Service businesses are expected to post record high levels of growth in the next several
years, adding 9.3 million jobs by 2024.
In goods-producing industries, job growth is actually expected to decline, so the service
industry is definitely the place to be.
Running a service-based business has a lot of advantages, such as not needing to buy
inventory, lower overhead expenses, and the ability to customize and scale services more
easily.
I'm Priyanka Prakash, senior staff writer at Fundera.
Today, I'll cover seven awesome service business ideas that you can start even if you're on
a low budget or don't have a lot of time to devote to your business idea.
Service business idea number one is educational services.
The education sector is growing rapidly and is expected to be worth over $2 trillion by
2026.
This includes both educational services for children and adults.
Educational services can mean many different things, but one big area of opportunity is
different modes of learning such as virtual learning, adaptive learning, and webinars.
If you can provide a service that eliminates physical barriers to learning or that makes
learning more inclusive to a wider set of students from different backgrounds and income
brackets, you have a great educational service business idea on your hands.
For example, take a look at udemy.com This site is a giant in the virtual learning space
and offers over 100,000 online courses and has over 30 million students.
Udemy offers courses on everything from software certification to marketing to music.
As this example shows, the main foundation you need to provide educational services is
a great website.
You can partner with experts in almost any field and provide an online platform for them
to spread their knowledge.
College and school consulting services are also great ways to get into the education
sector on a small budget.
Service business idea number two is transportation and logistics.
Transportation and logistics are the backbone of the national economy.
The logistics industry is currently valued at more than $1.6 trillion and makes up 8%
of US GDP.
Many local and state governments are also building up transportation infrastructure
and integrating tech advancements into transportation.
Transportation is an industry that will undergo massive changes in the next several years.
With the rise of services like Uber and Lyft, and the development of driverless cars, these
changes are actually making it easier to get into the transportation sector without the
costly proposition of selling or leasing actual vehicles.
For example, CityMapper is an app that uses publicly available transit data to make it
easier to get around cities.
The app gives real-time status information for buses and trains, and integrates with
ride sharing services like Uber.
To start a transportation service business at a low cost, build on your city or town’s
existing infrastructure and simply make it easier for people to get to where they want
to go.
Service business idea number three is financial services.
U.S. financial markets are among the largest and most liquid in the world.
Together, finance and insurance represent 7.4% of US GDP, and the finance sector is
very broad, encompassing banking, lending, credit cards, investing and many other areas.
Stripe is a great example of a finance-related service business idea.
Originally, Stripe started as a service to help small ecommerce sellers process credit
card payments.
Now, Stripe services tech giants like Expedia and Zillow by providing online payment flows,
subscription billing platforms, and credit card processing services.
If you're tech savvy, you could potentially make a lot of money by building software for
finance providers and big companies.
Financial consulting in the areas of tax, accounting, and operations can also be very
lucrative.
Service business idea number four: leisure and hospitality services.
Leisure and hospitality is another great service business idea for new entrepreneurs to get
involved in.
Since the end of the recession in 2009, American consumers have consistently spent more money
on tourism and travel, collectively spending $185 billion in 2017.
Now, something like running a bed and breakfast or hotel can be very costly, but there are
alternative ways to get involved in the hospitality industry without breaking the bank.
As an example, consider the company Roadtrippers.
This startup has raised millions of dollars in venture capital, and they focus on just
one service: helping people plan a fabulous road trip.
They'll help you map your route, discover interesting stopping points off the beaten
path, and provide trip guides for different parts of the world.
In order to break into this service business idea, consider how you can help customers
get the most out of their upcoming trip or vacation.
Service business idea number five is home health care services.
By 2030, there will be over 70 million Americans over the age of 65.
Not to mention, with everyone living longer now, home health care services probably won't
see a decrease in demand anytime soon.
If you're already a licensed nurse, therapist, or social worker, you can leverage your degree
and background into a home health business.
However, even if you're not licensed in those types of fields, you can still start a home
health care business without a big investment of time or money.
For example, the state of New York requires just 75 hours of training to become a licensed
home health aide, and the New York Department of Health covers the cost of training as long
as they have approved the training agency.
And guess what?
Home health care services also made it onto our list of the best home-based business ideas.
Check out our home business ideas video for more information.[a]
Service business idea number six: personal services.
The personal services industry is a catch-all industry that includes several great service
business ideas, such as pet grooming, dating services, handyman services, and event planning
services.
All of these services have become part of the on demand gig economy, and particularly
when the economy does well, people have more disposable income to spend on miscellaneous
services.
The gig economy includes 60 million workers and by 2027, a majority of U.S. workers will
be freelance or contract workers.
The best way to make your mark in the personal services industry is to advertise your services
locally.
You can also post your services and rates on local Facebook groups, neighborhood newsletters,
and email lists and on websites like Upwork and Handy.
Certain types of services even have niche websites.
For example, Rover.com is designed just for booking pet sitting and dog walking services
in over 50 cities across the country.
Most personal service businesses don't require a large outlay of capital to be successful,
but make sure you spend enough on marketing to spread awareness of your business and capitalize
on good customer reviews to grow your company.
Service business idea number seven: food delivery services.
Restaurant delivery has grown 20% over the last five years, and online food delivery
is expected to make up 40% of total restaurant sales by 2020.
You've probably used or at least heard of the biggest players in food delivery, such
as Seamless and Grubhub, but you can make good money with a relatively small area of
coverage.
For example, Jennie's Kitchen is a New York City-based food delivery business that services
Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island City.
They focus on helping busy parents provide healthy family meals.
They change their menus weekly, and people are willing to pay prices similar to restaurant
prices for fresh organic ingredients and a rotating menu.
Keep in mind that if you're launching a food prep and delivery business, you'll likely
need to get food handling permits from your city or county.
For a quicker alternative, you can team up with local restaurants to deliver their food
orders.
And those are seven service business ideas that you can start without investing too much
time or money upfront.
For more small business inspiration and advice, check out fundera.com/blog, and subscribe
to our YouTube channel for more videos.
Thanks for watching.
[a]Matt, can you add the call out for this video when you upload to YouTube?