If you can think of something that exists – if it’s a product or service, that is – chances are that a small business exists out in the world that does exactly what you just thought about. And of course, if you have a truly unique idea, then you should let the world know about it and start a small business of your own! While the success of launching a brand new small business varies and it is no doubt a challenging experience for all parties involved, there’s something to be said about the rewarding feeling that you, as a small business owner, would get from seeing what was once a mere idea grow into a functioning, marketable business complete with a legitimate revenue.

CFG Can Help Fund Your Next Big Idea

Well, regardless of how you go about launching your idea, our job at The Commercial Finance Group is to help you get the funding that your business needs to grow and eventually succeed into something that you’re truly proud of. Our small business lending solutions have helped countless numbers of small businesses grow into something that’s bigger than the owner would have ever imagined, and if you have a fledgling small business, we’d like to help you! Learn more about our unique approach to lending through asset-based loans and working capital by visiting here.

Are you currently looking for inspiration on what you could possibly launch as a small business? Depending on where you live, what your skills, education and background are like, or what your target demographic is, there’s a good chance that you can fulfill a market need with your brand new small business. Anyway, let’s take a good look at some of these small business ideas.

Open A Bicycle Repair Shop

More people are biking than ever before these days, so why not open up a bike shop if you live in an area where a lot of people cycle? Bike paths and walking trails are becoming standard development features for new areas in the United States and around the world as pressure to drive our vehicles less continues. Now, given the colder weather during parts of the year, this type of business tends to be more or less seasonal, but there are some ways to work around it (or to bike around it, if you will).

Start out small and modest by renting a storage unit and offering to store people’s bikes inside over the winter after you do a tune-up and any necessary repairs. If you live in an area with an abundance of road cyclists who are desperately trying to be Lance Armstrong, you might just have business year around because those guys are seriously dedicated to riding – sleet, snow, rain, thunderstorms, intense heat and hail are no match for their physical determination. While many of those hardcore bike guys tend to work on their own bikes, some of them don’t have time for it. If you hold Saturday hours, you’ll definitely get groups of cyclists coming in to hang out and discuss all things bike-related.

Open A Cleaning Service

Opening a small business in this kind of industry can go many ways, and if you want to put a unique, marketable spin on a conventional cleaning service, then by all means, go crazy! If you want to work during hours that no one in the 9-5 world works, then shoot for office-based clients. If you want to cluster your clients into a small geographical area, cater to retail companies that are in a close proximity, like a mall. Restaurants are always in need of a good cleaning, so you’ll have plenty of business in the foodservice industry. If you’re more introverted and less human contact is better than more human contact, try sticking to a house cleaning service. Oh, and here’s a bonus about opening a cleaning company: you might not have to spend very much money on marketing because word of mouth goes pretty far in this industry.

Computer Repair

What is everything done on these days? Computers. Well, either desktop computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones, for the most part. Indeed, whether you’re typing out a college essay at the very last possible moment as a stressed out grad student or you’re a graphic artist who’s gaining an online following, the reality of the modern workforce is that many things are done on computers. So, why not open up a computer repair shop?

Yes, to go far in this industry, you’ll need to be very knowledgeable about computers and be technology-savvy – experience, training and licensing are part of opening this type of business. But if you already like computers, then you could be very successful by opening a business with a lot of projected demand. Study the main types of software that system users will want like word processing, photo manipulation software, mail merging, spreadsheets, design tools and security software.

Become versed in various hardware components like different types of monitors, ergonomic keyboards, printers and scanners. You’ll also want to become very familiar with ISPs (internet service providers) available in the market area that you plan to service. By establishing yourself as the guru who can meet the varying needs of the personal computer user, small business or larger corporation, you’ll have endless business.

Dog Walking

So if you love computers, open a computer repair business – the same logic applies to opening a dog walking business. If you truly have a passion of working with our canine friends, then it’s a huge plus to do something for a living that you truly enjoy day in and day out. Dog walkers typically take their ‘clients’ out for their daily walks at least one or two times a day, if not more depending on the activity level of the breed. In some cities across the United States – New York City being a major one – dog walking alone can be a hugely successful business and the sole source of income for many people. Now, if you’re already going through the trouble of dog walking for people, you should tack on some additionally profitable yet simple services like playing with and feeding the pets, playing fetch, bringing in the newspapers and the mail, and turning lights on and off for each client.

Editorial Services

Do you enjoy reading other people’s writing and even critiquing it? There’s always that one friend in college who proofread their friend’s papers which often bumps them up a whole letter grade. The point is that there’s always editorial work to be done. Plus, if you’re introverted, you can work from the comfort and security of your own home. Here are some types of editorial services that you can provide from the quiet of your own home:

  • Copyediting: If you enjoy correcting other people and fact checking, you’d probably enjoy copyediting. Grammatical, stylistic and typographical errors are also caught here.
  • Book Doctoring: This editorial service is typically provided for manuscripts written by experts. The experts (on a technical or specific topic) create a manuscript as best as they can and then a book doctor puts it all together into publishable shape.
  • Proofreading: If you like looking things over to make sure that they’re completely finalized and good to go, this could be an ideal fit for you. Think of proofreading as the last stop for a ‘finished’ piece. The proofreader will make sure that all of the copy editing changes have been made and that no new errors are created in the process.
  • Writing Content On The Web: Whether you’re blogging on clients’ websites for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes or simply contributing to an online editorial, writing web content can be a great way to make a little side money or just voice your opinions on an online platform.

Naturally, there are many other examples of things that you could do as a writer or editor, but those are some common ones. Get out there and write (or read)!

Be A Household Organizer

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of having everything in place just as it should be, and as a household organizer, you could do that for a living! Full of expansion possibilities, you can choose to either do the organizing work yourself to come into someone’s home and consult the homeowner on things that they could do differently or better to optimize the storage in their home.

Try having a portfolio of different organizational scenarios in different rooms in the home and talk with the homeowner about a particular style that he or she likes. Create a series of checklists and questionnaires in order to better understand how the family uses their home. If you enjoy controlling things (we mean this in a good way), then why not get paid to do it?

Get Your Interior Design On

Speaking of optimizing the inside of people’s homes, starting an interior decorating business is the perfect complement to household organization. While extensive experience, training or licensing may be needed to go far with this type of business, it can be fun and very rewarding if you really enjoy quality design.

First, market your talents to building contractors. People purchasing new homes can often be very overwhelmed with the choices and possibilities of home decorating (there are seemingly infinite combinations!). Such as in the case of household organization, design some questionnaires for each major element and each major room in the house. Find out how the homeowner will actually be using their home on a daily basis – are there children living there, or any pets? Considering how each room will be used, where lighting is best, and how things should look in each part of the house are all part of the job.

Invest And Manage Properties

Your primary job, in the case of owning rental units, is to make sure that everything associated with the property is running smoothly for your valued tenants. For seasonal properties, you will most likely spend your management time making sure that the property is ready for seasonal visits and well-maintained when no one else is around. Owning properties – especially older places that need a lot of work – can be hard work, but it can also be a very rewarding enterprise.

Become A Solar Energy Consultant

Being your own, independent solar energy consultant is a good idea because you’ll be more objective as opposed to representing a particular solar energy company. As a solar consultant, you can essentially conduct a home inspection and give your clients a report on their solar options for their particular home and site. As such, this can range from full-fledged general solar installation that generates electricity all the way to a simple solar walkway lighting setup. Ultimately, it’s up to you.

Start A Wedding Planning Business

What you should know right off the bat with wedding planning is that it involves long hours and a lot of hard work, but that’s pretty characteristic of the small business world, isn’t it? You’ll deal with very, very particular clients and you’ll need to be totally up-to-date with just about everything under the sun including wedding trends and fads, various dress styles, color trends, and more. It may help to offer your customers an ala carte-style menu of services for things like picking out flowers, picking out a wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses, food options, what your cake is going to look like, and much more.

Here’s a good idea: Before you actually open your business, shop at all of the wedding shops and pretend that you’re a bride-to-be to see what kind of services they offer and how they treat potential customers. This helps because you’ll need to know every possible detail of the business in order to give an accurate impression that you are, in fact, the go-to person for anyone planning a wedding.

You Have Great Ideas. We’ll Fund Them!

The concept is that simple. Great ideas deserve to be made into great businesses, and that’s why The Commercial Finance Group provides our small business lending services through asset-based loans, invoice factoring, and more. Get in touch with us today to get loans for small business!