If you are reading this article, you are looking to start a new business and you have about a thousand dollars available to spend on this new business venture. Maybe you heard the news about the third stimulus and are looking for a productive way to use it that would help you bring in more money. Well… if you keep reading, you’ll find a list of over 30 businesses you can start with $1000 or less.
Businesses You Can Start with $1000
CellPhone Repair
Tons of people crack their smartphone screens and there’s a big market for refurbished smart phones. According to Truic, the average net profit for a cellphone repair business is between $50k and $65k; we’re going to assume they mean annually, that’s about $4000 a month. You’ll need to invest in phone and phone repair equipment, you’ll need a dedicated work space, and you’ll need to invest in ads to help market your business.
Photographer
Tech Support Service
Would you consider yourself tech savvy or fairly comfortable with computers and smart devices? From my experience in customer service, there is a huge market of people, mainly the elderly, who could use your help navigating, trouble shooting, and with the maintenance of their devices. A basic entry level tech support position at a call center, here in Phoenix, is willing to pay $16-$20 an hour. As an entreprenuer in business for yourself, offering a more personalized tech support service the hourly wage could easily be doubled or even quadrupled.
Care Services for Children, the Elderly, or Pets
Do you like to give your time and help to others in need? You can start a babysitting service, a non-medical care service for elders, or a petsitting service. There are many people, who care for their own children, pets, and elder family members that would pay for a service that would allow them to take some time off. How much you can make off this business will depend on the space used to provide care, the options you offer in your service, and the experience you have. According to Senior Service Business, the average provider charges $18 to $40 an hour.
Bicycle Repair
Locally in Phoenix, there’s a large market of cyclers, which mean there could be a demand for people, who provide bicycle repairs. If you’re good with your hands and know your way around a bike, you could be successful in starting a bicycle repair business. According to Payscale, the average bike mechanic make almost $30,000, which is about $13 an hour. This can increase when you consider you experience, education, and certifications. You’ll need repair tools and a place to work.
Chef Service
If you like to cook, there are a few ways you can turn that hobby into a profitable business. You could offer services as a private chef, as a caterer, as a baker, or as a meal prep service. As a chef you can wage over $20 an hour. Your expense will included food costs, kitchen supplies, and a food handler certification.
Virtual Assistant (VA)
With the boom of business owners all over the world and only so much time in the day, a lot of these business owners and even business professionals would pay for the aid of an assistant to help them manage some of their day to day tasks. According to Zip Recruiter, VAs average $28 an hour. This can vary depending on city, skill set, experience, and employer.
Plant Nursery
Do you have a green thumb? Do you take enjoyment in caring for plants? You can start a grow operation for all type of plants, thanks to newly passed laws, this now includes marijuana. You could also offer education to those, who could use some help caring for their plants. The average nursery worker makes $20k-$30k annually. You’ll need to invest in plant seeds, a space to grow plants, and plant care products.
Resell Furniture, Clothing, or Antiques
We all know the saying, “one mans trash is another mans treasure”. But do you understand how profitable other people’s trash can be? You could start a business upholstering used furniture, upcycling or reselling second hand clothes, and reselling antique items. You’ll need a platform or place to sell your goods, a number of ‘sources’ in which you find your goods, and time.
Handy Man
As a home owner or renter, things happen and stuff breaks. Somebody has to fix it and somebody is willing to pay to get it fixed. If you’re good with your hands and have a vast set of tool or access to such, you could get started as a handyman. According to Thumbtack, the average handyman costs about $55 an hour. This could vary depending on the complexity of the job and the skill set of the repairman.
Cleaning Service
Mobile Car Repair or Car Detail
In a big city like Phoenix the need for personal transportation is great, you can bet the need for a professional in auto repair and auto detailing is also great. With proper education, experience, and certifications, you could bring in some serious cash with this type of business. The average car mechanic makes $30k to $50k annually.
Clothing Designer or Alterations
If you can operate a sewing machine and know or can learn the basics of design, you can start a business designing clothes or start an alterations business. As a designer, you’ll need to watch fashion trends, know your fabrics, and be able to create looks. In alterations, you’ll need to have a basic understanding of math and measurements. The profit you can make will vary by your expertise, the brand you build, and the tools used. A basic non-designer bag can be bought for less than $50 whereas a designer bag can go over $1000 and be used for exactly the same purpose, it’s the branding that usually holds value.
Jewelry Maker
Event Host
As an event host, you’re not just limited to club appearances like you may say in the media, but club appearances is included if that is a career you could see for yourself in. In club appearances though, I’ve seen tickets range from $20 to easily $300 or more per person, this is usually split in someway between the venue, the entertainment, and the host. One could host dating events, education seminars, hair shows, fashion shows, parties, baby or bridal showers and so much more. You would thrive in this field if you are considered, “the life of the party”. Profits would vary depending on packages you offer to guest, your experience and the crowd you can bring out.
Local Tour Guide
In a place still fairly new such as Phoenix, Arizona, I can see tourism being a big thing. Do you know the city well or are you the goto friend for new sights? You might find a long term career in becoming a tour guide. You would need to be able to create an experience(s) for tourists that educate them about the city, while also showing them interesting places to go and things to do. According to Indeed, the average hourly wage of a tour guide in Arizona is $25.
Make Up Artist
Content Creator
As a content creator, we are thinking beyond social media. We are including all forms of media; like movies, music, commercials, and video games. There are companies willing to pay top dollar for content creators, who can help illustrate their brand in marketing materials. If you ever go to Zippia, you would find that the average content creator is bringing in just under $60k a year. Content creators might just have one of the most freeing positions there is, they can be writers, musicians, artists, even directors. All you need is your creativity, maybe some professional experience, and a ‘canvas’.
Affiliate Marketer
If you have a platform and a loyal audience, you can easily make a business out of affiliate marketing. As an affiliate marketer you act as a promoter for other companies and earn a commission on the purchases made. Take The Dark Phx, for example, as a website made to engage readers consistently, we can promote companies and if you were to access their site, using our special links, and make any purchases we’d more than likely receive a commission. The earning potential in affiliate marketing can get crazy, I’ve seen a blogger say they were pulling in $80k monthly off affiliate marketing. The profit obviously is going to depend on the commission percentage, your average audience size, and your ability to engage your audience.
Dropshipping
What is dropshipping? It is a form of retail in which the seller accepts orders from customers, but the goods are not kept in stock. In other terms, you are essentially a middleman between a customer and a wholesaler, but you act as your own brand. This is a great business opportunity for individuals, who don’t have much start up revenue to use. Your potential profit earnings can vary on your ability to cut expenses, to complete orders efficiently, and your communication skills.
Property Manager
Everyone boasts about how profitable real estate is and it’s true. Real estate is one of the best ways to create passive income. With everyone looking to buy commercial and residential rental properties, there is also a market for property managers. Property owners are looking to pay others to help manage their properties. That’s where you can come in… if you consider yourself to be organized, good at the art of persuasion and have experience in administrative work, you can start a property management company. Property managers are in charge of coordinating/supervising maintenance, resolving tenant concerns, advertising and filling vacancies, and collecting payments.
Consultant
According to the dictionary, a consultant is a person, who provides expert advice professionally. What can you provide advice on? Well… anything, yes, anything with market of people, who wish to learn. Have you cracked the code on being a social media influencer? You can get paid to provide advice on growing a following on social media. Are you great at fashion and piecing together looks for different types of people? You can get paid to be a fashion style consultant. Are you great at opening successful businesses? You can get paid to provide advice to new entrepreneurs and business owners. The salary of a consultant can vary depending on skill set, experience, and education.
Hair Stylist
Graphic Designer
Graphic designers create digital art. Businesses need graphics for their branding and promotional marketing materials and they’re willing to pay a nice penny for a good graphic designer. Graphic designers can see an average annual salary of $30k to $70k all depending on their experience, education, and your work portfolio.
Website Setup and Management
Are you good at creating websites using different platforms and plug-ins? Could you see yourself managing the SEO and content updates on multiple websites as a way of income? There’s a market for website setup and management. You could set your own monthly rates, a somewhat entry rate I’ve seen from a fairly popular business consultant is $500/mo to manage a website and depending on complexity $100-$1000 to create a website. That’s for one company, how many companies could you create reputable websites for and how many can you manage without diminishing quality of work?
App or Software Developer
There’s an app for, literally, everything! If it hasn’t been created yet, it will be. There are some many people out there with ideas for apps and software, but they don’t possess the skills to create them. If you know how to create apps and computer software, you can capitalize like crazy. This is the type of work you can literally do where ever you want, if you have a laptop and good internet. Your earning potential will vary based on your experience, your education, and the capabilities you offer your clients.
Landscaper
A landscapers job is to modify the physical features of land, which means they know how to make changes to the land on a commercial or residential property in effort to make it more pleasing on the eyes. In a dry and naturally bland place like Arizona, landscaping is necessary. The average wage of a landscaper in Arizona is $15 an hour, according to Career Explorer.
Author
Professional Organizer
Conclusion
If you have $1000 at you disposal, you’re just about ready to start a business. The success of that business will greatly depend on your ability to deliver a great customer experience consistently, to create a solid business foundation, and to troubleshoot problems quickly. In Arizona, it’s a great place to start a business as a black entrepreneur. Why? The state is still new to a lot of things that places like Atlanta and Los Angeles are saturated with. The local black consumer base is looking for you!
We highly advise against chasing a business idea solely for the income it is known to bring in. Once you’re knee deep in the challenges that are associated with said business, there may be nothing to draw you back out and onto the path of success. Be sure to pick a business idea that you could see yourself getting into for free and see that it provides something other than financial value to you, but to others as well.
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