By Meredith Wood
There’s a good chance that you’ll realize you want to start your own small business before you discover exactly what kind of small business is both appealing to you and a real money maker. If you’re looking for sound business ideas that are a little off the beaten path, these niche small businesses might give you just the inspiration you need.
Bar and Arcade Business
It’s like Chuck E. Cheese for adults! Give folks a chance to kick back with their favorite adult beverage and feel young again while playing their favorite arcade games. These establishments make for a fun date night, but they’re also great for group rentals. Think corporate parties, bachelor and bachelorette parties, birthday parties, and college graduation parties.
We can see other games taking off in these specialty establishments, too. Tabletop gamers could settle in for a cocktail or a microbrew while playing a game of Trivial Pursuit ’90s Edition or Cards Against Humanity.
Fashion Truck Business
Shopping at lunch hour could be a whole lot easier with this idea. Food trucks — restaurants on wheels — have become insanely popular lately, and that has us thinking about other shops that might do well as mobile businesses.
Why not start a rolling fashion boutique? Kids’, men’s, or women’s apparel. Casual, formal, or athletic styles. Hats. Jewelry. You name it! Any fashion business could pull up alongside the food trucks at lunch time. Just like the food trucks, you can tweet your current location and your upcoming schedule to let shoppers know where to find you or when you’ll be popping up next.
Meal Planning Service for Special Diets
Launching a meal planning service isn’t exactly a novel idea, but there are some special niches that may be untapped in your area particularly when it comes to dietary restrictions. Help IBS sufferers take the hassle out of planning meals by offering a subscription service that helps with planning, shopping, and cooking low FODMAP meals.
The same kind of service could be provided for any number of medical conditions or specialized diets including, vegan, kosher, gluten-free, and diabetic meals plans. A business like this could be run entirely online on a subscription basis or as a brick-and-mortar shop selling customized meal kits for clients on the go.
Geocaching Shop
A geocaching shop is pretty much what you’d expect — a sporting goods store just for geocache enthusiasts. From geocoins to GPS equipment you can outfit everyone from beginner to enthusiast and even serve as a meeting place for a local club.
Whether you set up a brick-and-mortar shop, a website, or both, there are so many opportunities to provide advice and unique products. If you’re an enthusiast yourself? Even better! This and many other hobbies from knitting to painting can be turned into money-making small business ideas that are fun to operate.
Traveling Photo Booth
You can set up a booth at the next local festival or show up at parties, proms, wedding receptions, and more. People love to smile for the camera, especially when there are props involved. Set up a silly background for a cartoon-themed birthday party, or set the tone for magical prom night.
With a flexible pricing scheme you can do unlimited photo shoots for a specified time frame or sell individual shoots at bigger attractions. We see lots of potential for free publicity on Facebook and Instagram with this niche business option, too.
Your opportunities are limitless if you can find a target audience and give them something no other business offers. What unique niche business have you noticed lately?
