Top 5 viable businesses

Top 5 viable businesses

When it comes to starting a business, having a solid startup idea is crucial. A solid business idea will ensure that you not only survive in the business world, but that you thrive to be a force in your industry. Selecting the best startup idea should be guided by your skillset, passion and the identification of a gap in the marketplace. The old adage that when you pursue your passion and fulfill the needs of others money will follow remains true today. The startup that is based on your skills and passion should satisfy a need in the marketplace so as to be able to attract customers who are the driving force towards business success.

Whereas one may analyze industry data from the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to determine profitability potential and also analyze the SBA loan availability, ongoing disruption to the economy and markets due to technology and the concomitant low entry barriers for many modern businesses means that these considerations are momentarily secondary. Other issues that the budding investor may wish to consider include the business growth rate, cost of human resources and competition.

One of the most viable startup business ideas today is social media management. In realization of the importance of social media in marketing especially with regard to brand building, corporates – and indeed individuals – continue to join Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and other social media platforms on a daily basis. Yet most social media users, including the corporates, do not have the time, knowledge or skills to manage their social media accounts. This dire situation is exacerbated by the increasing illegal data mining and manipulation of individuals and companies in these social spaces by unscrupulous individuals, companies or countries. The proliferation and dissemination of fake news through these media compounds the situation.

It is for these reasons that there is need for social media management. Large companies are increasingly creating positions for social media professionals or contracting social media experts to manage their social media portfolios, with entities that have large influence on the media being in demand. Building a strong social media presence prior to soliciting work is hence recommended, with this being the main requirement as there is generally low entry barrier into this field. A social media management startup business that can generate leads and or sales for its clients will thrive in this expanding industry.

Internet has made it a flat world, enabling startups to serve a global audience and to scale their businesses to suit demand and growth. This has given rise to the dropshipping business model that facilitates business-to-business trading; with such companies as eBay managing the inventory, marketing and analytics for their business customers. Hence, an inexpensive, viable business idea is to have a dropshipping store that would involve identifying specific items to market and sell; whilst a third-party supplier fulfils the orders. The items selected for the store should revolve around a selected theme and have high resell potential in the target market. It is also important to select a reliable third-party supplier with proven track record in inventory and distribution management; a good example being Amazon. Suffice to say that the affiliate store can have many suppliers, local and overseas, so long as they are aligned to the startup’s mission and vision and they are also trustworthy such that they can maintain and build the startup’s brand. The store owner can then market and sell the selected items whilst leaving the storage and shipping logistics to the third-party suppliers.

Further, dropshipping usually has low business entry and exit barriers with the major requirement being the ability to sell. Dropshipping can also be used to test the fit of a product to an envisaged market by the store owner buying a few sample items to resell prior to bulk buying. The store can then be easily scaled to serve various products to different, target markets. Moreover, together with print-on-demand (PoD) and 3D printing, dropshipping facilitates customization whilst maintaining low production costs. Notably, customization offers new sales avenue via such platforms as Etsy.