Top 10 Small Business Ideas This Year – 2020

What a year 2020 has been so far. We started the year by preparing for our big exit from Europe. Businesses up and down their country braced themselves for Brexit taking effect on 31^st January 2020, trying to plan for the big leave and organising themselves to deal with any post Brexit complications that they may suffer. In actual fact Brexit proved to be less problematic for UK Businesses with the major challenges to be faced coming in the form of a national lock down that would rip through the very core of everyday lives, closing businesses up and down the country for weeks on end.

The challenges brought about by the Covid 19 Pandemic has forced many budding entrepreneurs to change their strategies on how to enter the world of business and make a living in the process.

Here’s a list of the Top 10 Business Ideas for this year.

1. Takeaways instead of Restaurants

The recent lockdown has resulted in all restaurants in the country to close. The ban however has not extended to Takeaways. Many have in fact seen a boom in takings. With restrictions on leaving the home in place, combined with long queues and empty shelves at supermarkets many have turned to readymade meals delivered to their door as a way of eating. Many takeaway owners around the country have realised that the less people are able to leave the house, the more there will be a demand for their services. A good time to jump on the band wagon.

2. Grocery Retail

The Coronavirus Pandemic has strengthened the notion that essential food based businesses are recession proof. No matter how bad things get, people will always need to eat. Sure, food budgets may change when times are hard, but demand for essential items such as bread and milk will never change. Dissuaded by long queues at supermarkets and empty shelves, the nation is once again turning to their local convenience stores for shopping for essential groceries. A trend that is unlikely to change in the future.

3. Set up an online parcel delivery service

This sounds a lot easier than you think. Most businesses have seen a huge increase in online sales while people have been confined to their homes. Even those traditional technophobes who avoided the internet have been forced to take control of a mouse in order to enter the world of online purchasing. This has seen a massive increase in demand for courier services. To set up your own courier delivery website you simply have to approach some of the big players in this field such as Parcelforce, DHL, UPS, DPD etc. and negotiate wholesale rates. They are usually open to working with partners and give generous discounts. Most of them will also allow you to integrate their booking and tracking portal into your own website. Simply build your own website, mark up their prices and resell their services. With millions of parcels posted every month it’s a huge market. Even a small slice of it can generate thousands of pounds in revenue.

4. Health and Safety Instructor

Health and Safety is now being taken more seriously than ever before. The Covid 19 pandemic has made employers realise that there can no longer be corners cut when it comes to the Health and Safety of their staff and customers. Many large companies spend thousands of pounds every year in obtaining the correct training and guidance in this area and budgets are only likely to increase to ensure the safety of individuals on a businesses’ premises. Obtaining the relevant qualifications to become a trainer can be relatively easy and cheap. Most colleges will run workshops and classes. Simply obtain the correct qualifications and set yourself up as a trainer and consultant. You can then charge clients for consultancy and training services such as first aid courses.

• Worth considering: Six-figures local business coach

5. Personal Protective Equipment Seller / Distributor

This business idea needs no further explanation. Demand for PPE is at an all time high and is likely to remain so even after the Pandemic ends. Find yourself a manufacturer / wholesaler / drop shipper (Ali Baba is good place to start looking) and start selling straight away.

6. Web Developer

Ever met someone who wants to create a website but hasn’t got a clue how to do it? Well why not be the person to do it for them? With many people rethinking their income generation strategies during and after the lockdown the demand for people wanting to set up their own websites will definitely increase. This is a good opportunity as ever to cash in on the demand. The great thing is that you no longer need in depth programming and web development knowledge to create a website. With many off the shelve products available on the market today you can easily put together a website for somebody and charge them a reasonable fee in return. Remember not everyone has the time or knowledge to try and create their own website using already available online tools. Be the one to help them and cash in, in the process!

Consider these web development opportunities: 

• Open source, white-label and self-hosted website builder
• White label website building business
• Mobile app development business with no experience required
• List of virtual office address providers in the UK

7. Private Transportation Services

With the enforcement of social distancing in place people are likely to be conscious about getting too close to strangers for a very long time to come especially on public transport. People are already turning to private hire vehicles as a mode of transport. Becoming an “Uber” driver is not the only solution. With competitors coming on the market such as Bolt, you can sign up with a provider and enjoy a steady income stream with the added attraction of working hours that suit you.

8. Think Budget – Think Big

Budget retailers such as Poundland and other Discount Stores around the country have reported an increase in business during lock down. As people’s disposable income has decreased, queues at supermarkets have increased and general public mind-set has changed from “spend” to “save” it is a good time to launch a business that specialises in the resale of budget items. Good times or bad, there will always be shoppers out there looking to save money. Cashing in on budget shoppers is a trend that is likely to extend throughout 2020 and beyond.

9. Cleaning Services

Hygiene, germ termination and killing of bacteria. These unattractive words and phrases are likely to play on the minds of commercial and residential premises up and down the country for the foreseeable future. Many cleaning companies have seen demand for their services increase during the lockdown period with many predicting the demand to increase in the future when the nation returns to their normal routines and begin to think about prevention and safeguarding from future epidemics and pandemics.

• Consider: Property maintenance and cleaning service franchise

10. Waste Collection Services

Doesn’t sound very attractive but think about how much rubbish the average premises throws away every year! Although the councils are usually responsible for waste collection in residential areas, the main money in waste collection is from commercial premises such as restaurants and take away. Many councils charge an extortionate amount of money to local businesses to remove their waste daily / weekly hence competing for business is not as hard as you think.

There are a number of private waste collection companies that offer the same services as councils for much less. Biffa and Greenline are to name just a few. Simply approach them, negotiate wholesale rates and become a reseller of their services and sit back and watch the money roll in, all without having to touch a single bin liner or wheelie bin. A multi billion pound industry again all you need is a small slice of the pie for it to make a big change to your income.

With us less than halfway through the year, now is a good a time as ever to put those plans into place to ensure that your new business is up and running before the end of the year.

By Matt Price – Contributor | 05/07/2020