19 Unique Business Ideas You Can Start Right Now

In this post, we will talk about 19 unique business ideas you can start right now. There’s nothing more exciting than the prospect of a new business – except, perhaps, a successful new business, of course. While it’s easy to sit back and think of a million ways to earn extra cash on a regular basis, it’s a bit more difficult to start an every-day business that will stand the test of time. In today’s job market, there are no guarantees – one day your business will be thriving and the next it might take a decline. So, when starting your business and growing it, you’ll want to make sure that it doesn’t cost you too much money.

You’ll also want to ensure that your business offers your prospective clients something unique.

Need ideas? Here are a few of the best.

Unique Business Ideas You Can Start Right Now

1. Resume writing

Regardless of work experience, there are very few people who enjoy writing resumes. There are even fewer still who are actually good at writing them. If you happen to both enjoy writing them and be good at doing it? There’s a great job market for you. You could employ your services as freelance resume writer, tailoring and creating resumes for clients looking to enter into or advance in the working world.

2. Translating

If you can speak two or more languages fluently, you can be a translator. Translators are sought out on a global scale and do not need to invest any money into starting a translation business. In addition, translators can make a pretty decent salary. They can work freelance or permanently for a large company, and there is a ton of freedom associated with the business.

3. Website flipping

You’ve probably heard of car flipping, but have you heard of website flipping? Essentially, it’s the same thing. “Flippers” will purchase websites, improve them, and resell them for a profit. If you have web development skills, design skills, and a love of improvement, you could be a successful flipper. Generally, it’s a fairly cheap trade to get into- but you have to have a keen eye and be able to pick out websites with potential. Be sure that you know what types of websites to avoid; the worst websites are not always the best ones to flip.

4. Selling photos

If you enjoy taking photos, you have the potential to earn an income by selling photos. Whether you’re a professional or simply someone with a passion for home photography, there are a number of great places that you can sell your photos. All you need is a good camera and a computer, as well as an account on the website or app of your choice. A few of the most popular places for selling photos are Flickr, and GettyImages, both of which give you the option to watermark your photos and to choose their selling rate.

5. Telemarketing

Today, an increasing number of companies are choosing to outsource their marketing efforts. Telemarketing is one of the many ways this is happening. You can start a business as a freelance telemarketer, working from the comfort of your home and setting your own hours. As a telemarketer, it is your job to entice prospective clients to try new services and products, so having experience in marketing and excellent communication skills is a major bonus.

6. Personal chef

Do you enjoy cooking? Ever wanted to be a chef? If either or both apply to you, you might find success as a personal chef. Compared to other home businesses, this one can take a bit more work to get going, as you’ll need to have a food safety certification before starting. Once you’re up and running, though, you can spend your days cooking tasty meals for individuals who lack the time to do so, or who need a special diet. Generally, rates will be based around how much you work and what kind of requirements you need to meet. For example, is your client a vegan? Gluten free? Does he or she have a digestive issue that needs to be considered when preparing meals?

7. Packing

If you have an eye for detail and gentle hands, why not be a personal packer? Packing services are essentially free to start up and can be advertised almost anywhere. As a packing service employee, you’ll be tasked with carefully boxing and bagging belongings of those who are relocating to a different house, city, or even another country! Before you start a packing service, though, be sure that you’re in good physical condition, as packing for hours at a time can be hard on the back and joints.

8. Personal shopper

Some large grocery stores offer personal shopping services. However, many clients complain that these large stores deliver them bruised produce, broken eggs, and milk that has gone warm what seems like hours ago. Why not score yourself some business? Be a personal shopper! If you have a large car or a van, you could use it to deliver groceries to clients.

With this as your business, you could purchase the groceries yourself, deliver them, and be reimbursed for the groceries, as well as paid for the delivery. Or, you could have the client place their order with an order picking service at the grocery store and then you could simply pick them up and make the delivery.

9. Tour guide

If you live in a busy city that receives a lot of tourists, it could be worth it for you to set up a tour guide business. You could offer your services to those passing through town, guiding them around your area and showing them some of the best places to relax and fun things to do. You could offer individual tours or group tours. Alternatively, you could create package deals for clients. These could include booking their hotels, arranging taxi services, and taking them for a guided walking (or bicycle?) tour.

10. Electronics repair

Almost everyone owns at least one electronic device. Many of us own upwards of 5 or 6 devices between our smartphones, TVs, DVD players, computers, tablets, and game systems. What does this mean? It means that every day, someone in your area is probably dealing with a broken electronic device. If you’re good with electronics, you could offer your help and, in turn, start an electronics repair service. You could offer repairs to one type of device or multiple devices.

11. Wedding planner

There’s a ton of work that goes into weddings and today, many couples are much too busy to plan for their big day. This is where you, as a self-contractor, can come in. With a bit of patience, and a ton of time and organization, you could get paid to plan weddings. As a wedding planner, you’ll need to be organized and punctual, and you’ll also need a keen eye for detail.

You can offer your customers everything from menu services, help choosing flowers or booking venues, hiring a band or caterer, and finalizing all the payment details for the big day.

12. Scrapping

Wait– don’t toss your old TV! Start a scrapping business instead. If you’ve never heard of scrapping, it is the art of taking apart broken electronics and harvesting the precious material inside (copper, gold, steel). These materials can be sold to various recyclers oe to indépendent collectors for quite the profit.

Having your own scrapping business, you could choose to scrap only the electronics that come through your household or you could opt to collect them from other places. The latter of the two can be a hassle and often requires a truck, but is generally the more profitable choice.

13. Product distributor

Product distribution is one of the most common home businesses. Distributors can sell anything from vitamin supplements to makeup and skincare products. A few of the most popular companies that hire distributors include MaryKay, ItWorks, and Pampered Chef. To get started, some companies require you to purchase a starter kit or to hand over a small fee. But, if you know a lot of people or are an expert salesman, you’ll have no problem making your money back.

14. Clothing alterations

Never going out of style, clothing alteration continues to be a popular market. If you know how to mend clothing or how to make clothing from scratch, this could be a business for you. People will pay for everything from minor services (zipper replacement, patching etc) to larger services (hemming, size extension etc) and everything in between. Starting this business is easy, requiring only knowledge, time, and skill, but if you want to develop it into a larger scale operation, you might want to invest in some upgraded technology such as professional sewing machines.

15. Car detailing

Car owners are a unique type of people; they like having clean, well-manicured cars but often lack the time it takes to maintain their polished appearance. You can profit from this as a car detailer. If you know your way around the interior of a car with a shop vac, dusting cloths, and car-safe chemicals, you could make a pretty penny from maintaining the interior (and exterior?) of vehicles. Services you could offer include wax, car washing, interior vacuuming, window washing, and general organization.

16. Modeling

There’s no secret that modeling, once you get your name out there, produces a good income. But have you ever thought of being a model? Maybe you should! It’s relatively easy to be a freelance model, and while it’s a hustle that takes time and patience to make a full career out of, a single job could earn you a decent sum. Before venturing into this field, you’ll want to do some research, practice your best angles, and decide on a media format to use for your portfolio. For example, you might opt for a still-image format and fill your portfolio with your best still shots, or you may opt to put together a portfolio of short commercials and advertisements featuring you.

17. Furniture customization

Enjoy crafting? Love breathing new life into old objects? Furniture customization could be just the business for you! You might not have thought of it as a potential business, but it really can be a good investment of your time and energy. The entire business is based around your creativity. What can you do with an old chair? How about that old bed frame? A wobbly table? The possibilities are endless. You could stick with the basics and reupholster old furniture or you could get really creative and transform one item into another. Your furniture customization business will appeal to the style-conscious and eco-friendly consumers of the world.

18. Junk removal

They say that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure – this particular saying is especially true if you’re entering into the junk removal field. As a junk remover, you’ll be in charge of picking up and getting rid of trash, furniture, and other odds and ends that aren’t covered in the everyday public trash removal service. In addition to earning an income, you’ll also help contribute to a clean community. To add an extra level to your junk removal service, you could consider equipping yourself with rakes, shovels, and wheelbarrows so that, in addition to taking trash and debris (leaves, tree branches etc) away, you can also collect and prepare them for removal to earn even more coin.

19. Vehicle advertising

If you’ve ever seen a vehicle with a large, car-sized logo spread across it, you’ve seen vehicle advertising at work. Vehicle advertising is an easy business to get into, only requiring a working vehicle, a contract, and an interested company who needs your services. You can find vehicle advertising jobs on sites like Wrapify and carvertise.

Hope you enjoyed this post on 19 unique business ideas. What do you think? Are you interested in any of the business ventures above? If not, why not get started? A bit of extra cash can go a long way!