16 Top Low-capital Business Ideas to Try on Shopify in 2024

Is becoming a boss this year your dream? Or is it making money from your passion? Or looking for financial freedom? 

Now is the right time to start that dream, goals and ideas you have set out to achieve. The best part is that you don’t need to break your account to start that business.

With a modest budget (of less than $1000), you can set up any of these low-capital business ideas on Shopify.

Home-Based Low-Capital Business Ideas to Try

1. Hair Salon

Well-groomed hair makes one look decent. And who makes it so other than a Hairstylist? This isn’t a gift that comes to everyone, so if you understand hair textures or can work your way around with a clipper, setting up a hair salon should be your next target.

It requires low capital, so you can save up money from rendering services to your local community. Likewise, you can offer home services to generate more income and work solely by appointment to reduce burnout and overflow. 

Once you launch, look to create an online store on your Shopify so you can reach more people beginning from your local community.

2. Fashion Design

We often attribute the fashion industry to designer brands like Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, Calvin Klein etc. However, the fashion industry is so big that it can accommodate every designer, each with its designs and styles. 

That includes you. A good sewing machine starts at around $200. That’s enough leeway to start small—create unique designs to sell or draft into a masterpiece.

Source: Unsplash

Leverage social media to market and advertise your product. Create a website to display and sell your designs and fashion items. 

3. Laundry Services

The primary equipment required for laundry is a washing machine, steaming iron and constant power supply. So, if you enjoy ironing clothes, and are interested in rendering services to people, then this business is for you. 

Create various subscription plans for your clients and offer home delivery services when necessary. Easy to start at home or rent a physical location for pickups. 

4. Child Care Services

Parents in the corporate world who have less time for their children often require childcare services. Recently, the steep rise in demand for child care services with a corresponding decrease in supply is a perfect mixture for starting this business. 

If you have soft spots for children and enjoy taking care of them, the childcare business could be a great business idea to try. Starting may require less capital, however, you’ll need to get all the proper licenses required to run a child care.

5. Pet Sitting & Accessories

Most pet lovers consider pets as their best friends and can go the extra length to keep them happy and healthy. In America, pet owners spent $136.8 billion on their pets alone in 2022. This shows the industry has lots of potential to generate revenue.  

Start a business that sells pet clothes, accessories, food and other essentials a pet owner may need. Sure, you’d need to grab a pet-sitting license, and your insurance has to be up-to-date, but all that won’t cost you so much.

You can create subscription plans for customers to generate recurring income for your business. For instance, 3 days of pet-sitting weekly at $500 per week, or 5 days at $800 weekly. Learn how to add subscription-based models to your Shopify store. 

6. Massage & Spa Services

Healthy living enthusiasts believe having a spa session at least once a month is good for overall well-being. Others believe it is an alternative medicine to relieve your body of stress and tension.

In the US, massage therapy is a $54 billion industry according to FMI market report. 

Spa service is a great low-capital Shopify business idea to try this year. All you need is to rent a space, a massage bed, essential oils, equipment and your hands. Offer other complementary services to your massage such as pedicures, manicures, and nail polishing or as far as to provide haircuts for male clients.

Create home service packages for clients who prefer to have private sessions in their homes. In some states, it may require you to have a valid license before running a spa, so check with your local council before setting out.

7. Fitness Instructor

Staying true to a fitness routine is a major problem for people, especially in a 2024 world when the average person’s thinking about how else to make money. Sometimes people need someone to take them through the fitness training and motivate them to keep going.

Are you a fitness ambassador or do you enjoy going to the gym? Consider becoming a fitness instructor. 

Source: Pexels

Start up small with the equipment you have, and create an exercise routine for clients who regularly come to work out with you. You can promote yourself online by creating a website where people can sign up for fitness classes depending on their subscription plans.

Offer diet plans, nutrition advice and mentoring for additional income. Becoming a fitness instructor may require certifications and qualifications, so ensure you have them available before starting your fitness business. 

8. AirBnB Host

Convert your spare room to short outlets that are rented out at weekends or for overnight stays. Keep the room cozy and make sure you have all the basic supplies that your clients may need. 

First, you need to create an account on Airbnb and ensure your room meets the required standard for rent services. Secondly, build a website and create awareness for your rental services. In addition, you can add car hire services for people who wish to rent a car while staying in your room.

9. House Cleaning Services

House cleaning is another low-capital business idea that can yield good income. So, if you enjoy decluttering, or your friends have praised you for how spick and span your space is, how about monetizing this skill?

Begin with friends and family that are open to paying you for a cleaning service. Extend to your community, workplace, local workstation, and then go digital. Create a Shopify website and encourage your early customers to leave good reviews on your page.

Online Low-Capital Business to Try on Shopify

10. Dropshipping

Dropshipping is a business model in which a third-party supplier takes care of all the order fulfillment and shipping to customers. It is considered one of numerous low-capital business ideas because it does not require inventory, location or overhead cost to start. 

How does dropshipping work?

First, choose a niche or products you want to sell on your website, then source for suppliers or manufacturers of those products. Ensure that they are reliable and trustworthy.

Next, build a website with Shopify where you can display those products, make sure that each product comes with a full description including color and size variants. Advertise your products on your social channels and run promotional campaigns to promote your store.

See our complete guide to dropshipping for beginners here.

Once an order is placed, it is sent to the supplier who begins the order fulfillment and shipping. Depending on the predefined conditions, the supplier may ship the product to the customers in your brand name.

11. Print-On-Demand

Print-on-demand requires a third-party supplier to fulfill orders and ship to the customers. Unlike dropshipping, with POD you create customized designs on the merchandise you sell to your customers. If they like it, then they place an order for it. 

This merch can be anything—mugs, caps, tote bags, phone cases, hoodies and T-shirts. What if you aren’t good with designs? No worries! With platforms like Fiverr and Upwork, you can get a professional to create stunning designs for you at a fair price. Opt for a t-shirt and other product mock-up templates to display your designs that way you won’t spend money on product photoshoots.

12. Translator

If you are fluent in two or more languages, consider becoming a translator. Translation can be in different forms. It can be translating in-person conversation, translating a website copy from one language to another or translating a document to another language. 

Upwork has over 3000  job offers on translation which shows it is a promising industry. To generate more revenue, consider adding transcribing to your services. For visibility, create a website to advertise your services and promote your site on your social channels.

13. Consulting and Coaching Services

This low-capital business idea is fitting for you if you have extensive knowledge of or long-term experience in a particular field. For example, you can share your experience in business, marketing, leadership, goal-setting, personal management/development, etc.

Also, if you are a good communicator and know how to freely express yourself, consider adding coaching services to consultation. Here, you can become a mentor or help people in choosing their career path.  

Becoming a coach may require you to be certified and qualified to lead others. Therefore, you’ll need to do the necessary documentation before you can coach. 

14. Sell Digital Products

Selling digital products is one low-capital business idea to try on Shopify. These digital products could include e-books, music, courses or templates.

Unlike dropshipping and others that require physical products to be shipped to customers, these products aren’t tangible which means they are not affected by the market value or external factors. Here your margins can remain high, a testament that this business is one of the best online businesses to try. 

If you have talents that can be converted into digital products, then this business idea is perfect as an added income stream. All you have to do is figure out what sells and how much people are willing to pay for it. 

15. Tech Accessories

Tech accessories is surprisingly one of the low-capital business ideas to start on Shopify. With increased demand for phone and laptop accessories, venturing into this business can be compared to hitting a gold mine.

Items such as phone cases, selfie sticks, tripods, car and desk holders, earbuds, headsets, Bluetooth speakers, power banks, etc are the most-selling products. 

These items can be sold by dropshipping, print-on-demand or handmade. Always show devices that are compatible with the product to reduce return rates and negative reviews. 

16. Copywriting

Copywriting involves using your intelligence to create and articulate original copies of documents for clients intended to use for marketing or other promotional campaigns. 

It requires excellent writing and marketing skills. A good grasp of English and basic human psychology – behind buying and selling particularly – is all the toolkit you need to get started with this low-capital business idea.

Conclusion

Starting a low-capital Shopify business can be an exciting journey if you’re looking to tow the business path. Even if you just want to add a side gig, this is still a right pick for you.

Shopify makes this easier than ever. With a Shopify store, and the patience to figure out how to attract and convert prospects into customers, you can turn any of these sixteen low-capital business ideas into a long-serving paycheque system.

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