Last Updated on September 4, 2024
Most aspiring entrepreneurs would be more inclined to set up their businesses in New York City, San Francisco, or other bustling cities. The commonly cited reason is that big cities teem with huge populations, which present a ready market for their products and services.
However, it’s possible to establish lucrative ventures in rather small towns. You only need to identify the collective pain points of the local community and focus your startup on addressing those key problems.
The good news is that there’s no shortage of small town business ideas to inspire your next entrepreneurial venture. But with thousands of options available, it might take some time locating the specific ideas that genuinely make a difference.
Fortunately for you, we’ve done the research and compiled a list of 40+ best small town ideas to target the local community. Read on and be inspired.
Small Town Business Ideas in the Food and Beverage Industry
1. Food Delivery Services
Providing food delivery services allows you to serve clients who have no time to visit the grocery store or restaurant. And considering that small towns have a way of ‘”going to sleep” rather early, this can prove to be a profitable business idea.
Simply set up a website through which your clients can place their orders. You could also design (or have someone design for you) a food ordering application.
2. Food Truck Business
Food truck is a special type of food delivery service that involves selling various food types out of a motor vehicle. The fact that a truck is involved means you can sell pretty much anything.
However, food trucks aren’t order-based businesses. Therefore, it’s imperative to start small and work your way up gradually. It’s also best to target festivals and other special events in your neighborhood.
3. Catering Business
Staying with food delivery services, you could also establish a catering business whereby you deliver foods to clients hosting special events. Like most food delivery services, you don’t need a physical location for a catering business. A delivery van and a vibrant website would do.
And if you’re averse to the idea of food handling, you could start a catering equipment rental company instead.
4. Organic Food Stand
The past few years have witnessed heightened campaigns against processed and refined products. These efforts have borne fruit, as many people now gravitate towards organic foods.
From fresh vegetables and fruits to nuts and whole grains, there are plenty of organic foods you could sell in your small town. Just ensure your products are genuinely organic by sourcing them from credible farmers or suppliers.
5. Fast Food Restaurant Franchise
Fast food is still a vibrant industry despite the recent hype on organic foods. Fast food restaurants are generally more profitable in small towns whose population consists mainly of the formally employed. It’s even better if your town has a sizable number of colleges or universities.
Remember that the fast-food restaurant business generally uses a franchise model. The good news is that there are numerous options you can buy into.
6. Coffee Shop Business
It’s nearly impossible to miss a coffee shop in any town regardless of its size or location. That said, the industry is still full of amazing opportunities.
One way to outpace the competition is to choose your niche, such as offering mobile coffee services. You could also consider serving coffee alongside other herbal beverages.
7. Ice Cream Stand
Much like coffee shops, ice cream stands are almost unmissable even in the tiniest of towns. But it’s the ever-high demand for ice cream that makes this idea worth exploring. Besides, ice cream shops attract low overheads due to their smaller size.
Choose a variety of flavors and price your products slightly below the market rates to attract more clients.
8. Fruit Juice Stand
Juices and smoothies are popular treats among the health-conscious.
Begin by obtaining the required items, such as blenders and juicers. Then, research fruit juice recipes to ensure your products are not only delectable but also nutritious.
9. Bakery Business
Baked goods never seem to run out of fashion. If you love baking, then a bakery shop may be a cool business to start in your small town.
You could begin your own bakery complete with a storefront location. Alternatively, you can become a baked goods supplier, selling your products to other local shops and restaurants.
10. Canning Business
This small town food business idea may be a bit capital-intensive. But it can be ultimately rewarding.
Simply can fruits, vegetables, seafood, and other products to preserve their shelf life. You can specialize in canning or incorporate other related services like food packaging, branding, and design.
Small Town Business Ideas in the Fashion Industry
1. Boutique Store
A boutique store is one of the most popular yet still profitable business ideas in the fashion industry. To get started, you’ll need to choose your forte. You could deal in trendy garments or secondhand clothes.
You’ll also need to find a reliable supplier. Insist on a supplier that already ships to your country to avoid incurring costly shipping fees.
2. Alteration Service
Right off the bat, it’s important to emphasize that an alteration service business will demand that you have the requisite sewing skills as well as a creative craft mind.
However, this small town fashion business idea requires low startup capital investment. That’s because you can start the business at home and even operate it part-time.
3. Print and Graphic Design Business
This small town business idea is for avid graphic designers with a passion for fashion. You can build a successful venture designing and printing clothes for diverse clients.
What makes this business so profitable is its order-based model. Be sure to attend local festivals and events donning your clothing to showcase your apparel printing and branding techniques.
4. Belt Buckles Making
Large buckled belts may have slipped into oblivion in many apparel markets around the world. However, you can bring back the buckle by specializing in buckle making.
Ideally, your target clients will be people trying to create their own personalized buckle styles. Think celebrities, sporting teams, and professional organizations.
5. Custom Buttons Making
Custom button making is similar to belt buckle making in that they’re both tailored to specific clients. Both ideas also require little startup capital and a small operating space, which makes them easy to pursue at home.
Custom buttons can vary in size depending on the clothing they’ll be sewn on. They also come in different materials, from plastic to metal and rubber. Most importantly, custom buttons will need to have the unique designs, patterns, or colors recommended by your clients.
6. Crochet Knitting
Crochet knitting is another potentially lucrative small town business idea to consider, especially for passionate crochet knitters seeking to convert their hobby into a profitable venture.
The idea would work better if you already have a running kitting business. If you’re starting from scratch, you’ll need crochet hooks, yarn & yarn needles, stitch markers, a measuring tape, and a pair of scissors.
7. Clothing Rental Business
There are certain outfits that we only wear once in our lifetime, such as wedding and graduation gowns. Such garments are generally available on a rental basis.
If your small town has a college or university, that’s a perfect place to start from. Simply approach the administration and pitch your graduation gown rental services. You’ll also need to work in collaboration with wedding planners, costume designers, and other professionals that can help cross-market your services.
8. Event Promotional Merch Business
Clothes have become the go-to event promotional items. The right apparel can loudly broadcast the theme of an event even before the MC steps onto the podium.
Since there will always be mega events going down in your neighborhood, you can liaise with the planners to design them promotional merchandise.
9. Dry Cleaning Service
I can bet you must have seen this coming. Indeed, there’s always a dry cleaner down the street.
And did you know that you can actually have a dry cleaning business without doing the actual dry-cleaning job? In this case, you’ll simply be rendering the service while outsourcing the laundry work.
10. Fashion Accessories Shop
Clothes may be the main fashion item to sell in a small town. However, there are plenty of accessories that go with regular apparel. These include shoes, belts, caps, makeup, perfumes, bags, and jewelry.
The good thing about these fashion accessories is that they don’t take up much space and can easily fit in your boutique.
Small Town Business Ideas in Home Improvement
1. Deep House Cleaning Business
Deep cleaning refers to house cleaning that targets the nooks and crannies of a house. The job involves dusting, mopping, scrubbing, and vacuuming all corners of the house. It’s also known as spring cleaning as it tends to happen in springtime.
To excel in this business, you’ll need to source the right cleaning supplies as well as hire a team of professional cleaners.
2. Apartment Prepping Services
Apartment prepping is a job for anyone who’s skilled in or loves to spruce up their living space.
The ideal clients are usually landlords trying to fix up vacant units in readiness for occupancy. However, you could also target homeowners trying to prep their properties before listing them for sale.
3. Interior Decoration Services
Interior decoration may sometimes go hand in hand with apartment prepping. However, these services mainly entail making a living space aesthetically enriching.
And contrary to what you might think, you don’t necessarily need professional training to provide high-end interior decoration services. Not when there are plenty of ideas online to take inspiration from.
4. Appliance Repair Business
Appliance repair and maintenance is a billion-dollar industry. The sector employs more people than building equipment contractors and electronics & appliance retail.
Even better is that you don’t necessarily require experience in appliance repair to set up this business. There’s always the option of employing specialists to handle the actual repair and maintenance work.
5. Pool Cleaning Services
If you live in affluent neighborhoods where there’s a swimming pool in every other home, then this is a business idea you really want to explore.
You can offer pool cleaning services yourself if you understand the chemistry behind keeping pool water in perfect condition. Alternatively, you could hire professional pool cleaners whom you pay on a commission basis.
6. Home Automation Business
Smart home technology was initially considered a passing fad. But with the ever-rising cases of burglary, property damage, and wasteful energy consumption, more and more homeowners have embraced smart home solutions.
Interestingly, only a handful of companies offer smart home services. That provides immense opportunities for anyone wishing to venture into the industry.
7. Landscaping Services
Landscaping services are eternally in high demand for people who live in leafy suburbs.
If you’re endowed with green thumbs and don’t mind getting your hands dirty, this can be an excellent small town home renovation business idea for you.
Small Town Business Ideas in Pet Care
1. Pet Sitting
Pet sitting was once considered an after-school job for school-going kids. However, it has since evolved into a lucrative business venture, especially in small close-knit neighborhoods.
One way to excel in the pet-sitting business is to choose your niche. You could specialize in smaller pets like hamsters, larger animals like horses, and pets that require extensive care such as those recovering from surgical operations.
2. Pet Training
Many animal sitting packages usually include training. However, some pet parents are exclusively looking for pet trainers.
Dogs are probably the most notable animals that normally require training services. Whether it’s obedience training, housetraining, or simply dog walking, this is a small town business idea you should seriously consider.
3. Pet Poop Scooping
Ugh! This is the one job no one wants to do. Not even most pet parents. And that’s precisely what makes it a business idea worth pursuing.
All you need are shovels, waste containers, means of transportation, and an approved waste disposal site. Oh, don’t forget to procure the necessary license.
4. Pet Transportation
Many would-be pet parents will walk into a breeding facility and pick an animal that catches their fancy, only to realize they have no means of transporting the new family member home. Some pet owners also struggle with getting their adorable friends to the vet for routine medical checkups.
Both scenarios make a perfect case for launching a pet transportation business. All you need to get started are a van and differently-sized pet crates.
5. Pet Finder Services
The agony of finding a missing pet is often unbearable for most families. If you’re skilled in finding lost pets, this might be an excellent business idea for you.
To excel in this business, you may need to establish a local pet-finding website. You can then post pics of the lost animal to increase the chances of finding it.
6. Pet Treats Bakery
Starting a pet treats bakery allows you to put your baking and pastry skills to good use while also earning from it.
Just be sure to establish your target clients in advance, as pets have varying nutritional needs.
7. Pet Toy Designer and/or Retailer
Pets love treats as much as human babies, which makes this another profitable pet-related small town business idea to explore.
You can specialize in pet toy design or set up a toy retail outlet. Remember to throw in some pet clothing for good measure.
8. Veterinary Clinic
It’s the job of veterinarians to ensure our furry, feathery, and scaly friends are in perfect shape always. Obviously, they do that at a fee.
If you’re a trained, certified, and licensed vet, you might consider setting up a vet clinic in your small town.
Other Small Town Business Ideas
1. Travel Blogging/Vlogging
Any town would attract a decent number of tourists, no matter its size or the number of its highlights. Becoming a travel blogger or vlogger allows you to put your tiny town on the global map.
Focus your blog on highlighting the hidden local gems. This will help to draw visitors from far afield while also stimulating interest in local tourism.
2. Vape Shop
Vaping has garnered incredible popularity in the last decade due to widespread claims that the practice may address chronic cigarette smoking. If you live in jurisdictions where vaping is legal, then you might consider setting up a vape shop.
You’ll only need to find a suitable supplier for both vape accessories and e-liquids. Then, obtain the requisite permits and you’re good to go.
3. Tutoring Services
Tutoring is another service that will never go out of demand, provided that there are children around.
But what truly makes this idea lucrative is that you can target clients outside your small town by offering tutoring services online.
4. Massage Parlor
Massage parlors are synonymous with bustling cities. But unknown to many, these businesses can also thrive in fairly small towns. The secret is providing personalized and high-quality services.
Massage parlors are also one of the most flexible businesses. That’s due to the sheer number of services you can offer in addition to regular massage, including hairdressing and makeup.
5. Car Wash
The one thing that makes a car wash business idea attractive is its ability to attract repeat clients. Car washes also incur minimal overhead expenses.
And if you have enough space to spare, you could also incorporate auto repair services. Your clients would definitely be happy to have their automobiles serviced and washed in the same location.
6. Flower Shop
Flowers are a timeless gifting idea. They symbolize love, honor, innocence, and all kinds of admirable human traits. Therefore, flower delivery would be an exciting business opportunity in any town despite its size.
There are several ways to outpace the competition. First, always deal in fresh flowers. Maintain a reasonable delivery period too. Besides, offer personalized delivery services which include, among other things, printing the recipient’s name on each gift wrap.
Wrap Up
These small town business ideas can be your gateway to financial freedom if carefully planned and skillfully executed.
Remember to conduct in-depth research on your target market before hunkering down on any business idea from this list. Your research should ideally focus on establishing a demand for the products and services your venture aims to offer.
