NEW AND SMALL BUSINESS IDEAS FOR WOMEN

20+ Small Business Ideas for Women

The new age women are intelligent, competent and career-minded. They like to chase down their dream irrespective of the circumstances. While many women find it easy to go all out and pursue the career they want, there are others who need to set priorities and exercise choice to move ahead on a success path.

Small businesses have a small number of employees, revenue or profit. However, it could be something you might suitable for you. Small companies allow you to work at your pace while meeting some of the objectives you have set for yourself.

A small business idea could be a great start if you just want to stay a “solopreneur” or want to build a big business for yourself without leaving your home.

Small Business Ideas for Women

Are you looking for the best business ideas for women? Well, Business Ideas for women are not vastly different from any other business ideas. However, several successful small business ideas for women in India are home-based and that is what differentiates them from any other business idea.

While many women find it easy to go all out and pursue the career they want, there are others who need to set priorities and exercise choice to move ahead on a success path.

Home business for women could be a great start if they want to experiment with ideas they have.

Why Small Business Ideas for Women in India?

If we talk about India, most of the women are still home-bound even if they have the zeal to learn and make themselves independent.

The new age women are intelligent, competent and career-minded. They like to chase down their dream irrespective of the circumstances.

Small businesses need a small number of employees, smaller capital and investments to start with. On top of it, such small businesses can be started from home as well. This is what makes work from home business for ladies very attractive.

Small business for women’s at home: A Popular choice in India

Home business for ladies with low investment may even allow them to work at their pace while meeting the objectives they have set for themselves. 

small business for ladies at home could be a great start if they just want to stay a “solo-preneur” or want to build a big business for yourself without leaving their home.

and it could be something you might even be suitable for.

Update: One of my readers, Smriti Patkar has emailed and informed me that after reading this article she had signed up with a freelancing service and has already earned $108 in her first month! I am ecstatic! More power to you Smriti.

This post is intended to honour such women.  Here are a few verified small business ideas for women in India. I hope some of these ideas will inspire you to generate a business idea that you can start from your home.

Small Business Ideas for Women in India

We understand that starting and running successful businesses takes significant capital and effort. That’s why we are listing down some of the best small business ideas in India for women. Home based business for women that are listed here considers that the most important investment that you will do is your time and the capital required is low

I am sure you must be having several other business ideas in mind. However, at times while doing our best to be successful in our business we need a dose of inspiration. I truly believe that nothing inspires more than a movie.

That is why I have curated a list of 10 business ideas for women that are inspired by Hollywood and Bollywood movies. I can bet that with such nice movies to be around to take care of situations when things do not go our way, you will never be alone in your journey.

1. Amazon FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon): An interesting Home business for Women in India

If you have a product or can create one that is sell-able online, Amazon provides a cost-effective and simple platform to help you earn online income through its FBA program.

You sell it, we ship it. Amazon has created one of the most advanced fulfillment networks in the world, and your business can benefit from our expertise. With Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), you store your products in Amazon’s fulfillment centers, and we pick, pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Best of all, FBA can help you scale your business and reach more customers.

– Amazon (2)

You just need to send your products to Amazon’s warehouse after registering yourself to Amazons fulfillment center. Once you get an order on Amazon’s portal, they pack and ship your products directly to the consumers.

Amazon wants you to focus on your products rather than bothering about delivery to customers. FBA not only helps you save time and money but also increases your online customer base.

Amazon FBA -Fulfilment by Amazon
Amazon FBA -Fulfilment by Amazon

If you are an Indian, you can sign up with Amazon’s FBA program or as a seller here. Others can sign up or login as a seller on Amazon here.

Take Away: If you are interested in selling your products online but have no idea or do not want to handle shipping and return, FBA is a way to start growing your business online.

2. Blogging: An online business for women

If writing is your passion, nothing rewards you better than putting your words and ideas on a blog. 15 years back blog writing was just a platform for people to express their thoughts, hobbies or whatever they have in mind for free.

The scenario is entirely different today. The purpose may be the same that is to speak your mind but today many bloggers earn enough to replace a salary. Yes, blogging can be a career choice now!

You can either start writing for some organization/firms or your blog using any of the several free blogging platforms.

Here is a quick guide to starting your blog for free on Blogspot or blogger. Also here is another guide to creating your own blog for free on wordpress.com.

You can earn some ready money by putting ads on your blog site using Google AdSense. Affiliate marketing is another way to monetize your blog. To earn money from blogging you don’t even need to pay for creating your own blog.

Related Article: What is a blog.

If you don’t want to put in the time, money and effort for running your own business we recommend you read about our tried & verified Ways To Earn or Make Money Online without the risks of entrepreneurship. Today blogging is one of the most profitable business ideas in India for women.v

Choose the field that you are an expert in or which interests you the most, like beauty, fashion, apparel, fitness, financial advice, parenting, gardening and whatever else you can think of!

According to The Wire, as many as 79% of enterprises run by women are self-financed; only 4.4% have borrowed money from a financial institution or received assistance from the government. (1) So yes, getting financial help as a women entrepreneur seems like a tall order, here are some small business loans for women that you can explore.

3. Freelance Writing: Low investment business for ladies sitting at home

 You can earn by writing for others. Based on your expertise or niche, you can get paid between INR 500-5000 for a thousand words blog in India. That’s not a small number indeed. Your experience, writing ability, and niche will help determine your actual rates.

So where does one find such freelance writing work?

Here is a job board on   where you can peruse jobs and see if any fit your expertise.

Another good place to get freelancing work is on fiverr.com .

Here is the dashboard of a friend of mine who earned $84 in her first month for 9 orders after registering with fiverr.

business idea for women - fiverr

You can also get hired on other freelancing sites such as Upwork, & Freelancer

4. Graphics & Design Services: Small-scale business for women

Are you good at art? Do you have a keen aesthetic sense? Can you do flyer or brochure designs or maybe book covers? Maybe logo designs, or social posts like Facebook or Instagram posts?

Well, you will be glad to know that people pay for digital artwork. So go and register with any one of the popular freelancing services such fiverr.com, Upwork or Freelancer and start your small-scale business for women.

I suggest fiverr.com first, you may later graduate to Upwork after gaining sufficient experience. You will get paid more on Upwork and freelancer.

5. Day Care Services: Best business for ladies

With rising inflation and ambitions, most families have both parents as working. Making day care services a lucrative business option. Call it the necessity of working parents, who need to keep their kids with someone who provides a safe and playful Daycare service.

This trend of nuclear families with both parents as working is pushing the requirement for Daycare service even higher. People are ready to pay anything between 2000-10,000/month/kid if they are comfortable leaving their child with you.

Somethings that you need to take into account before you opt on day care services as your small business idea are:

  • Security must be of high priority. The crèche or daycare must have qualified and police verified staff, security guards and support staff.
  • You will need security guards, sweepers, cooks, drivers and ayahs verified by the police. The number of employees you hire will depend upon whether it is a home based service or if its a professional daycare in an independent location.
  • There should be a doctor on call to handle emergencies.
  • You will have to invest in play equipment, toys, play areas and living areas that help stimulate the children

Here is the list of some successful Day Care services in India Bal Nilaya,  Klay, OysterCrystal. You can check them out or research them and get some idea about what you will be getting into.

6. Beautician Services: Small business for women’s at home

Just like Jewellery making, running a beauty parlour provides one of the most profitable business opportunities for women. There is hardly any woman who is not fond of makeup. Be it a ceremony, party or any event, women do visit beauty parlour to have a gracious look.

Parlour services such as hair cutting, facials, make-up, waxing, hair styling, threading and others have a huge demand with indefinite customers. If you have the necessary skills and required space at your home, consider establishing a parlour business. For newbies, there are a lot of videos on YouTube to learn from.

The only downside of running a parlour is it requires a significant amount of initial investment, primarily when you operate from outside home.

Update: Now you can avoid putting up a brick and mortar store for beautician services. If you don’t have the capital to set up shop you can enroll or signup with one of the various online service marketplaces like UrbanClap and take your services to the clients home. Of course, that means a lot of traveling may be involved.

7. Handmade Products: Homemade business ideas for women’s in India

Out of all the home-based business ideas, a handmade product is the one that lets you exercise your creativity with supplies that are easily attainable.

All you need is an artistic touch and materials for the products you are interested in building in. Handmade greetings, scented candles, toys and wooden products are the best way to start a business journey. You are free to make any handicrafts of your choice though.

If you are not a trained handicraft maker, you can attend online training programs or search for YouTube videos to get yourself ready. The handicraft market has seen significant growth over the years, especially since the influx of e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart etc. If handicraft is something that ignites your passion, you should find it a pleasant start-up to help yourself economically.

Update: The best online international marketplace for handicrafts seems to be Etsy.com. Etsy has an international customer base. You can set up shop with Etsy here and sell to international customers. You can also register as a seller with Amazon handmade, Amazon handmade is an initiative by the e-commerce giant to compete with Etsy. You can apply to amazon here to be an artisan seller with them. However, we recommend that you set up your own web store and use digital strategies to reach your customers on google, facebook and other social media networks.

8. Private Tutor: Side business ideas for working women’s in India

There are mainly three reasons why private tutors are in demand

  1. As the competition is increasing, parents want their children to achieve higher grades to help them get into better colleges, universities.
  2. Most of the students struggle to comprehend a particular subject in a classroom setup.
  3. School teachers are usually equipped with a generic way of teaching, and it is difficult for them to give attention and support to an individual student.

The reasons mentioned above open up a potentially profitable business idea with almost zero investment. You don’t need to be a teacher to start this business. Think of a subject you have a good hold on and develop your teaching skills.

The best thing about providing private tuition is you can decide how much time you want to dedicate to the students. Tuition could be a side business ideas for working women’s in India. Moreover, Word of mouth helps you grow your business at a rapid pace

Update: You can now find students and take your services to their home using online services marketplaces such as UrbanPro. This will help you avoid the initial setup cost of hiring space for a tuition centre.

9. Urban Landscape Artist: Best business for women in India to start

Gardening is not for all. Think of it only if you are passionate and want to contribute towards the environmental cause.

Gardening is a fast-growing business with high-profit potential. There are several areas you can specialise on including organic gardening, edible plants, native plants and natural pesticides.

Many people are looking out for professional gardeners with vertical gardening abilities. You can help them setup/beautify their homes, teach gardening or provide maintenance service.  It requires exceptional knowledge of gardening, organic products, pesticides, etc

In urban areas, development is causing green areas to shrink to almost nothing! How about making homes green then. There is a real demand from homeowners in cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, and even New York to bring the outdoors in. You can make a choice of plants that reduce indoor pollution too!

If you are new to this but are passionate, then first do up your own house, then do up for friends, relatives etc. Make a brochure with pictures, and then go for it!

small business ideas women

Source : http://www.thebirdandhersong.com

DIY Leather and Wood Indoor Plant Trellis Wall Tutorial

source: https://vintagerevivals.com

10. Dog Trainer: Small Business for Ladies

According to CNBC news, In the United States, overall spending on pet services is projected nearly $70 billion in 2017.

Pet services are not limited to the USA alone. India is soon becoming a hot market for pet lovers and services that provide grooming and training for pets. Trainers who offer pet services are in high demand as pet owners are willingly investing in the well-being of their pets. When it comes to pets, dogs occupy the top spot followed by cats and birds.

If you love dogs and have good experience in training and handling their behavioral issues, starting a business as a dog trainer might open lucrative opportunity for you. You may need to acquire a valid license to run your pet business. You can start this business with the minimum initial investment, and it also provides you with flexible work hours.

Refer to this site if you want to learn/improve your pet training skills or register yourself as a professional dog trainer.

11. Soap Maker: Home business ideas for ladies

Soap manufacturing is a compelling business idea to engage women in bringing income to home. The margins you get after selling the products is also high.

A standard bath soap does not cost more than 8-10 INR, while you can easily sell it for 20-25 INR. Hardly a decade ago, local soap manufacturers struggled to promote and sell their products due to lack of marketing ability and sales channels. Today the scenario is different. You can use social media to tell your product story while there are many e-commerce platforms to sell your products online. Here are some tips to consider before starting a soap business

  • People are going back to the basics and prefer to buy all-natural soaps. So, Keep your product as natural and straightforward as you can.
  • Stick to a few varieties. You cannot please everyone. Having selected types will keep your inventory of ingredients down.
  • Base oils used for making soap are costly. Choosing limited varieties enable you to buy them in more significant quantities and save some money.

12. Sewing Business: Business ideas for women’s at home in India

Sewing is a great skill that comes naturally to most of the women. If you have got a dressmaking skill, the field indeed offers the right way of earning a substantial income.

Sewing is not limited to only dressmaking, and there are several other sewing businesses including delicate embroidery, custom curtain making, quilt designing, repairs and alterations to name a few. Most of them can be converted into an enjoyable and profitable home-based business.

13. Event Planner

Celebrations are becoming grand as people are not holding back themselves to splurge on a lavish wedding ceremony or a birthday party. Such events call for an incredibly organized and detail-oriented event planner.

If you have been someone who used to plan and organize freshers or farewell parties during college days, this space perhaps belongs to you.

An event planning requires an apt working knowledge of everything including resources and cost from invitations to musicians. If you are interested in sharpening your knowledge further, there are many helpful materials available online to help you understand the nuances of an event planning.

14. Cooking Classes: Simple business for ladies

More and more people are experimenting with food and are looking for newer options. You can start your cooking classes in your community and earn money with little or no investment.

Several women have build businesses around cooking classes. The most notable ones are Tarla Dalal and Nita Mehta.

15. Jewellery Making: One of the Most sought after Creative business ideas for women

This one of the more popular Business Ideas for Women. Jewellery is close to women as it is a symbol of femininity. Women love to wear it since ages. Shells, threads, paper, beads, metal, plastic whatever are the design, it’s just gotta be creative & pretty. Women wear an ample variety of jewellery including necklaces, bracelets and earrings on a daily basis.

If you master the art of jewellery making, you gain yourself an opportunity to start a potential business to earn some quick money. You can start making jewellery with a little investment. All it needs is to purchase raw materials like beads of various colour and sizes, needle, thick cotton thread, plastic caps, springs, jewellery wire, etc. In fact the more different it is the better the chances of success.

Gone are the days when women used to wear only golden or silver jewellery. Now college and office goers prefer designer ones to mix and match with their attire.

Jewellery market has never seen a slowdown and potentially viable to earn a good income. Facebook/Instagram page and WhatsApp group can be used to significant effect to expand your customer reach and grow your business online.

Once again you can register as a seller on Flipkart, Amazon or other marketplaces online.

16. Home Based Catering Business: Small scale business for ladies

Call it a necessary need or craving; you certainly cannot do without food. It is perhaps the only business not impacted by the recession. Since most of the cities have floating workers, there is a growing demand for lunch boxes/meal delivery to offices, shops and schools. I guess the reason is good enough to try your hands on it.

If cooking is your hobby, you may find this business even more interesting. Serving food from home requires very little investment. One can start business ventures with less than 20K on a small scale. Your community, family, friend circles are the best place to start this business. They would love to taste the food cooked by you. You can also take feedback from them to improve your cooking style, variety and of course the taste of the food.

You can later join social media to expand your customer base by offering festive or season specific foods, combos, discounts on bulk orders, etc. Moreover, the typical Indian mindset to eat food cooked at home will provide impetus to your business

17. Data Entry: Small scale business ideas for women’s in India

It is one of the most searched home-based online jobs on the internet. There are many companies including KPO, BPO and customer care centers that are looking for data entry workers. The position requires you to feed various kind of data (such as public data, customer support data, manufacturing data, research data, etc.) into a computer system. You may need to add, update or maintain data as part of your work. Some company also hire data operator for verifying or sorting the data.

Data entry is one of the simplest ways to earn monthly income without investing any money and with the limited skill set. Any Bachelor, Diploma holder or even 10+2 can apply for this job. Some companies want you to work from their offices while others offer work from home facility. The skills required for this position are:

  • Basic knowledge of computer operation
  • Knowledge of MS-Office software’s like MS-Word and MS-Excel.
  • Good typing speed with an eye for detail.
  • Basic communication skill and strong reading ability.

Here is the list of employers that offer data entry jobs: Axion Data Services, Invensis BPO Company, etc.

18. Telephone Answering Service: Home based business for ladies

If you have excellent communication skills and a pleasant speaking voice, home-based telephone answering service is a good option for you.

There are many options you can choose from- part-time, half-day or full day services. The services are also categorized based on working days – weekdays or weekends.

In the USA, phone services charge anything between $180-$200/month/client for handling after-hours calls.

The trend is already rolling in India. Many companies hire attentive people for part-time to full-time employment. They want people with a good hold on English or any other language of their choice.

Full-time employees can earn between Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lac’s per annum and incentives based on their performance and skill set. Many software companies in India have their Call centers set up to facilitate clients with real-time solutions.

FCS Software Solutions Limited, Noida is one such company, which apart from software solution provides phone call based services to its clients through its support executives.

Also here is a list of work from home jobs and part-time jobs. You can search for such jobs on various job portals.

19 Become a Virtual Assistant: Small business ideas for women in small towns

In the increasingly virtual economy, a virtual assistant has emerged as a great business proposition that a woman can start at home. Virtual Assistants are self-employed and provide services such as office administration from a home office.

20 Start Gardening Business: Home based business ideas for ladies

In urban cities, homeowners look for easy access to plants for their home and balcony. You can start a gardening business by employing gardeners who can be made available on demand in your society to family and friends.

21 Youtube Ads income

YouTube shares 55% of its ad revenue with video creators and books an average of $7.60 ( 530/- approx) per 1,000 ad views. That means you get about $4.18 ( 291/- approx) for every 1,000 views of ads shown on your videos. So if you can create content regularly that is funny, useful, entertaining or educational the money can add up over time!

2 comments

  1. Rupam Sardar

    Thanks for this awesome content.

  2. nice blog

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