8 Best Business Ideas to Start in 2023 (+ Tips & Guides)

Starting your business ideas requires a lot of time and preparation, especially this year when customer expectations are continuously shifting and evolving. What is the best business to start in 2023? No one can truly answer that question in just a blink.

In 2022, Walmart, which is considered as the top-selling company worldwide, turned over an annual revenue of $573 billion. Of course, a great business idea is something that is profitable, just like Walmart, the first thing they did is to start. So, in this article, we prepare some business ideas for you to begin with including guides for launching one.

Outline

• 8 Best Business Ideas To Start In 2023
• Dropshipping
• Print-on-demand Products
• Food Delivery Service
• Wholesale and Retail Business
• Handmade Goods
• Affiliate Marketing Program
• Online Tutoring
• Digital Marketing Services
• Tips & Guides For Best Business Idea To Start In 2023
• Conduct Market Research
• Make Business Plan
• Track Business Finances
• Identify Laws And Regulations In Your Area
• Invest For Branding And Advertisement
• Conclusion

8 Best Business Ideas To Start In 2023

If you are persistent and passionate about starting your first business venture, try to think whether your small business ideas can make it big by fulfilling each customer's needs and wants. If you can confidently point out the needs of your target market, then you might be on the right track toward a good small business idea. Below we prepared eight samples of ideas that could help you develop what you already got in mind.

Dropshipping

Having your own dropshipping business can be the best option if you want an easier one. In dropshipping, you don't have to store the products on your own. Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method that doesn't need you to handle the items directly. Every time a customer buys a product, you just need to receive the order and send it to a third party, commonly your wholesaler or manufacturer, and they are the ones who make the shipping.

You can actually combine various products from different suppliers, locally or internationally, and put them all in your own online store. Though all orders are sent and handled by your suppliers, note that in most cases you will still be the one who will do the promotion and address customer queries.

Pros: 

• Lower possibility of startup risks
• Low-cost production

Cons:

• High market competition
• No full control and command over the supply

Source

Best Choice Products is a dropshipping marketplace that offers various product categories. All items that have a high number of sales are featured on the front page to make it easier for consumers to spot products that are somehow on-trend. In each product, there is a visible customer rating as well as questions that can help others know the item better.

Print-on-demand Products

Print-on-demand is a type of dropshipping model wherein merchants transfer all inventory and shipping duties to the hands of the drop shippers. Here, the difference compared to the common dropshipping model is that you can customize and create designs that you can incorporate into the products in order to make them look entirely your own. You are encouraged to close a deal with a supplier of white-label products who will make your ideas tangible.

Examples of the most profitable business ideas in line with print-on-demand are starting a t-shirt store, caps, jackets, tote bags, and mugs. Small business owners can simply come up with funny phrases or logos that resonate with their businesses and sell them on a pre-order basis. You don't need to be a designer as there are sites and applications that offer easy access to Shopify’s ready-to-use template designs. You can also hire freelancers for less hassle duty. 

According to Grand View Research, the global print-on-demand market size is believed to massively expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.1% from 2022 to 2030.

Pros:

• No excess stocks
• Merchants only pay the cost of the item after they have sold it

Cons:

• No control over the product quality
• May require a longer time to fulfill an order

There are several print-on-demand companies that are integrated with Shopify, so it will be easier to establish an online store.

Source

Lulu Xpress is a print-on-demand business that has warehouses in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the United Kingdom, and its ships products to over a hundred different countries. They offer books and calendars available in thousands of formats, which will only take three to five business days to print and ship.

Among their main target markets are writers, illustrators, and teachers. Lulu Xpress helps its customers to easily print and sell their products whether it is on the Lulu website, their own website, or via their global distributors.

Food Delivery Service

One of the best small business ideas that took center stage, especially during the pandemic, is food delivery services. With limited access to establishments in order to stop the spread of the virus, delivery services indeed contributed greatly to the convenience and necessities of each individual.

Food delivery services help restaurants reach potential clients who have no time to make it to their physical stores. Due to its enormous growth, the online food delivery market is expected to reach a revenue of $1.4 trillion by 2027.

Pros:

• Earn money by charging restaurants for commissions and customers for delivery fees
• Exposure to new customers every single day

Cons:

• Quality of food may suffer
• More room for errors and customer complaints

Launching your own food delivery business is a chance to assist small food businesses in their goal to supply diners with food even in the comfort of their homes.

Source

Zapiet calculates the delivery rates using the shortest and fastest shipping route. They also established store pickup, delivery, and shipping options for Shopify with advanced features such as product real-time multi-location, inventory availability control, Shopify POS integration, fraud prevention, and tools for monitoring orders. 

Wholesale and Retail Business

Wholesale is a type of business where manufacturers or distributors sell large quantities of products at wholesale or discounted prices. You can actually create a wholesale store via Shopify.

Pros:

• Easily increase brand awareness
• High possibility of wide business expansion

Cons:

• Retailers can harm your brand
• Constant need for retailers

Meanwhile, a retail business is the selling of goods or services in smaller quantities. Most retail owners target customers in-store or online, examples of this are grocery, convenience stores, and drug stores that cater to buyers who purchase a smaller number of goods. You just have to find your niche, develop a business plan, get the needed permits, find suppliers, and build your store or website.

Pros:

• You lead the entire business based on your vision
• Better profit margin than wholesalers 

Cons:

• Long hours of duty
• Increase customer service requirements

Source

Alibaba is one of the best examples of wholesale businesses with the goal to provide a B2B trading platform to all businesses around the world. Alibaba works with millions of wholesale buyers as well as suppliers worldwide. It offers merchants a hassle-free shopping experience due to its different product categories. 

Source

TheSuperCool is a retail shop based in Melbourne, Australia. They share unique local and international products to their customers. They also support small business makers that produce handmade and interesting products by including their items in their shops. TheSuperCool continues to expand its reach both in social media and through its physical pop-up stores.

Handmade Goods

Another best business to start in 2023 is handmade goods. A handmade kind of business is ideal, especially for those with a limited budget, space, and manpower. This business is composed of goods or items that are made using hands rather than machines. Beginning your own business needs a lot of processes, and handmade products can be your savior in this venture if executed properly. There are a lot of handmade goods that are under this category, from furniture to accessories.

Some people who want to generate income turn their hobbies into a business. Displaying their creativity in exchange for profit is one way to enjoy your business ideas — the arts and crafts market is projected to reach $50.9 billion by 2024 worldwide. This requires low upfront costs, the ability to grow over time, and the capacity to be flexible in terms of the target market.

Pros:

• Showcase your talent and skills
• Chance to contribute to a sustainable world

Cons:

• Single person operation
• Possibility of slower business growth

Source

Walnut Studiolo is a family-owned business that uses natural materials in creating modern products. One of the biggest advantages of Walnut Studiolo is clearly knowing its target market, which is the Portland bicycle community. They started as a small business until the time came that this becomes a full-time commitment, reaching wider markets both online and offline.

Affiliate Marketing Program

Affiliate marketing is a profitable business idea that will not require you to handle your own inventory, customer service relationship, and even product returns. Affiliate marketing is a way to promote someone else's brand or product. It aims to generate revenue by putting third-party products and services into a wider market.

All you have to learn is how you are going to establish and introduce your affiliate offers in order to earn passive income even if you are sleeping.

Pros:

• No earning or profit limitations
• Opportunity to work with different business partners

Cons:

• No full control over the product
• Wide competition

Source

The Shopify Affiliate Program allows mainly social media influencers and content creators to earn a commission every time a merchant signs up on Shopify through their referral. There are no charges or fees for joining Shopify Affiliate Program, making it more attractive to anyone interested.

Online Tutoring

Though remote education or online courses are present even before, they specifically gained more attention during the spike of the pandemic, as almost all in-person classes were put to a halt. Most institutions diverted their focus to delivering lessons via online platforms as well in order to still continue students' education despite classroom restrictions. The worldwide online tutoring business is estimated to reach a CAGR of 15.38% between the years 2022 and 2027, with an expected market size increase amounting to $196.35 billion.

Pros:

• Less operating cost
•  Doesn’t require massive machine or equipment to start

Cons:

• Need for reliable internet all the time
• Require flexible time commitment

Source

Digital Marketing Services

When in the process of creating a business plan, you also need to assess your expertise. What are great business ideas that are in line with your knowledge and experiences? And we're talking about digital marketing services here.

Digital marketing or online marketing is the promotion of different brands in order to easily connect them with potential customers using various online platforms and other digital modes of communication. This includes email, social media, and online advertising, and multimedia messages. Most freelancers try to enter the world of digital marketing services not only due to the high income they may get but also because they can do it alone without the hassle of gathering manpower in different fields.

You can start by giving free-of-charge service to small businesses in order to get feedback and testimonies which you can later use in building your portfolio.

Pros:

• Work remotely anywhere you want
• You pick the industry you are best at

Cons:

• Long hours of extensive training on digital marketing as well your niche
• Time consuming tasks

Source

Prophet helps businesses by offering tried and tested marketing strategies for their clients’ growth. They handle diverse customers which allows them to expand limitless, with 15 office locations and more than a hundred awards due to their recognizable service.

Tips & Guides For Best Business Idea To Start In 2023

Consulting business ideas to people who your trust or experts who you can tap can provide you with more views and opinions regarding different business necessities. In this part, we will provide you with brief guidelines, just a jumpstart, on how to put your ideas into life.

Conduct Market Research

Market research is a step-by-step process of accumulating data about your target customers in order to see the success percentage of your business or product. Through market research, you can easily answer questions regarding the status of your chosen industry. Here, you will have to investigate different marketing angles which can take several weeks or months to establish.

Make Business Plan

Source

A business plan includes your detailed objectives as well as the short and long-term goals. It stands as a map of how you will strategize the entire venture, from marketing, and financial up to operational aspects. A business plan must be reviewed and adjusted from time to time in order to note the goals that have been met or have been adjusted.

Track Business Finances

.Business finances are the funds you will need to start, run and expand your business over time. These expenses may include marketing costs, startup costs, software, equipment, office supplies, printing, delivery, and such, depending on what your business is.

Monitoring or tracking all of your business expenses can help you observe and determine the profits and losses. Since you will know how much money you have in your hands as well as where your money goes, you can quickly plan a more strategic and responsible use of funds.

Identify Laws And Regulations In Your Area

This includes deciding the legal structure of your business, trademark or official business name, business permit or license, zoning laws if you will have a physical store, insurance, agreements, and health and safety laws in your state. It is best to follow all guidelines for a smooth business takeover. However, if you chose to be more active online, then some of these might not be necessary.

Invest For Branding And Advertisement

Word of mouth is not enough, especially in today's era of digital technology. Your presence will influence potential clients' purchasing decisions, so don't be afraid to invest in a more detailed execution of your branding as well as an advertisement or promotional materials to help you be known.

You don't need to hire experts in this field, especially if you are just starting. Shopify has its ways to make it easier for you to run a marketing campaign.

You might also want to check out these article-related content for your future Shopify store:

20 World Best Business Opportunities To Try In 2023

Best Small Business Ideas For Teenagers And How To Start One

14 Best Small Food Business Ideas Of 2023

Conclusion

When listing business ideas for 2023, always make time to do your research. You can consider things like your interests, expertise, and background for a more uncomplicated start. Then, you can adjust it based on the results of your market research for more profitable business ideas.

Be more involved in your imagination while also being detailed on the steps that are needed to be done before finally launching your business.