40 golden service-business ideas Top 40 business ideas

Related: 8 Top Pick Home-based business ideas for Woman

We provide some inspirational business ideas for aspiring service providers. Some of the business ideas are conventional, while others are non-conventional. These ideas are not exhaustive, but are indicative of the business opportunity which exists in the service sector. With 40 ideas to choose from, there is definitely no excuse for delaying the start of your own service business.

Related: 10 Low Cost Business Ideas

1. Dry-cleaning business

Being a dry cleaner is probably the most overlooked fashion-related career. Unlike being a fashion designer or stylist, a dry cleaner is far from the glamorous Bollywood lifestyle. A dry cleaner is an expert in apparel and fabric cleaning and caring that utilises the latest solvents. Try coupling it with the dry-cleaning-pick-up-and-delivery; that is convenient for busy professionals. Then follow suit by other services like laundry or ironing, etc.

2. Personal fitness training

Are you into health and fitness? Then get your business jump-start by training people about health and fitness and advising them how to get the most from their exercise routine? Train People in the disciplines you may have learnt – Aikido, Karate, Yoga or simply basic safety-awareness skills for a fee.

3. Travel services

Put your service on the road to success by coordinating travel itinerary for people which could include organising or booking tickets, coordinating hotel stay, arranging a car rental, organising travel insurance and foreign exchange.

Related: Travel Services Franchise Opportunities

4. Tiffin services

Cook up tasty profits as a chef who can do professional lunch or dinner tiffin services. Those with culinary competence are likely to find a hungry clientele among the ranks of India`s busy working families who need lunch in their offices or dinner in their homes .Consistency can also get you money-making corporate orders or market your business to clients for those special occasions when they have a party or occasion --complete with restaurant quality food and service.

5. Coaching Thought your proficiency in high school algebra was all for naught?

Think again: As a coach or tutor, whether it is reading, writing or arithmetic, help students reach the top of their class or conduct English coaching. You could also help others bone up on their personality development. Further the business can be institutionalised to achieve any scale.

6. Windshield repair

To find potential clients for your windshield-repair business; simply canvass local parking and used-car lots for cars with cracked, chipped windshields. A basic repair kit enables you to offer clients what is clearly a better alternative to costly glass replacement.

7. Private investigation

Blaze your own entrepreneurial trail while following others` footsteps literally. As a private investigator, make your mark in the industry by keeping a keen ‘eye’ on other people`s activities. Private investigators conduct investigations for individuals, businesses, attorneys, insurance companies, and public agencies within the areas of civil, criminal, and domestic investigations, gathering evidence for a case, or individuals seeking information about a significant other. No special education or experience is necessary to get started in this career. In most states and provinces, all you need to be licensed as a private investigator is to be 18 years of age.

8. Business plan consulting

Not only a Business Plan is crucial in obtaining bank financing, but it is also an invaluable tool for anticipating and tackling a business`s inevitable ups and downs. If you are business savvy and have adequate spread sheet knowledge, show clients how to present their best-laid plans.

9. Relocation, packing, unpacking service

Packing up to move to a new home or office – not to mention unpacking on the other end – is enough to leave one feeling utterly exhausted. Thank goodness for packing and unpacking entrepreneurs who, with their hassle and time-saving services, make moving seem like magic.

10. Recruitment and staffing services

Getting paid to help companies hire and meeting their workforce needs are a matter of finding a niche, and filling it and keeping up with human resource trends. Work your way up in the industry by developing a roster of specially skilled workers, then use your ‘people skills’ to build your business. Recruitment and hiring services is about placing ads and attracting employees and matching them to jobs within the organisation.

11. Home delivery services:

Today home delivery of goods has become pre-eminent requirement of every retail store but not every store will have the resource to build a delivery service either due to lack of expertise or infrastructure and would like to outsource their delivery services to an expert and you could be the one to do it. If you have or can build an adequate fleet of two wheelers, you could be doing this service for several retailers at one time and earning a robust fee for it.

12. Executive search or head-hunting service

Take your business to a ‘hire’ level: As an executive-search specialist, help busy clients find the right qualified man or woman for the job. Your job involves matching the profile and conducting interviews to screen industry’s finest employee for clients. Put on your best interviewing suit, and get down to business.

13. Courier or cargo brokerage services

Gone are the days of local trade. In its place comes a sophisticated global commerce system requiring a thorough knowledge of land, sea, air and rail shipping rates and regulations. Knowledgeable freight or cargo brokers are indispensable to this burgeoning scene.

14. Fashion stylist

Image and personal presentation has become vital in business, personal relationships and social network but not everyone knows how to get it right. If you have a keen eye for fashion, sense of style and good taste, start a Fashion Stylist Consulting Business, dedicated to assisting men or women to develop their wardrobe and identity for events and help achieve their fashion and style goals as well as save their time and money. The services would include fun activities like going on shopping expeditions with clients, being a mentor to improve self confidence and body image of clients, training on the right business/social etiquette, etc. Fashion stylists are either paid per hour or per day.

15. Rent-a-car service

Build your passion for cars into a thriving business. Starting with two or more cars and some insurance, you could be the driving force behind a new business venture. Stretch your market by adding more drivers and cars to your fleet. Then, once you have established a reliable reputation, start driving home profits through your car-service sales.

16. Professional language translation services

Today`s marketplace is global and falling foreign trade barriers means that businesses are faced with communication, contracts and documents from firms operating in a foreign language. Companies have to rush to hire language translation services. Improved communication technology translates into success for language translators and interpreters. An ear for multiple languages puts you at the forefront of this global movement.

17. Debt recovery services

Money makes the world go round. You get paid when your clients get paid by their defaulters with your help. As a debt collector, it pays in more ways than one to have some persistence in tracking down clients` delinquent debtors. You can build a substantial business by collecting both consumer and commercial debts.

18. Catering

A caterer`s place is in the kitchen . . . cooking up hot profits. That is, so long as your kitchen is commercially approved – and you have got a knack for stirring up some ‘dough’ – you have got the makings for savoury success. Whether you cater events like service weddings, holiday parties or other festive gatherings on a full-time or a part-time basis, it is one of the most lucrative and profitable businesses with a high potential for expansion and growth.

19. Window washing services

Tall glass buildings and beautiful glass homes has emerged as eye-catcher in the city’s landscape. Today, washing windows has become a time-consuming and tedious task. In some places, without the proper equipment it may not be possible at all. Window cleaning services specialise in safely and effectively cleaning windows with the necessary tools and supplies to complete a quality job. It has proved to be a lucrative business. You could also couple services with water tank cleaning, office cleaning and maintenance.

20. Public-relations agency

A way with words, enthusiasm and persistence are all necessary in this competitive business. Public relation agencies provide communication services for all types of companies be it entertainment, finance, fashion, health-care, hi-tech, publishing, sports, retail, tourism and many other fields. Those solutions may involve communication techniques, such as getting publicity in the media (television, radio, newspapers, Internet, etc.), and organising public events. Networking, by developing contacts with reporters and other media – is also crucial for helping your clients go public with press releases and more.

21. Sales training

Every business is a sales business, while companies can internally impart worthwhile product training but not effective sales training. It is said that “Those who can, do; those who are really good, become trainers”. If you have an expertise in driving sales and are a good public speaker, do not sell yourself short; with some self-promotion and marketing know-how, you could have what it takes to build your own business as a sales trainer. By sharing your sales savvy with busy business owners and their staff you not only boost their bottom line but also your own.

22. Computer repair

Perhaps you were the only person in your office or classroom who could get the network printer to work, or you discovered the joys of hardware repair through cleaning the lint off some mouse rollers, it is time to turn your PC hobby into a computer repair business. In today`s computer-based society, computer ‘downtime’ can be both costly and aggravating. As a repair professional equipped with some basic diagnostic equipment and technological savvy, you can get clients` computers back up and humming again.

23. Web-site designer

As a web designer or webmaster, you are in the business on the leading edge of a communications revolution. You can create web sites that are seen by literally millions of people .With specialised software, creating websites comes easy, so long as you have some basic technical knowledge and are graphic savvy. Home in on business by helping businesses establish a site, existing clients will need help keeping their websites up-to-date, as well. If you start your own web design business you could also enjoy the freedom of working from home and choosing your own hours.

24. Professional photography

With your eye for photo opportunities – at weddings, parties, special events and more, you could be zooming in on profits as a freelance photographer. Be prepared to work weekends and evenings (when many clients will need your services) and to hire an assistant to help you juggle your photo paraphernalia. Make record profits taping corporate video brochures. Just get your video recorder handy, and zoom in on the action. Video-editing skills and special-effects techniques help you pull together the big picture and reel in the profits. As a professional photographer you can work in an indoor studio, or you can choose to shoot photographs at peoples’ homes, event locations, or outdoors. You might even have your own home-based studio.

25. Wedding-planning service

Getting married is not always as simple as saying, ‘I do.’ In our busy society, an increasing number of couples need to hire a wedding planner to plan their special day. Whenever a couple marries, someone is needed to oversee all the details to ensure the wedding is a success. There is a caterer to be contracted, a location to be rented, and flowers to be ordered. So when it comes to making matrimony a more harmonious event for the new couple and their families, wedding planners take the cake.

26. Event planning

If your life has been, well, uneventful until now, there is a solution. Any time people gather together for a purpose, someone is needed to oversee all the details to ensure the event happens and that it is a success. That ‘someone’ could be you! As an event planner! Whether it is a party, wedding or convention, you are sure to be at the center of all the action when you coordinate everything from room rentals and speakers to decorations and food.

27. Office service centres

Assist the offices in your vicinity by offering services like printing, copying, and document management. Couple it with Designing Brochures, Business Cards, Direct mail, catalogs, manuals and other marketing pieces for companies or developing forms, etc.

28. Cartridge refilling

Be in the business to tell that the printer has not gone redundant, it is just that cartridge is empty. The business deals in Ink and toner cartridges and specialises in saving your client’s money and inking your own through services like cartridge refill, cartridge replacement, handling printer supplies management for every business, large or small.

29. Pet care service

The Pet care business is booming internationally and in India it is fast becoming one of the best small business ventures. Pet owners world wide are breathing a sigh of relief that they have this option for their pet when they travel. A love for animals is the foundation, but smart business sense is what will keep you operating. There is only a minimal amount of cost in starting up a Pet sitting service. Besides walking the dog, feeding the bird, tending the cat, and playing with the pets, a client sometimes may want a Pet Care Service to do specific things like taking to the Vet, grooming, etc.

30. Bill payment services

The service comprises collecting utility bills in your locality. As a business service, your customers will not have to go to different bill deposit counters to do the transactions or to stand in long queues; you do it for them and get paid for every bill you deposit for them. You can deposit mobile, electricity and telephone bills without any hassle. The catch in the business is that the more the bills, the better you get paid.

31. Security services

Crime prevention has become a major issue in our society and the consumer is turning to the private security industry to help protect their neighbourhoods and businesses. The area is diverse and could include selling and installing security products, but there are also security services who do not sell products. These individuals are paid on an hourly or project basis to help clients, usually corporations, protect their personnel and property. Property security embraces real estate and tangible equipment as well as other assets like client lists and proprietary technology by providing security guards. Employee and customer theft as well as piracy are possible focuses for security practices. Many economic opportunities have become particularly active for retired or reserve officers.

32. Maid-on-demand services

Start a Business of offering housekeepers and maids for house cleaning services. You will be in the business of providing professional, friendly and efficient maids available on a one-time or ongoing basis for your client’s house, office, condo, or apartment. One can excel by offering more reliability and peace of mind to people by giving trusted background checked employees and earn a good commission for it.

33. Matrimonial services

Become a business entrepreneur by making marriages happen. The Matrimony Services concept lies in bringing prospective brides and grooms and their families together and meet face to face and once the relationship clicks your meter is clocked.

34. Financial planner

If you have expertise in accounting, taxation, finance and business law, understand equity and debt instruments and can organise a computer with spreadsheet, word processing and database software, you are ready to be in businesses as financial planner. Depending on the services you will offer, you may also need sophisticated financial modelling or investment analysis software. The services include providing comprehensive advisory services to clients to manage complete financial planning needs. Work with individuals, families and small businesses to help them analyse, set and achieve financial goals.

35. Pest control service

Pest control operators provide a valuable service for which people are willing to pay a healthy price, i.e., to clean-up by ridding homes and business premises of white ants, mice and other pests. This industry has become far more professional over the last few years. As a pest control service operator, you may also consider starting your business as a home-based operation or mobile premises, such as a van. You will need to pay careful consideration to how you store and where you keep your chemicals. There may also be restrictions depending on the location and set-up of your home.

36. Car helpline services

Start a car helpline services and dispel the fear of motorists regarding car breakdown obstacles. The business requires you to provide break down service if possible 24 hours a day or less to start with. The services involve repairing a punctured tyre or tube, minor car repairs like overheated engine, locked car key inside, emergency petrol requirements, towing to the nearest workshop. To get started in this business you will need a fleet of service vans, a few staff trained in car mechanics and a dedicated helpline number.

37. Real estate agent

Real estate agents help people with buying, selling, or leasing homes, buildings, and land. Residential real estate agents specialise in working with homeowners, while commercial real estate agents deal with office space and buildings. Real estate agents are paid a commission which is a percentage of the sale price of each transaction, so the earning potential is unlimited.

38. Tailoring or dressmaking services

Custom tailoring services fill a niche between haute couture and ready-to-wear. A dress-maker makes custom garments one at a time, to order, to meet an individual customer`s needs and preferences. They may work out of their home, a studio, or a retail shop, and may work part-time or full-time. Dress-makers can also couple up their business with alterations, by hiring people who are expert in this field. An understanding of fashion trends and sewing is a must to start the business.

39. Mobile beauty services

If you are a beauty services expert but cannot afford the burgeoning real estate rentals for starting your salon ,start a mobile beauty and spa services to offer your clients beauty treatments at their home or office. In today`s world, women are too busy juggling family, career and social activities, often leaving little or no time to pamper themselves and you could be the heaven-sent answer. The best way is to charge by the hour and not by the service so that clients can pick and mix their beauty treatments without worrying about the cost.

40. Sourcing agency services

A sourcing agent is one who is also insured but primarily charges a flat fee for bringing a manufacturer and a buyer together to produce a product line of the buyer`s choice. While they can also work as a buyer’s agent, the main goal of the sourcing agent is to work with both the buyer and manufacturer to produce items according to quality and engineering specifications. Sourcing agents help negotiate the deal and may charge a percentage of the total deal or a flat fee per transaction.

Comment

40 golden service-business ideas Top 40 business ideas

Free Advice - Ask Our Experts