Let’s talk about the best business ideas for women! It’s so important for our world to have women in business. After all, we’re half the population—that’s billions of women with unique ideas, skillsets, and visions for the future!
Female business owners own 40% of businesses in the United States and generate 1.8 trillion dollars annually. They help keep the economy running while improving their own lives and innovating new ways to make the world better.
While any woman can start any type of business she has the knowledge and experience for, here are some of our favorite small business ideas for women who want to be their own boss!
The great news is that a lot of these business ideas are low-cost to start. Especially if you already have the necessary skills to get started!
Business ideas for women with kids
If you have children, then your life is probably quite busy already. But there are still plenty of great job ideas you can do even if you’re busy with your kids’ schedules and don’t have a lot of extra time.
1. Bookkeeping and accounting
If you liked math in school and have a knack for numbers, you might make a great bookkeeper. Bookkeeping is a great small business idea for women because you can easily find free bookkeeping courses to get trained in the right skills.
You can often find part-time online work doing bookkeeping for small businesses. It has the potential to be one of the most flexible business ideas for women at home, since you can do it as a side hustle or as a full-time job.
Comparatively, accounting requires more formal training and licensing. But you can always start with bookkeeping while you take your accounting classes.
2. Professional home organization
Remember when everyone was talking about Marie Kondo? Her Netflix series drew attention to the fact that many people aren’t happy with the amount of clutter in their homes.
However, sometimes it takes an emotionally unattached third party to manage the purging process. With a home organization business, you can charge an hourly fee to declutter a home and style rooms in a better way.
It’s a great business for women who are highly organized and have a passion for explaining their organizational processes easily to others.
And this job has flexible hours that you set yourself — a huge bonus!
3. Caring for children
Do you love kids? Get paid for it by starting your own business!
Almost 79% of childcare workers are women. A home daycare might be the best business to start for women who want to stay home with their kids while they work. After all, you can watch your own at the same time!
You’ll need to obtain the proper licensing for your state, set up a welcoming care space, and consider how you’ll handle the thousand things that kids can need.
4. Photography
The money in photography is mostly in events like weddings, and it can be a difficult industry to enter.
But it also makes a great side business idea for women, since you can schedule wedding or portrait sessions on weekends and still keep your weekdays free. Learn how to start a photography business and earn some extra money!
5. Social media management
Social media management is a good business idea for women who know how to navigate the world of the internet. If you like keeping up with online trends, can grow a following, and like managing social media accounts, then you can be a social media manager.
Marketing isn’t just for big corporations. In fact, many small business owners use the internet to advertise their services and connect with their customers.
Social media management may involve daily tasks of posting and interacting with clients on Facebook, Instagram, and even Twitter. It could also mean creating video content for YouTube channels.
You can start offering services for skills you already have, like growing a large social media following for example. Plus, you can pick up other skills as you get more experience.
It’s an especially great job for moms because you may be able to fit your social media tasks into your day whenever you have time (depending on your clients’ schedules), instead of working 9-5.
6. Personal styling
Have you always loved fashion? If you have a keen eye for putting great outfits together, becoming a personal stylist allows you to get paid for your passion.
As a stylist, you have the opportunity to work closely with clients, understanding their unique tastes, body types, and lifestyle preferences. You could offer services such as wardrobe assessments, personal shopping, and outfit coordination. And you can do it remotely or in person, making this another of the most flexible small business ideas for women!
To establish yourself as a personal stylist, you can start by building a portfolio showcasing your fashion sense and previous styling projects. Consider offering trial sessions or partnering with local boutiques to gain exposure. Don’t forget to leverage the power of social media to share style tips, outfit inspirations, and client success stories.
7. Sewing & alterations
This business for women allows you to use your sewing skills to offer a practical service that people always need.
As a professional seamstress, you can cater to a wide range of clients, including individuals who need hemming, resizing, or restyling of their clothing items. Maybe you’ll decide to specialize in wedding dress alterations or restoring vintage pieces. It’s completely up to you how many clients you take and how often you work!
To start your sewing and alterations business, consider setting up a dedicated sewing space equipped with all the necessary tools and machinery. You can market your services through word-of-mouth referrals, local advertising, or online platforms to reach a broader audience.
8. Candle-making
Candles have the power to instantly transform the ambiance of a room. The flickering flame and amazing scents help to instantly create a warm, cozy place to relax. As a candle-maker, you can help create that experience for your customers!
To get started, you’ll need to source high-quality materials such as natural waxes, fragrance oils, wicks, and containers. Experiment with different combinations of scents to create unique and captivating aromas your customers will want to reorder again and again.
Once you’ve got a handle on your business, you can expand your product line to include other scented items like wax melts, reed diffusers, room sprays, etc.
Kids love arts and crafts, so you can even involve them in age-appropriate ways! For instance, they can work on creating their own “signature scents” by experimenting with oil combinations. Check out these easy candle making ideas.
9. Transcription
Many people rely on written transcripts to follow along with audible content like podcasts, speeches, videos, TV shows, etc. It’s especially important as an accessibility accommodation for deaf people or those with hearing loss.
While automated transcription software does exist, there is still demand for human transcriptionists in industries where high accuracy matters. E.g., in legal, medical, academic, and business sectors, mistakes can be costly. You may choose to specialize in one of these fields so you can gain familiarity with industry-specific terminology, context, formatting guidelines, etc.
To get started, create a website and join professional networks in your target industry to spread the word about your service. Building a strong reputation for accuracy, confidentiality, and timely delivery will help you grow your client base over time. There are also several great transcription courses you can check out.
10. Pet care
If you’re a pet owner or an animal lover, there are plenty of ways to turn furry friends into furry clients. One of the easiest ways is to start a dog walking business by using an app or website like Rover.
As a professional pet sitter, you could visit people’s homes to feed or walk their animals while they’re away. Or, start your own “doggy daycare” where pups get dropped off at your home instead.
Pet grooming is another option in this industry: you can offer services like bathing, nail trimming, brushing, trimming, etc.
Before jumping into any animal-centered small business ideas for women, make sure you’ve evaluated potential risks. Can you handle a dog who gets aggressive? Do you have a certification for basic pet first aid in case of an emergency? Pursue the right training to make sure you and your clients are comfortable.
Best business to start for women who want to work remotely
If you would like to work remotely or work from home, then starting an online business is a smart idea. Here are some of the best jobs.
11. Online course creation
You can share your expertise on a certain subject by building your own courses. It’s a highly efficient way to teach others. It’s a lot of work upfront, but once you’ve written the materials or recorded the videos, the bulk of the job is done.
In addition, you don’t have to start from scratch. There are a variety of online course platforms where you can build and sell courses. That means a lot of the logistical work is already done!
12. Web design
Web design is one of the best home-based businesses because you can work from your computer. It’s common to see self-taught professionals in the tech industry, so you can easily find resources to teach yourself web design and start seeking clients.
There are several different tech skills under this umbrella, including visual design, UX (user experience) design, and sometimes basic coding like HTML. Your goal is to make websites attractive and also easy to navigate.
13. Graphic design
Use your art skills and graphic design software to make logos, infographics, advertisements, web banners, and more.
Web design and graphic design services are great small business ideas for women at home. They’re an excellent option for women who’ve already worked in a similar industry and are ready to strike out on their own with a graphic design business.
14. Virtual assistance
For many small business owners, virtual assistants are their lifeline—the ones behind the scenes who keep everything running.
Virtual assistants typically perform a variety of administrative tasks like answering emails, organizing calendars, doing research or data entry, etc. You can work this job on your own as a side hustle or scale up and hire other virtual assistants so you can take on more clients.
15. App development
Coding skills are easy to learn for free online and have a wide variety of useful applications (no pun intended). If you want to use them to work for yourself and build projects, you might enjoy focusing on app development programming languages.
You can build any kind of app you want. But if you want to add a female-centric twist, there are plenty of helpful apps built by women for women.
Think about the small problems you encounter each day as a woman and how an app could solve them. Then, you could build one related to personal safety, making new female friends, personalizing skincare based on data, etc.
16. Travel planning
If you love to plan things and have a lot of knowledge about great travel deals and flights, you might be interested in being a travel planner or travel agent.
Help clients book fantastic trips, flights, or transportation, and generally make sure that their vacation goes smoothly.
17. Running an online store
There are tons of online business ideas for women at home, but one that offers lots of flexibility and low startup costs is running an online store.
With your own online store, you can leverage the power of the internet. Get your products out into the world without renting a physical retail storefront.
You can run your business through an established e-commerce site like Etsy, Amazon, or eBay. Or you can choose to build your own website on a platform like Shopify.
The biggest question is what to sell—and that part’s up to you. You can sell your own crafted items, flip garage sale finds, or design clothing—whatever there’s a demand for. To get started, you’ll need an internet connection and some creativity.
18. YouTube fitness video instruction
If you have a specific fitness skill, like aerobics or yoga, you can make YouTube workout videos. It’s one of the best ideas for women at home because you can work from anywhere.
You’ll need to start a YouTube channel, do research, market and monetize your channel, and be sure to create interesting videos with good lesson plans.
19. Teaching English online
Since English is a global language, there’s plenty of demand from adults who want to learn it and parents who want their children to grow up bilingual.
There are already plenty of companies like VIPKID where teachers can offer their services. Or you can take another route and start your own business as a private tutor if you have the marketing chops or connections.
20. Selling wall art
Have great ideas for decorative wall art? You can create your own designs and then sell them online.
People are always looking for unique ways to decorate their homes, so this can be one of the best small business ideas for women. You can make designs using a computer and then sell the image online, or if you prefer, you can draw or paint unique art.
If you choose to go the computer route, you can use a program like Canva to create beautiful artwork. And if you want to paint or draw your own artwork, you can sell it online or even at a market or a store.
21. Writing/blogging
Did you always get an A on your college essays? You might have a talent for the written word! Use it to start a freelance writing business or run and monetize your own blog on a topic you’re passionate about. This is my career, so I won’t be biased: it can be a hard business to start.
For example, for every great client, you might encounter 10 who want to pay a penny per word. You might get your start writing ultra-glamorous content about water filters and whether asphalt or concrete is better for driveways. It’s all part of the journey!
If you go the blogging route as a freelance writer, it takes time to get established in your niche. It takes a lot of work and learning SEO (search engine optimization) before your blog posts start appearing in search engine results.
Only then can you turn your blog into a successful business and a source of revenue. You can make money from affiliate marketing and also by selling products on your blog.
Or you might decide to become an author and instead create an ebook. You can self-publish or publish traditionally, but either way, it’s possible to make an income this way.
Be sure to get your copy of the book, The Side Hustle Guide!
22. Freelance editing
Writing is only the first step of any content publishing process. The next is having an editor come in and polish it — that could be you!
As a freelance editor, you can specialize in a few different areas. If you have a great sense for stories, characters, and plots, you could specialize in developmental fiction editing. Or, if you’re a grammar whiz, you can focus more on general copy editing and proofreading.
Your clients could range from individual authors to publishing houses to blogs or businesses. Networking with writers and bloggers is a great way to find your first clients.
23. SEO auditing
Because the internet is huge, it can be hard for businesses to stand out. SEO (search engine optimization) is like a ticket to the front of the line. When a potential customer searches online for “XYZ near me,” for instance, every relevant business wants to be at the top of those search results.
As an SEO auditor, you’d know how to make this happen! Your main duties would be to assess and analyze a website’s SEO performance, identifying areas for improvement and providing actionable recommendations to enhance its organic search rankings.
If this sounds interesting, your first step is to familiarize yourself with popular SEO tools and software. These tools can help you analyze keyword rankings, backlinks, site speed, mobile responsiveness, and more.
24. Audiobook narrating
If you’ve ever been told you have a pleasant voice, people would probably love to listen to you reading books!
As an audiobook narrator, you’ll bring stories to life and give unique voices to the different characters. You’ll need a professional recording setup and ideally a soundproof space to create high-quality audio without distractions.
Create a website where you feature samples of your work so potential clients can decide if you sound like a good fit. Join networks of authors, publishers, and production companies to make connections and market yourself.
25. Illustration
If you have a passion for storytelling and your talents lie more on the visual arts side, think about becoming a freelance illustrator!
As an illustrator, you have the opportunity to bring ideas, characters, and concepts to life through visual storytelling. Find your niche, whether that’s creating illustrations for children’s books, webcomics, magazines, or even greeting cards. You can find gigs on sites like Fiverr and Upwork.
26. Video editing
These days, video content is bigger than ever. There are over 100 million YouTube channels alone! Videos are also created for websites and social platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
It’s an incredibly useful skill to be able to take raw footage and turn it into a compelling video with a cohesive narrative. As a video editor, you’ll bring together various elements such as audio, music, effects, and graphics to create a polished final product.
You’ll need a creative eye, technical skills, and professional editing software to start this kind of business for women. You can find video editing jobs on sites like Fiverr, Upwork and by sharing your work on social media.
Business ideas for women who work full-time or have a busy schedule
Maybe you’d like to start a side business, but you already work a full-time job or are just very busy. The best business to start for women without a lot of free time will be one that can work around your schedule.
27. Woodworking
Do you love to make things? If you’re an experienced woodworker, you can make and sell furniture, decorations, and more.
A woodworking business involves some expenses, such as tools and materials for your projects. Of course, if you are thinking of going into this industry, you likely already have a lot of these items.
28. Jewelry making
If you have an artistic eye and love to make things, then a jewelry business could be for you. You’ll need supplies and tools to begin, but once you’ve created a few designs, you can start selling them.
You can do this online or in person, depending on what works better for you. Set up a stall at a local artisan market or open an Etsy shop — or both!
29. Consulting or coaching
You can become a consultant in an industry that you have a lot of experience with. For example, marketing, business, etc. Clients can hire you to give your opinion and ideas about how they can improve.
Or you might choose to become a coach who helps others achieve their goals. Some common types of coaching jobs are a life coach and wellness coach.
30. Real estate agent or landlord
If you’re interested in real estate, become an agent. First, you need to obtain a real estate license and take an exam. Then you can sell people their dream homes and make a great income at the same time!
On the other hand, if you’d rather own property, you can purchase a rental house, condo, or apartment and become a landlord. Or you might rent out commercial real estate. However, this approach takes some money up front, because you’ll need to buy a space to rent out.
31. Personal training
Personal training can be a great option for anyone who loves fitness. A lot of people want to get in shape and like the motivation of having a personal trainer.
Coach your clients to become their healthiest selves by making workout plans and providing helpful advice and suggestions.
32. Tutoring in-person or online
Women with academic skills can use them to help kids succeed in their subject of choice. Tutoring is a super flexible business for women, since you can accept as many students as you want and limit your work to afternoons/evenings and weekends.
You can offer tutoring for elementary school students, high schoolers, college students, or even adults.
33. Teaching music
This can be one of the best small business ideas for women skilled in an instrument. Advertise locally and have students come to you for lessons in piano, violin, guitar, or whatever your specialty is.
You can also teach virtually. There are requirements to teach music in schools, but anyone can give private lessons.
34. College prep
Due to competitive college admissions systems, many high-school students need extra help to set themselves up for success.
With a college prep small business, you can offer SAT tutoring. Also help students write practice admissions essays, give advice on applying for scholarships, help them brush up on the subjects they’re likely to face their first semester, etc.
35. Pilates or yoga instructing
If you love doing Pilates or yoga yourself, consider sharing your skills! Instructors often partner with local gyms or studios to host their classes. Or, look into hosting your own classes in a public space like a park.
You can offer classes whenever you’re available. Many students like to attend in the early morning, evenings after work, or weekends. So you can probably fit at least one or two weekly classes into your busy life!
To build your reputation and experience in this arena, sign up for a training program to become a certified instructor.
Best business to start for women who want to be full-time entrepreneurs
If you want to devote the majority of your time to your business, there are a lot of options. Check out these ideas.
36. Skincare & beauty
Despite women comprising the bulk of consumers in the beauty industry, approximately 2/3 of beauty brand executives are male.
But since these products are primarily used by women, it makes sense for them to be created by women as well, right?
To help inspire your beauty-focused small business ideas for women, here are 50 female-owned beauty brands spanning lotions, cleansers, skincare for women of color, makeup, and more.
A small Etsy shop or a farmer’s market stall are great jumping-off points for these home business ideas for women. Hone your craft with artisan soaps, dry shampoo, body butters/scrubs, or other natural beauty products you can make at home.
Also, consider sensitive and minimalist skincare product ideas when creating your business model since there are fewer of those around.
37. Cleaning company
Cleaning is a great business to start that is practical and lucrative. You can begin by cleaning homes or office buildings and one day expand your business by hiring a team.
While this may take a lot of hours in the beginning, you’re also in control of how much work you accept. And as you get more clients and more people working for you, you can spend less time scrubbing counters yourself!
38. Running a bed and breakfast
A bed and breakfast business venture combines a real estate investment (your B&B building itself) with the hospitality industry (offering rooms, meals, and hotel-style amenities). Usually, you can charge a decent rate per night for this kind of boutique experience.
It’s much easier to find a building for a small B&B than it would be to open a full-fledged inn or motel. If you’d prefer to skip the “breakfast” part, you can also host short-term rentals through a platform like Airbnb.
A short-term rental business can help you cover the mortgage and taxes on a property and turn a profit, but it can also be risky during periods of travel uncertainty.
Build a solid business plan, and don’t over-leverage yourself. Your bills for the property will still be due even if no guests stay that month!
39. Interior designing
Help people create attractive and functional spaces in their homes while running your own creative business as an interior designer!
Interior design involves conceptualizing and planning the layout, color schemes, furniture, fixtures, and decorative elements of a space to create a harmonious and visually appealing atmosphere. It requires a combination of artistic vision, technical knowledge, and the ability to understand and fulfill the needs and preferences of clients.
Note that in some states, starting an interior design business requires that you have specific licensing.
40. Tour guiding
If you live near a tourist destination area and enjoy meeting new people, you can start your own tour guide company! Show guests famous sites and restaurants, and answer their questions.
While it may take time to get started, this can be an awesome way to earn money for the right person.
41. Event planning
Event planning is another industry that involves a ton of multitasking and coordinating details, and it’s one of the best business ideas for women at home.
For example, you can start a wedding planning business to help brides and grooms coordinate all the things that go into the day. These include flowers, catering, DJs, photographers, and anything else you can think of.
Or you can focus on other types of events. Become an event planner for corporate events, business grand openings, product launches, children’s parties, etc.
42. Baking
Baking is one of the best small business ideas for women who love being creative with making and decorating baked goods. And it can take several forms.
You could get a physical storefront and start an official bakery, offer made-to-order baked goods for pickup or delivery, or even sell them online if you’re confident they’ll ship intact. Make cakes for special occasions, take orders for cookies and cupcakes, bake fresh loaves of bread, etc.
This could also be the best business to start for women who have a sweet tooth. Because of course you’ll get to sample your creations to make sure they’re ready to sell!
43. Catering
You can also start a home-based catering business to prepare appetizers and meals for various types of events.
If you can occupy a niche market that’s rare in your area, you’ll be more likely to get attention as a new business. For example, newer markets you can explore are gluten-free or vegan catering.
44. Food truck
Take your recipes on the road by investing in a mobile kitchen—a food truck business! These can be costly to start up, so it might be wise to test your recipes and local demand on a smaller scale first.
Of course, they’re still much cheaper than a full-fledged restaurant and can give you more freedom with the business.
45. Makeup artist
If you’re great at makeup and know how to market your services, you might do well as a makeup artist. You can do makeup for theater, events, movies, and more.
For this sort of work, it’s important to keep developing your makeup skills through taking courses, watching videos, and lots of practice.
46. Personal chef
If you have the training and the time, you might consider becoming a personal chef. You can cook meals for families and plan out the weekly menus.
A chef job is a fun and creative way to start a business, and it may lead to a catering business or a restaurant, eventually.
47. Flower shop
Opening a flower shop is a great business idea if you love designing bouquets and have a lot of gardening and plant knowledge.
You can sell flowers, plants, corsages, and boutonnieres, or even handle the floral arrangements for weddings and events.
48. Dietitian or nutritionist
As a dietitian or nutritionist, you have the opportunity to educate and guide individuals in making informed choices about their diet and lifestyle.
These two business ideas for women are related, but being a dietitian vs being a nutritionist are also two distinct things. Dietitians are registered health professionals who have undergone specific formal training and become certified. It’s a long process that you’ll have to invest a lot of time in. Learn more about how to become a registered dietitian here.
On the other hand, nutritionists don’t have strict regulations. As long as they don’t misrepresent their medical training, they can offer services after completing more basic training and certifications. This page explains how your specific state regulates nutrition counseling.
If you pursue one of these paths, you can stand out by catering to specific types of clients. E.g., start a vegan nutritionist business, become a dietitian who supports people with specific health conditions, etc.
Expert tip
Regardless of which small business ideas for women appeal most to you, be focused and intentional in your approach. Conduct thorough market research and draw up a detailed business plan. Be clear with yourself about how much time you have to dedicate to your new side hustle. Evaluate potential start-up costs and figure out how to budget for them.
Most importantly, go into it with a strong mindset! You’ll probably encounter challenges along the way. But you can overcome them by staying resilient, adapting to change, and learning from mistakes.
Learn more about the logistics of starting a business from scratch in this article.
What business is best for women to start?
If there was one single answer to, “What business is best for women to start?”, then there would be millions of identical businesses!
The truth is, the best business for you to start is the one that aligns with your passions, skills, and experience. If you feel drawn to a specific industry, that’s your first clue!
What do female business owners struggle with?
This answer also varies. As women, we’re all unique people with our own strengths and weaknesses. Challenges can also arise based on what kind of business you own. That said, some common struggles for female business owners include:
While this can all seem daunting, you can help pave the way for future female entrepreneurs by pursuing your dreams anyway!
What business ideas make the money money?
This is a question you’ll get to answer during the market research part of your planning. What are the average business earnings in the industries you’re considering? What locations are most profitable? Is your business idea scalable?
Some of the most famously high-income industries include technology, real estate, and eCommerce. But as long as you have a solid business idea and plan, you can make lots of money in any sector!
What is the easiest business to get into?
Think about the skills, education, and experience you already have. If you have great people skills, start a business where you work directly with customers.
Always loved writing essays in college? Then freelance writing or editing could be a natural fit. Are you the designated photo-taker for friends and family? Then make it official with a photography business!
Ultimately, the easiest business is the one where you don’t need a ton of extra training and preparation to start it. For instance, building apps won’t be easy if you’ve never coded before.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t do it — you’ll just need a longer runway! Look at your one-year, five-year, and ten-year plans and decide where you want to be.
Related posts on business ideas for women
If you enjoyed this article on business ideas for women, here are a few more to check out!
Try out one of these best business ideas for women!
To start your woman-owned business off on the right foot, take our free business courses on creating a solid brand and marketing strategy. While you’re at it, don’t forget to prioritize your self-care as an entrepreneur!
There’s no better time than now to take action on the small business ideas for women we’ve listed above.
And remember, there are tons of lucrative businesses and side hustles out there, and you’ll find the perfect one that fits your lifestyle and your finances.
