Businesses You Can Start With $10,000 or Less

If you’re thinking about starting a business, you might be concerned about the startup costs. 

From renting an office space to purchasing a business license, there are all kinds of fees that go into starting a business. 

However, if you’re interested in making money while doing something you love, there is no better way than to head out on your own. Luckily, there are plenty of excellent business ideas that cost very little to pursue.

If you have $10,000 in the bank, you can easily pursue your dreams of running your own business. But if you don’t have a pile of cash sitting around that you can use, consider this list of business you can start without any cash at all. 

How to Start a Business

Before you rent an office space, hire an employee, or buy inventory for your new business, you need to actually start the business first. What does this entail?

Quite a few things, actually. There’s a business name to be chosen, an entity to be selected, and variety of other tasks to complete: insuring your company, opening a bank account, and setting up your books.

Business Pundit recommends starting out as an LLC (limited liability company) for most people – though you should do your homework and make sure it’s right for you. These are relatively simple and flexible entities that give you plenty of protection.

Once you’ve determined an LLC is right for your new business, learn from us how to start an LLC in your state. We have a guide for starting an LLC in California, in Florida, in Texas, and in a variety of other states.

Businesses You Can Start With $10,000 or Less

Homemade or Gourmet Food 

Do you love food? Most of us do, but very few of us have the skills necessary to produce delicious gourmet food at a large scale. If nothing makes you happier than spending time in your kitchen and concocting your latest masterpiece, then you could open a homemade or gourmet food operation.

The trick here is in looking into local and state regulations to make sure you are keeping to the letter of the law in offering your gourmet food. Some places require you to have a business license and a commercial kitchen in order to operate. Investing in a commercial kitchen (which will cost you less than $10,000) could be a smart choice, since it will give you the space you need to grow.

Don’t want to be fixed in one spot and stuck paying rent? Consider starting a food truck business instead. You can go directly to where the customers need you most!

Telephone Answering Service

If answering the phone and being bubbly and helpful sounds like a simple enough proposition—and one that you’d be happy to tackle—we have a business idea for you. A telephone answering service is one of the businesses you can start with minimal investment.

The reality is that many local businesses don’t have the budget to handle large volumes of phone calls. However, they still need the business, which puts them at a bit of a crossroads. If you offer up your services with a telephone answering service, you’ll be able to help these businesses provide excellent customer service while also growing their businesses. 

You’ll need to make a bit of an investment (usually less than $10,000) to get started, though. On average, you’ll pay between $2,500 and $3,000 to connect your existing phone line to a client management system. If you want to recruit a team and connect their networks, too, you’ll pay about twice that. 

You can then bill clients on a per-hour basis or per package. On average, you can charge $200 per month or charge for a certain number of calls.

Sales Trainer 

Another way to make some money—without having to make a huge initial investment— is to become a sales trainer. If you have a background in sales or are perhaps a top sales executive, you can earn a living simply by teaching others how you got to the top.

You can offer online classes, webinars, or even sales consulting packages. As your business gets bigger, you may be able to offer this on a full-time basis. You may want to target people like small companies, salespeople, business executives, and marketing students when you’re first getting started.

You won’t need to pay many startup costs, but you should, at the very least, invest in a basic website to help you market your offerings to potential customers. 

Handmade Crafts 

Do you have a knack for making candles? Perhaps homemade soaps are more your style? Other handmade crafts that you could make and sell include quilts, jewelry, knitted products, T-shirts, handbags, hats, wood crafts, and more.

Making the crafts is easy if you already have the skills down—the challenge in starting a handmade crafts business will be finding your market. There are plenty of places you can sell your handmade crafts, including Etsy, iCraft, Shopify, and Amazon Handmade. Don’t forget about local craft fairs and nearby stores that may want to keep your products in stock, too. 

Once you get really good at this kind of business, you can even offer classes to people who want to learn how to knit, make soap, or do whatever it is you do so well, too. 

Childcare Center 

Daycare costs in the United States are rapidly growing. Many people pay up to $650 per month per child, meaning you could make some serious cash if you’re able to open up an in-home care service. 

This is not a business idea for the faint of heart, of course. You’ll need to have a ton of patience and a love for children. You also need to put some money into following your dream. Starting a daycare will cost you around $10,000. Not only will you need to pay for insurance and essential supplies, but you’ll have to get licensing and various certifications (like CPR) depending on where you live, too. 

Franchising

If you’re interested in owning a business but don’t want to start one from the ground up, you may want to buy into a franchise. Some franchises let you enter for less than $10,000.

There are plenty of benefits to franchising. Not only will you generally have a higher likelihood of success, since the franchise owner will assist you with operations, setup, marketing, and other offerings, but all of the heavy lifting will already be done for you. 

A couple of examples? Cruise Planners is a franchise that you can start for roughly $10,000. This home-based travel agent network sells full-service packages and has been around for more than 20 years. It has the credibility you need to skyrocket your business to success. 

Art or Music Instructor

If you have any kind of artistic or musical talent, you may want to consider offering up your skills to those who want to learn. Simply apply to be an instructor at an existing organization or, if you want to start your own business, you can teach students at rented facilities, the students’ residences, or your own home. 

In most cases, art and music instructors can earn $30 or more per hour. Once you really get things going, you can hire others to help you teach. Don’t think that your offerings have to be limited to just the things you know, either. Consider making an investment to grow your business by hiring people who have skills in unique areas, like pottery, printmaking, or painting, which will help you make a bit more money in this kind of side hustle. 

YouTube Channel Partner

Creating your own channel on YouTube is not difficult. You just need to make an account. Once you start an account, you can create content and upload it to your channel. Creating good, unique videos can help you earn solid revenue. 

However, the best way to make money on YouTube is to partner with a sponsor. This will help you bring in money from your hobby and allow you to pursue YouTube as a business. There aren’t many startup costs related to this kind of industry, either—usually, a lot less than $10,000.

Paid Ads Specialist

Advertising is a lot different today than it was 20 years ago. Today, most businesses rely on online advertising to help people meet their goals and support their businesses. 

Anybody who knows anything at all about marketing knows that you need to go wherever your audience goes. However, many businesses still struggle with the idea of running online ads. To help people succeed, you can open up a business as a paid ads specialist.

To be successful yourself, you will need to have some expertise in digital marketing. You can focus on various platforms, like Google ads, Yelp, or Facebook ads—or you can offer a range of platforms and amenities. To get started, you may want to invest in a basic advertising course in the platform of your choice. 

Even if you already have skills in a given area, it’s a good idea to participate in a basic training as a refresher on what you need to know the most. 

Outdoor Activities Organizer 

If there’s nothing that calls to you quite like the allure of the great outdoors, you may want to become an outdoor activities organizer. 

You could start a business specializing in a range of outdoor activities, like river rafting, hiking, camping, scuba diving, or even geocaching, or you could offer just one. You may want to specialize in certain demographics, such as outdoor programs just for kids or those for people who live in the city and are new to the outdoors. 

Whatever the case, it won’t cost you a lot of money (usually, much less than $10,000). Your biggest expenses when you start this kind of business will be a business license, advertising, and liability insurance—things can (and often do!) go wrong when you’re out adventuring in the backcountry. 

Vintage Clothing Sales

Fashionistas, rejoice! There are ways for you to make money, too. To be successful, you’ll have to have a good eye for trends and know how the vintage clothing industry works. 

Then, it’s time to build your inventory. You can do this by spending your weekends scouring flea markets, garage sales, auctions, and estate sales (as well as online resources like eBay and Etsy). 

Once you have a solid cache of products, you can begin selling your vintage clothing online or at the local flea markets. If you’re handy with a needle and thread, you can make even more money by scoring free clothing with a few imperfections, doing the repairs yourself, and then reselling the finished product for 10 times what you paid. 

Real Estate Appraiser 

Although real estate has its ups and downs, it is generally a solid industry. To begin, you’ll likely need your real estate appraiser license, so you will have to take a few courses. 

As your business grows and stabilizes, you can expand to attract more revenue. Investing in good advertising and marketing can also help you grow. 

Gardening Consultant 

Do you have a green thumb? If so, it won’t take much for you to become a successful business owner, either. You can easily start your own business as a gardening consultant. 

To do this, you’ll meet with clients, discuss their preferences, their features or their land, their budget, and other considerations. You can then create a work schedule and get going! The best way to structure this kind of business is to partner with other local contractors who can perform some of the actual landscaping work for you. 

For example, you may want to offer things like pool installation, paving, and tree planting. You can outsource all of these and charge a general management fee, all without having to lift a finger. 

Pet Grooming 

Pet grooming is another one of those tasks that most people hate doing themselves. From clipping a dog’s toenails to bathing a cat, pet grooming is not on the list of most peoples’ favorite activities. 

If you want to care for animals, and you have a calming demeanor and a good eye for detail, a pet grooming business is one of the best businesses you can start. Often, you can start a pet grooming business right from the comfort of your brown home. Start by spending a bit of money on classes to help you learn the skills you need to be successful. You certainly don’t need to make an investment of more than $10,000 to begin.

After that, you’ll just have to pay for a rental space (if you choose not to work from home, this should cost you less than $10,000 per year) along with basic grooming equipment and supplies. 

Small Business Coach 

As many entrepreneurs will tell you, one of the most difficult aspects of starting a business isn’t the starting itself—it’s knowing where to begin. More than half a million new businesses open each month in the United States alone. 

Almost every new business owner, at some point or another, could benefit from the help you can provide as a local business coach. You’ll be able to offer advice in everything from finances, logistics, licensure, documentation, marketing, and even technology. 

This is a highly lucrative business for people who own their own businesses or have strong marketing, sales, administration, or financial skills. If you’re a pro at starting businesses and have a few thousand dollars toward an investment in networking, marketing, and offering your services, it’s a great way to go.

Domain Flipping 

Domain flipping is the practice of purchasing domains at a low price and then selling them for much more than you paid. If you’re good at coming up with catchy, memorable domain names, this could be one of the best businesses you can start. 

You can create an account with a web portal like GoDaddy when you’re first starting out. This will save you money when starting your new business and also provide you with a good platform to start advertising your business. 

Chimney Cleaning

You can start a chimney cleaning business on your own, or you can purchase a franchise. The choice is yours, but ultimately, it’s important that you invest the time in obtaining proper training and equipment. Skills and experience are two valuable factors when it comes to cleaning chimneys. 

You’ll need to be able to work at great heights—and in dirty conditions, too. The average chimney cleaning job will take about two hours and can earn you more than $75 an hour, but you need to invest in the right equipment (such as flue brushes and a good ladder) to ultimately be successful. It may be worth your time and money (less than $10,000, of course) to hire a few employees to work with you on big jobs, too. 

Mobile Locksmith Services

Getting locked out of your house, car, or apartment is the absolute worst. The only way to deal with this kind of situation, for most people, is to call a locksmith. 

If you’re starting a new business on a budget, this is one of the best businesses you can start. As a locksmith, you could offer services such as lock-out assistance, key cutting, and more. Keep in mind you’ll need to be willing to work late and irregular hours—the best-paid locksmiths operate 24/7 (yes, even on weekends and holidays). 

However, when you offer these less convenient services, you can mark up your services to twice what they normally might be. There’s little overhead for this kind of business, although you will need to invest in some basic equipment. The average locksmith earns more than $50,000 per year, too. 

Freelance Photography

If you have a decent DSLR camera and an eye for detail and lighting, you might want to consider starting a new business as a freelance photographer. Each day, freelance photographers are hired all over the world to produce images for weddings, newsletters, magazines, presentations, and more. 

You could advertise and offer your services to individuals, media businesses, retailers, organizations, government agencies, and more. There are all kinds of photo editing and cloud services you can use that cost very little money (usually far less than $10,000), making this an easy business to start if you have limited startup income (and photo skills, of course). 

Website Theme and Plugin Design 

Lots of technologically savvy people focus their time and energy on developing apps and computer programs, but you can also make a decent living by starting a new business in developing website themes and plugins.

As long as you know about website development, this is an easy business for you to get into. You can come up with industry-specific themes and sell them online or develop premium plugins to enhance your revenue. 

You don’t need much startup cash at all in order to begin in this kind of business. You’ll just need some programming skills, a great deal of creativity, and a reliable computer to begin. 

Backyard Nursery 

When you love growing plants, it might seem like this endeavor is more of a hobby than a new business that can actually be lucrative and financially rewarding, too. However, if you want to earn a living growing plants, rest assured that this, too, can be done. 

All you need to begin is a small area where you can grow seeds. You can even do this from your own living room when you’re first getting started—you will just need to invest in some grow lights, heat mats, seed trays, watering cans, and of course, the seeds themselves. 

As you work out the kinks and figure out what you are doing, you can start a greenhouse and sell seedlings or adult plants for many times what you paid for the seeds. Some nursery business owners even sell landscaping trees or turf grass—this can make you a killing once you find the right market. 

Chatbot Creation

Chatbots, those little screens that pop up inviting you to ask questions every time you visit a website, are in high demand for just about every online business. Business owners know that these tools are important, but have no idea how to create them. 

To help small businesses embrace AI messaging and chatbots, you can create and sell your own. You don’t have to have much money at all (typically less than $10,000) when you’re first getting started. Usually, all you need is a reliable computer and some basic computer software. 

Apartment Preparation 

If you own a rental property, you’ll likely find that your tight schedule makes it difficult for you to take care of maintenance tasks like painting, carpet cleaning, repairs, and trash removal. 

Consider opening a new business that specializes in services like these. Most rental providers and property managers will be more than willing to pay large amounts of money to people who will handle all these mundane chores for them. 

You will want to invest in a van to haul around all of your maintenance equipment. In addition, you may want to buy some basic supplies and appliances like steam cleaners, ladders, and repair tools, too. A few thousand dollars is all you will likely need. 

Personal Training 

Everybody wants to look great and be fit. Unfortunately, very few people have the skills and time necessary to commit to a rigorous diet and workout plan on their own. 

If you start a new business as a personal trainer, you can provide people with the tools they need to be successful. All you’ll have to do is help others live a better life with your nutritional programs and exercises. You can work at a fitness studio where people can meet you for their consultations, meaning you won’t have to buy all of the equipment and space up front (although you will often be charged a partnership fee by the gym you work for). 

Otherwise, you can start this kind of business from home with less than $10,000. Many personal trainers even offer services online, making it easier than ever for them to find prospective clients all around the world. You’ll want to acquaint yourself with the best way to advertise your services and invest in business insurance before you begin. 

Research Services

Do you love reading and spending time on the Internet looking up new topics? If so, you might want to offer online research services. Originally called information brokering, it is now referred to as online research services since this is primarily where all research now takes place. 

Consider looking for work with governmental agencies, various businesses, and academics who need well-analyzed data to help them make informed decisions. 

It can be tough to land clients if you don’t already have a network, so spend most of your budget on increasing awareness and boosting your credibility. A professional website and paid online advertising will be essential as you are getting started. 

Fitness Supplement Sales 

This is a great new business idea to pursue either by itself or in conjunction with a personal training business. Either way, you’re sure to build a successful brand in this niche. 

Selling fitness supplements is a great way to provide athletes and regular people the energy and nutrients they need after their grueling workouts. You can sell supplements in all kinds of forms, including shakes, pills, powders, and bars. 

Make sure you put some time into researching the right fitness supplements, though—you don’t want people to get sick or injure themselves by consuming a flawed product. 

However, once you find the right supplement, you can make a ton of money by selling your products to the people who need them most. You could easily make more than $10,000 per year—potentially $50,000 or more. Spend some time working with a trusted and certified manufacturer and come up with a catchy logo and website for your work, too. 

Social Media Consultant

If you know your way around Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, you might want to consider becoming a social media consultant. You don’t need a lot of startup cash to start this kind of new business—just the right set of skills and knowledge. Often, you can start a social media consulting business for a lot less than $10,000.

Lots of new business owners want to branch out and offer more advertising and opportunities via social media channels. After all, it’s a free way to reach more people. However, very few business owners actually have the skills or time to pursue this outlet. As a social media consultant, you can help new and established businesses get the results they want. 

Meal Prep Company 

Living a healthy lifestyle starts with eating the right foods. Meal prepping has become an incredibly popular way to eat a balanced diet, with Pinterest taking most of the responsibility in this strategy’s rise to fame. 

If people have the time to prep their own meals, that’s great—but if they don’t, they might want to hire a meal prep company. If you love cooking, chopping, measuring, and preparing meals, you could start that meal prep service. 

You can rent a commercial kitchen space—necessary to adhere to food safety laws in many areas—and purchase all of your supplies and food. 

You only need to cook once or twice per week and then package up all of your meals. Your biggest expense, besides the cost of the kitchen, food, and supplies, will be online marketing. You will want to have a solid website in place to help you take orders and peddle your services to potential customers. 

SEO and Digital Advertising Expert 

Do you know everything there is to know about search engine optimization? 

Probably not—after all, this field is constantly growing and changing. However, if you consider yourself proficient in SEO and digital advertising, it could be a great new business idea for you to explore. Just about everything related to business is now done via various online platforms. 

If you are able to help businesses come up first in search e engine results, trust us—you’ll always have a job. You can help businesses grow and advertise their services. Your jobs will be based on referrals, so it’s important to have a good online profile with lots of evidence of your success. 

Massage Therapy 

Who doesn’t love getting a relaxing massage? It’s a great way to treat yourself after a long week—or day—at work. 

Lots of people turn to massage therapists to seek care for muscle pain, soreness, and other issues. Some people simply like the feeling of getting a massage. In some states, you’ll be required to obtain certification as a massage therapist. This will be your highest startup expense. 

You’ll also want to rent a room in an established clinic or spa. This will cost you an initial investment of around $1,000 or so, but you’ll have all the advertising and site rental fees taken care of for you. You could also travel around to clients’ homes with your equipment—in that case, you’ll just need to buy your massage table, oils, and other products to take with you. 

Bicycle Repairs 

Do you love riding bikes and know everything possible about how to keep them in tip-top shape? If so, you may want to start a bicycle repair service. You can do this on a full-time or part-time basis without a lot of money.

Signing up for a few bicycle repair classes is smart, even if you already have sound mechanical capabilities. You can then advertise via various bicycle forums and clubs and at nearby bike shops. You’ll be able to build and grow your business as you accrue more jobs and referrals, too. It’s one of the best businesses you can start on a part-time basis.

CBD Products

The CBD craze is here to stay. Also known as cannabidiol, CBD oil is found in certain health care and personal care products, including extracts, snacks, creams, vapes, lotions, and aromatics. It offers a ton of therapeutic benefits. 

There are a few potential business ideas related to CBD that you can explore. You could start your own CBD line from scratch by growing your own hemp and harvesting the oils, but keep in mind that this kind of business could prove to be an uphill battle. You’ll need to meet strict requirements when it comes to the quality and testing of your product. 

A better way to start your own business is to sell products from a wholesaler or supplier. You could also join a multi-level marketing (MLM) company. Just make sure you spend the time and money required (usually much less than an investment of $10,000) to make sure you adhere to local and state regulations. 

Garbage Removal 

There’s nothing fancy or luxurious about getting rid of garbage, but it’s an incredibly lucrative business to get into. You don’t have to have specialized skills or much experience in order to begin—nor do you need a lot of money. $10,000 is more than enough to start a reputable home garbage removal service.

Refuse clearing is one of the least expensive businesses you can start. All you need are some trash cans, a few shovels, and some rakes. Word of mouth is often all the advertising you need, although posted and internet ads can make a world of difference, too. 

Medication Delivery Services 

Going to a pharmacy when you’re sick or injured—or even just trying to stick to a tight schedule—can be a major pain. Often, pharmacies have operating hours that conflict with peoples’ work schedules. 

You might want to start a medication delivery service. The best way to do this is to focus on independent pharmacies with smaller operations, ideally in areas with high demand for delivery. You’ll need to make sure your business complies with HIPAA regulations for privacy, too. 

Take the time—and make the financial investment!—necessary to get a professionally designed website. This will help you advertise your services to more customers. You may also want to spend some of your money (of course, much less than $10,000) on researching liability insurance and other potential business expenses, too. 

Aerial Photography and Videography 

If you have a knack for photography or videography and want to take your passion to new heights, you might want to consider a career in aerial photography and videography. This is a great way to make a bit more money than you would with photography back on the ground.

You will have to invest some cash in getting this business started, however. You will need drones or helium-filled blimps that can reach 1,000 feet or more in height. You may also need a few telescopic aluminum masts that are designed to be extended 100 feet or more in the air. 

Pay attention to local laws and regulations as you are getting started. There are policies that regulate the use of drones, and violating these laws could be costly or potentially devastating to your new business. Otherwise, you’ll have plenty of potential clients, including colleges, resorts, golf courses, amusement parks, and more. 

Green Business Consultant 

It doesn’t matter what kind of industry you’re in—it seems like just about everybody is trying to figure out ways to “go green” in this day and age. 

As new legislation is introduced and more businesses focus their attention on suitability, the growth rate of this industry is rapid. Businesses are being encouraged to consider the ways they get rid of waste and consume natural resources. If you have a related bachelor’s degree, you may want to consider a business as a green business consultant. 

You can work on a freelance or contractual basis to help businesses meet their sustainability goals. This can be done remotely or by working directly with these businesses at their place of work. You usually won’t need $10,000 as an initial investment in this kind of business, but again, a college degree can be helpful.

Landscaping

Lawn care is an incredibly lucrative business idea if you enjoy working with your hands. Start by offering limited services, like lawn mowing and tree trimming, before moving on to more advanced offerings (like landscape design and propagation). 

Your biggest expense when beginning these kinds of businesses will be sourcing your equipment without making an investment of many thousands of dollars. 

While you will be able to buy everything you need for less than $10,000, you can often save a significant chunk of change by connecting with lawn care businesses that are going out of business and want to offload all of their equipment.

Consider investing some of your $10,000 in things like marketing and promotion, too. Word of mouth is a powerful advertising strategy, but you’ll also want a basic website that includes testimonials from satisfied customers and your full list of services. 

Once your business gets going, you may want to consider adding other services to your menu of options, too. Lawn care can be a seasonal business in some areas, but you can add things like cutting and delivering firewood, holiday decorating, and snow removal to your roster, too.

Valet Services

Whether it’s a hospital, stadium, or a fancy restaurant, just about every kind of large business wants to be able to serve their clients to the best extent possible. Offering valet services to businesses and hospitality companies, in particular, not only gives clients and customers the feeling that they are being pampered, but creates a more organized (and safer) environment, too.

If you have a solid driving record and can invest a bit of money (less than $10,000) in things like parking display signs and business insurance, opening a valet service is one of the best businesses you can start without having to put down a huge financial investment.

Pool Servicing

When you own a swimming pool, it can be a hassle to clean it on a weekly or monthly basis. From sourcing the chemicals to actually scrubbing the pool clean, cleaning a pool can become a major hassle. 

Fortunately, it’s a great field to get into if you’re looking to start a business because you can capitalize on the fact that most people hate doing it. While cleaning a swimming pool will likely only fetch you $50 or so per hour, you can make more money by offering minor repairs and maintenance for pool equipment.

This is another task that very few people want to get into, so if you have the skills and equipment necessary to do so, this could be one of the best businesses you can start. Your investment when opening this kind of business will include things like transportation, pool chemicals and cleaning equipment, and business insurance. 

Blind or Carpet Cleaning Services

Blinds tend to be cheaper and more convenient for most people than curtains, but the challenge is that they’re tough to clean. 

Start a blind cleaning service, and you’ll almost always have work. You can use a vehicle you already own, remove the blinds, and take them home to clean them. Alternatively, you can invest in a machine, known as an ultrasonic blinds cleaning machine, to clean the blinds on-site. You’ll need a vehicle to transport the machine, as well as the machine itself (which can cost upwards of $3,500). 

However, you’ll likely find that these initial expenditures, for most businesses, more than pay for themselves.

Carpet cleaning is another one of the businesses you can start. This service is even more in demand in residential areas than blind cleaning—and while you’ll need to make an investment of $1,000 or more on carpet cleaning equipment, it will be well worth the cost. 

Home and Auto Pressure Washing

Pressure washing is necessary for all kinds of settings. Many people like to pressure wash the algae and dirt off their homes at least once a year, while others prefer to use pressure washers to clean their cars. 

Whatever the case may be, you’ll find that you can make a killing by offering a pressure washing service. You can charge several hundred dollars per job—most of which will only take a few hours, at best—and you won’t have to pay very much to begin, either.

In addition to a business license and basic liability insurance, you’ll also need to buy the pressure washer itself. This piece of machinery should pay for itself your first day on the job, even if you invest in an extremely high-grade appliance. You might also want to purchase equipment like ladders and cleaning brushes, too. 

Ice Cream Truck 

Who doesn’t love a delicious ice cream cone? 

Open up an ice cream truck, and you’ll likely have quite the following—and the ability to turn over some serious profits. You could make up to $1,000 per day in some places, even if you are just charging a few dollars per cone. After all, when you’re buying ice cream in bulk, you can get it for less than $0.10 per serving.

Your location will matter, as you probably won’t sell as much ice cream in December in Minnesota. However, if you have an ice cream truck in Florida, you’ll make good money just by driving around residential areas. 

Your biggest startup costs will be in transportation. You will need a truck or van that is complete with a freezer unit. Often, you can find them for just a few thousand dollars. Otherwise, you can stock your truck with wholesale ice cream supplies at an initial investment of about $1,000. 

Mobile Car Wash 

Most people like to wash their cars at least once a month. If you live in an area that uses salt to clean the roads, car washes are essential not only to help keep your car looking shiny and new, but also to keep it running properly. 

Going to the car wash can be a major hassle, though. Opening a mobile car wash service will cost you less money, as a business owner, than opening up a physical storefront (which can easily cost you an investment of more than $10,000). You’ll just need a reliable van along with various auto detailing equipment (including a  pressure washer). However, once you’ve recouped those costs, you’ll find that the profits come rolling in.

Real Estate Sales 

If you know a bit about real estate—and ideally, have your license—beginning a business in real estate sales is smart. Not only can you start this on a part-time basis and work flexible hours, but you’ll find that you can make a high income, particularly if you live in a major metropolitan area. 

When you become an agent, you’ll experience virtually unlimited income potential with minimal startup costs. You don’t have to pay for formal office space, nor do you need to have an inventory of products to sell. You’ll need to take some certification courses in home sales first to get your license. You can partner with a real estate company, if you prefer, or set off on your own for unlimited success. 

Port-a-Potty Rentals

This is not the most glamorous business idea out there. However, who cares about pride when there’s money to be made? You could make more than $10,000 per event if you know how to find the right companies and clientele.

A port-a-potty rental company is one of the businesses you can start. You’ll find that places like beaches, parks, construction sites, and even temporary events need port-a-potties. Many of these customers are willing to pay top dollar to rental services. 

You can purchase a portable toilet for around $500 (a minimal investment), and all you’ll have to do is transport the toilets wherever and whenever they are needed for an event. 

What Business Should I Start in 2020? 

If you’re thinking about pursuing one of these businesses, keep in mind that you don’t have to have millions of dollars to do so. In most cases, a minimal investment of $10,000 or less is all you need to start the business of your dreams.

Whether you are interested in selling products you love or offering services to people and businesses in need, these companies you can start with $10,000 or less are a great place to get started.