Looking for top business ideas for rural areas? Check out our list of the most successful small businesses.
Business Ideas For Rural Areas: If you want to start a business in rural areas, you’ll have to use some unique strategies. Even if your product or service has been successful in urban areas, it won’t necessarily translate to your community.
Business Ideas For Rural Areas 2022
So be ready to work hard and accept that you might have to adapt what you do based on what’s available to your customers. Here are ideas to help you create a successful business in a rural area!
Real Estate Agent
Buying or selling a home is one of life’s biggest and most stressful financial transactions. Make it go smoother by hiring a real estate agent who has your best interests in mind. If you know you’re going to be moving in the near future, consider interviewing real estate agents before you move so that you can get acquainted with some local pros and form a relationship with someone who can help ease one of life’s biggest financial stressors.
(And if you don’t end up using an agent, at least those conversations will have helped familiarize yourself with your housing market.) Plus, there are more than 1 million real estate agents in America—so finding a good fit should be easy. Real estate brokers typically charge 3% to 6% of a property’s sale price for their services; agents usually earn about half as much as brokers but get paid only when they close deals.
That’s why many experts recommend working with both an agent and broker—to ensure that you’re getting advice from two professionals with skin in the game. Plus, these relationships can lead to long-term partnerships: The National Association of Realtors says 90% of its members had their first job through networking contacts made while working on another transaction.
Pet Groomer
Most of America’s dogs and cats live in cities, so there’s plenty of demand for pet groomers who can spruce up these animals. Pet grooming services are an especially good business idea if you have experience with animals or love for them—but they also typically don’t require a large investment to get started. Also, if you can adjust your schedule to accommodate clients and their pets when they need you, it could be a nice way to pick up some extra cash as well.
Check out local directories like Yelp to find potential clients in your area. If you already work at a pet store, ask about grooming services there; it might be something they already offer but aren’t promoting yet. In addition, visit places where people bring their pets for walks or run errands—like vet offices and pet supply stores—and let them know what you do. Remember that depending on where you live, licenses may be required to run a business from home (check with your city’s regulations).
This is particularly true if you plan on selling products made from any animal parts (such as dog beds) since those will likely require a special certification. And always make sure to keep liability insurance in case anything goes wrong during a session! Learn more about becoming a pet groomer here.
Hire a social media expert can I use your idea? Clickbait? I guess we’ll see… — Jason Schemmel (@JasonSchemmel) May 24, 2015
Retired? Volunteer instead!
Volunteering can provide you with a sense of purpose and community, as well as some extra cash. A review from 2011, by researchers at Utah State University, found that more than two-thirds of retirees said they were very or extremely satisfied with their work lives. Retirement may also mean an abundance of free time—which can present its own set of challenges.
If your newfound freedom is starting to feel like solitary confinement, consider volunteering in your area. Get your hands dirty in construction or finance; help out at a food pantry or animal shelter; donate books to public libraries. The world would be better if we all helped out just a little bit more—and when you volunteer your time and talent, you’re doing just that!
Restaurant Owner
Entrepreneurship doesn’t always have to be new and innovative. Sometimes, all it takes is taking a concept that already exists and applying it in a way that no one else has before. If you live in a rural area with few employment opportunities, owning a restaurant could be your ticket to economic independence.
It’s not easy work — getting a restaurant up and running can take months of hard work and planning, regardless of location — but with some motivation and drive, there’s little reason why you couldn’t start your own small business serving delicious food to local residents who are looking for an exciting place to eat. And if you don’t want to run a restaurant?
There are plenty of other businesses that would do well in rural areas. Consider starting a farm or ranch, selling products at farmers’ markets or through direct sales, offering services like carpentry or plumbing, or opening up a retail store where people can come and buy goods from you directly.
You might even consider becoming self-employed as an independent contractor and picking up odd jobs here and there when you need extra cash. The point is: entrepreneurship isn’t just about high-tech ideas; sometimes it’s about simple concepts done well by people who care about their customers.
Tutor
Tutoring is a skill that can prove to be very lucrative for those living in rural areas, who aren’t exactly close to high-traffic college campuses. If you’re good at math and know how to explain difficult concepts, tutoring may be your ticket out of town! Depending on where you live, tutoring might be all year round, or even more throughout peak seasons like summer and winter.
And if you enjoy teaching, tutoring could be a great side business idea for you. You can find some tutorial services already running on sites like TutorVista or Upwork (formerly oDesk). Check out what people are looking for—they may need help in geometry or algebra or reading!
Photographer
If you live in a rural area and want to earn some extra money, consider starting a photography business. You don’t need fancy equipment or studio space – with today’s digital cameras and photo editing software, you can do quality work right out of your home. Find clients by posting flyers at local stores, or advertising on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
If you have experience as a model, photographer, or both, make that known when pitching your services; it could help attract more clients looking for expert shots. And don’t worry if you aren’t a professional already; just be honest about what type of experience you have so they know what they are getting into. You might also offer to shoot special events such as weddings or graduations for friends and family.
Tax Consultant
A common dream for many small business owners is to become a tax consultant, helping people file their taxes every year. It’s easy to see why: Income from these services tends to be steady, and there are lots of low-income families who can’t afford pricey tax services. Start by networking with your state’s Board of Taxation and some local accountants.
They can give you tips on how best to set up a small business that caters to those without much disposable income. You’ll also want to join an association or start your own; working with other like-minded entrepreneurs will help you grow your network while providing you with valuable resources. Once you’ve done all that, it’s time to get out there and meet potential clients!
Lingerie Maker
If your community has an abundance of cotton farms, an online lingerie store might be just what you need to bring in some extra cash. With plenty of additional resources out there for creating an e-commerce site (consider following Shopify’s advice), you can set up a shop, connect it to payment processors like Stripe and pay yourself a commission on every sale.
Who knows? You could start something that women around the world will want to buy from. The most important thing is that it helps keep your family working together towards a common goal, even if it’s over Skype or FaceTime.
Yoga Instructor
You may want to think twice about jumping on a plane to that weeklong training in Bali or Thailand. Chances are, it will take you years of teaching before you can call yourself a professional (unless you’re one of those lucky few who hit it big right out of school). You might find better success establishing your practice at home by reaching out to local resorts and gyms and even advertising yourself online.
Look for places that already attract tourist crowds, as they tend to be more open-minded than your small town yoga studio owner. Once you have some clients, offer free classes at parks or schools in rural areas where no one currently offers yoga instruction.
Web Designer
Web design companies charge an average of $65,000 to develop a website. A lot of times, however, companies are looking for designers to work at a lower price—and without sacrificing quality. That’s where you come in. If you’re skilled in web design and can showcase your portfolio to potential clients, starting your own business may be just what you need. You can offer basic websites (with or without SEO) or specialize in SEO-friendly designs that drive traffic back to a company’s main site through search engines such as Google and Bing.
Starting out, it might be best to keep things simple and focus on offering services to local businesses. This way, you can build up your portfolio while also getting more experience under your belt. Once you have enough experience under your belt, consider branching out into other areas of web design: developing apps; coding social media sites; designing eCommerce sites, or creating mobile-optimized pages for smaller devices like smartphones and tablets.
You could even consider specializing in one area if there’s a demand for it in your area—for example, if there are many tech startups in your city but not many developers who know how to code mobile apps specifically for Android phones or iPhones. The key is simply figuring out what people want from their website designs and then offering them exactly that!
Also Read: Business Ideas Unique And Creative
Conclusion
Our country’s rural areas suffer from a high unemployment rate. Although many people try to relocate to more economically active cities, small towns are often fighting an uphill battle against big-city competition and constantly changing technology.
If you’re considering starting a business in a rural area, here are ten types of businesses that can succeed despite small populations and minimal startup capital. Some may surprise you!
