In my life I seem to be the odd one out. While almost all of my family own businesses no one really wants to get into the online space. When they start scheming up business ideas they are all offline. That’s okay with me. In fact, thinking up business ideas with others can be quite fun to do. And there are a few ideas on this list I’d love to try!
If you’re interested in starting a business without taking it all online here are more than fifty profitable offline small business ideas to try.
Semi-Passive Business Ideas
Semi-passive business ideas are those that are going to take a lot of money or time upfront but then can run on their own without constant supervision.
While these semi-passive ideas definitely require work they won’t keep you ball and chained to a desk for forty hours per week.
- Car Wash
- Tool Rental
- Laundromat
- Vending Machine Owner
- Boat Rentals
Reseller Business Ideas
Reselling is when you buy something at a discount (whether that be new or used) and sell for a profit. Sometimes that means you need to put a little work in to get your product up to par (like the bicycle reseller idea below which would involve buying old bikes fixing them, and reselling) and other times you just need to put in the work to spot the deals.
- Thrift Store
- Flea Market Reseller
- Bicycle Flipper
- Furniture Flipper
Manual Labor Business Ideas
These are always the types of businesses my brothers are scheming up and the truth is they can pay quite well. For instance, a local painter charges $400 to paint a room that takes him a day to do. If he did that five days a week he’d be bringing in $8,000 per month profit. Not bad at all!
As another example one of my old bosses paid a cleaning lady $400 week to clean a set of office buildings he owned. It took her less than 10 hours per week to get this done. Considering I live in a low cost and low pay area that translates to some pretty darn good money.
Here are some more manual labor business ideas.
- Landscaper
- Handyman
- House Painter
- Professional Cleaner
- Carpet Cleaner
- Snow Plow Services
- Pool Cleaning
Real Estate
Owning a real estate based business, like flipping houses which I did once, has always been a dream of mine. Once I get enough cash saved I do plan on adding some real estate into my business mix.
- House Flipper
- Landlord
- Home Stager
- Real Estate Photographer
Retail Business Ideas
Retail. This is what so many of my family members do and specifically, the first three items on the list. I can tell you from experience that owning a retail business can mean high stress and costs a lot of money upfront.
If owning a retail business has always been a dream of yours here are some ideas.
- Greenhouse/Flower Shop
- Department Store
- Firearms Store
- Shoe Store
- Athletic Store
- Gas Station
- Music Store
Food Business Ideas
If you’re a good cook starting a food business could be a low cost way for you to test the waters. Start on a small level, see how things go, and then ramp it up from there.
- Wedding Cake Decorator
- Bakery
- Doughnut Shop
- Sweets Shop
- Restaurant
- Food Truck Owner
- Caterer
- Coffee Shop
Sales Business
If you enjoy meeting new people and have always had a penchant for sales joining a direct sales company or network marketing company can be highly lucrative.
On the flipside, multi marketing gets a bad rep due to misleading statements and claims from some of the companies. It’s important that you choose a company you’re truly interested in working with and that is highly reputable.
Here are few popular direct sales and multi-marketing companies.
- Young Living Oils
- DoTerra
- Avon
- Scentsy
- Pampered Chef
- Thirty One Gifts
- Mary Kay
- Advocare
- Beach Body
Service Based Business Ideas
As it sound service based business ideas are when you offer a service to potential customers. As your service based business grows you then have the option to hire on employees to provide the service while you manage the business.
- Daycare Provider
- Tutor
- Lesson Provider (Guitar, Gymnastics, Piano, etc.)
- Auto Maintenance
- Auto Painting
- Personal Trainer
- Dog Grooming
- Dog Sitting
- Pet Photography
- Wedding Photography
Which Business Idea Should You Try
This list of business ideas could be never ending. You have so many options that picking something can seem overwhelming.
My best advice is to start small. I failed multiple times before finally finding the business idea that seemed to click right. If you have no idea what type of business you want to start try service based businesses first. They require very little startup costs so if you end up hating it you won’t be out a ton of money.
P.S. If you’re looking for an online job/business check out this post.
One day my plan is to own lots of real estate and be a wonderful landlord. I know it doesn’t sound like a glamorous job but I have been a landlord in the past with horrible tenants and still loved it.
I have a real estate centered mind too 🙂 Only I’d prefer to flip if I could find the right properties 🙂
Obviously, you are gifted in coming up with ideas. That’s quite a nice list!
My daughter has a young man at her college who offers a laundry service to students. He does VERY well and it’s something he can do and still maintain his grades. If we lived closer to a college, I’d consider doing that too since laundry is my most favorite chore.
I don’t feel so weird now. I have always been compelled to do my laundry and fold it neatly and put it into drawers. It is my sweet mother’s fault. I even enjoy doing it.
Finally, I’ve found one other person on the planet who enjoys doing laundry!
Great idea! I loathe laundry lol. It’s the one thing I feel like I can never keep up with. If I had extra cash to do so that would be the first household chore I hired out.
You left out sewing and mending. The only real downside of this is that customers try to set the prices. They don’t realize that the reason most of their factory made t-shirts twist after being washed is because they were cut on a machine. Think giant cookie cutter. The fabric is cut off grain. (bad) If the fabric is hand cut, we cut it on-grain. (good) Non-sewing people also under-estimate the time it takes to do each project. Customers often say “it is a real simple project” or “it will only take 15 minutes”. If they do that ask them if they sew. Just be aware of misconceptions if you choose to do alterations, mending or sewing. Prepare a price list for all jobs. If they come up with a project that is off of your price list. Break it down to calculate the time and materials involved. If they keep trying to set the prices, tell them that you can not complete the job for that amount of money. Be willing to refuse jobs.
Thanks for the input on that, Linda! I’ve tried sewing before and am awful. In home ec class in high school we sewed pillows and I was pretty embarrassed with the end result of mine. Sewing and embroidery would be another thing I’d definitely be willing to pay for.
That’s a wonderful idea that many people need. I can sew with a machine but am terrible at it with my hands! My brother sews by hand better than I do. In his case it’s because he and our oldest brother wrecked a bed and our dad made them sew it back up as punishment.
Hello,
I’m a man who loves business ideas, but i like this site.
Keep up the good work !
Vest Wishes,
Kasper
I found this article on Pinterest and was curious to see what made your list. I am a jack of all trades, I just have so many ideas I can’t seem to stick with just one thing.
I have picked multiple side businesses to create a full time income so that I always stays on my toes.
This article is absolutely perfect for people like myself because many of these ideas don’t consume all of your time, you can build success with one and then start another. It’s great!
This is definitely an article for people to check out, even if they just want a moonlight business for extra money. I really enjoyed the read
I must say this is a very good list of business ideas. There are many new startups emerging every year and many are gaining success. Out of all these, Online custom clothing and Online food delivery businesses are trending the most.
This is such an awesome list! I’ve been trying to find things to do from home that will work for a while. My son has mental disorders and doesn’t seem to like when I work outside of the house. He gets himself kicked out of things and I’m not sure if it’s on purpose. Thank you for all that you post, I love reading it!
I’m glad you found it helpful. Best of luck to you!