Increasing numbers of people are deciding to set up their own small businesses. This isn’t all too surprising. Sure, the majority of people work in employed positions and there are plenty of perks that come hand in hand with this working situation. When you are employed you are provided with a safe space to work in. You have contracted hours, which means contracted pay and knowing exactly what you are going to have going into the bank on a monthly basis. You are paid annual leave. You receive pay if you are sick. You receive pay if you have to take time off work for parental leave. You won’t be left without any money if you’re made redundant and need to find another job. But at the end of the day, you will be working to build someone else’s dream and somebody else will be making money out of you. When you become self-employed or decide to run your own business, you take on a whole lot more responsibility over your own work and you do have to make preparations when it comes to taking time off. But you decide what direction your business is going to take. You get to choose what you are going to provide the consumer market with and which area of the consumer market you’re going to engage with. But you do need to make sure you are providing something that’s different to other options on the market. Here are a few alternative business startups you might want to consider if this sounds like the path you want to take!
Shutterstock Licensed Photo – By g-stockstudio
Catering to the Consumer Market
The consumer market nowadays is saturated. It’s becoming increasingly easy to set up your own small business, so more and more people are setting up companies without offering anything new. If you try to sell a product or service that’s already available, you’re going to have to cut your profit margins to ensure that it’s the cheapest option – this is the only way you’re going to bring customers to you from existing competitors who have already established themselves. So, if you’re going to cater to the consumer market, you’re going to have to offer something new and innovative, which will have more control over your company and what you offer. You can set your own prices without necessarily having to be competitive. You also draw people in with something that they can’t get elsewhere, boosting brand loyalty.
Catering to Other Businesses
Remember that the average consumer isn’t the only person you can cater to. You can cater to businesses as well! Businesses spend a lot of money in their operation. So, provide them with what they need to succeed and you could make a thriving success of your own business. You could provide outsourced services, taking work off other companies’ hands. You could manufacture other business’ goods for them – you can find out more about conveyor rollers and other manufacturing equipment here. You could provide them with office stationery. There’s a whole host of potential for money making ventures on a business to business basis!
Catering to Niches
Many small business owners want to provide products that have as wide appeal as possible. After all, if something has mass appeal, you are likely to have more customers and make more profit. Look at giants like Coca Cola, McDonalds, Apple… they provide the type of products that the majority of people indulge in. But have you considered catering to niches? Sure, when you cater to a niche, you’re not going to have the largest customer base. But they are likely to be loyal – especially if you’re the only company offering what they want. Many businesses catering to niches tend to end up having a larger customer base than the owners initially thought they would. People will come from far and wide to get what’s on offer!
Experiences
Research has found that people nowadays tend to favor spending more money on experiences than items. While we may not be letting go of materialism quite yet, there is a burgeoning market in experiences and things to do. So, why not come up with a fun, alternative activity or experience that people can engage with. Plenty of businesses have excelled on this front. Think of successful ventures like:
- Driving a sports car on a race track
- Escape rooms
- Indoor skydiving
- Paintballing
- Mini Golf
- Axe Throwing
These may seem like a one-off novelty that people engage with on a birthday or part of another celebration. But there are people celebrating out there all the time – plenty enough people to keep a business up and off the ground.
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Blogging
Shutterstock Photo – By MaximP
Believe it or not, blogging can be a pretty lucrative business to run. Sure, we might generally associate blogging with a personal activity – something that people do free of charge with their own time. But if your blog ends up having multiple followers, other businesses will see it as a great platform for advertising. After all, if numerous people are visiting your page to read your posts, there’s a lot of attention directed towards this space. You can charge to place ads around your posts, or you could even charge companies to review their products and services. You just have to make sure that your blog always meets your readers’ expectations and that you steer clear of controversy!
Social Media
In a similar vein, you can make a whole lot of money out of running successful social media feeds. People are spending more and more time online and diverting more and more of their attention to others’ social media feeds. If you gain lots of followers, you can, again, charge businesses to advertise their goods or feature their goods in your posts!
These are just a few different options that you have when it comes to alternative business startups. Sure, there’s money to be made in more traditional business models. But these methods could be great money makers too! So, take them into consideration!