Deciding on the kind of business you want to start is a very big decision. Some require specialized skills that either the owner or employees will need. Others require a substantial initial capital outlay. In any case, it’s always a good idea to consider the health of the industry you’ll be entering in.
While we are not giving any kind of investment advice in this article, we thought it’d be fun to list the business ideas that were fast-growing in 2019 and that make a solid small business or franchisee opportunity. They are not in any particular order.
1. Home health care
Aging baby boomers are pushing up market demand for businesses that can supply home health care workers to families. The workers can be temporary, as in providing care after a hospital stay, or permanent, as in providing an alternative to nursing home care.
2. Building services
This group includes businesses that provide services like office and home cleaning, landscaping, and pest control.
3. Software development
Businesses with skilled developers are in demand as other businesses look to automate more and more of their processes. Workers with skills in artificial intelligence and virtual reality are in very high demand.
4. Online publishers
While the traditional print media companies such as book publishers and newspapers are declining in growth, online publishers are thriving. This category includes bloggers as well as influencers on social media platforms that are making great money through online ads and product endorsements.
5. Food trucks
If you really want to start a restaurant but don’t want the high risk and long hours, consider a food truck. You won’t have to worry about whether you picked the best location to serve your food since you can simply drive to another spot.
6. Building finishers
This category includes construction companies that provide drywall, painting, and flooring to finish out a building or house.
7. Outpatient care
An alternative to going to the hospital emergency room, these care facilities are growing fast. For patients, they are less hassle than making an appointment with a doctor and far less expensive than ER bills.
8. Pet care
Owners love their pets and are spending money on grooming, pet day care facilities, and dog walkers. Becoming a dog walker is one of the easiest businesses to start. It requires very little capital and little technical training compared to other opportunities. It does require being an animal lover.
9. Administrative services
There’s a growing need for businesses that need additional administrative support beyond what employees can provide. Virtual assistants are included in this category as well as staffing companies that provide temporary clerical workers onsite. Businesses that provide specialty services such as translation and transcription are also in demand.
10. Physicians
If you’ve ever been in a waiting room full of people at your doctor’s office, you know that this area is in demand. This include offices of physicians of all specialties.
11. Professional drivers
Professional drivers fall into two categories: truck drivers and delivery/taxi services. The demand for truck drivers is always increasing as ecommerce steadily grows. Many of these drivers are independent and own their own rigs as well as their own businesses.
Uber, Lyft, GrubHub, and DoorDash, to name a few, have increased the demand for professional drivers who can deliver food, medicine, or people to where they need to go.
12. Data processing
The demand for data hosting, server farms, and data processing continues to grow as our appetite for technology and data storage increase.
13. Warehousing and physical storage
Places like self-storage facilities will be in demand for a couple of reasons. Families have more stuff than they have room for. And as families continue to be mobile, they will need temporary storage space.
14. Construction
In most places, construction is booming, so there is a demand for general contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers, and other businesses that support construction.
15. Medical and diagnostic laboratories
This type of business is growing fast for several reasons beyond standard medical testing ordered by doctors. People are getting genetic tests on their own, and nutritionists are doing more testing as people realize diet is a huge factor in health and personal energy.
16. Ecommerce wholesalers
There is a growing number of people who sell items on ecommerce platforms such as eBay and Amazon. While a few source these items through agreements with manufacturers, many visit flea markets, donation centers, and resell shops to make their purchases and repurpose the items.
17. Professional services
Fields that are fastest-growing include technology and marketing consultants. An interesting new type of security consultant in demand is one that trains groups on how to deal with violence in the workplace and schools.
18. Educational services
This broad group includes elementary and secondary schools and junior colleges. It also includes adult career education, including businesses that teach trades, computer skills, and business skills.
19. Real estate agents
Competitive, yes. But the average home sells twice as fast as it did eight years ago, so the number of transactions have doubled, increasing demand.
20. Personal services
While a broad category, the areas seeing growth include personal trainers, personal nutritionists, and wedding planners, to name a few.
If your business falls into one of these categories, congratulations. If you’re considering starting a business and you have the skills needed to start one of the businesses above, what are you waiting for?