It is the dawn of a new age. India is witnessing a phenomenal rise in the number of female business entrepreneurs. Myriad easy & hassle-free financing options, mentorships programmes, startup incubators & accelerators, and venture capital firms have made it easy for women entrepreneurs to bring their business ideas to fruition.
If you aspire to make your mark in the business world and have the drive, presence of mind, & tact to take on all challenges. In that case, this blog from Yubi can help you find the right business idea and some excellent startup financing avenues for women entrepreneurs.
How to Choose Business Ideas for Women
Varied business opportunities and lucrative business ideas for women entrepreneurs are now widely available, thanks to advances in technology and easily accessible small business ideas & startup loans. A women-owned business is no longer unnatural; if one’s prepared with the right mindset, strategies, & financing, then turning a lucrative business idea into a self-sustaining business is possible and feasible.
Running your own business is challenging, as it takes concerted effort and calm & careful thinking. Without cautious consideration & planning, even the most perfect business idea or the best online business idea may fail miserably. Choosing the right business idea is the way to go rather than opting for a lucrative or fun business idea. In addition, formulating an effective business plan, having a clear vision, and a well-thought-out profitable business idea are essential prerequisites.
But how do you go about choosing a great business idea?
If you are still deciding what domain to choose, then know that it is always better to choose the one you are well-acquainted with and confident of. It is crucial to select the right business idea and have a clear-cut understanding of how to nurture & develop it into a piece of smooth-running machinery that rakes in the big bucks.
There are certain key things to consider before taking the next big step.
What to Consider Before Starting Your Own Business
While brainstorming for that perfect business idea, remember to consider the following factors.
What do you want to achieve from the business?
One of the first things to think about in tandem is the reason behind your business endeavour. Think about why you need a business, what you need from it, and what you stand to gain in the long run.
How important is this business for you? Are you quitting your job for it? Or is it because you need a second source of income? Do you wish to become an entrepreneur to give back to society, or is there something more to it? Analyse all these factors.
What do you like to do?
What is the right business idea for you? While choosing something you are passionate about is great, know that crafting and sustaining a profitable business takes more than just being passionate about something.
Think deeply about the things necessary to turn that idea into a successful business, all the different requirements, including raw materials, human resources, financing, and construing effective business strategies & business models.
What are you good at?
If you are confident about your entrepreneurship capabilities, go for the thing you love the most. There are few things more satisfying than turning your vocation into your avocation.
What would you like to learn?
It is always possible to learn or polish and re-engage in an acquired skill of old. If you are confident enough, develop a long-term, agile & competitive business plan and go for it.
Below are some of the best small business ideas for women entrepreneurs.
Some Best Business Ideas for Women Entrepreneurs
1. Marketing and Sales Business Ideas for Women
A whole lot of businesses come under this category. Sales and marketing are crucial aspects of any business, and women have an intrinsic knack for interacting, connecting & convincing others.
The business ideas for women entrepreneurs mentioned below can be done as a full-time job or freelance at your convenience.
- Graphic Design: Design excellent and engaging visual content that leaves a lasting impression. A graphics designer can work across multiple sectors and design content for varied purposes.
- Editing and Proofreading: Editors and proofreaders are essential in any content writing business, whether academic, marketing, journalism, technical, or anything else. A freelance editing business can pay well if you have the right skills.
- Marketing Copywriting: Copywriters are ever in high demand in the world of marketing. This is an excellent small business idea for freelancers. This is one of the best online business ideas that require minimal investments and infrastructure.
- Content Creation: Content creators craft targeted written and visual content & publish them in a variety of formats. Become a content writer; you will find no shortage of opportunities in the traditional or digital domain.
- Public Relations Consulting: Public relations consultants can be either personal or virtual assistants of prominent public figures or even a company. Consultants guide them on improving their public image, and if you know how to enhance & influence public perception, this is a great small business idea.
- Brand Ambassador: Brand ambassadors endorse and promote a particular brand of product or service. You will have to sing praises and indirectly market a brand through multiple channels. It is nothing too intricate and if you are really into a brand & have the necessary requisites for becoming a good brand ambassador, go for it.
- Photography: This can be a very lucrative business idea if you are up to it. Freelance photographers can even open their own businesses and small business owners can take their business places if they get to work with major clients
- SEO Consulting and Strategy: SEO strategies are central to digital marketing. You can have your own online business, brick and mortar business, or even do freelancing. Build your contacts, offer excellent services, and watch your small business grow.
- Social Media Management: If you have a knack & the know-how for it & have the right set of contacts, you can even become the social media manager of a public figure, a celebrity, or a business.
- Event Planning: Event planning and management are good business ideas for women entrepreneurs who can multitask, organise, connect, lead & bring fruition to any event at any scale. A challenging business avenue, event managers generally run a wedding planning business and the like. There’s are a lot of work involved in this and most women carry out event planning as a full-time job. You can opt to do an online course on the above domains to brush up and elevate relevant skills before using them professionally or to develop a business.
2. Personal Service Business Ideas for Womens
Personal services cater to an individual or a specific group of people. There are quite a few sub-categories in this sector. Here are a few of the most prominent ones.
A. Educational Services
- College Essay Editing: Editors edit and proofread college application essays to make them near-perfect and improve the chances of selection.
- SAT/ACT prep: Becoming an SAT or ACT tutor for aspiring high school students is a good business idea for any woman looking to become self-employed.
- Tutoring: This is yet another great idea to get a quick passive income. Tutoring business ideas for women entrepreneurs are often recession-proof, and if one’s capable of teaching both traditionally & offline, then profitability is guaranteed.
- College Application Counselling: You can either open an online business or offer freelance academic counselling to college aspirants. Anyhow, this is a good lucrative small business prospect.
- Music Teaching: Have the skills and knowledge necessary & want to impart them to those eager & promising enough? Do so professionally and make money out of it.
- Freelance Writers: The freelance writing industry is huge and can be an excellent small business idea for women entrepreneurs. One of the best things about opening a freelance writing business is the minimal investments necessary. There are many freelance platforms for writers online where there are many opportunities for skilled writers.
B. Animal Care
Love animals? Cuddle and care for them & make some money while you do it. You can set up an online store to connect with different types of clients.
- Dog Walking & Pet Sitting: Yes, this is a thing! While it may not be that popular in India, some people will pay you for walking their dog or giving company to their pets when the owners are outside.
- Pet Grooming: Pet grooming is relatively more common than pet sitting or dog walking in India. With the right set of skills, you can have your own business that fills your pocket.
- Veterinary Services: Veterinary services are major business endeavours, and you will need a proper license before you can use your vet skills to run a profitable business.
- Dog Daycare Provider: This can be a great part-time business if you love to spend time with dogs.
- Dog Training Services: Dog trainers earn substantially by offering a unique set of skills for hire. Dog training services and the like are excellent ideas for small businesses.
- Animal Photography: Like conventional photography, animal photography can be a lucrative business idea, a full-time job, or a part-time gig for freelance photographers.
C. Home Services and Repair
Personal services for home renovation, cleaning, and pest control, and the ones mentioned below, are surprisingly profitable business ventures in India.
Home services and repair are in high demand across diverse demographics, and with the right business model & strategies and proper effort, you can have a fully-functioning business in your hand. Here are a few popular home services that can be great business ideas for women.
- Home Cleaning
- Interior Designer
- Lawn and Garden Grooming and Planning
D. Personal
While counsellors, trainers, and therapists are well-known business opportunities, the following are some new business opportunities that female entrepreneurs with the right skills can look into.
- Personal Shopper
- Personal Assistant
- Life Coach
- Career Counsellor
- Personal Trainer
- Personal Chef
- Home Organising
- Massage Therapy
3. Business Support Ideas for Women
Business support ideas are supplementary businesses that are akin to outsourcing agencies. The business support industry is vast and well-established, with numerous big players. Many major corporations and prominent businesses outsource numerous aspects of their business, such as the ones below:
- Scheduling
- Bookkeeping
- Payroll Services
- Accounting
- Business Coaching
- Remote Customer Service
- Business Event Planning
Customer support services, event planning & scheduling, accounting & bookkeeping, payroll & recruitment management, business coaching and training–many MSMEs and even major MNCs outsource and delegate these responsibilities.
Making a mark in the business support and process outsourcing industry will take substantial planning and effort. A new business must offer top-tier services and work with skilled people to attract major clients.
4. Creative Services and Goods Business Ideas for Women
Many small business owners use their creative skills to set up an online store or a brick-and-mortar establishment. Following are some good business ideas for women entrepreneurs with an in-demand but rare set of skills.
- Handmade item retailer
- Boutique owner
- Antique or thrift shop owner
- Travel Advisor/trip agency
- Bakery owner
5. Technology Business Ideas for Women
Many technology-based business ideas are available today, and many of them can offer great business opportunities for aspiring businesswomen.
- Freelance website designing: Have the skills and know-how to craft eye-catching & impressive website design & UI? Become a freelance website designer and think about what’s necessary to open a freelance website designing business.
- Freelance coding: Employ your coding skills and experience to set up a freelance coding agency. Start small but think big. Help businesses meet diverse coding needs and if you go on to establish your own freelance coding business, acquire outsourced projects as a third-party client.
- App Development: App development and coding outsourcing is a well-established and competitive industry. If you are sure about your skills & understand how to carve out your niche, then you can also develop your own business with the right planning.
- IT consulting, Web securities specialist, & Data entry: IT consulting, web securities and data entry services are other popular outsourcing business avenues that have become prominent industries of their own. Interested in setting up a business in these sectors? Then you will need to recruit skilled, capable, dedicated and experienced talent and extensive infrastructure to grab good projects.
Exclusive Loan Schemes for Women Entrepreneurs
Funding is the lifeblood of any business. Lack of financing is one of the biggest reasons why even the most promising startups shut shop. Business loan schemes from the government and those offered by the major commercial banks & NBFCs are blessings for any entrepreneur, helping their dreams spread wings.
Following are some major business loan schemes designed exclusively for women entrepreneurs:
- The ICICI Bank’s Self Help Group-Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP): This business financing product offers collateral-free business loans to women entrepreneurs. The maximum loan amount to be availed is Rs. 10 lakh with repayment tenures of up to 3 years.
- PMMY’s Mudra Loan for Women: The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana’s (PMMY) MUDRA loans allow businesswomen to get up to Rs. 10 lakh at convenient and concessional interest rates. Both private and public sector banks and NBFCs act as co-lenders in these schemes and can avail of loans with government coverage.
- Stand-Up India Scheme: Business loans ranging between Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 1 crore and loan tenors of up to 7 years with a moratorium of 18 months are available for businesswomen.
- The Cent Kalyani Scheme: The Central Bank of India offers women Entrepreneurs loans of up to Rs. 1 crore. The bank caters primarily to female-led businesses engaged in the manufacturing or services sectors and offers a margin of 20% without any collateral or third-party guarantee.
- The Punjab National Bank’s Mahila Udyami Scheme: This is yet another loan scheme exclusively for women entrepreneurs. They can get debt financing for up to Rs. 10 lakhs for new & existing business units. The scheme offers business term loans with a tenure of 3-5 years and business overdrafts of repayment periods of up to 3 years.
FAQs
What is the best business for a woman to start?
The best business for any woman to start with is any business idea they are passionate about. At the same time, they must also be passionate about sticking to their guns and committing to making the business a success.
Which business is good for beginners?
Businesses with minimal financing or investment requirements are great for beginners. Online business ideas and freelance writing & coding are some great cost-effective business ideas for women.
How can a woman start a small business?
A woman entrepreneur should decide the most appropriate idea to develop a profitable business. The medium, the target audience, the market segments, competition, necessary resources and infrastructure and formulating effective business strategies come next.
