes down to your Unique Selling Proposition (U.S.P). Find something that creates an advantage over your competitors, and if there still isn’t anything, create it.
  • Mind the money: When putting together a business strategy, business owners should always focus on cash flow, sales, and revenues. Focus on your net profit and know every day how much money is being made. Get a realistic view of how your business is doing.
  • Idealize your business: Think about how your perfect business would look like, and then figure out how to bring it to life.
  • Plan and set your goals: This may seem obvious, but planning your goals can help visualize the future. Make sure to set some long-term goals and create action plans to make your goals a reality. Establish timelines, create tasks, and be ambitious.

… And How to Market It

When owning a small business, you will also need to promote your services to make them reach your audience. Here are some ways to do it:

  • Using paid Instagram of Facebook ads: These ads are a good way to exponentially make your social media business accounts grow, and make people get to know your business. Running Google ads is also an option. These ads cost money, but keep in mind they are going to give you good long-term results.
  • Spreading the word: A very organic way to market your business and put it out there for people to see is by showing it to real-life acquaintances in events, social settings, conferences, or within your community. This can work as a wildfire, spreading your business to more people.
  • Consider hiring a consultant or an agency: If you are financially able to, hiring a consultant or an agency (a group of consultants) can facilitate marketing your business. Make sure to work with someone with experience and someone who can guide you while predicting some outcomes.
  • Creating a website: Websites are a must-have in business these days. If customers find your business and are interested in it, they will want to go on your website. A website serves as a promotion tool that works wonders for your business when it provides information about the brand. To start, a free website will do, but it is possible that after some business growth you’ll need to upgrade to a paid service.
  • Search engine optimization: Also known as SEO, this is a series of practices to align your business with the Google algorithm so that it shows in the first top results. Some ways to do it are adding relevant keywords to your business website and creating original content regularly.
By Juan Fajardo Juan Fajardo has been verified by Muck Rack's editorial team

Juan Fajardo is a News Desk Editor at Grit Daily. He is a software developer, tech and blockchain enthusiast, and writer, areas in which he has contributed to several projects. A jack of all trades, he was born in Bogota, Colombia but currently lives in Argentina after having traveled extensively. Always with a new interest in mind and a passion for entrepreneurship, Juan is a news desk editor at Grit Daily where it covers everything related to the startup world.

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