Business Consulting
A consulting business is focused on helping other business owners solve their problems. You can choose a niche if you have a specific area in which you are an expert, or you can be an all-in-one solution. Business consultants can make anywhere from several hundred per day to billions per year. Consultants that specialize in mergers and acquisitions can earn huge commissions.

Real Estate Agents
While only ⅙ of real estate agents become successful, those that do can start a lucrative business.
Cleaning Services
One of the most profitable businesses to start is a cleaning service. Whether you choose to start a housekeeping service or a more specialized niche like carpet cleaning, you can make great money in the cleaning industry.

Social Media Management
Social media marketing is a vast industry. According to Statista, it is a $153.7 billion industry. All you need is a computer, some software, and to find some clients.

Creating Online Courses
Another of the most profitable businesses involves creating online courses. E-learning is expected to grow at a 14.6% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) and reach $374.3 billion by 2026.

Start a Small Business that Makes Candles or Soap
Most candle makers have a 40-60% margin if they sell in bulk and even more if they are direct to consumers. That makes it a highly profitable venture.

Delivery Services
Delivery services can be some of the most successful small businesses. While the major players like Uber and DoorDash take the lion’s share of the delivery service revenue, the industry is expected to grow to $192 billion by 2025. According to Uber’s annual report: Delivery service gets 18% of the total bookings for each delivery.
Drivers pay Uber, so their earnings are excluded from revenue.
They spend 33% on marketing (approximately 3X what most businesses do).
They spend 15% on research and development (unnecessary for most small businesses).

Graphic Design Services
If you enjoy creating websites, logos, and marketing materials, graphic design might be a good fit because it is always in demand. You can start with just your computer and some design software.
Manufacturing Construction Supplies
The construction supply industry has a 22.73% gross margin and a 7.92% net margin, but companies that do it well can make far more.

Catering Business
If you are a foodie, this one might be for you. Running a catering service allows you to prepare delicious food and take it to events like weddings and corporate meetings. At the events, you’ll either set up a buffet or serve the food in whatever capacity you select. You may also serve alcohol to increase the profit margin dramatically as long as you have a liquor license.

Start an eCommerce Business
The current small business landscape is favorable to eCommerce. The startup costs are low (less than $1,000), and you can make more than $120K per month.

Courier Service in Major Cities
Courier services can be highly profitable if you have the right professional network to get clients who need paperwork and other items delivered quickly. Courier services can be operated with motor vehicles or bikes.

A courier service will typically charge a fee that is based on $1.50-$1.70 per mile plus additional fees for reasons such as:

Multiple stops
Delivery out of the normal area
1-hour service
Notarize and return service
Courier Services are expected to reach $68.48 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 14%.

Mobile Car Wash Services
Some of the most lucrative businesses we have interviewed have been mobile car wash and car detailing companies. Mobile car washing and detailing businesses can cost about $2,500 to start and might make $40K a month.

Copywriting, Blogging, Content Marketing
As far as home-based businesses go, this is one of the best ones if you want to be your own boss. The pay can be pretty fair. For example, you might find content marketing professionals making up to $1 per word. More commonly, this work lands around $50 and $200 per thousand words.

Landscaping Business
Lawn care and other landscaping companies can be highly profitable too! It requires very minimal capital to start and the profits are huge.

Start a Photography Company
Photographers can make a great living as entrepreneurs.
Web Development
Web developers create software for businesses, governments, and non-profit organizations. Given this is a technology job, the profits can be huge.

InfoWorld estimates that people who develop software make between $70K and 200K per year as employees. It’s even more if you own an app development company. If you know how to develop software, I highly recommend it. Technology has been the number one creator of wealth since 2000.

Technology Consulting
Many of the major tech companies rely on small business owners to help drive the adoption of their software. Whatever industry you are in, you might want to consider adding tech consulting to your offerings.

Virtual Assistant to Executives
Becoming a Virtual Assistant for clients you choose is a profitable business to start. Some of the top virtual assistants on Upwork make $85 an hour. That’s up to $152K per year for things like scheduling appointments, sending emails, completing research, and other jobs you can do remotely.