15 Best Million-Dollar Business Ideas

Are you tired of the rat race? Maybe you just want to know what to do with 1 million dollars. We have some of the best million-dollar business ideas for you.

Don’t assume you have to find untapped business ideas. Sometimes an untapped idea means that you should keep looking. Find better ways to get a million dollars.

Let’s start with $100 million dollar business ideas.

What is a $100-million-dollar business idea?

A $100-million-dollar business is normally going to be a publicly held company. According to KPI Crunch, somewhere between 1 and 3 percent of companies in business databases are $100 million business ideas.

#1. Real Estate Business

Real estate was a $237 billion industry in 2022, and has been growing at a steady rate of 4.2% per year on average. Due to this value and growth, real estate investing is a consistently reliable business model to start a million-dollar company, or even a billion-dollar company for a savvy business owner.

The real estate market is shifting in 2023, but there’s still plenty of opportunity in this space to start a successful business. It’s estimated that up to 20% of office real estate will be removed or repurposed in the coming years. Buying and converting this type of property can be a very profitable business idea, especially in growing markets like Nashville, Dallas, or Atlanta.

Of course, to purchase real estate, you’ll need to have some resources to invest. Your financial resources don’t need to be as extensive as many think, however. 

Thach Nguyen started his own business from scratch using his income and knowledge as a real estate agent. That proved to be a multi-million dollar business idea and today he makes revenue of around $800,000 a month. Hear his strategies and story in this YouTube interview:

#2. Sell Products for Pets

There are 5 million more pets in the United States in 2023 than there were in 2019, driving a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8% through 2030. What’s more, people don’t tend to cut back on pet supplies even in a tough economy. This consistent spending is what makes a pet supply company one of the top million-dollar business ideas.

Pet health services is the fastest-growing segment in this sector. Spending is expected to reach $118 billion by 2030, an increase of 143%. Million-dollar companies like PetMeds are already profiting from this trend, to the tune of over $20 million in monthly revenue. Hear CEO Matt Hulett’s insights in this interview:

An online store selling pet toys, organic pet food, or other supplies can be a very lucrative business, as well. Vlad Kuksenko started a 7-figure Etsy shop making personalized collars and tags. Learn how he built it in this interview:

#3. Online Course and Consulting Services

Management and technical consulting services are among the fastest-growing sectors, with a forecasted CAGR of 4.1% likely to push its market value over $1 trillion by 2023. 

Offering consulting services can certainly be a million-dollar business idea for someone with management or industry expertise who has a solid business plan. 

Online course platforms or virtual tutoring sessions are helpful for growing your reputation as a new consulting business. It can also help to grow your personal brand through social media channels, your own blog, or other online platforms.

Once you’re established, you can attract customers like large corporate clients that can grow your consulting firm into a multi-million dollar company. 

Offering consulting services is a large part of how Bedros Keuilian makes more than $200 million a year, just to cite one example. You can hear how he built his multi-million-dollar business in this interview:

Multi-million dollar business ideas

#4. Air Charter Business

Current market research indicates the global air charter services market will grow at a CAGR of 5.8% through 2032. The need for on-demand plane and helicopter service is rising, especially in the niche of air ambulance services and emergency medical transportation. 

Justin Sullivan turned his passion for aviation into a million-dollar idea for a business—several businesses, in fact, all under the AJAX Jets name, which bring in a combined revenue of over $2 million a month. Hear how he built his company in this interview:

#5. Start an Online Store

An online store is the most affordable way to start your own business in the fashion industry. Consider a dropshipping business with a subscription business model selling vitamins or other wellness-themed products.

Unique Vintage started off reselling vintage clothes on an e-commerce website. Pivoting to making their vintage-inspired clothes proved a successful business plan, rocketing their revenue to more than $34 million a year.

Hear how they did it in this podcast interview:

Finding the right niche is the first step to starting a multi-million-dollar company in this lucrative industry. Portland Gear founder Marcus Harvey focused on his local market, capitalizing on their social media popularity to grow to 7-figure yearly revenue. You can hear his advice in this YouTube interview:

#6. Fitness Studio Franchise

The pandemic prompted substantial growth in the healthcare sector and public health awareness in general. That’s also driven growth in the fitness industry. In 2023, 39% of Americans have gym memberships and that number is expected to rise. In fact, the industry as a whole is expected to grow by 171% by 2028.

Franchising is an excellent business model for a fitness studio, expanding your potential customer base and paving the way to grow it into a million-dollar business idea. That’s how Stretch Zone grew to more than $47 million in annual revenue, as you’ll hear in this podcast interview with CEO Tony Zaccario:

Million-dollar business ideas to start with no money

#7. Cleaning Business

Cleaning businesses are like gold mines—easy to start and they have high success rates. In fact, our friend Chris Mondragon, owner of Queen Bee Cleaning, started out making $6K a month and has scaled tremendously. His second month he made $18K, and by the end of his first year, he’d earned over $195K.

Today, the business makes $125K monthly. That’s the beauty of the cleaning business: It’s one of those rare industries where you can start small and scale with no limits. However, you must be careful where you start your business as only certain cities offer million-dollar potential.

In Chris’s free masterclass, he shares a formula that reveals your city’s cleaning business earning potential. It may be a good idea to check whether your city passes the test before deciding a cleaning service is the million-dollar business idea for you.

Want to grow your cleaning business even further? Add revenue streams by making and selling products, like specialty cleaners or eco-friendly cleaning solutions, online. Spruse Clean increased their revenue to $112,000 a month when they added an eCommerce website to their cleaning services. Hear how they did it in this YouTube interview:

#8. Digital Marketing Agency

The digital advertising agency market size grew at a rate of 28.2% per year from 2017-2022, and is projected to continue that growth at a CAGR of 19.4% through 2030. This makes it one of the fastest-growing industries with a low cost to start. 

Knowledge is the key to thriving in this space. If you’re skilled in areas like search engine optimization, content marketing, and social media management, you can offer these services online to other businesses to help them grow their brand and customer base.

UpFlip talked to Eric Berman of Brandetize, a digital marketing agency with an average revenue of $400,000 a month, in a podcast interview. Listen to it to hear his million-dollar ideas to start and grow a marketing agency:

#9. Start a Podcast

Starting a podcast is a great business idea for people who have a compelling on-air presence and know how to attract a large online following. 

That audience is key to turning a podcast into a million-dollar business idea. Adding additional revenue streams is another great way to scale. Offering online courses and other online educational resources helped Entrepreneurs on Fire grow into one of the top business podcasts, with a $1.8 million a year revenue. Hear their advice in this interview:

Out-of-the-box business ideas to make millions in business

#10. Painting Business

The house painting services market is trending upwards, driven largely by an increase in spending on residential construction and renovation. The industry is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 5.2% over the next decade.

Doug Caris bought Arizona Painting Company in 2014, growing it to 5 locations that bring in upwards of $2 million a month–and 50% of that is profit. He shares his strategies to grow to one million dollars and beyond in this podcast interview:

#11. Epoxy Floor Coating Business

The affordability and durability of epoxy floor coatings makes it appealing for homeowners, but installing it requires knowledge and equipment that make it tricky to DIY. That’s why epoxy flooring is a million-dollar business idea for entrepreneurs who have (or are willing to learn) those niche skills.

Brandon Vaughn had no experience with epoxy coatings before starting his business. What he did have was expertise in hiring, marketing, and systems. He used that to grow Wise Coatings into a franchise, and the company now generates upwards of $5 million a year in revenue. Learn how he made millions of dollars installing epoxy floors in this interview:

#12. Sporting Goods Business

Sports equipment was an $18.4 billion industry in 2022, and the market is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 4.6% through 2027. An increasing percentage of those sales are expected to come through online channels, with the majority of sales forecasted to be online by 2024. This puts it among the best millionaire business ideas for sports lovers looking to start an e-commerce business.

WeBall Sports was started by a former football player with just $1,000, and grew its revenue to $1.5 million a year in 5 years. You can hear how he achieved 600% growth in this interview:

Sporting goods is a broad category, too, with lots of niches a crafty and creative person can explore to start a million-dollar business. The online store business Beard Head is a great example. It was started by an avid snowboarder who wanted a way to keep his face warm on the slopes. The idea quickly went viral, and it’s now a 7-figure company. See his story in this video:

Small businesses that make $1 million a year

#13. Photography Business

The variety of niches in the photography sector is what puts it among the top million-dollar business ideas for creative entrepreneurs. From an in-home portrait studio to selling stock photos to pictures for advertising and marketing materials, there are lots of ways you can earn money from photography.

Starting a drone-based business is one of the most profitable niches in 2023. A drone allows you to take overhead shots, ideal for working with real estate agents and corporate clients. That’s how Mile High Productions makes most of their revenue, and you can hear how they built the business here:

Adding revenue streams can also help a photography business grow. Katelyn James started off with a standard studio then added an online course to help other photographers monetize their skills. Her online courses have propelled her business to more than $2.4 million in revenue a year, as you’ll hear in this podcast interview:

#14. Electrical Business

Like many skilled trades, there was a shortage of electricians in 2022—and demand for them is still increasing, at a forecasted rate of 9.1% through 2030. 

Electricity demand around the world is rising, and there are fewer trained electricians to meet those needs. That represents an opportunity for a small business owner in the skilled trades. 

You can learn how to build a million-dollar business in electricity in this podcast interview with Joel Walsman. His company has grown steadily since he started it in 2009 to a revenue of around $6 million in 2022.

#15. Restaurant Business

The food service industry can be feast or famine. On the one hand, about 30% of restaurants fail in their first year, according to the National Restaurant Association. There are also many million-dollar small businesses in this niche.

Doing ample market research before opening your restaurant can help you become one of those million-dollar businesses (and avoid adding to the failure statistics). If you fill an untapped niche in your area, you’ll be more likely to succeed. 

Don Lucho’s was the first Peruvian restaurant in Seattle when Carlo Calisea opened his food truck in 2013. Soon, his sales grew to the point he could open a brick-and-mortar restaurant and bar, driving his sales up to $1.7 million a year:

Like with other ideas on this list, adding multiple revenue streams can also help scale sales. Food delivery services have become increasingly popular in the 2020s, for example. Don Lucho’s has kept the food truck going along with the restaurant and also offers catering services, giving them multiple ways to serve customers. 

FAQs about how to get 1 million dollars 

How much is a million dollars?

Approximately 12.5 times the average household income.

How to make a million dollars in 30 days

Make $33,333.33 per day. That’s unlikely to happen for someone who’s just starting a business from scratch but can be a goal to shoot for down the line as you grow your business.

How to make a million dollars in a year

Make at least $2,739.72 of daily revenue, $19,178.04 per week, or $83,333 monthly.To make a million in a year, focus on the most profitable businesses and be prepared to invest at least $80,000 in marketing over the year. 

To make $1 million in profit, just divide $1 million by the profit margin. 

How much is a business worth with $1 million in sales?

That depends on the business. An easy way to estimate how much a business is worth is using the Price-Sales Ratio, which would value a business with a million dollars in sales at between $300K and $16.5 million, with an average of around $4.5 million.

What does 1 million dollars look like?

If you’ve ever wondered what 1 million dollars cash looks like, today’s your lucky day! Binions Casino in Las Vegas used to have a pile of cash for people to take pictures with. Here’s the picture we took:

How to make 1 million dollars overnight

Rob a casino and hope you don’t die. There is not a real way to make $1 million overnight. That amount of money takes multiple days to receive, even if you can make it through lottery or casino earnings, crypto, or other investments.

What would you do with a million dollars?

Making a million dollars isn’t an easy task. It requires vision, consistency, and adaptability. If you can pivot as your business grows, there’s a good chance that you can build to a million per year.

What would you do after you make your first million?