Key Points:

  • 55% of entrepreneurs say their biggest motivation for starting their own business was the idea of being their boss
  • You need to have the right expertise in the industry you’re pursuing before finding the cheapest business to start or an easy business to start
  • Easyship powers eCommerce merchants and businesses with premium shipping tools designed to scale your business globally and power your cheapest business to start

When people think about the cheapest business to start, they think of huge start-up capital, keeping stocks, and even the logistics that come along with it. But with about 580 million entrepreneurs across the globe, it’s safe to say that you do not need as much as you think you need to start your own business.

Indeed, you will need to learn the basics of running a business - branding, and packaging, good customer service, compelling marketing strategies, and researching for the best courier, among others. This blog post will cover the cheapest business to start in 2022 and how you can reach eCommerce success.

Table of Contents

What to Consider Before Finding the Cheapest Business to Start

The idea of the cheapest business to start can be inspiring and exhilarating, particularly to those who have been looking out to be their bosses. However, it can be pretty frightening when you consider some aspects such as the risks involved, the cost, and other factors.

Knowing the necessary factors to consider before starting is a great way to alleviate your fears. Here, we’ll consider the most crucial factors for easy businesses to start so you can start business planning:

  • A business idea: Every business starts with an idea, so if you want to stand out from competitors, you want to make sure you can offer customers something unique and will be profitable
  • Expertise in the field of interest: For any business, you need to have the proper knowledge of the industry you’re pursuing. This step may take a considerable amount of research and planning but is one of the most vital steps when knowing how to find the cheapest business to start
  • Explore the demand: Exploring the direction of your product or service is another vital step in starting a business. Ask yourself who your customers are to understand how to best market your customers. You want to especially look for the growth potential of your business and the buying habits of your audience in order to create a good business to start
  • Start-up costs: You need to estimate your start-up costs before getting your business up and running. You’ll need to consider things such as the inventory you need to maintain, the equipment you may need, and the location cost, amongst other things for the cheapest business to start
  • Research competitors in the industry: Failing to know who your competitors are is one way to start your business off on the wrong foot. Your main priority should be gaining a market share of the industry you’re targeting. If there’s a massive demand for your product or service, this step shouldn’t be too hard
  • Choose a location: If you’re a retail business, you’ll have to choose a strategically located location. However, eCommerce businesses allow you to reach global markets across the world
  • Consider labor costs: Unless you’re running an Etsy store yourself, you’ll have to consider staffing costs. Without the extra hands or help, your business will suffer. You can use staffing agencies to fill in your positions with the right talent if you don’t want to do it yourself

Remember that when you are thinking about the cheapest business to start, one of the things you have to consider is how to ship and fulfill your orders. Easyship powers eCommerce merchants and businesses with premium shipping tools to scale your business globally. To help you as you start your business, Easyship offers shipping tools such as the Shipping Rates Calculator, Duties & Taxes Calculator, Post-Purchase Branding Suite, and many more.

Best Business to Start with Little Money in 2022

Looking for a good business to start? Having little funds should not deter you from starting your own business or making great sales. Here is a list of easy businesses to start this year, so you can decide what works best for you and your skillset. This way, you can find the cheapest business to start for your business model.

1. Start a dropshipping business

Keeping inventory can be one of your fears when you think about starting a business. If this is the case, then you should consider dropshipping. Dropshipping is a fulfillment model that directly sells goods to your customers from the manufacturers.

To do this, you have to open and register an online store on eCommerce platforms like eBay or Shopify. Then, you partner with suppliers of the products you intend to sell and upload these products on your storefront.

Once the orders come in, you need to forward them to your supplier, and they will have your products delivered to your customers. To scale up your business, you need to adopt excellent marketing skills, good customer service, and most importantly, partner with reliable and trusted suppliers. When you put these in place, you will realize that dropshipping is an easy business to start and a good business to start.

2. Selling a service is an easy business to start

You don’t necessarily have to sell physical goods to start a business. Instead, you can sell a service and thrive in your chosen niche - and it can the cheapest business to start!

Services you can sell are limitless; they could be writing, cleaning, mowing, and many more. You can kick off by either offering your skillset as a service, that is, doing the actual work, or as a consultant who connects those who need a service with those who provide them - which is a good business to start!

You can outsource your services and get a commission or hire staff as you can expand. To reach your prospective clients, you’ll have to paint a picture of how the service you render will benefit them and why they should choose you. Selling services requires you to sell yourself and create winning profiles for yourself and your brand. You can also rely on social media to advertise your services, which is an excellent business to start at a low cost - and can be the cheapest business to start!

3. Create an online fashion store is a good business to start

For fashion enthusiasts, this is an easy business to start. You can target a demographic like sportswear, millennials, etc. Whichever one you choose to go for, it's essential to go for the one you're passionate about as this will improve your chances of investing your time in it and, ultimately, getting high conversions.

Cheapest Business to Start

Overall, you can start a fashion business without worrying about startup costs - making it the cheapest business to start for some. The dropshipping model is one you should consider – lookout for trusted clothing brands on eCommerce platforms, select items from there, and upload them on your storefront. You can also leverage social media to drive traffic to your online store and make great sales.

Related post: How to Start an Online Store & Sell on Day 1

4. Sell handcrafted or homemade goods

This business idea is for you if you are into crafting or making things. You could be a knitter, soap-maker, or beader and not know that your products are in high demand. The good news is there is a way you can go about your business by selling handcrafted or homemade goods.

Easy Business to Start

Consider starting on a per-order basis; that is, you do not have to make a high quantity of your products, waiting for customers to buy. Instead, you can simply make a few of each of the products you intend to sell and look out for those that generate sales quickly and consistently.

Selling on Shopify or Etsy is a great way to reach your potential customer. Still, unlike dropshipping, you will have to manage inventory and partner with a shipping company to aid your business.

5. Start a pet business is an easy business to start

If you're a lover of animals, you can turn your passion into a money-making business - and is a good business to start. With seventy percent of US households, or about 90.5 million families owning a pet, the pet industry is a booming one, and you can have a slice of it.

Best Business to Start with Little Money

You can offer services like grooming, walking, training, or even selling pet toys and accessories. Social media is an excellent place to start from or open a store on an eCommerce platform, market your goods and generate remarkable sales. Overall, starting a pet business can be the cheapest business to start for some who have the right expertise.

6. Start a subscription-box business

The subscriptions industry is valued at over $5.8 billion. A subscription box is used to win customers over and send them monthly curations of products from an online store. This idea is an online business you can go into without selling your products. However, you can also build a substantial business and generate massive sales.

All you need to do is carve a niche target for your customers by paying attention to their age range, interests, and more. These will inform the kind of branding your subscription boxes will need. Popular subscription boxes you can sell include groceries, health, plants, home or office supplies.

7. Become a virtual event planner is an easy business to start

The virtual world is a space with limitless opportunities, and if your forte is in organizing and bringing people together, you can give this a shot. In this highly profitable business, you need to utilize available virtual tools to conduct meetings and make money as you do so. Your target customers will be educational or religious organizations that want to hold intercontinental virtual meetings.

With little to no startup costs, a virtual planning business can be the cheapest business to start.

8. Sell your art or photography

If you are a photographer or take photos for fun, selling your images is a great way to make additional income. You can set up a store on any eCommerce platform and sell your prints to marketers or bloggers. Another option is to sell on stock photography sites.

Good Business to Start

Make sure to invest in a good printer, use good frame resources and market your photos to reach your customer base. Another lucrative part is one birthed by blockchain technology, the NFT. Considering selling NFTs is a profitable business if you are in the art and photography niche - both can be a good business to start.

9. Becoming a social media consultant is an easy business to start

Between running a business, and managing inventory, staff, and even customers, many brands need the services of social media managers to keep up their social media presence. In a survey, 78% of salespeople engaged in social selling are reported to outsell their peers who aren’t. This fact reflects how social media is a platform for networking, advertising, and sales for many users worldwide, and brands rely significantly on it.

If you are an interactive person who enjoys creating content like videos or photos on Facebook, Tiktok, Instagram, or Twitter, you can develop a niche in the social media realm. Then, as a social media manager, all you need to do is to create engaging content, write captions that captivate, respond to comments, run ads, among others, and be paid for it. As long as you have the right knowledge, becoming a social media consultant can truly be the cheapest business to start.

10. Start a beauty business

The beauty industry's diversity and expansive nature offer many intending entrepreneurs endless opportunities. So, if your passion lies in making people look their best, the beauty business is one of the cheapest businesses you can try out. First, however, to startup, you need to determine the niche you want to go into and do the necessary research on it.

Easiest Business to Start

Sometimes, you need to look out for the trends and strategize from there. High converting products include face masks, sanitizers, massage guns, makeup brushes, and so on. It's best to leverage content creation – make videos on using some of the products you sell or post pictures showing the results to make sales. As a bonus, you can create a beauty blog and add links to your online store.

Easy Business to Start & Good Business to Start with Easyship

Perhaps choosing the cheapest business to start was one of the goals you set for yourself at the start of the year. However, maybe you think it’s no longer feasible because you have not amassed the required funds needed to start. While capital is essential to create a business, you do not need to break the bank to start up yours.

With dropshipping, service selling, and other businesses mentioned here, you can go on to become an entrepreneur. Just make sure you consider the necessary factors, and you are on your way to generating sales - and finding an easy business to start!

Plus, with Easyship’s shipping services and automated tools, running your business just got an easier start. Easyship keeps the logistics in check while you focus on developing winning strategies to help to scale your business.

Here are some ways Easyship powers your business with cutting-edge tools for the cheapest business to start:

  • Optimized Store Checkout: Offer your customers more shipping options with real-time shipping rates at checkout. Easyship always shows the cheapest, fastest, and best value shipping options at your store’s checkout
  • Easyship Shipping Rates Calculator: Access high-volume discounts from major couriers. Plus, get instant access to delivery lead times from premium shipping couriers
  • Easyship Branding Suite: Easyship provides a delivery experience consistent with your brand. Add your logo and advertising materials to your packing slips, landing pages, and tracking emails

Ready to ship? Sign up for a FREE Easyship account and get instant access to high-volume discounts for the cheapest business to start

Cheapest Business to Start FAQ

Which business is in demand and is a good business to start?

Dropshipping, subscription-box businesses, online fashion stores, or even selling handmade goods are some businesses that are in demand.

What industries will grow in 2022 and is there an easy business to start?

Sustainable industries are projected to grow in 2022 and in years to come. Plus, they can be an easy business to start!

How can I create the best business to start with little money?

There are many ways you can start your own business with little money. For example, dropshipping or selling a service (i.e., social media consulting) are some ways you can create your best business with little money.


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