25 Small Business Ideas for Entrepreneurs in 2023

Small businesses account for a majority of all the businesses in India, and here are 25 amazing small business ideas for entrepreneurs to start in 2023.

The digital landscape has gone through a mammoth transition from where it had been even 5 years back. Today digital and web marketing comes with a tremendous profusion of opportunities for business organizations irrespective of the size.

Today lets discuss some small business ideas for modern entrepreneurs to start their career in the online space.  Small businesses are in the most advantageous position in this regard. They can derive excellent results from leveraging the features of digital marketing effectively.

Some statistics

As of 2019 NASSCOM, 1300 startups have been established with 8900 tech-based small businesses among them. It goes on to show the tremendous faith the modern entrepreneurs have in the online arena for business growth.

With that number, India has also established itself as the third-largest ecosystem in the world where startups are concerned as of 2019.

There are several advantages to online small businesses like the element of independence, financial benefits, the concentration of control in a few hands for better accountability.

Small businesses can also work efficiently to work towards creating brand value more effectively. They enjoy great equity and opportunity for growth and augmentation.

With so many advantages to starting an enterprise, here is a list of 25 small business ideas that you can think of when you are deciding to zero in on a business idea for your digital marketing initiatives.

1. SEO Business and Consultancy

Search Engine Optimization is a core component for driving traffic to your business. It involves the comprehension, analysis, review, and implementation of SEO best practices to rank high on Google.

SEO business or an SEO consultancy can be a very good way to start your business in the digital domain. You have to possess a keen understanding of SEO and the clients’ demands.

An SEO business can flourish very quickly with your expertise in understanding the SEO strategy the business requires to lead the organic traffic to the website.

Some of the job duties in an SEO Business comprise

• Understanding The Client’s Nature Of Business
• Website Optimization
• Keyword Research And Mapping
• Understanding Google Algorithms To Attain Higher Rankings
• Understanding The Technical Aspects Of The Search Engine Optimization Process
• Local SEO
• Schema Markup
• Web Designing And Development
• Advanced SEO Techniques
• Internal Linking Structure
• Key Performance Indicators
• Mobile Search Optimization
• Monthly SEO Reports
• Strategic Planning
• Industry Trends
• Website Audit
• Studying Traffic
• A/B Split Testing 
• Building Backlinks
• Researching SEO Best Practices And Incorporating Them.

Every company requires an SEO expert who can help drive organic traffic to their website through a proper structured Search Engine Optimization strategy. If you can master the components of Search Engine Optimisation you can easily start a business specializing in all things SEO.

They also have to be familiar with several jargons that are part of the SEO process like Progressive Web Apps, Conversion Rate Optimization, Natural Language Processing, Hyperlocal Marketing, Accelerated Mobile Pages among many others

Learn from the Best Content Writing Course

Also, check out these courses for upskilling 

Technical Writing Course

SEO Course

GST Course

CAT Coaching

Digital Marketing Course

2. IT and Cyber Services

The internet has been a boon for small businesses and other overall marketing endeavors. At the same time, one of the biggest drawbacks of the internet is the element of cybercrime like hacking that has only risen in the past few years.

With increasing online activity the rate of crimes has increased manifold. That has facilitated the need for IT professionals and cyber experts to create adequate protection from such miscreants.

Responsibilities of a cyber expert

They should be involved in strategizing and implementing the best security measures possible keeping in mind the resources, budgets, and workflows.

The next is has to ensure that there is effective coordination between the different departments. Like the website administrator and other teams have to be in touch constantly to ensure the smooth operation of the business. These two aspects are important to get a contract in a company as a cybersecurity business

Other key aspects for the business to succeed

• Monitoring The Network And Performance Of The Website For Any Irregularities
• Implementing User Access Controls And Performing Audits
• Setting Up a Management Process
• Deploying Endpoint Detection
• Implementing Access Management Systems.
• Quick Thinking For Crisis Management And Discernment Of Suspicious Activity

3. Blogging

Any business organization whether a small business or angel-funded corporation cannot undermine the benefits of blogging to become successful in the online domain.

It is especially fruitful for small businesses with less capital. Blogging helps to increase visitors to the website to a great extent.

Creating content for blogging is no easy task. Initially blogging was considered a hobby. It entailed writing in a journal format about a particular topic that piqued your interest.

However, over the years blogging has evolved into a thriving career option. What you need is the ability to understand the client’s goals and objectives and create content around it.

Some of the job responsibilities of bloggers include 

• Increasing The Reach And Bringing The Brand To The Forefront
• Dissemination Of Great Content That Rank In Search Engines
• Strengthening The Relationship With Your Existing Customers
• Creating Qualified Leads
• Establishing A Rapport With Them Turning Them Into Conversions
•  Incorporating The Best Blogging Practices To Develop The Business As A Thought Leader In The Specific Market
• Putting across The Mission And Vision Of The Brand Without Ambiguity

Prerequisites to blogging business.

To get into the blogging business you have to possess impeccable knowledge of grammar and exhaustive vocabulary skills.

Understand the pulse of your target consumers and create content to provide value to them. A blogger has to be well versed with digital tools and promote the content on social media channels and other platforms.

They have to be consistent in churning out good content. Creating a series of topics that enrich the overall experience of the consumers, while, emphasizing the qualities of the business is an apt way to do that.

A blogging business can take the form of freelancing for different niches as well. You can turn into guest bloggers, contributing articles for clients, creating articles of different natures like how-to, guides.

The success of the blogging business overall today reaffirms the belief that the sky is the limit. You can work as ghost bloggers, advertising bloggers, information entrepreneurs, sponsored post bloggers, social media bloggers, event bloggers, business bloggers to name some.

If your writing is exemplary, you will start getting results very quickly by incorporating Digital tools like Google AdSense and Search Engine Optimization and best practices for your blogging business.

4. Content Writing Business

Content writing is probably one of the top small businesses for modern entrepreneurs. A lot of people might be confused with the similarities of blogging and content writing businesses since the lines blur in this regard.

How we can be said that blogging is a part of the content writing aspect. Content writing is an umbrella term for various types of content like technical, business, law, video scripting, white papers, white papers, PDF reports, creative writing, academic writing, sketch writing, landing page content, email writing, and others.

Once you start a business in content writing you can very swiftly move to the top of the ladder provided you imbibe the best qualities of a content writer. It can turn into a buoyant venture with several clients in your portfolio in a very short period.

The job descriptions of bloggers and content writers are sometimes very similar going to the intrinsic property of writing which is integral to both of them.

Some of the job responsibilities of a content writer are

• Creating An Immaculate Copy Of Information Related To The Client’s Business
• Coordinating With Various Teams Like Sales Marketing And Design To Create A Cohesive Content To Disseminate.
• Promoting The Content On Social Media
• Consistent With The Design, Font, Images Tone, And Positioning Of The Product
• Updated Landing Page With The Latest Information That Is Vital For Visibility
• Proofreading And Grammar Checking Of Articles Before They Go Live
• Submitting Work To Professional Editors For A Fresh Perspective
• Conducting Keyword Research For Optimized Web Ranking
• Familiar With Several Web Publications
• Communicative, And Writing Skills.

5. Translators and interpreters service

Translator and interpreter services can be a great small business idea. The translator converts written content from one language to the other. The interpreter does the same activity but verbally. Interestingly, Interpreters can do the work of translators but translators are not as efficient interpreters at times.

Globalization has ensured that we employ the services of people who speak foreign languages to business and trade. The cultural diversity of doing business with different countries can be refreshing and great in terms of creativity and innovation.

The work of interpreters and translators is to be able to provide a smooth flow of conversation with people from two or more countries without any communication glitch.

The job description of translators and interpreters include

• Reading and listening to work materials keenly. Understanding it fully and translating it in another language verbally and/or non-verbally.
• Proficiency in dealing with the variety of documents ranging from research work to government papers, science, technology, literature, education, and business.
• Being able to use several digital software to provide the best translation and interpretation work for clients
• Complying and adhering to industry standards and following all legal and ethical policies to the T.

Skills Required

They should possess adequate cultural sensitivity and help communicate the point across in the best way possible.  It can turn into a very successful small business provided they have an understanding of the niche they operate in. Also, they should possess diligence and dexterity to handle complicated projects with ease.

They should possess great interpersonal skills that help them to get more clients. Translators and interpreters have to be well versed with technical terms, glossary, the jargon of the languages they are translating and interpreting. Absolute proficiency in grammar and technicalities is mandatory.

In case of any challenges, refer to the thesaurus, lexicon assistance, and the internet to ensure complete accuracy in the dissemination of information to all the parties concerned.

6. Career Counseling

In modern times we no longer have to choose from a limited number of career profiles. There are a plethora of career opportunities and job designations in companies to fill.

As a result of the abundant choices that we get, we are sometimes in a state of confusion as to which job role is suited to us. Career Counselors help to clear the cobwebs of uncertainty. They provide a clear picture of what we can excel at based on your skill sets.

Every person has a unique set of attributes that can be the most beneficial for their profession. Taking up a career that can interest and intrigue an individual would help realize the true potential.

Job responsibilities

Career counselors are generally employed by individuals, academic institutions, headhunters to help individuals realize their talents and build careers aligning with their skills.

A Career counselor has to be empathetic and understand the dilemma of students while trying to choose the right career path. They should help students in understanding how to present themselves for interviews.

They should also guide on how to overcome the challenges and improve on the strong points of an individual.

Career guidance counselors are involved in helping people to write resumes to create an appealing portfolio. This is one small business idea that can reap great results in the long run since the demand for career counselors never goes down.

You have to possess interpersonal skills, interactive ability, the quality to connect and empathize with your client and talk about their preferences.

7. Financial Planning and Services

Every business needs expert financial advice to run its organization smoothly. There are various aspects to the implementation of a successful business you have to take into account. Taxes, insurance, accounting, banking, payment, debit card credit card details, current accounts, payroll processing are some key parts.

Entrepreneurs have to consider so many things that for investments and financials they often opt for services that can provide the most incisive plans to yield results.

Small businesses that are formed to address the financial challenges and provide solutions for businesses can become very successful provided the professionals working in the organization are experts with a relevant degree in business management, finance, commerce, taxes, and accountancy.

The financial advisory role entails that we carry out extensive market research and analysis to assess the needs and objectives. Then ascertain the budget based on the study.

Most importantly they have to recommend, analyze, and execute proper financial strategies to align with the business goals keeping in mind the capital.

Financial Management services also help to unravel new financial opportunities in the online domain with less cost of acquisition and high returns on investment. They are concerned with increasing the brand share of the business in the market through the most effective financial strategy.

8. Online Photography Business

Photography is another Small business idea that can get you great profits. All you need is to create a good photography website to display your portfolio and a few types of equipment to display your best work to the world.

If you have a penchant for photography you will have a high-end camera, and software to edit your pictures.

Research about geography and Search Engine Optimisation on Google. PPC ads can also go a great way in promoting your pictures on search engines. Get familiar with online photo directories, blogs, and digital channels.

Most importantly leverage the immense benefits of social media when it comes to photography. You have to be proficient in social media marketing channels to optimize your photography online business. Background, design, fonts everything should be perfect if you want to attract the attention of potential employers.

A comprehensive understanding of digital marketing tools photography tools and social media tools come extremely handy when you are starting a photography business.

Blogging is another important aspect. Your content that will comprise photographs and writing should be disseminated to as many social media as possible.

Tailor your content according to the characteristic of the social media platform you are promoting it on.  Ask for expert advice on your photography skills to improve and make changes as and when necessary. Create great content with text and try to guess blog to get more traffic on your website. Just as in the case of writing, enter photography contests. Send your best works that can put you on the center stage.

9. Social Media Consultancy

For Small business ideas, social media consultancy services can be very profitable in a short time. A social media consultant looks over the entire aspect of the social media promulgation of the brand, its distinctive features, products, and services.

Most of the companies today have social media handles where they post relevant content related to their business organization. Since the majority of our customers and focus groups are found in social media channels it can be an extremely viable channel for heavy promotion of the business.

Social media consultancy can help achieve maximum visibility and exposure on social channels through integrated Marketing strategies and innovative thinking.

Duties and job demands

The main responsibilities of social media consultancy are to plan and strategize a sound social media marketing plan. Optimizing the brand’s presence on these channels is the prime focus.

Moreover, they deal with creating, posting, managing the time of scheduling the post on social media for people to take notice of the content that is disseminated.

They should be conversant with applications like Buffer, Tweetdeck, Semrush, Buzz Sum, Canva, Feedly, Google Trends to have an actionable social media strategy.

Social media consultancy has to be adept at handling digital marketing tools that facilitate more efficient social media promotions.

Social media analytics and reporting as well as strategizing based on the reports are some other main responsibilities of a social media consultancy.

A very important strategy is community building and collaborating with influencers and affiliates. That can give a boost to the business with a wider range of audience base to cover.

10. Web Designing

Every online business today requires a digital presence. As a result, the business requires website designers to create and design an appealing website that would impress the target customers.

The only requirement for a website designing service becoming a profitable small business in the online domain is to think out of the box and create great website designs. Keep in mind that they have to be mobile responsive with optimum page load speed. Web designers need to be clear about graphic designing software like Adobe Photoshop Java InDesign etc.

Steps for effective website design.

Website designers are responsible for formulating a creative strategy for clients. Then they proceed to test the site, looking for the challenges, and working on them to create optimized website pages.

Some other responsibilities include designing the website aligning the brand voice and positioning. It also involves complying with industry standards. Incorporate the best practices with colors fonts resolution of visual imagery etc.

Website designing services should understand the demands of the client and work towards creating a design and layout that is apt for maximum impact on consumers and qualified traffic. Timely delivery of the work is paramount.

Apart from knowledge of software and website designing they should be well versed with SEO skills and information technology.

11. Virtual Assistant

A Virtual Assistant is a self-employed entrepreneur who provides different kinds of assistance to clients all across the globe. Whether technical, administrative, creative they help clients from the comfortable ambiance of their homes.

The responsibilities that come under the purview of virtual assistants’ job are

• They create worksheets and arrange contacts
• Maintain billing, Accounting, and carry out relevant phone calls
• Take care of correspondence and transcribe dictations
• Look for potential business for the clients and disseminate important newsletters and emails among others.

A virtual assistant can help in reducing the workload and expedite the process of arranging everything starting from events, social media scheduling. They help your business grow through means of disseminating important information to the public regarding your business.

Virtual Assistants are tech-savvy, highly skilled with lots of experience. Therefore, you have expert help in all aspects of your business initiative. Skilled virtual assistants are focused and get the work done in a smooth seamless way.

12. Catering Services

Catering or tiffin services are very popular in offices. Small catering or food services will always be in demand. Food is the primary requirement of any individual.

Let’s face it, the demand for food services will never go down which is why the food industry remains is one of the top industries in the world.  You can start your catering service with a website and promote your business online very effectively.

Additionally, you can tie up with one of their food delivery companies like Swiggy, Zomato, and promote your business through their website. A lot of times these companies provide customized visibility options for your business.

The quintessential part of the food delivery business is the quality and taste of food. If you tick the right boxes in this department, provide fresh food, maintain cleanliness, and hygiene you can well establish yourself as a brand leader in the food industry.

13. Handmade Items

DIY (Do it yourself) industries are an excellent example of the small businesses that go on to make huge profits with the minimum cost incurred.

Some of the most popular handmade items in DIY businesses are cards, sweets, candles, jewelry, soaps, flower vases, handcrafted quilts, bags, artwork, wall hanging, etc.

Their unique selling point is that they are distinctive products that are not found in other stores. Handmade items in small businesses have always been a desirable choice for new businesses for startups.

14. Human Resource

Human resource services can be a great startup initiative for small businesses. A good human resource service provides all kinds of functions including payroll management, benefits for employers and employees, training, recruiting, and administration of staff.

They can arrange for eligible candidates for different companies. This helps all the parties involved immensely. One, the company outsources the human resource job to your business thereby decreasing their workload of finding skills proficient individuals for job designations.

Two, you get to meet a lot of new job aspirants as well as people with experience whom you connect with the companies. It helps in building your brand as a reliable human resource business for both job aspirants as well as for companies.

Once you establish your goodwill, companies are more than willing to invest in your business to get the best candidates for their job profiles. You can grow your human resource business from small to large corporations through a strategic approach in providing service to big corporate organizations. Talent Search can turn into a very profitable small business idea.

15. Event Planning

Birthday parties, family functions, anniversaries are great ways to garner clients for your event planning small business. Through the service, you can organize and manage events on a small scale until you become known enough to handle the clients.

Remember just like the food industry, event planning services are extremely coveted. You can build a website and start promoting online or you can use other forms of advertising like newspapers and radio channels to get your word across for company recognition,

According to reports, the profit margin for event planning services can go up to 45%. Therefore it provides plenty of opportunities for growth and success. Start small with birthdays, anniversaries, conferences, small trade fairs.

Steps to consider

Starting an online event planning business will involve a lot of job responsibilities such as conducting thorough research. You will also have to network with complementary businesses like food, decorations, and even transportation in some cases.

Event planning will entail coordinating with the companies, the families you are planning the event for, budgeting as well as evaluating the event.

Nowadays you have opportunities in getting certified in event management from eminent institutions in India. You can get a degree or diploma from those institutes. They provide opportunities for practical training as well. However, the best event managers are those who learn on the job with practical training and experience.

16. Tutoring

Tutoring is one is the most popular small business ideas in the online domain today. You can teach students from standard 1 to 12 and beyond through online classes.

Tutors can also choose the subjects they want to teach and promote themselves on different digital platforms, social media channels. You can start earning a substantial amount by getting several students and providing value to them. The more your proficiency as a teacher the more there is word-of-mouth publicity of your skills

The advantage of studying from any place students want has facilitated the demand for online classes considerably. There are many education portals that you can sign up with. It is a very plausible small business idea for modern entrepreneurs.

17. E-learning Course

Digital marketing courses, content marketing courses, social media courses CAT training, competitive exam coaching, and several other disciplines are there which prefer online learning to on-campus offline study today.

Some of the most effective content writing, copywriting, and digital marketing courses are found online. They come with several advantages like providing free demo before registering for the class.

Some other advantages are being able to choose a class of your preference ( weekends weekday batches) and even class timings that suit your schedule.

From the perspective of the business, e-learning businesses require you to be proficient in the curriculum that you are going to teach. You should have the proper certificate and degrees to be eligible to teach the classes. Also, empathy and prioritizing students should be your aim to become an authority figure in e-Learning courses.

18. Podcasting

A modern entrepreneur has a lot of options when it comes to choosing to start a new business. Before the expansion of media and technology, there weren’t many opportunities available in the online domain to start a career. One of the latest small business ideas that have come from the benefit of internet marketing is a podcasting business.

A podcast is an audio file that you upload to a particular portal for listeners. They subscribe to your channel and the podcast generates revenue for the creator with the help of advertisements.

Sometimes podcast subscribers need premium accounts to access your content. This means that the subscribers need to pay a certain amount of money to access the podcast and the other materials associated with it.

You don’t have to incur a lot of expenses in creating a podcast business. First, you strategize and decide on your target consumers. Decide on topics and ideas you want to provide as content for your podcast.

You need a recorder and a very good audio interface with editing software. Once your content starts generating interest and getting subscribers you can earn through sponsors, paid subscriptions, or by charging fees for broadcasting your content on a known channel.

A podcast business requires you to be creative, disciplined, and consistent with the content that is appealing and stays on with your listeners.

19. Animation 

Animation is the process of creating the illusion of pictures moving thereby forming videos from these images. They can start their own online business and do freelance gigs to grow their business.

Some of the responsibilities of an animation designer are 

To read the story and understand what the animation requires. It involves creating designs, developing a series of storyboards, preparing presentations, and coordinating with the different departments.

it also requires you to have an affable disposition since you need to brainstorm with other animation designers, directors, assistants, and help in the editing process.

Animation has a lot of demand because of advanced technological proliferation. You can also choose to teach animation to job aspirants too.

The options of earning through a small business animation service are plenty. The best thing is you can be an animation teacher to your students, you can do your animation work with distinguished corporations and you can also do freelance all through your website. All of this at the same time.

20. Advertising and Printing

An Advertising company can excel immensely in the online domain. Business operations need the services of an advertising agency to make people aware of their brand and production services.

Pamphlets, Hoardings, Brochures, are examples of offline promotions that business corporations need for the business to flourish even more.

What you can do is start an online advertising agency on a small scale taking a few clients and working to the best of your abilities.

Research and learn everything you can about advertising, printing, designing, and start working on the projects. You can successfully get a lot of clients when your work having favorable returns on Investments for your clients.

21. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketers promote a product or service of another organization or brand and earn commissions from it. You have to be enterprising, fluent with great communication skills both written and verbal.

An affiliate marketing business can be extremely successful if you can inspire people to take the desired action. That involves clicking on the affiliate links you post on your website or another digital channel. And subsequently purchase from the site using your code in the same session.

Research the product well, make sure the products you are endorsing are authentic. Only then venture into an affiliate marketing business.

Affiliate marketing can help you gain a potential passive income provided your information is genuine and the products are high quality.

22. YouTube Channel

YouTube channel is a great way to start a small business and take it to great heights. With Adsense, you can earn a substantial amount provided you have viewers for your videos and activity (traffic) on your channel.

Youtube has become a major source of earnings for people from diverse fields. Whether it is the creative field, artistic field, technology, home designing, fashion, any distinctive talent can be promulgated on a YouTube channel. They can make you start and grow your business greatly.

23. Copywriting

Just like content writing, copywriting is a great small business idea. A copywriter is involved with creating content that is aimed at customers with the intent to sell a product or service.

It is informative and delineates the advantages of buying the product. Copywriting is essentially a sales page where writers emphasize the price, specifications, distinctive features that drive consumers to buy the product.

24. Organic Eco-friendly Products

Modern entrepreneurs can look for eco-friendly ventures for small business ideas. Some of the businesses can be garden planning, green consulting, environmental law, eco restaurants, organic nutrition, green gift products, education on preserving nature, pottery recycled and refurbished bicycles eco-friendly scooters, etc.

This gets a lot of support from environmental activists and government and non-government organizations. They are enthused to promote your business in an ever greater way providing opportunities to turn brand leaders.

25. Social Media Advertising Strategy

Learn advertising on social media intensively channels to start a business online. You can help big corporations strategize the best ways to incorporate Facebook advertising, Instagram advertising in their digital campaigns.

How to post, when to post, which format of an ad to use can be very crucial for business houses. You can provide insight to them thereby getting clients for your social media advertising consultancy.

Conclusion

There are plenty of other small business ideas that can give you the first taste of success in the online domain.  The above are just some of the business ideas especially in the Indian context that can help you get great returns on investment with very little cost.

Any business especially small businesses can thrive with focused targeting, lead generation, great content dissemination driving qualified traffic, and ultimately impressing the customers enough for them to make a purchasing decision.

There are several digital marketing courses available that can give you insight into the complexities of the digital world. They might help you to get more innovative and creative. It can instill ideas of putting your resources and talent to use to create unique small business initiatives.

Research and give ample thought to your skills. Anything that interests you, that you have a passion for can turn your life around for the better. With the proper planning, you can turn your hobby into your profession and eventually into a grand scale business.