Smart Start: Your Guide to 70 Business Opportunities Under $500

Business is changing, ideas are developing, and people are wanting more and more services every day. When you know your customer base and needs, sometimes, $500 or less is enough to start your business. Not every business requires thousands of dollars worth of investment and with just a little spare money of yours, there’s a business you can run.

But what are those businesses that need just $500 to kickstart? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. With your skills and knowledge and our article, we will be covering the top 70 business ideas you can start with under $500.

So let’s talk business. Production of table-top biofires is a process of creating small fireplaces that can be installed on a table or other surface. Special materials are used for the production of such fireplaces, which ensure the safe operation of the device.

And also a safe, non-toxic, odorless biofuel is used. These biofuels can be used as interior decoration or for heating the room. Tufting gun.

A great buy for those who want to start making handmade rugs. You will also need a special fabric, any fabric with a uniform weave structure will do. And the frame on which the fabric will be attached to work.

Once the pattern is done and the rug is almost ready, you need to apply glue on the back side to fix the yarn. Next you need to trim the rug and make the final edits. Put the rug up for sale on social media or local classifieds sites.

Cultured Stone Molds are used to create artificial stone veneers that can be used for a variety of purposes, such as home decor, landscaping, and construction. These molds are typically made of silicone or polyurethane and are designed to replicate the look and texture of natural stone. They are a valuable investment for businesses looking to expand their product offerings or individuals looking to create custom stone pieces for their home or garden.

With this machine, you will be able to provide key making services of any complexity. Your customers are hotels, companies and individuals. If you know how to process wood, then making wooden computer cases can be a profitable business for you.

Wooden computer cases do not heat up, are lightweight and durable. And also fit well into the interior of the house. One of the most popular materials is birch plywood, which is known for its beauty and durability.

Other types of wood, such as cherry, can also be used. Manicure printer is a compact and convenient device that allows you to create bright and high-quality nail-art at home. Thanks to the use of special gel-lacquers and printing technology, printers provide quick and easy application of drawings on the nails, without requiring professional skills and experience.

This not only saves time and money, but also allows you to experiment with different designs, selecting the perfect manicure for each image and event. Power bank vending machines are becoming increasingly popular in airports, train stations, and other high-traffic areas. They can offer a convenient way for people to charge their devices on the go.

They can be customized to fit different types of devices and can offer cashless payment options. A popcorn machine is a great option if you want to sell something edible. You buy kernels of corn, test flavors of different popcorn, and you're ready to sell!

I would suggest experimenting with flavors to get loyal customers who will like your particular popcorn. You can sell your products in parks, movie theaters or local stores. If you like to create design things, a laser engraving machine is great for creating paintings, lettering, and design products.

The cost of producing these things is small, and you can sell them at a high price, because they are unique design products created especially for the customer. You can start selling to friends, then Etsy, eBay and social networks. Badge making machine is not expensive, but with its help you can make interesting designer badges.

Badges are an interesting accessory that will complement any style. You can print badges with your designs and make good money on it! You can sell them on online classifieds sites like Etsy or on social media.

If you have tried Italian cheese and now you can not eat the cheese that is sold in your store, you can open a mini production of homemade cheese. For this you will need some equipment and knowledge of how to make cheese, you can find them on the Internet. This is not only a profitable business, but also very enjoyable, if you like to eat cheese.

Equipment for the production of sausages in an egg will allow you to stand out among competitors selling regular hot dogs. With this machine you can quickly prepare an unusual snack that is very easy to eat on the go. Think of several flavors: spicy, sweet, salty, etc.

Use different sausages, different toppings and seasonings. Taiyaki is a Japanese waffle shaped like a fish. The most popular filling is anko jam made from adzuki beans.

But for the Western market, you can use chocolate, cheese, or ice cream. Beautiful and aesthetically pleasing waffles with tasty toppings will definitely catch the attention of customers, especially if you open your first such establishment in your city. A corn dog is a sausage that is covered with a thick layer of cornmeal dough and fried in hot oil.

A corn dog is the equivalent of a sausage in dough or a hot dog. It is almost always served on a wooden stick, although some early versions had no sticks. Quite a popular street food in the present day.

If you want to open a corn dog stand, you will need to differentiate yourself from the competition with different flavors, sauces, serving or location. Imagawayaki is a Japanese dessert that is often found at festivals. It is made from dough in a special pan (similar to a waffle iron, but without the honeycomb structure) and is filled with a sweet adzuki bean paste, although the variety of fillings increases in popularity: vanilla cream, custard, various fruits, jams, curries, various meat and vegetable fillings, potatoes, and mayonnaise.

Imagawayaki are similar to dorayaki, but in the latter the filling is added to the pancakes after cooking and they are often served cold. A waffle iron in the shape of a bulldog or a banana. Want to stand out from the competition?

Differentiate yourself with the shape of your waffles! The business of selling UFO burgers is a new trend in the street food business, which attracts the attention of fans of unusual and delicious food. UFO burgers differ from traditional burgers in their shape and unusualness, which makes them attractive to those who want to try something new and interesting.

Overall, the business of selling UFO burgers is an attractive option for those who want to go into the field of street food and offer their customers something truly new and delicious. A very cheap tool to start making money is the Engraver Pen. With it you can put pictures and inscriptions on almost any surface: plastic, metal, glass, gold and others.

You can provide engraving services for engagement rings, knives, weapons, glassware, and more. You can also order a batch of, for example, knives, engrave a popular place on each of them and sell them as souvenirs for tourists. You can think of hundreds of other ways you can make money from Engraver Pen, but the biggest plus is the minimal risks.

A cutting plotter is another good source of income. You can use it to cut stickers from small ones for writing notes and notebooks to large ones for cars, advertisements, signs, etc. You can provide printing and cutting services for credit cards, for phones, for car stickers with the owner's social media accounts.

Show your imagination and you'll find plenty of other uses for this plotter. A machine that makes ice. Commercial machines like these start at $300.

They will create a source of passive income for you. Water is an affordable and cheap consumable for this business. All you have to do is find cafes, restaurants or stores owners who need ice.

Drnes for shooting video. Having mastered the skill of controlling the drone and shooting great videos, you can offer services for shooting wedding videos, shooting sports, shooting houses for real estate companies. You can also go into freelancing and sell your videos on stock sites.

Now also gaining popularity FPV drones, which have greater mobility and with it more complicated to control such a drone. I suggest you buy a Lamborghini. Just $150 and you have this children's car!

All kidding aside, these children's electric cars are in demand in parks where parents walk with young children. Children will persuade their parents to drive these electronic cars under any pretext. Such a car will pay for itself in a couple of weeks.

Applying temporary tattoos is now easy and fast with just one gadget: the miniature handheld Prinker tattoo printer. It prints with safe cosmetic ink, and any image is applied to your skin in just 3 seconds. At the same time, one cartridge filling is enough for about 1000 tattoos.

An oxygen cocktail is a cocktail that contains a higher concentration of oxygen than normal air. Such cocktails can have a beneficial effect on the human body, improving its general condition and increasing energy levels. A business idea based on oxygen cocktails can be interesting, especially in cities with a bad environment and high levels of stress.

Oxygen cocktails can be sold in cafes, gyms, beauty salons and other places where people want to get extra energy and oxygen. Churros are a type of sweet fried custard pastry native to Spain, where they are traditionally served for breakfast. Naturally, such a rather exotic pastry could not go unnoticed by entrepreneurs looking for straight-food trends.

The process of making churros is simple. A semi-automatic churros extruder is used. Ready dough is placed on top of the machine's barrel, then a handle is twisted to squeeze the churros right into the oil of the fryer.

You can buy a churros machine for as little as $100-$200. One popular and unusual type of food printer is a drawing printer for coffee, milkshakes, ice cream, and other desserts. With such printers, you can print quite complex images, and such a coffee or dessert can naturally be sold at a higher price than a regular one and profitably set yourself apart from other competitors in the coffee business.

This replaces the professionalism of baristas - after all, the skill of latte art is something they learn over the years. Now, thanks to the advent of such printers, latte art created on a coffee printer can boast even very small coffee shops without a name and advanced staff. Smartphones and other wearable electronics are an indispensable part of human beings in the twenty-first century.

Smartphones often break or get dirty. A kit to remove dust and fingerprints from a smartphone costs only $5. A phone disassembly kit also costs $5.

Basically, figuring out how to disassemble and repair smartphones is not that difficult - there are a bunch of guides for all models on the Internet. If you are interested - then opening a smartphone repair service will be a great idea for you! A dye-sublimation mug printer business can be very profitable, especially if you offer quality services and use creative and original designs.

To start such a business, you will need design skills as well as special equipment, including a dye-sublimation printer, a portable press, and printing kits. You can start by offering services at home, at fairs, through an online store, or by renting a small office to attract more customers. You can also create your own website and use social media to promote your business.

Mini building blocks. Using silicone molds and cement you can create these small building blocks and pack them in a set for assembly. This is a great constructor for children and even adults, the cost of construction is very low.

For example, to make a thousand bricks need about 22 pounds of cement, which is about 2 dollars of raw material costs. But the selling price of such a set already starts from 30 dollars. You can create kits for building a house, garage, stove and any other building.

You can deliver to a toy store or sell online. The next idea is to make a bedside table with a house for pets. In general, according to statistics, every second resident of our country has a pet, most often it is a cat or a dog.

Bedside table with a house for cats and dogs is just a wonderful invention for owners and their animals. Now you can for example not part with your pet for the whole night and at the same time do not take him to bed. This is very convenient by the way!

The first tables-houses can be produced with their own hands with the help of ordinary hacksaws, a jigsaw and a screwdriver. The purchase of this equipment will take about 500 dollars. Profit of course will depend on your productivity, on average - it is about 5000 dollars a month.

The next idea would be a candle mini factory. In fact, candles will always be in special demand, especially during the holidays. The technology of manufacturing candles is very easy to master, the material for their manufacture can be bought in absolutely any region.

Candles can be made in the garage with the help of molds for casting, it is by the way the most economical option. In this case, the molds for making candles are different - metal, silicone or plastic. You will also need containers for melting paraffin, scales for weighing and containers for cooling lithium molds.

And from the materials you will need to buy paraffin wax, candle gel wax and of course wick. The initial cost will be no more than 200 dollars. And with this machine, which costs only $400, you will be able to glaze nuts and candies with a layer of chocolate or caramel.

The device of the machine is extremely simple - the drum rotates and is heated from below to melt the glaze. Then, when all the nuts are evenly covered with a layer of chocolate glaze, the drum is no longer heated. And the chocolate hardens into an even layer on each nut.

A delicious snack is ready! This is a dehydrator. With this machine you can make chips from fruits and vegetables, make beef jerky, dry fish, squid, berries and much more.

A machine for pouring into small containers is great for pouring perfume. Absolutely any perfume can be purchased online in large canisters for relatively little money. After bottling and labeling the perfume will cost several times more.

You can also buy unusual bottles, which are also cheap and will increase the price of the perfume. If your budget is even more limited you can buy a liquid filling machine even cheaper. For 45 dollars you can buy a semi-automatic machine with one nozzle.

A great opportunity to start a business from scratch. Also at the initial stage of production, you can buy a manual machine for sticking a label on the bottle. The machine is very easy to use.

And also its main advantage - the price, only 75 dollars. A machine for filling air cushions and bubble wrap. People are increasingly ordering goods on marketplaces and online stores, so such a product is vital for retailers.

Such a machine can be set up right at home, and it costs only $200. A nail polish pouring machine would also be a great start to a cosmetics company. A manual machine for filling thick liquids into containers is another example of ultra-budget production right at home!

Jars can be filled with cream, shampoo, honey, and other viscous liquids. Add your brand to it and start making money. The automatic egg incubator will allow you to raise chicks right in your garage!

It runs on both mains power and battery power. The incubator for 100 eggs costs only $42. A small glass bottle cutter for $6 will allow you to open a mini-production of decorative glasses for bars.

A cooking oil machine is a specialized equipment designed to extract oil from vegetable raw materials. This machine can be used to produce olive oil, coconut oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil and many others. The machine has high productivity and is capable of processing large volumes of raw materials in a short period of time.

Due to automation and process control, the machine ensures high quality and stability of cooking oil production. The production of solid stone sinks requires specialized tools and skills. Diamond disks, drills and cutters are needed to create holes and contours.

In addition, special adhesives and sealants are required to assemble the sink. All the information about this process and tools can be easily found on the internet. The machine for the production of soy and other organic milk is an innovative solution for food processing companies.

It provides high productivity and efficiency in the milk production process. The machine is equipped with special devices for cleaning and processing of raw materials, as well as automatic control of temperature and process time. Thanks to these features, the machine ensures high quality and freshness of organic milk, preserving all its beneficial properties.

Cake and other confectionery printer is an innovative device that allows you to apply color images and designs to the surface of food products. This printer allows confectioners to create unique and personalized decorations, adding elements of creativity and visual appeal to their products. With the ability to print on cakes, cookies, pastries and other confectionery products, this printer opens the door to an endless world of culinary art and becomes a valuable tool for developing a successful confectionery business.

Wrapping gifts in transparent balloons. For this purpose, special machines are used that fill the balloons with air and place the gift inside. The balloons are then closed and shipped to customers.

This service is especially popular before the holidays, when people want to surprise their loved ones with unusual gifts. If you want to stand out, there's a new 360 photo booth for you - it's an automated camera that takes panoramic photos. It uses multiple cameras to create a 360-degree photo.

The Hong Kong waffle maker is a kitchen appliance designed for making the famous waffles characteristic of Hong Kong. This type of waffle maker has a rectangular shape and consists of two plates with parallel recesses that give the waffles their characteristic appearance. Hong Kong waffle makers are usually made of metal or heat-resistant plastic and can be powered by electricity or gas.

Cooking waffles in such a waffle maker takes about 2-3 minutes, resulting in crispy and airy waffles that can be filled with various fillings. A thermal imager is a device that can image objects or areas in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum. In business, thermal imaging cameras are used for various tasks such as detecting heat leaks in buildings, monitoring the temperature of production equipment, identifying overheating zones of electrical components, etc.

With the help of thermal imaging cameras, temperature-related problems can be quickly and accurately localized and corrective action can be taken, which helps to reduce energy costs and improve the efficiency of businesses. Professional shoe cleaning is a service that involves removing dirt, dust, stains and bacteria from shoes. Cleaning can be done using specialized products and equipment that provide deep cleaning of the shoes.

Professional shoe cleaning not only improves the appearance of your shoes, but also extends their lifespan. Becoming a personal trainer is one of the great low-cost business ideas for those who are passionate about fitness. The physical fitness industry worldwide is valued at $96.

7 billion dollars. It's a consistently strong market that offers great opportunities for success, and it's not that expensive to enter either. To become a personal trainer, your major expenses will be: A place to work, Professional certification, Marketing to attract your clients.

With the rise of remote work, people have come to rely on many conveniences from their homes, including the services of a mobile notary public. The total cost to become a public notary public is less than $100. Once you officially become a notary public, you will need to purchase a notary seal and surety bond.

Becoming a non-medical home care aide for seniors requires a minimal initial investment, but the business is becoming increasingly in demand. Think about the growing number of seniors in the United States. By 2034, there will be more seniors in this country than children.

Because of the rising cost of home care, more and more seniors are staying at home longer and longer. And these seniors need in-home services. If you are someone who loves the holiday season and decorating, then you might want to consider starting a business as a vacation decorator.

You do not need a certificate to become a holiday decorator. Your clients will pay for the materials you use to decorate, plus for your time and ideas. Thus, this business idea does not require a large upfront investment.

Before you start decorating, you will need some supplies in your tool kit, and these items may include a ladder, extension cords, and other tools. Once you have the materials you need, all you need to pay is the amount of money you want to spend on your own marketing. If you already own a property, renting out part of it can be a profitable small business to start.

And it also doesn't require you to rent out your entire vacation home or hire a new roommate. You can start a small rental business with just a parking space, a storage unit, or a backyard. Starting a rental business on such a small scale is a great way to get started in the rental property business and see if it might be something you'd like to grow into.

You won't have to pay much if you already have a space, but costs may include some minimal cleaning fees and paying for a website or app to help market your rental property to potential clients. For less than $500, you can invest in some good tools to get started in the home remodeling business. Marketing costs will be minimal, as the old-fashioned method of sending out ads or a few homegrown social media posts in neighborhood groups are the most affordable and effective options in the home remodeling industry.

Be sure to check if you need a business license, which can cost a small fee. We recommend researching what fees are charged in your state before starting your business. As more and more people are working from home, there is a growing demand for residential cleaning services.

To start a cleaning business, you will need a minimal investment that includes some basic cleaning equipment such as a mop, vacuum cleaner, microfiber cloths and some cleaning products. Some home cleaners even charge their customers for cleaning products or use products purchased by their customers, which will allow you to lower your initial costs even further. Buying the supplies needed to start a house painting company is not that expensive.

Most projects will include the cost of paint, but expect the painter to provide their own paint brushes, rollers, buckets, rags and ladders/scaffolding. These supplies can be purchased for less than $500. In 2022, 70% of households reported having at least one pet.

If you love animals, you can turn this interest into a profitable business with no initial investment by becoming a pet sitter. The client will often provide everything they need for their pet, including food, a leash, and a pet bed or cage. This means that all you need to provide as a pet sitter is a safe and comfortable home, the attention the pet requires, and the ability to communicate with the pet owner.

You may already have a set of skills, experience and expertise that can really help other businesses. Becoming a consultant may seem daunting, but it's really all about using your existing skill set and expertise to help others. The basic cost of a consultant is just a computer and a phone.

If you already have these, you can start your consulting business with $0 right now. Many companies choose to hire independent contractors to manage their social media accounts. If you understand social media, this inexpensive business venture will allow you to put your expertise to work and help companies create content, drive interaction, and increase followers to increase revenue.

Working as a social media manager requires more time and knowledge than it costs. All you have to do to get started is introduce yourself to customers - and entrepreneurs savvy about social media will surely find a free way to do that! Organizing is the norm, but many people are too busy to put their closets in order on their own.

If you love putting things in order and have a talent for organization, then you may want to consider starting a business as a professional organizer. To start a business as a professional organizer, you will need $0 upfront. Your clients will pay for the supplies needed to organize their homes, so all you need to bring to your appointments is a plan!

If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that Americans are resourceful and innovative. Scores of people took advantage of the time at home by starting businesses selling crafts, desserts and other items that proved popular. The only costs are for materials.

Facebook has been a successful place to market these products locally. Do you have good pottery skills? It's time to make some money from it.

People buy these things all the time for home decoration and many other things. Creativity in your clay crafts will surely boost your sales and you can make a good amount of money from it. Another advantage is that it is an inexpensive business, and it doesn't require much investment to start.

So, what are you waiting for? Work your magic hands, create some creative clay crafts and start your business today! Without a big investment, you can start your remodeling business.

The pandemic has made us all stay at home more and people are spending money on home projects and improving certain things. If you are good at repairing things, why not get into this business? With good skills, your name will spread by word of mouth and you will get more calls than ever.

Business owners need help with everyday tasks, from organizing record books to responding to customer emails. As a virtual receptionist, you’ll perform all these tasks from the comfort of your home, and you can take on multiple clients at once. All it takes is a computer and internet connection to start a virtual assistant business.

If you’re fluent in another language, you can easily launch a translation service. There is demand from the medical, legal, publishing and small business communities for people who can translate information into English. A freelance translation business won’t cost you anything in startup expenses and can quickly expand as your customer base grows.

If you have a washer and dryer at home or access to a laundromat, you could offer washing, drying, ironing, and pickup and delivery services to people in your community. Before you get started, figure out if you will use your own equipment or bring items to the laundromat. After that, your only costs are detergent and laundry bags or baskets.

The bad thing about having a yard is that it needs grooming, cutting, and tending to unless you want your neighbors to look down on you. For starting a business, this is a good thing as yards are everywhere in most climates! A 2015 survey by Mintel showed $29.

1 billion spent on lawn care, enough for $90. 23 for every person in America. Initial equipment costs will not exceed $400.

The first year you may make $5,000-$50,000, and when you have established a client base and have hired additional employees, your earning potential is well into six figures and beyond. Lawncare is largely dependent on seasonality. Oftentimes, those with lawncare businesses will have snow removal and plowing companies in the wintertime.

Becoming a local guide is possible in a city with lots of attractions and tourists. You need to be an expert in your field and love history. Being a tour guide requires hard work, a willingness to communicate and knowledge of your city.

So there are also traveling tour guides who lead tours in different countries, they know a lot about cultures and traditions. This job also requires a love of travel, perseverance and a willingness to take risks.