Instead of being everything to everybody, many small business entrepreneurs choose to offer something different to a small segment of consumers that have unmet preferences. The key is to provide something unique that is not easily duplicated and serves a market need.
I’ve listed some of the profitable niche businesses today, often from entrepreneurs who are running their businesses from their homes. Some of these businesses ride on existing trends with massive customer base such as iPod or MySpace, by providing support or additional services. Others, on the other hand, are a result of the creative and innovative mind of the business owner as they produce new products. While there’s no set formula for success, the most successful businesses are those that are able to spot opportunities -- even in the seemingly ordinary things in our every day life.
Here are 10 of some of the unique home-based business ideas that have proven to be very profitable:
1. Gourmet Pretzel = Plain salted pretzels are the most common types of pretzels offered in the frozen food aisles in the supermarket or grocery stores.
Pretzel-lovers Kim and Scott Holstein had the idea of offering uniquely flavored soft pretzels as the gourmet alternative to the plain salted pretzel. They experimented with various flavors, adding fruits, cheeses, spices, cheddar jalapeno, herbs, sun dried tomatoes, and others to see which flavors work best.
Believing that a huge market exists for their distinctive pretzels, the Holsteins decided to launch their business in May 1995 out of their cramped studio apartment. With $25,000 borrowed from family members and credit cards, the couple launched Kim & Scott's Gourmet Pretzels http://www.kimandscotts.com/.
Now their pretzels are sold in restaurants, coffee shops, and grocery stores nationwide, including Barnes and Noble coffee shop, Sams Clubs, Whole Foods, Albertsons, among others. However, their biggest sales outlet is the home shopping network QVC where they have appeared more than 22 times selling about 625,000 pretzels!
2. MySpace Web Layouts = According to web measurement firm Hitwise, MySpace.com received 72.73 percent of the market share of U.S. visits in May 2008 among 58 of the leading social networking websites. With the enormous traffic of MySpace, there is a huge opportunity for other online businesses to develop business models that revolve around this massive social networking site.
One entrepreneur who saw this opportunity is Ashley Qualls. Ashley founded WhateverLife.com http://www.whateverlife.com in 2004 at the age of 14 when friends and others clamored for custom MySpace layouts. WhateverLife.com was created to showcase the graphics, pictures, backgrounds, layouts, and skins she has developed for MySpace, which are all free for the taking.
Ashley does not create the best graphics in the world – but she creates the graphics that speaks to her target audience. As a teenager herself, her success stems from her unique understanding of her core audience – young teenage girls. FastCompany magazine reports that her site gets 7 million individuals and 60 million page views a month. Given the massive amount of traffic, WhateverLife.com reportedly earns more than $70K a month from advertising, such as popups and Adsense ads.
3. Domain Naming Service = Finding the right name for your website can be a difficult process. It is often hard to think of snappy domain names or domain names that perfectly capture the essence of your business – and most importantly, that are still available. Some business owners and even ordinary users who want to have a Web presence struggle to think of what domains to use for their websites. The process of naming the site can be long and hard, whatever approach you use – whether to combine key concepts of your site or use keywords describing your site.
This is a niche that Dmitry Davydov successfully ventured with PickyDomains.com http://www.pickydomains.com . Making brainstorming for new domains easier, clients who want a domain name deposit $50 and writes specifications about the desired domain. PickyDomain.com’s team of domain name contributors will come up with a list of names. If the client doesn’t like the suggestions, the client gets the 50 bucks back.
4. Sympathy Gifts = When a love one dies, be it a friend, colleague or family member, cards and flower arrangements are typically given to the family. However, there are many who are looking for alternatives to traditional bereavement cards and flowers, and who are looking for a more personal way to express their feelings.
When the father of her sister-in-law died, Renee Wood was looking for a meaningful sympathy gift to express her feelings but was unable to find one. Instead, she created a teardrop shaped pendant with a forget-me-not flower embedded in the design along with a verse she had written. When friends asked for her special necklaces, she knew she had a business on her hands. That was the start of her business, The Comfort Company http://www.thecomfortcompany.net .
Today, her company sells jewelry, ornaments, pet loss gifts, garden benches, and other items that function as sympathy gifts and memorials. Renee’s business is doing well with more than 200 orders a week – and growing.
5. Ipod Service = Ipods are the hottest music accessories today, with the signature white earphones showing up everywhere from subways to streets to offices. In March 2008, about 170 million Ipods have been sold worldwide.
Given the popularity of this product, it is no wonder that service industries revolving around Ipod would crop up. HungryPod.com http://www.hungrypod.com , a business that converts CDs into MP3s that can be uploaded to Ipods is one such example.
Catherine Keane, then 23, started HungryPod.com in September 2004 after hearing an acquaintance pay $500 to convert her CDs and load them up to her Ipod. She initially provided her services in the New York area, later branching out to the Web through her website HungryPod.com.
Her niche business grew primarily through word of mouth, Craigslist ads, and a 2004 New York Times article. In addition to CD conversions, she also offered music consulting services by selecting songs for her clients and buying them in iTunes. Her business soon earned revenues of more than $100,000 a year, employing three people.
In May 2008, Catherine sold her HungryPod business for an undisclosed amount to competitor Moondog Digital. But Catherine has shown that money can be made with the right niche business.
6. Home Improvement Referrals = If you’re a homeowner, one of the most perplexing challenges is where to find reputable home repair or building contractors, from painters to plumbers to architects. New contractors, on the other hand, also find it difficult to find customers for their services.
Debra Cohen launched a profitable home-based niche business with her Home Remedies of NY, Inc. http://www.hrnbiz.com/ , which is a homeowner referral network that matches homeowners with reliable, prescreened home-repair workers. The referral services are offered free to homeowners; while contractors pay a commission to Home Remedies for any work secured. With the success of her referral services, Debra now offers a business opportunity where other entrepreneurs can replicate her service in different areas. To date, there are more than 400 Homeowner Referral Network (HRN) businesses operating in various parts of the United States. 7. Crocs Accessories = Crocs are the very popular resin clogs dotted with holes and comes in every color, from pinks to blues to yellows to blacks. They are ugly shoes, but both adults and children love them. In fact, the company grew from $1 million in revenue in 2003 to a projected $322 million in 2007. Given the tremendous popularity of these shoes, Sheri Schmelzer decided to ride the wave and offer products that would allow users to customize their crocs. One day, she decided to create charms to be used to fill the holes of her family’s crocs shoes, which are plenty. Hence, Jibbitz http://www.jibbitz.com was born. Her business sold about 300 designs of charms for crocs and she was able to sign up more than 4,000 retail outlets. In December 2006, Crocs the company bought Jibbitz for $20 million with Sheri and her husband remaining on board. 8. Dog Eyewear = Eyewear and shades helps protect our eyes from sun damage. So why not create UV-absorbent sunglasses or other eyewear to help protect the eyes of pets from sun damage as well? Dogs in particular are susceptible subjected to wind and airborne debris when they are transported in open-windowed vehicles. Veronica Dilullo and her husband created goggles for dogs – or Doggles http://www.doggles.com – when they noticed that their own dog Midnight would always be squinting and seemed really sensitive to the bright light. The patented Doggles have flexible snug-fitting frames, foam padding for comfort, and shatterproof & anti-fog lenses. Their product has been featured in sites such as CNN, The Today Show, Good Morning America and other publications. 9. Speakers Bureau = Non-professional speakers are always on the lookout to find speaking engagements, typically combing through local organizations and contacting companies themselves. On the flip side, organizations (even big companies) are also struggling to find speakers for their events. It’s a time consuming process for everyone involved. Bryan Caplovitz, a former business technology consultant, saw the need for a marketplace where non-professional speakers could find speaking opportunities, and organizations could find speakers for their events. Hence, he created SpeakerMatch.com http://www.speakermatch.com , an agency that matches emerging public speakers and subject-matter experts with meeting planners. Meeting planners list their events and speaker needs for free, while speakers pay a small monthly fee to post their profile on the site and pursue leads for possible speaking engagements. Today, SpeakerMatch.com has become the go-to site for those looking for speaking engagements. 10. Unconventional Beauty Product = Nancy Jarecki was in a hair salon in Rome when she noticed that some women after having their hair colored would linger at the door, only to leave when given small doggie bags. Asking one of the colorists, she learned that the women were waiting to get a hair coloring kit so their hair "down there" can match their new hair color. To address a silent problem of women (and men, too), Nancy launched her company BettyBeauty http://www.bettybeauty.com offering her main product line called "Betty" whose tagline is "Color for the Hair Down There." Apparently, women everywhere get so frustrated with mismatched hair colors in their bodies. Blondes want to be true blondes and have their hair down there sport the same shade; and so do redheads and other colors! Nancy's success comes from providing a great Nancy's BettyBeauty company is expected to reach more than $1 million in sales this year, and she's coming up with new products -- all for the hair down there.
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