20+ Small Business Ideas to start in India with Rs 1 Lakh

The job might be a great way to earn a good amount of money, but having your own business can be a good idea. However, most of us think that business means, huge investments. We don’t even think that some business ideas can be started with very minimal investment. While you may not want to start business in a big way, some of these business ideas can help to do kick-start the business. This article would talk about some of the small business ideas to start in India with as low as Rs 1 Lakh.

You may like: Small Manufacturing Business Ideas to start with Rs 10 Lakhs

How to run a successful business?


Before we jump into actual small business ideas to start, let us understand how to run any business successfully. This mantra would help you irrespective of what business you start. Here is nice video about this.

20+ Small Business Ideas to start in India with Rs 1 Lakh


1) Opening up a café


If you are a tea / coffee lover or excel in making them, give wings to your dreams by opening up your café. With limited expenses and superb coffee/ tea with some savories, you can set it up just right. Self-service can be used initially to reduce the fixed expenses.

2) Tailoring business


Tailoring business is again a good opportunity to start a small business with low investment. All you need id 2-3 tailors and sewing machines to start with the work. As the level of work increases the level of operations can increase accordingly and thereafter you can hire a designer as well. There is huge demand for special clothing and I am sure this is highly profitable small business ideas to start with low investment.

3) A food van


Opening up a restaurant might make you incur a lot of expenses and overheads. However, starting your own food business in a food truck is one of the easiest and most lucrative businesses in the Indian subcontinent. The business can be started with an initial investment of less than a Lakh. A major amount of spending goes into permits and licenses. Other costs involve manpower, cost of the truck, raw material, etc.

4) Laundry services


Having a laundry service in an area that does not have an existing competitor can get you to a break-even point in the initial 3 months. Adding services like a collection from home as well as home delivery can be an added attraction to the laundry services. In this busy life, people try to reduce work at home, hence this could be one of the best small business ideas to start with a low investment of Rs 1 Lakh.

5) Distribution of newspaper and magazines


Although this might look like a low earning business based on the cost of the newspaper, the fact is that the commission for distribution can be as high as 30% to 40% of the cost of the paper. This can be a brilliant idea as a part-time business. Getting affiliated to other magazines and distributing pamphlets can help you increase your revenue further.

6) Food catering


Food catering can be done from home as well as from hiring a kitchen at some other place. If you do not have the resources to start your own website or online booking, you can take orders through food applications like Zomato and Swiggy. Also by taking orders through private contacts or WhatsApp can reduce the marketing costs. Party orders can also be taken with simple raw materials, one kitchen and some marketing is a good idea to start with. If you love food and can manage a small team, this could be one of the top business ideas for you to grow with low investment of Rs 1 Lakh.

7) Tiffin services


With an increase in corporate culture, people strive to find good home food daily for their wheels. A good tiffin service can be a win-win situation for the employees as well as can work to be a good business to start with. The infrastructure required would be basic kitchen facilities, disposables, tiffin utensils, delivery people, etc.

8) Florist


Flowers are always great presents, to gift for special occasions and can be used for religious purposes. Florist shop is generally hassle-free with a good profit margin. Flowers can be procured from the wholesale market or the farmers directly. The investment is utilized in renting a shop, keeping some bouquet designers to add raw material expenses.

9) Electronic repair shop


In this era of excessive use of technological gadgets like laptops, smartphones etc., repair and servicing are genuinely needed for all office equipment and home appliances from time to time. The profit margin is pretty good with the selling of spare parts as per the needs. AMC can also be taken for servicing equipment from the clients. The investment needed would be dispensed and taking system software for hardware and software repairing, Application software, some technicians, etc.

10) Real estate agent


Real Estates are big buying and selling deals and with good contacts, one can easily get a good amount of brokerage/commission money on every sale/purchase. Starting with a small rental office, commission ranging from 2% to 5% can be earned on the deal price. Apart from the office space, some employees would be needed who can provide the details as well as communicate with the owner as well as the buyer regularly.

11)  Day-care services for children


As the fathers and mothers are both working these days, good day-care services are really in demand. All you need is adequate space, a license for day-care, basic facilities for the safety and security of children and some advertisements. With quality services, good safety and a positive ambiance this business has a huge potential to grow with time.

12)  Event management services


Event management is more of tie-ups with less of fixed investment. All you need is, good clients to plan their birthdays or get-together and turn them into memorable ones. Organizing parties give you event handling fees wherein you just need to keep the event with appropriate décor, calling photographers, arrange catering, etc. A small office for coordinating things makes it go smoothly. If you are good in public relations, this could be one of the wonderful business idea for you to start.

13) Working as a dietician or nutritionist


With increasing levels of obesity and concern for a fitter and healthier life, diet and nutrition based consultation is a lot in demand. These services can be provided to clients online as well as offline. After establishing oneself, a proper diet can be given at monthly charges to the clients as per their body and requirements. All you need is a small office and a weighing machine to consult your clients.

14)  HR services


Recruitment can be done by tying up with MNC’s and appointing the right person with the requisite skills and expertise as per their HR requirements. A commission can be charged when the company hires the employees. Investment less than one lakh is required with an office space and some employees to coordinate things at their end. Some advertisements may also be required for setting up this service HR business.

15)  Freelance services of content development


Freelance writing is quite popular wherein the writer provides exclusive content to the clients as per their requirements. Negligible investment is required, but for a computer and an internet connection. This could be one of the best part time small business ideas to earn extra income in idle time.

16) Providing SEO services


The Internet is a brilliant way to create and grow your business. By doing a course on SEO management and providing SEO services to clients has become quite common on the marketing platform these days. By mastering SEO techniques and delivering the desired services to the client can turn into a profitable venture within a short period.

17) Home Tutoring


You can start home tutoring services will little expense. Tuition services can be provided to the students at convenient evening hours. This can also be started as a part-time business. This provides educational support to students and gives recurring revenue to the tutors. Starting with tuitions with young ones can help you get the right foundation and platform to flourish further. A negligible investment of working space is required with some advertisement in this option.

18) Craft classes


Craft classes can be started for children and even toddlers to help them enhance their skill sets. In this option, a small space is initially required with some advertisement expenses. You can also take a place on an hourly basis to start. Later on, the scale can be increased as per the

19) Translation Services


With increasing globalization and greater interaction between people of different cultures, the need for translators has increased manifold times. The translation is an emerging business opportunity and the clients who want to grow their business across geographical boundaries will usually not mind paying well. The fluency in your language can now be used to earn some money and start your own unique business.

20) Medical tourism


Medical tourism is a growing business with increasing diseases and the need for better and more affordable health care services. By gaining proper knowledge and providing custom made services for all the medical needs of a patient requiring medical assistance beyond one’s own city is an emerging business opportunity with low investment and good returns.

21) Insurance agent


You can become an insurance agent of a reputed company like LIC, SBI Life insurance etc.,. You need to fulfill a few criteria and pass a few simple examinations. Once done, you are not only paid a handsome amount of getting insurance, but also get commissions on future premium payments along with a lot of add on benefits. Since insurance is the basic thing in financial planning, this is evergreen small business idea to start.

Which of these business suitable to you?


All these ideas might not be suitable for everyone. One needs to choose a business idea based on what they are passionate about. Whether you can spend full time or part time. These factors can help you to determine best small business idea suitable to you.

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Suresh KP

14 comments

  1. Dear Sir,

    Near our village so many companies(MNC) but I have 2 Lakh rupees only. which business is good for this area. i am already working one MNC company, salary take home 25000/- but i need additional income. Please give some ideas.

    1. Get a franchise under 2 lakh ,like tea shop or food court
      Place a shop near to industrial area
      You could make a profit within 2 months and this is the upgrowing buisness in india

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