There are a sizeable number of people residing in small towns. Most people actually adore staying in small towns due to their relatively quiet, low-cost and productive nature. Small town communities are intertwined and interdependent in many ways. This makes doing business in such places quite engaging and quite rewarding in most cases. It is also usually the case that starting a business is not riddled by arduous bureaucracies and bottlenecks. If one resides in a small town they often do not even need to conduct extensive market research to know what sells as they will most likely be privy to that information already. So in this article we delve into 9 business ideas that one can start in a small town.
Butchery
Virtually every household has meat as a major part of their meal variations. Some of the most consumed types of meats are chicken, beef and pork. Meat is always consistently on demand and most butcheries fail to keep up with that demand. So you can never go wrong in starting a butchery business in a small town. You must ensure you are always stocked up and you sell fresh and quality meat. Remember this is a small town and you most probably will not be the only player. If you drop the ball regarding excellent service provision, word will move around fast and your customer inflows will fall.
Clothing Boutique
People love to wear different types of clothes either off the shelf or tailor made. It is human nature to always want to stay on top of the latest and emerging trends in clothing fashion. If you start a clothing boutique business you will have the platform to herald and provide the most fashionable clothing styles and designs of the time. You do not necessarily have to focus only on the buying and selling of clothing items but you can also include clothing design where you tailor-make clothes for clients.
Supermarket
Groceries are a basic human need and it is no wonder why groceries constitute some of the top priorities in how people spend their incomes. The size of the outlet you will use or build will depend on the size of the town obviously. Your aim will be to provide a place where people can find all their basic food and non-food commodities. It’s profitable to start a supermarket business in a small town.
Vehicle-Related Services
Small towns are usually characterised by numerous vehicles just like the big towns. After all, even if we exclude the local vehicles there will still be an infinite number of vehicles that pass through small towns. So setting up a car wash business will definitely be a lucrative venture. This should also tell you that any vehicle-related businesses can thrive in a small town. Some examples are maintenance and repair services, auto spares and accessories retail business, secure over-night parking, just to mention a few.
Restaurant
If you visit most small towns you will find that there are numerous restaurants in operation. Despite them being many they still stay operational which is probably because people have different tastes. You can always be a pioneer or you can study existing players and see how you can enter the market. The idea is in bringing in a unique taste, approach and service otherwise the market is always there. A restaurant business is a very lucrative venture to start.
Bar
We can never talk of a small town without a drinking spot – it is usually the star attraction for fun-loving folk. There are many approaches to employ here i.e. indoors, outdoors, night club and so on. There must be a healthy mix of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Most people combine this with butchery, braai area and even a restaurant. The idea is to offer a one-stop spot where one can get all their entertainment and leisure needs catered for.
Hair Salon And Barber
This is another sought-after service provider in small towns. Ladies always want to have their hair, face and nails done whilst guys also want their hair cut from time to time. This line of business also works best with the retailing of cosmetic or beauty products. More money can even be made outside working hours by visiting clients at their homes as per their requests.
Fresh Farm Produce Sales
Horticulture is one of the most profitable industries with some many people making money even from just one crop e.g. tomatoes. Depending on the type of town in question, horticulture can actually be a lucrative venture owing to the fact that lands tends to be relatively cheaper and accessible in small towns. Anyways, depending on whichever town you are in starting the business of selling fresh farm produce is a hit. Whether you are the one growing it or you are sourcing it from somewhere – it does not matter. As long as you can get it to the customer in pristine condition you can make loads of money. You can sell to individuals and even retailers depending on the quantities and qualities of what you can source.
Constructions Services
If it is a small town then chances are high that there is a lot of construction going there. As you know the construction services domain is very broad so it will be up to your discretion to pick which services you want to offer. You can, for example, start a hardware store business or you can start a construction company. You can focus on specialist areas such as surveying, plumbing, electrical wiring, painting and so on.
It would be folly to think these 9 business ideas are the only ones you can start in a small town. There are many more other business ideas that one can embark on in such areas. Some of them are livestock production, tutoring, mining (where applicable), crop production amongst many others. As always, do your market research prior so that you do not work with assumptions that might prove costly later.
