2011 Top 10 Small Business Ideas

1. Online business and make money online
   You can tell that this is my personal favourite. I continue to root on online business/make money online because of two obvious reasons: Cost-effective and lucrative. With many industries are going online, the future is darn bright! Online tutoring, online store, website flipping, etc. – all look promising.
2. Personalised products and/or services
   Personalisation is trendy. People no longer really want to wear a Mark Ecko t-shirt – you want “YOUR” t-shirt printed with YOUR choice of image; you don’t want a Hallmark greeting card – you want “YOUR” greeting card made especially for you; starting a business offering clients uniqueness and individualistic flavour will give you a best chance to succeed.
3. Social media consultant/promoter/marketer
   Having an established business website for your small business is no longer effective – you need to go social in your effort to promote your business. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) not all small business owner are “social-media-literate” – this is clearly a gap in the market. Starting a social media consulting business helping small business owners to promote their products and services to Twitter, Facebook and the likes will bring you a lucrative opportunity as demand is very high.
4. Cloud business / cloud working services
   The cloud or cloud computing is probably only a buzz word or marketing gimmick, but the benefits are there: Migrating part or all of your business process to the cloud can help you cut costs and increase productivity. Starting a business offering cloud services is a great opportunity to reach huge, untapped market of business owners. What is cloud business, anyway?
5. Small business with a cause
   “Do business with us and we will plant a tree on your behalf” is a great small business idea. People basically love to give to others, in many different ways. Some don’t really want to help others directly; they are more interested in getting what they want while doing something worthwhile in the process. Offering your products and services with an embedded social cause(s) can offer you a win-win situation: Happy customers, happy charities and happy business.
6. Crowdsourcing services
   Your business is only as good as what your target market think of you. That’s why crowdsourcing makes sense. Offering an opportunity for the crowd (passer-bys website visitors, etc.) to decide what’s best for you can eliminate your need for market research. This makes a powerful business idea: Offering a service to meet businesses with the crowd. Kiva.org is an example of crowdsourcing service – it is a crowdfunding business allowing people to fund budding entrepreneurs with limited budget.
7. Services to Home-based business
   Home based business is good, but offering services to those who work at home is terrific. Some small business ideas: An online community for home-based business owners, delivery services for home-based businesses, home office maintenance services, etc.
8. Natural disaster recovery business
   There are plenty of floods and earthquakes, including wildfire and other force majeure issues in 2010. The aftermath is devastating for those impacted by the disasters, and helps are much needed in those events. Offering a natural disaster recovery services to the public is not only a noble deed, but also a lucrative one, due to the possible partnership with the Government; the Gov’t will seek for recovery partners and you’d better be there to answer the call! A quick-construction business, amenities supply business, etc. can be both helpful and profitable.
9. Green and organic business
   Green energy, green construction, organic foods, organic clothing, etc. make great business in 2011, as people are becoming more and more aware toward the impact of carbon and other non-degradable materials to the earth.
10. Real-time online-off line combo business
    Child safety plastic tags that are connected to the GPS and online system to avoid child abduction and interactive restaurant menu with touchscreen are a couple of examples of online-off line combo products/services. Starting a business offering products and services that integrate both worlds flawlessly is well sought after.

There you go – Noobpreneur.com’s top 10 small business ideas to help you out in either starting a business or discovering other business ideas well-suited to your aspiration. If you have a small business idea or two to share, please share yours by commenting to this article.
Ivan Widjaya
10 small business ideas for 2011

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