Starting a business can seem like a daunting task, but the time, money, and risk involved can all vary depending on the business idea you’re pursuing.

Contrary to popular belief, there are actually many ways to start a business. Contrary to popular belief, you can start an online business with little investment and without any grandiose plans, and this method allows you to focus more on getting started rather than focusing more on logistics and initial costs.

These low-investment online business ideas can be a great starting point for beginners or anyone with a busy schedule. You can also start a side business without having to give up everything else and go all-in. Of course, we still need to have a solid idea, create a brand, focus on marketing, and provide great customer service to make a successful business. However, if you have an idea, you can skip many of the traditional startup costs like initial inventory, warehouse, and sales space and start a business.

Today we're talking about 10 low-investment business ideas you can start right now.

1. Partner with Dropshipper

Buying, storing, picking, packing, shipping... Inventory management is a big part of running an online business. But with dropshipping, things are different. Dropshipping is a fulfillment model where a third-party supplier stores and ships inventory to customers on your behalf. All you have to do is make a sale and pass the order to the supplier. You don't have to handle the products yourself.

For example, you can curate products from suppliers on your online store with themes that focus on a specific niche, such as equipment for yoga enthusiasts or pet supplies for dog owners. When a customer purchases a product from your store, the order is sent to a supplier who fulfills the order on our behalf. Of course, you are still responsible for marketing and customer service.

Also, there are many domestic and overseas suppliers that you can work with for dropshipping, but it is also the seller's responsibility to choose a reliable supplier among them. Dropshipping is a low-investment way to test product-market fit and start a business before investing in the original product. It is always possible to choose a reliable supplier, and you should order samples in advance to check if the product is suitable for selling to customers.

▲ Dropship site Oberlo

2. Design and custom printing t-shirts

Another dropshipping model is to run your business as a supplier who provides fulfillment services from manufacturing to shipping custom printed shirts. This is a bit different from the first dropshipping idea, but it focuses on customizing your designs to create something unique.

T-shirts, hats, phone cases, hoodies, skirts, tote bags, and more are all possible products that can be turned into creative products. Even if you’re not a designer, you can find and hire designers on freelance sites like Fiverr , Upwork , Dribbble , and 99Designs . Many custom print-on-demand services charge per piece, so the base price per unit will be higher than if you were ordering in bulk. However, if a certain t-shirt design doesn’t sell, you still haven’t actually paid for the product (if it’s an outsourced design).

You can also use ready-made t-shirt design templates, so you don’t have to spend money on taking new photos for every new design. There are a variety of print-on-demand platforms you can work with, many of which integrate with your Shopify store for seamless order processing. However, you should always order a sample of your product to check it out (usually at a discounted price).

▲ ThinkPub site

3. Publish your own book

Books may seem like just another type of product when you think about it, but you can create a product that meets a specific demand in the market.

Cookbooks, picture books, comics, poetry books, photo books, coffee table books, novels, etc., if you have the knowledge or creativity, there are many unique books that you can bring to the market. With various types of bookstores such as independent bookstores and individual bookstores following the new trend, on-demand publishing is a relatively safe way to test the market and control the quality and design of the book while starting with self-publishing.

Lulu Xpress and Blurb are popular platforms for this purpose, allowing you to create, order, and distribute your own books as e-books or physical books.

You can order one copy at a time, but of course the price will go down if you order in bulk, and you can even pre-sell or crowdfund your book idea to see if there's demand and secure a certain number of customers for a bulk order.

Starting your own book is a great way to monetize your blog if you already have one or are starting one.

▲ Example of book production by Lulu Xpress

4. Create a digital product or course

Digital products like music, lessons, and templates are not tangible products like other products. They have the advantage of high margins because they don’t have recurring manufacturing or shipping costs. The key to this business idea is figuring out how to make a good digital product. What kind of content is useful enough that people would pay to download it?

The answers range from original instrumental beats to licensed images, to information products and templates that help you level up your skills in a particular field. If you have a talent that can be turned into a digital product, you can think of ways to create a new source of income.

Shopify offers a free Digital Downloads app that makes it easy to sell digital products in your store as if they were physical products.

▲ PixieFaire ’s diverse class content

5. Sell custom posters, cards, and prints

If you have artistic inclinations or are comfortable using a camera, you can also run a business using the print-on-demand business model to allow others to physically own your work. Of course, you must have the rights to the content you are printing, unless you are using public domain assets that are freely monetizable.

If you're already active online, say, a cartoonist or an urban photographer, you're in a particularly good position to try out this business idea.

Depending on the printer you work with, you can turn your work into products like posters, framed wall art, or even card stock. There are a variety of digital templates and demo generators, like Place.it, that can help you showcase your products without having to print each item or take photos yourself.

▲ Zen Pencils Store

6. Selling Services

For service-based businesses, “time” is your inventory and your biggest investment. You only have a limited amount of time in the day. However, if you have the skills you need, you can easily get up and running.

Many people, including writers, designers, developers, photographers, home cleaners or organizers, and fitness trainers, can build businesses based on their skills.

You can also expand your business with other ideas above to create additional revenue streams by “producing” your services through physical or digital products.

For example, a photographer can sell prints online through their Instagram account while also catering to local events. A copywriter can sell copywriting files of high-converting advertising text. Combining a service-based business with physical products can provide another source of income that is not tied to time.

To implement an online store that offers such services, you can use BookThapApp for Shopify or a booking app that allows customers to easily book sessions, consultations, or class tickets through your store.

You can also offer your services through a freelance platform like Upwork to increase your exposure to people who need your skills.

▲You can easily book services provided by Shopify’s The Book That App.

7. Grow your monetizable audience

In today’s sophisticated social network, the ability to capture and maintain the attention of others is a huge asset. In other words, many companies are willing to pay to leverage this asset, and many creators are able to turn it into a business with multiple revenue streams.

Whether you’re growing your following on YouTube, Instagram, or a blog (or ideally a combination of other channels), there are a number of ways you can monetize your audience.

- Write sponsored posts on behalf of brands.

-We are forming an alliance.

-Sell physical or digital products (via one of the ideas on this list).

-Combination of the above

Starting a business targeting mass audiences like followers means playing a long game. But you don’t need millions of followers. For example, Instagrammer Kat Gaskin launched a $10,000 product with just 3,000 followers.

The business ideas we have discussed so far are less risky in terms of logistics, but that doesn’t mean they are easy to implement. No matter what decision you make when starting a business, there are at least three things you should keep in mind as you consider your options.

"Marketing becomes easier when you focus on a niche."

As with any business, marketing is what makes you successful. It’s not enough to know that there is a demand for your product. You need to find a way to reach the people who are most likely to buy your product. You need to find the right customers who will discover your product.

Fortunately, marketing becomes much easier when you cater to a specific audience or identity (e.g., vegetarians, board game enthusiasts, yoga enthusiasts, pet owners, photographers in your city). You can create social media content that resonates with these people or run ads that are targeted to their interests. This approach also helps you create a consistent brand because you can be more specific about who you’re communicating with.

Think about the specific audiences you want to engage with for your product and how your business can help them. If you already have a large audience (a blog, YouTube channel, or Instagram account), you may be able to find ways to build your business around your existing audience.

"Price is more important than profit."

If your product price is too low, buyers may think it is of low quality. If you price it too high, you may scare off some customers. In either case, you need to find a middle ground between the cost of customer acquisition and the ability to offer a discount, especially if you plan to pay for advertising.

Many online retailers try to include shipping costs in their retail prices so they can offer free shipping or at least a reasonable flat rate. Others focus on encouraging shoppers to add more items to their carts by offering conditional free shipping (e.g., free shipping on orders over $50) to maximize profits.

Your selling price can be adjusted and you can experiment with different pricing strategies until you find what works for you. Find out the marketing costs and the right pricing policy for acquiring customers. Long-term appropriate pricing is more important than immediate profits.

“Test, learn, and grow as you go.”

The pursuit of perfection can be one of the biggest obstacles in starting and running a business. Flexibility is a key virtue in business.

Products can be updated and changed at any time. Stores can be redesigned. Prices can be adjusted at any time. You can also switch to a better supplier. And you can validate all these decisions based on dozens of data points (traffic, sessions, reviews, abandoned carts, etc.) as you wish.

If your idea doesn't work out as you planned, think about how you can recover before you quit your business.

There are aspects of your business that you can always recover by trying a different product or approach. The brand you invested time in building, the followers on social media, or your customer list could be assets that you can repurpose for your next business idea.

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The combination of technological advancements, a variety of third-party suppliers, and the ability to quickly test ideas online has made it easier than ever to build a business and start selling without worrying about sourcing products, renting space, or managing inventory.

This approach makes it easier to test the viability of an idea before investing in it, and allows for a profitable business without the burden of inventory investments or logistics infrastructure.

The online business ideas discussed above can be combined in many ways to start your own business, if you apply your own talents or creativity. Are you hesitant to start a business because of the classic steps of sourcing, inventory, and logistics delivery? Why not start with a low-investment business model with various ideas and no inventory? Start growing from scratch.