Do you live in a small town and are wondering what kind of business will thrive there? If you’ve been searching online for business ideas you can start, you’ve arrived at the right place. Here, we explore 15 profitable business ideas that will thrive in small towns. So, you can easily just pick one that interests you the most, do your own research, and start your entrepreneurial journey.
Introduction To Business Ideas For Small Towns
Business ideas for small towns are businesses that cater to people’s needs within that locality.
Furthermore, not all businesses will work out fine in small towns.
Hence, before starting a business in a small town, survey the area to identify the demands of the marketplace.
Reasons Why You Should Start A Business In A Small Town
Gives Room For Development
If you start a business in a small town, you are equally developing the town.
Your business will help boost the economic sector of the small town.
Capital For Startup
Another benefit of owning a business in a small town is that you won’t require huge capital for a startup, unlike in big cities.
For example, getting a store or office space would cost you more in a big city than in a small town.
Less Competition
Imagine the competitions that business owners have to deal with in big cities.
However, that is not the same with small towns.
There is low competition for business owners in small towns.
Furthermore, it’s easier to discover an untapped market need in a small town than in large cities.
With that said, let’s look at the business ideas for small towns.
15 Business Ideas For Small Towns
1. Clothing Boutique
Clothing is one of the basic needs for both men and women in small towns.
Both young and old needs clothes.
Hence, starting this business will bring a lot of advantages to people in the town.
Also, the people in the neighboring town will patronize you.
No one will have to go to big cities to shop for clothes.
If you’re thinking of starting this business, you will need to open a physical store for this business.
It should be in a location that will capture the town’s interest.
Another important thing is to have varieties of clothes such as T-shirts, tops, playsuits, gowns, knickers, joggers, and so on, in your store.
Your cloth log can also include unique and locally made wear.
Apart from that, the prices for your clothes should be within a reasonable amount; something that they can afford.
Furthermore, you’ll need to keep up with the latest trends in the fashion industry.
If you’re way behind on the fashion trends, the good stock will become bad/outdated stock.
This could cause you to lose patronage in your business.
2. Grocery Store
When you think of starting a business in a small town, you might not consider a grocery store.
Maybe you think it won’t be a good idea because there isn’t much population there like in the big cities.
Well, for your information, people in small towns also need to get daily essentials.
Hence, setting up a grocery store that provides residents with their daily needs in exchange for money is a good business idea for a small town.
If you want to start this business, you will need to choose a suitable location.
Also, there are a lot of ways to start this business.
You can start by selling a selection of foods like cheese and wine.
You can also sell national or regional food from other places.
Lastly, you can sell homemade recipes that can’t be found elsewhere.
This will give you an edge over your competitors in business.
3. Coffee Shop And Bar
A coffee shop and bar is a good and profitable business idea for small towns.
This is a good way to capture people’s interests in your locality.
Also, you can cater to everybody’s needs through this business.
You can sell coffee during the day to business owners, clients, freelancers, office workers, and other random individuals who like to start their day with a cup of coffee.
However, to have a unique coffee shop, you should spice it up with snacks.
You can serve coffee and snacks during the day and run the bar at night.
Serving wine and beer during the night will help you make more income.
People will come for dates, hang out, and relieve their work stress.
However, you will need to get a license to sell alcohol in your bar.
In all, you should create an environment that works for both the coffee and bar business.
4. Bakery – Business Ideas For Small Towns
Starting a bakery business is another profitable business idea you can start in a small town.
However, this type of business requires you to have baking skills unless you intend to hire workers with baking skills.
You could sell croissants, cookies, pie, or cakes in your bakery.
These should be deliciously and attractively baked to attract customers to your business.
You can also bake different kinds of specialty desserts for parties or events.
This will increase your earnings and help you grow a successful business.
5. Beauty Parlor/Salon
Starting a beauty salon in a small town is not a bad idea as long as you have the required skills and experience.
You need to know how to style customers’ hair and polish nails using different beautiful colors and designs.
You can also offer services like tanning, manicure, pedicure, and makeup.
As a way to earn more income, you could consider selling hair and makeup products.
Furthermore, you can run a unisex salon if you have the resources.
This way, you offer both male and female beauty care services.
6. Bookstore – Business Ideas For Small Towns
These days people buy books for various reasons, for entertainment, education, personal development, even as a gift.
Opening a bookstore is arguably one of the best business ideas for small towns.
You can sell novels, series, stationery, and so on in your book store.
Apart from selling books, there are other services you can add to it.
You can offer services like selling gifts, e-reading devices, and crafts.
7. Retail Pharmacy Store
Another profitable business idea for small towns is opening a retail pharmacy store.
You can sell different types of drugs and medical supplies from different manufacturers.
However, you need to be a licensed pharmacist to do this business.
You can start this business if you are in the health line already.
However, you will need a license and permit before opening any drug store.
You can get this from any regulatory body or office in your country or city.
Note that this is a capital-intensive business, but it’s a highly profitable business.
Hence, you can easily make your startup capital investment in a few years.
Overall, the startup cost for this business depends on the location, inventory, and staffing (if need be).
8. Auto Repair Shop
An auto repair shop is also a lucrative and profitable business idea that you can set up in a small town.
You need to be experienced in this field before setting up this business.
Furthermore, there are different services you can render apart from repairing.
You can do routine auto maintenance services, refurbish cars, and sell spare parts.
It could cost you about $50,000 to set up your auto repair shop.
This is because you will need to stock up the shop with supplies like engine oil, brake fluid, and tubes.
9. Bed And Breakfast – Business Ideas For Small Towns
Bed and breakfast is another profitable business idea you can start in a small town.
However, location is very important in this business.
This is the right business for you if you are in a town that attracts tourists, business people, or travelers.
Likewise, you can consider this business if you’re in a neighboring town where tourists visit.
A Bed and breakfast business is all about welcoming visitors, offering them accommodation, and serving them breakfast.
However, these services are to be paid for.
In a bed and breakfast business, the minimum number of rooms to start with is five.
Also, you can hire one or two staffs to help.
These could be contract staff who only come to work when you have guest lodging in your bed and breakfast motel.
This would help you save operational costs.
Overall, the environment should be secure, attractive, and convenient to make customers feel at home.
10. Health Clinic
Operating a health clinic is another profitable business idea for small towns.
This business is right for you if you’re a medical doctor.
Setting up a health clinic in your locality can be beneficial in two ways.
Firstly, it’s a way to give back to the community.
Setting up a health center will give them easy access to good medical care.
This way, they don’t have to travel to far or nearby regions to get quality health care service.
It would also be a way for you to make money because medical care is one of the essential needs of man.
However, before venturing into this business, survey the area to identify gaps in the existing medical facilities or if there are none available.
This survey will help you identify your business’s best location, business model, and competitive edge.
11. Event Venue And Planner
In every part of the world, one or more events are organized, small towns inclusive.
People will always want to celebrate certain occasions.
Hence, they will need an event venue.
They’ll also need an event planner to help them organize their party.
You can take advantage of this need and set up an event management business that provides event venues and offers event planning services.
You can offer different types of event ceremonies like carnivals, birthday parties, weddings, and so on.
12. Photography Business- Business Ideas For Small Towns
A photography business is another profitable business idea for small towns.
This type of business requires creativity.
You need to possess photography skills to do this business profitably.
Also, you will need some equipment like a quality camera, ring light, memory card, photo editing PC, and so on.
As a photographer, you can cover events like wedding ceremonies, birthdays, swearing-in, and so on.
For this, you could partner with event planners or managers to have them recommend your services for their client’s events.
Alternatively, you could set up your photo studio where you take photo sessions.
Either way, you’ll need to promote your services to get more clients.
13. Floral Shop
Starting a flower business in a small town is another profitable business.
If you notice that your town lacks a flower shop, you can consider this business.
This type of business goes for almost all seasons and occasions.
People gift flowers for graduations, anniversaries, valentines, condolences, hospital visitation, weddings, and so on.
To get started with this business, you’ll need to know how to source different flowers.
This is because you will need different flowers for different occasions.
In addition, you need to be creative when arranging different flowers for any purpose.
You should be able to arrange it in a way that will be appealing to the eyes.
14. Ice Cream Shop
Opening an ice cream in a small town is another profitable business idea for small towns.
If you consider starting this type of business in any town, you need to consider some things.
Firstly, you need to look for a town with few ice cream shops.
This creates demand for your business.
Also, you need to bear in mind that seasons may affect your sales slightly or more, depending on the intensity of the weather at that time.
For instance, people are more inclined to take coffee and hot drinks in the winter.
Coffee consumption will be intense in regions with extremely cold weather in the winter seasons.
Also, in summer, people tend to gravitate toward cold drinks.
This should give you an idea of the best time to launch your business and how to create offers that will help keep the business afloat when the business tends to be down.
Also, you need a good location for the business.
Lastly, depending on your finances, you can rent a shop or use a truck for your business.
15. Handyman
Lastly, a handyman is another profitable business idea for small towns.
There is always a demand for a good handyman, even in small towns.
If you are good at fixing things, you can consider this type of business.
You can get people to refer you to their friends, neighbors, or families to help you get more clients.
Also, you can opt-in to work at construction sites.
You can do this by getting in touch with contractors to give you projects you can do on the site.
Conclusion On Business Ideas For Small Towns
Every business idea discussed above is profitable in its way.
So, pick one of these business ideas and get started.
Remember, it’s not just about business ideas, plans, or strategies.
Instead, the hard work, dedication, time, commitment, and sacrifices will help you start and grow a successful business despite the challenges you encounter.
So, do your due diligence to give your business all the efforts it deserves and watch it grow.
Best wishes!
