Best Business to Start with $10k (or less!)
Tony Wright
Editor At Large
How-to-start.org
Solid list of businesses that you could start with $10,000 or less!
October 22, 2022
If you’re starting a business with less than $10,000, you need three things:
1) You need a business that earns you money right away, instead of something with a big investment at the start and a long pay-off.
2) You need a business that you can operate yourself, at least to start with. Having to pay wages is a big drain on cash flow, and you want to avoid that if you’re starting with 10k or less.
3) You need a mobile service business, a home-based business, or something 100% online. You can’t lease a storefront and complete a fit-out when you’re starting with $10k or less.
Top 3 easiest businesses you can start with $10k or less
1 – Car detailing business
This makes the top 3 list because it has the lowest startup costs of any business on this list. You can literally start a car detailing business with $500 or less, and the earning potential is very good, particularly as you start to invest in time-saving tools and equipment that will let you get more work done in a single day.
2 – Dog grooming business
Starting a dog grooming business is a great option for people who like working with animals. It doesn’t take long to build an established base of clients, and once you have enough regular monthly income, you don’t need to spend a single cent on marketing any more – you’ll keep the clients you have, and they’ll give you referrals, meaning your business will grow steadily and keep paying you a good income for a good lifestyle.
3 – Bookkeeping business
A bookkeeping business has a very low startup cost. Once you have the tools of the trade – your laptop and your software – you’re ready to start earning an income. And because the clients need your service month after month, it won’t take you long to build a solid income. After you’re done with the client on-boarding, much of the work can be done remotely (from home, or elsewhere).
6 More businesses you can start with $10,000 or less
Pressure washing/power washing business
You can start a pressure washing business with $10k, but you’ll spend most of that money on your pressure washing equipment. Once you have your equipment, you can quite quickly start earning money, with some pressure washing business owners reporting they earn up to a few thousand dollars a day.
Handyman business
If you’re at least a little handy, and you can learn things as you need to, then starting a handyman business might be a good option for you. If you don’t have any tools at all, you might spend a few thousand dollars on equipment to get started. The rest of the money will go to the basics, like setting up your business and your website, and doing some advertising to get clients. Like most of the businesses on this list, the handyman business benefits from repeat and referral clients.
Event planning or party planning business
This one takes almost no money to get started – it’s just all about you. You’re selling your time and skill in planning an event, so the cost to get started is limited to the few hundred dollars that it takes to setup your event planning business and website.
Cleaning business
You can start a cleaning business with almost no money at all – just get your LLC registered and your website online, and then buy the equipment you need when you need it. We’re talking a few hundred dollars, at most, before you can start earning an income. Cleaning is one industry where the demand just keeps outpacing the available services, so if you operate well, you’ll have no shortage of clients.
Online writer
Yep, every single word that appears on a website needs to be written by someone. And with pay rates that can exceed 10 cents per word, you can earn a very good income operating as a freelance writer. It’s the perfect side-hustle business, because you can write from anywhere, anytime.
Painting business
You can start a painting business with less than $10k. Plenty of people have started their painting business with just a few phone calls, and have started booking jobs that way. You can do the painting yourself, or you can hire subcontractors to complete the painting jobs as you sell them, keeping a cut of anywhere from 30-50% for yourself. The upside to using contractors is you can just focus on selling the jobs, and there is no limit to the amount of work you can take on.
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