How to Value a Business: If You’re Looking to Buy Or Sell

April 24, 2020

Do you want to make sure you get top dollar for a business you’re trying to sell? Then you need to know how to value a business.

Or, are you considering buying a business, and need to know EXACTLY what it’s worth, so you pay that price for it and not a penny more?

If so, you’ve come to the right place.

In this article, I’ll make sure you’re armed with every bit of knowledge you’ll need. That way, you’ll be able to determine how to value a business like a pro. My highly actionable advice could end up saving you THOUSANDS of dollars of your hard-earned money in business valuation.

There are SO many questions to ask when you’re trying to find the value of your business. That’s true whether it’s one you already own, or, one you’re considering buying.

Here are a few questions about business valuation that might be swimming around in your head:

How the heck do I value a business anyway?

How much is MY business worth?

What’s the exact process for valuing a business?

I’ve heard there’s more than one method. Which one do I use?

Now, getting answers to these questions won’t be as easy as ordering an Iced Caramel Cloud Macchiato from the Starbucks drive-thru. But it isn’t rocket science either.

The Challenges of Valuing a Business

Let’s get into the specifics of how to value a business you own or a business you’re thinking about buying. But before we do, it might be a TERRIFIC idea to go over how you determine the value of ANYTHING.

To do that, I’ll have to dust off my copy of Economics 101.

Man holding a dusty book

There’s going to be disagreement between buyers and business owners as far as price and business valuation goes. Buyers want a low one, while business owners want a high one.

So, a compromise is inevitable.

The more demand there is for a business, the higher the price will be.

The price for anything is determined by a Supply and Demand Curve. Look at this one:

Supply and Demand Chart

You arrive at the optimal market price for an item based on supply and demand by figuring out the precise point at which supply equals demand. To do that, you’ll need to create a graph with the supply and demand lines written on it.

Where these two lines intersect is what is called “economic equilibrium,” or the market price for the good or service. Of course, the real value of a good or service is the price a buyer is willing to pay and one that the seller is willing to accept.

For example, suppose we have a can of sweet peas. Let’s say it costs a company 75 cents to manufacture a can of peas.

This cost includes things like:

Harvesting
Drying (that’s because they weigh less, so they can more shipped more cheaply)
Shipping to the processing plant
Reconstituting them by adding water
Adding green dye (SURPRISINGLY ENOUGH!)
Putting them into cans

However, no matter what price he slaps on the can, it will only sell if he can find a buyer willing to pay that price. The buyer could care less about the costs of getting that can to the shelf so he can buy it. He’ll only plunk his hard-earned money down for the peas if he thinks they’re worth it.

What Else You Should Know

This example powerfully illustrates the one thing that’s too often overlooked when pricing a good or service. And that is, value is often (to use an ancient cliché that also happens to be one of the very best “Twilight Zone” episodes ever made), “in the eye of the beholder.”

There must be on the part of the buyer to buy the thing. That’s because a desire is the gasoline that fuels the economic engine that runs the world.

This desire can either be based on needs.

Or, it can be based on wants.

A Tale of Two Cars

Increasingly in today’s world, more consumers are prioritizing wants over needs. Here’s an example. All cars basically do the same thing—get you from Point “A” to Point “B.”

That’s it. A simple function. Even though both cars basically do the same thing, there’s a HUGE difference between the price of a Ford Fiesta and a McClaren P1.

As a matter of fact, about $1,334,740.

Most buyers would consider the P1 to be sexier than the Ford Fusion. In fact, probably about a million times more so.

This desire jacks up the price of the car.

The ONLY way anything has value in the marketplace is if a buyer is willing to buy it. And, at the price that the seller wants. The importance of “want” when it comes to determining value cannot be emphasized enough.

The Power of Emotional Attachment

Real estate is an excellent way to demonstrate this concept.

Some of the priciest real estate you could get your hands on happens to be in New York City and San Francisco.

Here are real estate prices in New York:

New York Real Estate Cost

And here’s what they look like for San Francisco:

San Francisco Real Estate Cost

However, there’s a certain segment of the population who would not live in either of those two cities.

No matter how low the price happened to be. And even if you paid them to live there.

The same is true for sellers. I recently watched an episode of “Better Call Saul.” In it, Everett Acker (played by the great Barry Corbin), refuses to sell his house to Mesa Verde Bank and Trust. They want his piece of land so they can put a call center on it.

First, they offer him market price for the home. And an additional $18,000.

Then, they increase their offer to market value PLUS $45,000.

But no matter how high the offer goes, Acker won’t budge. That’s because he’s lived there since the 70s. And, he’s emotionally invested in his home. So, because the price is subjective, it can be difficult to determine the price.

People get attached to things, which tends to skew their perception of the thing’s actual value.

I’d Buy THAT for a Dollar

In the real world, we know that people can be enticed into buying something because the price is simply too good to pass up.

For example, with a significant portion of the population, if you offered to sell them a West Village (a fashionable neighborhood in New York City known for its beautiful architecture and chic, artistic offerings) mega-mansion for the unbelievably low price of $1.00, there would be almost no one who would refuse you.

So, price is a powerful motivator. There’s no denying that fact. Even if they don’t really want the item, there are few who can pass up a good deal when they see it. Most people know “great value” when they see it. Nobody needs to tell them!

Whether you’re buying a house or a can of peas, the active market determines price. If people think an item’s price is too high, they’ll flock to a lower-priced alternative. Over time, this causes the price of goods to fluctuate until it achieves economic equilibrium.

How Negotiating Affects Price

However, buying a house is much different than driving down to your local Kroger’s to buy a can of peas. It cost thousands of times more, so there’s a lot more risk involved.

You’re not going to haggle on the price for the can of peas. Everybody who buys a can of peas at the same store will pay the same price for that can. However, negotiating the price of a home is not only allowed—it’s expected.

Because of negotiation, there’s going to be more variation in the price of a house than the price of a can of peas.

Now, you can easily find the average price of a home in a geographical region by checking out tax assessor websites for listings of recently sold homes. Or, call a real estate agent and ask for a list of recently sold properties in the neighborhood you’re looking at.

You could even use a website like this:

Realtor.com Website Snippet

For example, if 20 houses sell during the same month and they’re comparable, then a quick calculation will tell you the average price for a home in that neighborhood.

Graph of Home Sale Prices

Now, this is all well and good when the market is active. Inactive markets are another story. This is where there are either no sales or no comparable sales.

When Comparisons Become Meaningless

If these 20 homes sold over five years instead of a more limited period, there would be no way to compare one sale with another. That’s because the sales were spaced out over a long time, and comparison becomes meaningless.

The same issue pops up with business sales. The problem is even worse because there are far fewer sales of a business in a location than home sales. And because of this, looking at comparable sales to determine value when thinking about buying a small business is less useful.

However, because realtors are used to comparing properties when determining value, they continue to use this same method when trying to figure out how much a business is worth. The real problem with this is that there’s no practical way to compare one company with another.

A hair salon is a whole LOT more different than a machine part manufacturer. Even if you compare one kind of restaurant with another, there are still a lot of differences between the two.

A Tale of Two Cafés

For example, in the area where I live, there are two vegan cafés. Now, you might think that since both are vegan, that you can easily compare one to another when you’re trying to figure out what the price of a vegan café is in the area.

But you’d be wrong.

That’s because one café took over space formerly occupied by a late-night dive restaurant. You know the kind of place:

Business Lights at Night

The kind you go to in the middle of the night after having one too many Long Island Iced Teas at your favorite bar. The vegan café retains a bit of this grungy charm. It’s located in a somewhat rough part of town, right next door to a minor league baseball park.

The second café occupies space that used to be a street-front slaughterhouse and restaurant specializing in buffalo meat (which is a funny place for a vegan diner to occupy). It’s ten times ritzier than the first joint. And, it’s located in an upscale part of the city, right next to several colleges.

Here’s what its website looks like:

Pulse Cafe Website Snippet

Now, even though the two cafés are vegan establishments, saying that their value is going to be comparable is a silly exercise in futility.

SO, DON’T EVEN TRY IT, MISTER!

The Goodwill Factor

Finally, you’ll need to consider “goodwill” when trying to figure out how much a business is worth. Goodwill is the intangible assets of a company.

Assets of the tangible variety are easier to understand. For example, let’s consider a manufacturer that makes phone cases that uses plastic to build her cases. The value of this raw material is wicked easy to figure out.

Variety of Phone Cases

However, suppose that this maker has a highly secret, super-efficient, patented process for making these cases. Trying to ascertain the monetary value of this technological trade secret is going to be challenging to determine.

Yet, this process is a significant asset of the company because it supercharges its competitive advantage. Intangible assets are often overlooked when someone is conducting a valuation. That’s because they’re:

THOUGHTS
IDEAS
CONCEPTS
EXPERIENCES

And other things that might seem nebulous and indefinable, but which rake profit in for the company. How the heck can you slap a dollar amount on items like this? It’s well near impossible—even for professional consultants who have been doing this kind of thing for decades.

B.Y.O.A. (Bring Your Own Assets)

Sometimes, a potential buyer of a small business isn’t acquiring an intangible asset. Instead, they’re contributing an asset to the company they’re buying.

For example, say you purchase a company because you absolutely adore their product. However, you’re not so crazy about their production facility. That’s because it’s seen better days and doesn’t have all the technological bells and whistles that your own facility has.

Forklift Used in a Warehouse

These are processes you spent years developing. And without all the high-tech wizardry you perfected over the years on your own products, there’s no way you’ll be able to competitively price the good.

So, you start making the gadgets at your own factory. You just made the value of the small business you bought skyrocket into the stratosphere because of the intangible assets you added to it.

These examples illustrate why there are so many challenges in determining the value of a small business. Next, we’ll look at formulas you can use to help figure out how much a company is worth. However, keep in mind that each one will only give you a rough idea because of all the subjective factors we just talked about.

Business Valuation Formulas

There are several methods for determining the value of a business. Here’s are some of them:

Asset-Based Method

One of the easiest ways to for business valuation is something called the asset-based method. As you might guess from the name, what you do is add up all the business assets. Although they’re going to be mostly tangible assets, there might be a few intangible assets you’ll have to take into consideration.

Here’s how it’s actually done:

Business Valuation Method

After you list all the assets, you’ll next have to list all the liabilities. These are things like debts and accounts payable. Then to come up with a ballpark figure for the value, subtract the liabilities from the assets.

Here’s an example.

A company has the following assets:

$20,000 CASH
$130,000 BUILDING
$25,000 FLEET VEHICLES
$25,000 INVENTORY AND MACHINERY

Total assets are $200,000.

Now, let’s list their liabilities. These are:

$85,000 MORTGAGE
$17,000 WORKING CAPITAL LOAN
$40,000 ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

The company would have a total asset base of $200,000. Total liabilities would be $142,000. Thus, the company would have a value of $58,000.

Of course, these numbers are a snapshot of a specific moment in time. The only problem with that is that business valuation is always fluctuating. For example, what if the day after this snapshot was taken, the company was lucky enough to snag a much-coveted account.

And, this brand spanking new client paid a hefty retainer fee.

Admittedly, this sudden influx of both new business and cash will increase the value of the company. Almost every day, something could happen that could either increase or decrease the value of the business.

So, it’s hard to keep track of a company’s ever-changing value when asset-based valuation is all you use. That’s why most experts recommend using it only as a starting point.

Revenue Model Valuation Method

Next is the revenue model business valuation method. This method is comprised of several different approaches, all lumped in together because they determine the value of a business based on its income. What’s great about this strategy is that it reflects actual business operations.

What could be a better metric of the value of a business than that?

It’s easy to see why this might be a better method to figure out how much a small business is worth than the asset-based approach. And really (when you come right down to it) this is simply a valuation based on the sales of a company.

So how does this system work? Well, the details are where the weaknesses of this methodology can be seen. Let’s look at an example:

Say a hair salon has been open for 20 years. Their yearly revenue currently happens to be $250,000. The owner makes a profit of about $75,000. A formula solely based on sales would take the $250,000 and say this is the business’s value.

Hair Salon

However, these figures deserve a little more scrutiny. Let’s say the $250,000 is the smallest gross revenue the company has earned in its two decades of existence. This means that cash inflows are declining over time.

Is that an excellent value to place on the small business? It probably isn’t, if revenues are going to continue to drop each year. That’s why a revenue model valuation (although it has certain advantages over asset-based valuation) might not tell the whole story.

How Accurate is Revenue Model Business Valuation?

So, I just pointed out several flaws in the revenue model of small business valuation. There are so many variables that can affect a company’s revenue stream. For this method to be accurate, you must account for them all somehow.

Here’s another variable: there could be stylists who are rock stars. However, they’ve only been with the salon for a year or two. During that time, sales skyrocket because of their extraordinary ability to give everyone exactly the hairstyle they always dreamed of.

But now they’re gone. The salon is left with beauticians of a more average sort. Because of this, the revenues of the business drop precipitously.

Or, let’s pretend that the business sells machines that do emission testing. In this scenario, several states drastically increased their emission standards. This has the effect of rendering the old devices obsolete.

When this happens, automotive repair shops that issue inspection stickers are all scrambling to get their hands on the new machines. This sends the revenues of the company making the machine through the roof.

But the next year, sales level off, because all automotive places that issue inspection stickers already have the newer models. As you can see, the revenue-based valuation method’s major problem is that it’s only a snapshot of the company at a moment in time.

Discounted Cash Flow

So, that’s two ways to determine small business valuation.

Is there another?

Turns out there is. But before we go over these other methods including discounted cash flow, let’s look at one of the most prominent investors in the world. You’ve probably heard of him.

Warren Buffet.

Warren Buffett

His company, Berkshire Hathaway, has built a HUMONGOUS empire of businesses all over the planet. They include:

Mr. Buffet acquired a controlling interest of more than 10% in every one of these companies because he’s a buyout artist par excellence. He wouldn’t have added these companies unless, over the years, he honed his ability to determine value to a razor-sharp point.

Here’s the point in the festivities you might be asking:

NOW, WHAT THE HECK VALUATION METHOD DOES WARREN USE?

Good question. The answer is discounted cash flow analysis. This is a more accurate method than the other two methods we discussed. That’s because cash flow doesn’t use a mere moment in time—it uses a more extended period. Which is usually several years.

Most non-discounted methods for determining value are based on financial history. However, you’re not purchasing a book talking about the company’s past achievements. You’re buying their financial performance because you want to benefit from their future cash flow.

Now, you might be thinking that past financial success is a good predictor of future economic success. But just like admen in slick financial product infomercials will tell you, you’d be wrong.

And that’s because the future is fraught with uncertainty, my friends!

When you use the cash flow method, you’ll be comparing the rate of return you’d get on this company to the rate of return for U.S. Treasury bills. To do this, use the formula for the Net Present Value of Money.

In this formula, cash flow is the money flowing in and out of the company. R is the discount rate. This can be a percentage. For example, the current interest rate.

Alternatively, you can use the weighted average cost of capital for your percentage. This is the rate a company pays to finance its assets. It includes the average cost of a company’s working capital after taxes.

N is the time period. You can use however long you want for this amount, whether that’s 5, 10, or 30 years.

The number you get after you input all values into the formula is called the terminal value. This represents the growth rate for projected cash flows for years other than the time parameters you’re using.

To figure out this value, take the cash flow of the final year. Then, multiply it by (1+long term growth rate in decimal form) and divide it by the discount rate minus the long-term growth rate in decimal form.

Say you want to do a discounted cash flow analysis of a business you’re considering buying. First, estimate its future cash flow. To do this, look at the balance sheet for the previous year. This is the amount of revenue that flowed in and out of the business.

Let’s say this figure was $750,000 in 2019. Now, you can look at the number for 2018. Say this number is $700,000.

Now, we’ll have to calculate the rate of growth. To do that, use this formula.

Plugging in the numbers from our example, this would be:

GROWTH RATE = $750,000-$700,000/$700,000 = 7.14%.

Use this to estimate the future growth rate. Using this number, we extrapolate that our company will grow by this amount for the first two years. And then, in the next two years, we take all factors into consideration and estimate that growth will slow to 6%.

You also need to choose a percentage to calculate the terminal value. This number represents the long-term growth of the company. Err on the side of caution with this, so your estimate isn’t overly optimistic.

A good guideline is to use current interest rates for this amount. Let’s say it’s 4%. With these figures, you can now calculate the projected cash flow for each year in your timeframe.

Lastly, we need to figure out the weighted average cost of capital. Here’s the formula.

Let’s say the discount rate for our company is 4%. Now, let’s plug our numbers into the first formula to get the discounted cash flow for the small business:

($803,550 / 1.04¹) + ($860,923.47 / 1.04²) + ($912,578.88 /1.04³) + ($967,333.61 / 1.04⁴) + ($1,006,026.95 / 1.04⁵)

= $772,644.23 + $827,811.03 + $877,479.70 + $930,128.48 + $967,333.61

BUSINESS DISCOUNTED CASH FLOW = $4,375,397.05

So, this is the value of the company using the Discounted Cash Flow Method.

Come Up with A Range of Values

Range of Values

The best way to come up with an accurate valuation is to use all these methods to come up with a range of values. Combining the asset-based approach with the revenue model valuation method and discounted cash flow will help you get a clearer picture of the business’s actual value.

As an example, let’s presume there is a restaurant getting ready to be placed on the market. The company has been averaging $200,000 in revenues for the last 10 years. In the previous three years, the owner has not been as involved in the company.

So, the earnings are below average. The assets of the company are as follows:

BUILDING $250,000
EQUIPMENT $15,000
FIXTURES $10,000
CASH $25,000

The debts are:

$10,000 MORTGAGE
WORKING CAPITAL LOAN OF $25,000

In the most recent year of revenue, the company earned $95,000.

From the revenue model, the value is $95,000.

From the asset-based method, the value is $300,000.

From the discount cash flow method, the value is $448,622.

The range method then would say that the value of the company would be somewhere between $95,000 and $448,622. The owner and buyer could add in other factors to adjust this range, like their opinion of the small business.

Conclusion

What is the bottom-line in finding a value to a small business? The best answer is that it is complicated.

First, value is often in the eye of the beholder. So, value can be subjective, based on personal opinions.

Second, there are multiple methods for determining value—whether that’s the asset-based, revenue model, or discounted cash flow method. Each has merit, but each has its faults. This means that there is no perfect method for determining the value of a business.

That‘s why the best solution is to use a range of value to place you in the “ballpark” for what a small business is worth. This range provides for more accuracy in assigning value.

I hope this article has instilled you with the confidence to make excellent business valuations.

Author

Norm Tedford

The 77 Best Businesses to Start with $10K (or Less)

Do you want to start your own business but don’t know where to begin? People often wait to start a business because they don’t have the initial investment for their business idea, but you should never wait to invest in your future. We’ll provide businesses to start with $10K or less.

We’ve prepared a list of 70 businesses you can start for under $10K to help you on your path to entrepreneurship. We’ll provide you with ideas, an estimate of the startup costs, and the profit and revenue you can expect to make.

We’ll even share links to new business resources and stories from startup businesses that have done exactly what we’re suggesting. By the end of this blog, you’ll have dozens of affordable startup ideas and know what steps to take to get going.

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Read it all or click on any of the links to jump to the section that most interests you.

Need help finding your own business ideas?
Best online business ideas 2024
Small and local businesses you can start with $10,000
Creative and crafty business ventures to start with $10K
What business can I start with $10K that serves food?
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Keep reading for some of the best businesses to start with $10K.

Need help finding your own business ideas?

We’ve created this list of businesses to start based on the ease of getting into each industry. They fall into three main categories:

Online businesses
No-education-needed businesses
Low-cost-education-needed businesses

If your business idea isn’t on the list, that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve it with less than $10,000. Just keep in mind that every great business idea will need:

A business license
A computer (If you don’t have one, check Amazon’s open-box deals.)
Internet
Social media
Marketing

Best online business ideas 2024

#1 Dropshipping: The easiest business idea to start

• Average Annual Revenue: $36K-$50K
• Average Profit Margins: 5%
• Startup Cost: $150-$500
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 25%
• Best For: Those who want flexibility and passive income, people with strong digital marketing and social media skills

Dropshipping is the easiest type of business under $10K to start! Just

Set up a Shopify account.
Connect Printful and social media accounts.
Create a few designs.
License the business.
Start marketing your products for less than $1,000 upfront.

#2 Print-on-demand services

• Average Annual Revenue: $1.6M
• Average Profit Margins: 4.3%
• Startup Cost: $500-$250K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: -5.6%
• Best For: Visual artists, graphic designers, marketing pros, people who want passive income potential

A print-on-demand online store is a great business idea if you want to sell products with a low initial investment. You don’t need to worry about buying or managing inventory—just create the designs and find customers.

POD selling also has the potential to be a very lucrative business. Heather Johnson started her print-on-demand store with about $30 as a side hustle, and today its revenue is over $15,000 in an average month.

Hear Heather’s advice on getting started in this interview:

#3 eCommerce reselling

• Average Annual Revenue: $60K-$120K
• Average Profit Margins: 5-15%
• Startup Cost: $100-$1K
• Time to Revenue: 30-90 days
• Annual Market Growth Rate: -9.3%
• Best For: Thrifters, shopaholics, and antiquers with a sharp eye for value

You don’t need to come up with your own products to start an online store. Platforms like eBay make it easy to start a new business as a reseller.

eCommerce reselling is definitely a business you can start with $10,000 or less. All you really need is the initial inventory, and if you’re strapped for cash, you can even start selling things you already own.

That’s what Mike Watson did when he started Golden State Picker. Now, he has a very successful business selling on eBay and earns around $30,000 a month. Hear his story in this interview:

#4 Online business manager

• Average Annual Revenue: $363K+
• Average Profit Margins: 10.3%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$100K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.8%
• Best For: Organized people with management and leadership experience

We included virtual business management on this list because it utilizes skills many people already have. You just need:

Management experience
A laptop
An internet connection

If you want badges to prove your skills, check out Zippia.com’s list of certifications.

Help busy CEOs run their companies remotely and make a great living doing it!

Keep reading for more small business ideas.

#5 YouTube content creator

• Average Annual Revenue: $60K-$160K
• Average Profit Margins: 8%
• Startup Cost: $100-$2K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 10.5%
• Best For: People with a compelling on-camera presence, digital marketing, and social media skills

Create original YouTube content, get enough views, and become a YouTube Channel Partner. You can earn revenue from:

Paid ads - $0.10-$0.30 for each view of a paid ad during your videos
Super Chats and Super Stickers - 70% of revenue from both
Selling your own merchandise
Premium channel memberships
Partnering with companies using YouTube BrandConnect to earn money through sponsorships
Creating 60-second videos and getting your share of the $100 million YouTube Shorts fund

HubSpot shares the number of subscribers you need to get in the top 100 in different YouTube categories.

Find out how Reyes the Entrepreneur makes $210K a year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg-ymfCpYcQ

#6 Start a podcast

• Average Annual Revenue: $4M+
• Average Profit Margins: 27.1%
• Startup Cost: $0-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 6.4%
• Best For: Bloggers and content creators, people with niche expertise in popular subjects

If you like the idea of a content channel but don’t want to be on camera, you could start a podcast instead.

Podcasts can be monetized much like a YouTube channel. Revenue streams include:

Selling ad space and episode sponsorships
Selling related merchandise or services
Selling online courses
Including affiliate marketing links in your podcast description
Offering a paid membership

You can find out how Entrepreneurs on Fire makes $150,000 a month in podcast-related revenue in this interview:

#7 Search engine optimization

• Average Annual Revenue: $415K+
• Average Profit Margins: 7.3%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 4.6%
• Best For: Writers, web designers, online advertising experts, systems- and data-driven entrepreneurs

You can start doing SEO with free tools to save money and build as you grow.

And there’s plenty of room for growth—top-rated SEO experts make up to $150 an hour.

Search engine optimization is focused on improving website results in search engines through:

Keyword research
Improving site speed
Content marketing
Google My Business

If small businesses don’t show up on the first page of a search engine, they need help because they aren’t getting much traffic. Once they get to the first page, their traffic skyrockets. Consider this breakdown:

Ads: 1.2-2.1% of traffic
1st place organically: 39.6% of traffic
2nd place organically: 18.4% of traffic
3rd place organically: 10.1% of traffic
5th place organically: 5.1% of traffic
10th place organically: 2.1% of traffic

Master getting a page to #1, and you’ve helped a business capture 20x more traffic…and hopefully 20x more revenue.

#8 Digital marketing consultant

• Average Annual Revenue: $817K
• Average Profit Margins: 6.9%
• Startup Cost: $100-$10K
• Time to Revenue: 1-6 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.3%
• Best For: Social media marketing and online marketing pros with strong communication skills

Digital marketing consultants help businesses get more attention on social media platforms and rank higher with search engines.

There are no formal education requirements, and lots of free education is available. Check out:

Check out our interview with Jason Yormark, founder and Chief Social Officer of Socialistics, below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb1czTEK8f8

We still have more businesses to start with $10K. Keep reading!

#9 Social media management

• Average Annual Revenue: $817K
• Average Profit Margins: 6.9%
• Startup Cost: $100-$10K
• Time to Revenue: 1-6 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.3%
• Best For: Experts in social media platforms, writers and creators who are strong collaborators

Many business owners either don’t like social media or don’t know how to get the most out of it.

With a social media management business, you’ll help other small business owners connect with potential clients through platforms like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.

This often means creating marketing materials and content in collaboration with the owner of the account you’re managing.

If you can do that effectively, social media management can be a very successful business to start with $10K or less.

#10 Virtual assistant

• Average Annual Revenue: $35K-$50K
• Average Profit Margins: 10.5%
• Startup Cost: $100-$200
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.9%
• Best For: Organized and system-driven entrepreneurs

Social media isn’t the only thing most business owners don’t have time for. There are tons of small tasks that go into running a business, and that’s where a virtual assistant comes into the picture.

A virtual assistant works remotely, usually handling administrative tasks like data entry or answering emails. Most set their own schedules, too, so it’s very flexible work.

This is one of the rare businesses you can start completely for free. All you need is a way to connect with potential clients, which you can do online through platforms including:

#11 Affiliate marketing business

• Average Annual Revenue: $60K-$160K
• Average Profit Margins: 8%
• Startup Cost: $100-$2K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 10.5%
• Best For: Advertising and marketing professionals, content creators

Affiliate marketing is a form of online advertising where you promote products and services from other businesses. If someone buys through your site, you get a commission.

This business model is location-independent and gives you complete flexibility when it comes to your schedule. It’s also a good business to make passive income once you have content and traffic on your site.

Getting that traffic is often the hard part when it comes to starting an affiliate marketing business. Read our complete guide to affiliate marketing or hear how David Thomas Tao did it with BarBend in this interview:

#12 Domain-flipping business

• Average Annual Revenue: $239K
• Average Profit Margins: 5.30%
• Startup Cost: $100-$1K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.40%
• Best For: Web designers and developers, people with strong sales and marketing skills

This is the best business to start with $10K if you have expertise in coding and web design.

Flipping domains is like the online version of flipping houses. You buy a website or eCommerce store, make improvements to increase its value, then sell it for a profit.

Ron Stefanski has grown a $30,000-a-month business selling websites. Hear how he got started in this interview:

#13 Sell online courses

• Average Annual Revenue: $30K-$50K
• Average Profit Margins: 13.10%
• Startup Cost: $100-$1K
• Time to Revenue: 1-6 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 8.5%
• Best For: Educators and teachers, people with niche or in-demand skills and knowledge

Online education is a $218 billion industry, and it’s expected to grow at a CAGR of 9% through 2030. Online courses are an affordable way to start a successful business in this niche.

The initial investment to start an online course business is minimal from a financial standpoint. It can take a lot of time and effort, though, and that’s the main impediment most face getting started.

Find out how Jacques Hopkins overcame that challenge to grow Piano in 21 Days into a $480K-a-year business in this interview:

#14 Transcription business

• Average Annual Revenue: $25K
• Average Profit Margins: 20.50%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 4.4%
• Best For: Fast typers who are excellent listeners and have strong time management skills

If you can type faster than most, you can use that skill to start a business with $10K or less as a transcriptionist.

In fact, it will probably cost much less. All you really need to get started is a computer, internet connection, and an account on a freelance platform like Fiverr, TranscribeMe, or GoTranscript.

#15 Translation business

• Average Annual Revenue: $75K-$200K
• Average Profit Margins: 12.4%
• Startup Cost: $100-$200
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.2%
• Best For: People who speak multiple languages

From advertising to entertainment to technical documents, there are lots of things that people need to have translated, and multilingual entrepreneurs can turn that demand into a lucrative business idea.

According to Indeed, the most profitable languages for translation are:

German
Mandarin
Arabic
French
Japanese
Hindi
Spanish
Italian
Russian
Portuguese

If you speak one or more of the above languages as well as English, then you can likely make good money in translation.

If you’re still wondering what business to start, keep reading for more affordable ways to open your own business!

Small and local businesses you can start with $10,000

#16 Vending business

• Average Annual Revenue: $182K+
• Average Profit Margins: 4.3%
• Startup Cost: $2K-$10K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.5%
• Best For: People who like to drive, system-driven entrepreneurs with strong sales skills

The initial investment to start a vending business varies depending on how many machines you want. That said, you can easily get started with just a few thousand dollars.

Best of all, it’s one of the most flexible low-investment business ideas and you can make a great living working just a couple of days a week.

Adam Hill makes nearly $60K a month with his vending business and teaches others to follow in his footsteps in his Vending Bootcamp. You can also hear insights from Adam in this YouTube interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s_Y-O1nosw

#17 Janitorial cleaning services

• Average Annual Revenue: $74K+
• Average Profit Margins: 6.7%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$30K
• Time to Revenue: 1-6 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.2%
• Best For: Detail-oriented entrepreneurs with strong customer service skills

Keeping an office space or workplace clean is a bigger concern than ever in the post-pandemic world. That means lots of opportunities to start a cleaning services business.

There are lots of ways to scale this business, too. Spruse Clean grew to more than $10M yearly revenue in just three years by expanding into their own product line. Hear how they did it in this YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc2QKJaM9Mc

We’ve got more business ideas in the cleaning niche below!

#18 Airbnb cleaning service

• Average Annual Revenue: $61K+
• Average Profit Margins: 10.8%
• Startup Cost: $300-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 2.4%
• Best For: System and detail-oriented business owners skilled in customer service

Airbnb hosting is a popular business venture in its own right—but that can take a big investment if you don’t already own property.

With Airbnb cleaning services, you help other local business owners serve their customers, and this niche offers a lot of opportunities for business growth.

Queen Bee Cleaning Services makes a lot of its revenue from Airbnb customers. Hear how founder Chris Mondragon built the business in this interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4Iip7BHXwg

You can learn more in Chris’s 7-Figure Cleaning Business Blueprint, where he explains how to write a business plan, choose business insurance, find potential clients, and all the other steps required to start a successful cleaning business.

#19 Window blind cleaning business

• Average Annual Revenue: $64K
• Average Profit Margins: 8.8%
• Startup Cost: $200-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.9%
• Best For: Detail-oriented entrepreneurs with strong customer service skills

An often missed aspect of cleaning is people’s blinds. Using this business model can offer a nice spin on traditional housekeeping services.

Potential clients will be ones who value a higher level of service in the cleaning industry and are likely to pay more.

A blind cleaning service is also a great way to niche down and become known as the leading expert for a service in your area.

Keep reading even more businesses to start with $10K or less.

#20 Tutoring services

• Average Annual Revenue: $18K+
• Average Profit Margins: 13.10%
• Startup Cost: $100-$1K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 8.5%
• Best For: Teachers and educators, people who are strong communicators and motivators

Start tutoring for under $1,000, assuming you have:

Computer
Internet
A vehicle (if you’ll be meeting clients in person)

Students consistently need help mastering subjects like math, science, history, and English. Whether you choose to do test prep or general tutoring, there is plenty of demand for local businesses offering to tutor.

You can even do it online using platforms like Upwork and TutorAround. Certifications from the Association for the Coaching and Tutoring Profession and National Tutoring Association can help you show proof of your tutoring skills.

#21 Lawn care or landscaping business

• Average Annual Revenue: $272K+
• Average Profit Margins: 8.7%
• Startup Cost: $2K-$10K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 8.1%
• Best For: People who like hands-on work and working outside

The low barrier to entry is one thing that draws small business owners to the lawn care industry. You don’t need any special skills to start, and the costs are minimal.

Trevor Kokenge started his landscaping business out of his apartment with just $300 and grew it to more than $22K a month in revenue. Hear how in this interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQdsCmVFPGI

#22 Start a backyard nursery

• Average Annual Revenue: $262K+
• Average Profit Margins: 5.4%
• Startup Cost: $100-$3.5M
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 2.8%
• Best For: Gardeners, lovers of the outdoors, skilled planners and system-implementers

A nursery is a great business idea for people who have a green thumb. You can sell your plants and seeds directly to customers or to local stores like restaurants or flower shops.

While you will need some land to grow on, it takes less than you might think, especially if you grow things like herbs and flowers that don’t take up too much space.

#23 Real estate agents

• Average Annual Revenue: $298K+
• Average Profit Margins: 44.6%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: -0.3%
• Best For: Outgoing and friendly people who are skilled communicators and salespeople

If you are looking for businesses you can start with less than $10,000, then you may want to consider working as a real estate agent.

Real estate agents make a great living and they set their own schedules, so it’s a smart choice if wanting flexibility is one of your reasons for starting a business.

Being a real estate agent requires mostly certifications and licensing as startup costs. You can find your state’s requirements on the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials website.

Check out our interview with Paul Balzotti to hear his tips for new real estate agents:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzgxxq_FYHY

Keep reading for more businesses to start with $10K (or less).

#24 Property management

• Average Annual Revenue: $372K+
• Average Profit Margins: 10.1%
• Startup Cost: $100-$3.5M
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.3%
• Best For: Organized entrepreneurs with strong time management, communication, and customer service skills

Another way to save money and start a real estate business is to manage properties that other people own.

As with cleaning, Airbnb properties are a big opportunity to start a new business as a property manager. NICASA makes $3M a year as an Airbnb business, and a lot of that revenue is from managing other people’s properties. Find out more in this interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m-MosXlpOE

#25 Start a moving company

• Average Annual Revenue: $1.2M+
• Average Profit Margins: 9.91%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$100K
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 3.7%
• Best For: People who like physical work, outgoing and customer service-focused entrepreneurs

Moving is stressful and strenuous—and a lot of people would rather hire someone to do it for them than handle it themselves.

The main expense to start a moving company is the truck. If you don’t already have one, you can save money on startup costs by renting a truck at first then investing your profits into buying your own vehicle.

#26 Junk removal business

• Average Annual Revenue: $5.7M+
• Average Profit Margins: 2.9%
• Startup Cost: $100-$3.5M
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.9%
• Best For: People with high stamina who like physical work, construction and recycling pros

Speaking of hauling heavy things, junk removal is an in-demand business venture. You can make $15-$50 an hour doing it, plus what you can make selling junk to scrap yards.

If you have a truck, van, or another vehicle that can pull a trailer, help people get rid of their unwanted junk and make money doing it.

You’ll need to know:

Your local dumps’ policies and billing rates
Your cost per mile
What recycling yards will purchase
Whether you’ll charge by the pound or by the job

Kyle Landwehr is a junk removal business owner who made more than $2 million in three years. Hear his advice for starting in this interview:

#27 Tour guides

• Average Annual Revenue: $995K+
• Average Profit Margins: 6.6%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 3.5%
• Best For: Actors and performers, extroverted entrepreneurs with good presentation and communication skills

If your location gets tourism, you could start your own business as a tour guide. Share your knowledge and help people explore:

Favorite hiking locations
Local restaurants
Historical buildings and monuments
Haunted locations
Pub and nightclub crawls
The business ideas are unlimited to your creativity

Keep reading for more business ideas you can start for under $10K.

#28 Green business consultant

• Average Annual Revenue: $364K
• Average Profit Margins: 6.4%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$3.5M
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 2.2%
• Best For: Experts in sustainability and green business practices

If you’re passionate about sustainability, think about starting a green business consulting firm. Green business consultants need to have a firm understanding of:

Conservation methods
Technology available
Calculating return on investment
Quality, green-minded contractors for installations

Consider getting certifications from:

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
U.S. Green Building Council
Energy Star (only for licensed PEs and Architects)

Next, we’ll look at a business venture that helps other small business owners succeed.

#29 Leadership consultant

• Average Annual Revenue: $363K+
• Average Profit Margins: 10.3%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$100K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.8%
• Best For: People with management and leadership experience, business experts

You don’t need to lead a giant company to profit from your skills in leadership. Instead, you can help other people run a more successful business as a leadership consultant.

Leadership expert Libby Gill turned her experience as Head of Communications for Sony into a consultant business. Hear her insights here:

#30 Life coaching

• Average Annual Revenue: $63K+
• Average Profit Margins: 10.5%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.5%
• Best For: People with high empathy and emotional IQ who are great communicators, problem-solvers, and motivators

Business owners aren’t the only ones who sometimes need advice and guidance. Everyday people do, too, and you can provide that as a life coach.

While you don’t need a license to be a life coach, getting a certification can help build trust with potential clients, which can grow your business faster. You can get these credentials from places like:

#31 Personal trainer

• Average Annual Revenue: $16K+
• Average Profit Margins: 10.9%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 1-6 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.6%
• Best For: Health, fitness, and exercise experts who are great communicators and motivators

If you are fitness-minded, personal training might be a good business to start with $10K or less. Personal trainers help people achieve their health goals and improve their lives. You’ll need:

Business licenses if required in your location
AED and CPR certifications (Check with the Red Cross for where to get certified near you.)
Potentially to become certified as a personal trainer through:
- National Association of Sports Medicine
- American Council on Exercise

Pro Tip: Read about other certifications at FitnessTrainer.com

After working as a fireman and personal trainer, Jake Brog took his offerings even further and opened a gym for less than $10K. Watch him explain how he started Lab Athletics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lchlyN9RBuw

Keep reading for more business ideas under $10K.

#32 Local delivery services

• Average Annual Revenue: $131K
• Average Profit Margins: 3.6%
• Startup Cost: $100-$9.5K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 6.7%
• Best For: Organized and system-driven entrepreneurs with strong marketing skills

If you’re looking for business ideas and have a car, starting a local delivery service can be a great way to earn some extra money.

You can sign up to work with companies like Uber, GrubHub, and DoorDash, or you can create your own.

If you want to start your own service, you’ll need to:

Create an app.
Recruit restaurants.
Recruit drivers.
Hire a customer support center to handle complaints.

Find out how Trellus same-day delivery service got started in this interview:

Business growth for food delivery is the highest in the food business. If you are looking for small businesses to start, this is low-hanging fruit.

Keep reading for more small businesses to start with less than $10K.

#33 Be a personal shopper

• Average Annual Revenue: $131K
• Average Profit Margins: 3.6%
• Startup Cost: $100-$9.5K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 6.7%
• Best For: People who love shopping who are excellent listeners and great at customer service

Personal shoppers connect people with the products that they need—even if they don’t know exactly what those are before they start.

If you’re starting this kind of venture, your business plan should focus on how you’ll connect with clients, which is the most difficult part of starting a personal shopper business.

#34 Equipment rental service

• Average Annual Revenue: $444K+
• Average Profit Margins: 35-40%
• Startup Cost: $100-$3.5M
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: -0.8%
• Best For: People who own rentable assets, collectors of cars, boats, or other equipment

Equipment rental services are common in a variety of fields, including:

Construction tool rentals
Home medical equipment rentals
Cars, boats, and other rentals

Open Door has a great article on how to improve profits on equipment and ForConstructionPros.com has a great formula to calculate the price of a rental.

Check out how Demitri started offering charter boat rentals:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bb2yRUlCkc

Pro Tip: Make sure to carry business insurance to recover the monetary value if you have high equipment costs because accidents, theft, and injuries can occur.

Still haven’t decided which businesses to start with $10K? Read on for more to choose from!

#35 Event planning business

• Average Annual Revenue: $34K+
• Average Profit Margins: 12.2%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1%
• Best For: Organized and outgoing entrepreneurs with strong communication and time management skills

If you love planning parties, you can turn that passion into a very lucrative business as an event planner.

Event planners can be generalists or focus on a specific niche. The most profitable niches for event planners include:

Luxury wedding planners
Destination wedding planners
Corporate event planners
Virtual event planning
Festival and concert planners

The truth is, though, whatever type of event you have the passion and experience to plan, you can earn money doing it by starting a new business in this industry.

#36 Mobile locksmith services

• Average Annual Revenue: $105K+
• Average Profit Margins: 10.29%
• Startup Cost: $500-$250K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 6.2%
• Best For: Repair professionals, auto experts, people with strong mechanical and math skills

People lock themselves out of their cars all the time. If you offer emergency lock-out assistance, you can contract with insurance companies like AAA or attract clients independently.

#37 Telephone answering service

• Average Annual Revenue: $905K+
• Average Profit Margins: 20.50%
• Startup Cost: $100-$3.5M
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.9%
• Best For: Friendly and outgoing people with strong customer service skills

There are a ton of companies that pay independent contractors or other businesses to handle phone and web support. To get started, apply for jobs on Indeed or freelancing sites like Upwork. If you like this idea:

Make sure you have a computer and headset.
Start pursuing commercial clients.
Hire other people.
Get office space (optional).

#38 Mobile Pet Grooming Business

• Average Annual Revenue: $72K+
• Average Profit Margins: 11.5%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$100K
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.1%
• Best For: Animal lovers and pet experts who are patient, empathetic, and great communicators

To start a mobile pet grooming business, you’ll need:

A van or RV
A grooming kit
A grooming hammock
Sink and water supply
Shampoo and conditioner
A vacuum that won’t get clogged

For other business ideas involving pets, check out our blog about the number one Etsy seller in pet products.

#39 Pet sitting business

• Average Annual Revenue: $34K+
• Average Profit Margins: 16%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.7%
• Best For: Pet owners and animal lovers with strong time management and communication skills

Pet sitting is another great business idea for animal lovers to start with $10K or less. Like mobile grooming, you can start easily from your home and won’t need an office space or commercial storefront.

The easiest way to get started is to join an online community for pet sitters, like Rover or Pet Sitters International. Rover even lets you book pet sits and communicate with clients right through the app.

#40 Dog walking business

• Average Annual Revenue: $34K+
• Average Profit Margins: 16%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.7%
• Best For: Dog owners, lovers, and experts, fit entrepreneurs with high physical stamina who like working outdoors

Similar to other pet care sectors like pet grooming services or vet care, the demand for dog walkers has increased dramatically since 2020.

Nearly one in five Americans adopted a pet in 2020 and early 2021, so any business that helps people care for those new family members can be a great way for entrepreneurs to earn money. The typical cost for these services has increased with demand, and many dog walkers in urban areas charge $500-$600 a month or more per dog.

#41 Childcare services

• Average Annual Revenue: $143K+
• Average Profit Margins: 0.9%
• Startup Cost: $0-$1K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 51.7%
• Best For: Parents, teachers, people who are patient, empathetic, and strong problem-solvers

For those who have experience caring for children, opening a nanny agency can be the most profitable business to start with $10K or less.

Just look at Twinkle Toes Nanny Agency, which has grown to $11.2 million a year in revenue since it was founded in 2011. You can hear how founder Kristy Bickmeyer built the business in this interview:

#42 Security company

• Average Annual Revenue: $4.3M+
• Average Profit Margins: 9.89%
• Startup Cost: $100-$3.5M
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.9%
• Best For: Entrepreneurs with law enforcement experience or strong observation, systemization, and problem-solving skills

There are two types of security companies you can start:

Installation of alarms, security cameras, and key card access systems
Security guards for events, locations, and people

Note that both require special licensing as most jurisdictions want to make sure security company offerings are actually protecting people from criminals. Check out this guide to security guard requirements by state.

Whichever you choose, a security company is one of the best businesses to start with $10K. You’ll only need:

Licensing costs before your first sale
Up to $150 an hour for security and bodyguard services ($1.314M per client for 24/7 year-round)
Up to $1,600 per four-camera system

#43 Pressure washing business

• Average Annual Revenue: $64K
• Average Profit Margins: 8.8%
• Cost: $200-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.9%
• Best For: Detail-focused entrepreneurs who like physical work, outdoor work, and customer service

A pressure washing business is mobile by design because you go to customers’ homes for jobs. This keeps the initial investment low—all you need to get started are a power washer, a vehicle, and some initial cleaning chemicals.

Chase Lille invested around $3,000 to start Wizard Wash as a teenager and was making about $12,000 a month in revenue by the time he finished high school. Hear his advice in this interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNzuP6V0UhA

Pro Tip: You can also get step-by-step guidance on how to start your own pressure washing business with UpFlip’s new 7-Figure Pressure Washing Blueprint course.

#44 Mobile car wash

• Average Annual Revenue: $73K+
• Average Profit Margins: 16.1%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.0%
• Best For: Car lovers, cleaning experts, people who like physical and outdoor work

If you like being outside and washing cars, a mobile detailing business might be right for you. You’ll need:

Customers pay more for bigger cars and more services. You can choose to go for volume or big jobs.

Volume:

Corporate offices
Car dealerships
Car rental companies

Higher paying jobs:

Market to high-end neighborhoods.
Invest in car wraps.
Use digital marketing.
Offer detailing services at up to $400 per car.

Offer weekly or monthly deals for either category to maximize income. Check out how Bigs Mobile started their car detailing business:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irAXgN2n0iQ

#45 Mobile car wrapping

• Average Annual Revenue: $241K+
• Average Profit Margins: 16.1%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$100K
• Time to Revenue: 1-6 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.8%
• Best For: Graphic designers, detail-oriented and system-driven entrepreneurs

Many business owners use car wraps as marketing materials to turn their vehicles into moving billboards. People with luxury cars, meanwhile, may get them wrapped to protect the paint and extend their life.

Having multiple potential customer groups is one thing that makes mobile car wrapping a good business idea. Find out how WrapCo makes $70K a month (after starting with just a hundred bucks) in this interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM1wFesfapQ

#46 Handyman business

• Average Annual Revenue: $204K+
• Average Profit Margins: 5.4%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.7%
• Best For: Repair and construction pros, makers, fixers, and people who like working with their hands

Becoming a handyman is consistently among the best local businesses to start with $10K or less. All you need are basic tools and a way to get to your customers.

Unlike other forms of construction, you don’t need to be a licensed contractor to work as a handyman. That said, getting your General Contractor License expands the types of jobs you can take and can prompt faster business growth.

Caleb Ingraham makes about $1,000 a day with his handyman business. Find out how he built it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leUta_q_MPQ

#47 Painting business

• Average Annual Revenue: $76K+
• Average Profit Margins: 7.2%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$100K
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: -2%
• Best For: Artists and designers, people with contractor or construction experience

House painting is another excellent business idea for people who enjoy physical work. While having construction experience can help you build a client list, you definitely don’t need this background to get started.

This is also one of the most scalable businesses you can start with $10K. Doug Caris bought Arizona Painting Company in 2014 and has grown it to five locations with $2 million a year in revenue. Hear his advice in this interview:

#48 Research services

• Average Annual Revenue: $10M+
• Average Profit Margins: 26.88%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 2.2%
• Best For: Data-driven entrepreneurs with strong organization, time management, and communication skills

Business leaders often need research for information on:

Product features
Market share
Competitors
Consumer opinions

Before they spend thousands on new market research, they will often pay people or other companies to review existing available materials. If that doesn’t work, they’ll hire market research firms to get the information for them.

While the average research services company makes $10M+ annually, the average market researcher only makes $68K per year, which means you’d need at least 50 people on your team to bring in the revenue of an average research company.

That said, all you need to start offering these services is access to the internet and a reliable computer. You can grow from there.

#49 Cell phone and electronics repair

• Average Annual Revenue: $560K+
• Average Profit Margins: 5.7%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.4%
• Best For: Technology and repair pros, detail-focused and system-driven entrepreneurs

The average U.S. household had 22 connected devices in 2022. If you establish yourself as the go-to person to fix them, that’s a lot of repeat business you can secure from your customer base.

You don’t need to be an engineer to offer repair services, either. Joe of Joe’s Electronics Repair learned how to fix things by tinkering with broken items. Now, he runs a seven-figure repair shop:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqce8NAZWYw

#50 Dent removal service

• Average Annual Revenue: $268K+
• Average Profit Margins: 6.1%
• Startup Cost: $100-$3.5M
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 2%
• Best For: People who like working with their hands and talking to customers

Many dents can be removed with no more than a suction cup. All you have to do is:

Watch some YouTube videos
Print flyers
Put the flyers on cars with small dings

#51 Tax preparation service

• Average Annual Revenue: $1.57M
• Average Profit Margins: 18%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months (not including time training as a CPA)
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.7%
• Best For: Certified accountants and tax professionals, people who are good with math, numbers, and finances

Everyone needs to file taxes—and almost nobody likes doing it. That makes tax prep an excellent new business for folks who are mathematically inclined.

You don’t need a special license to file simple personal returns. However, you do need to be an Enrolled Agent or CPA to file business taxes or offer other, more complex services.

That exam, along with a quality accounting software program, are the main expenses of starting a tax preparation service.

#52 Job search services

• Average Annual Revenue: $2.5M+
• Average Profit Margins: 26.88%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 3.6%
• Best For: Recruiting and HR professionals, strong networkers and communicators

Something else just about everyone needs is employment, and most people dislike looking for a job even more than they dislike filing their taxes.

Some common business ideas related to job search services include:

Resume and cover letter writing
Interview preparation and practice
Career coaching
Personal recruiter
Recruiting or staffing agency

Note that these companies must have multiple employees to be able to reach the average annual revenue listed above.

#53 Professional organizer

• Average Annual Revenue: $168K+
• Average Profit Margins: 10.6%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$100K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.2%
• Best For: Neat freaks, people with strong empathy, communication, motivation, and organization skills

Being an organizer isn’t just about decluttering. These professionals also function as a kind of therapist, helping clients bring order to their thoughts and lives along with their spaces. If you have strengths in both areas, you can excel as a professional organizer.

#54 Personal stylist

• Average Annual Revenue: $114K+
• Average Profit Margins: 10.3%
• Startup Cost: $500-$250K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 2%
• Best For: Fashionable entrepreneurs with strong customer service skills

If you’re the type of person who always dresses for the latest trends, you can grow your own business helping others to do the same.

Social media marketing skills can be very helpful for building this kind of business. Build a reputation by offering fashion advice online to establish yourself as an expert and grow your client list.

#55 Makeup artist

• Average Annual Revenue: $51K+
• Average Profit Margins: 5%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$100K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.9%
• Best For: Beauticians and visual artists who are excellent listeners and problem-solvers

Professional makeup artists aren’t just for celebrities. They also help people get ready for photo shoots or milestones like prom or weddings.

One thing to keep in mind: You may need to obtain a license as an esthetician or cosmetologist depending on where you live and the type of makeup you plan to do.

#56 Hair cutting or styling

• Average Annual Revenue: $51K+
• Average Profit Margins: 5%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$100K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.9%
• Best For: Stylists and beauticians, detail-oriented people with strong communication and customer service skills

The great thing about cutting or styling hair is that it comes with built-in repeat business if you make your customers happy.

The biggest expense for most is the physical salon space. You can save money on startup costs by offering mobile services or renting a chair from existing businesses while you save up for your own space.

Learn how Bernard Franklin grew Busy B’s Barbershop to $130K a year in this interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWXB8eSmqOw

#57 Massage therapy

• Average Annual Revenue: $78K+
• Average Profit Margins: 4.35%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$100K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 2.3%
• Best For: Empathetic people with excellent communication skills and knowledge of physiology

You need a license in all 50 states to become a massage therapist.

Along with the $200-$300 for that education, you’ll need to budget around $2,000-$2,500 for a massage table and other equipment, but those are the only startup costs if you start out of your home or as a mobile business that meets clients where they are.

#58 Tailoring and clothing alterations

• Average Annual Revenue: $27K+
• Average Profit Margins: 8.3%
• Startup Cost: $500-$250K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.6%
• Best For: Detail-focused entrepreneurs, fashion and clothing experts who excel at listening and communication

Clothes are expensive, especially formal and professional attire. Tailors help people make the most of that expense by adjusting or repairing clothes to achieve a perfect fit.

The main things you’ll need to get started are:

A sewing machine
Work tables
Measuring tools
Fabric, thread, and other accessories

All told, you can get everything you need for around $1,500-$5,000.

#59 Valet parking services

• Average Annual Revenue: $1M+
• Average Profit Margins: 9.91%
• Startup Cost: $100-$3.5M
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 7.2%
• Best For: Excellent drivers with strong customer service skills

Valet services can be a very lucrative venture for people who live in urban areas or near event venues and tourist destinations where parking is at a premium.

Best of all, the startup costs are next to nothing. If you have a driver’s license, you can connect with local business owners to offer their customers valet service.

Creative and crafty business ventures to start with $10K

#60 Fashion designer

• Average Annual Revenue: $114K+
• Average Profit Margins: 10.3%
• Startup Cost: $500-$250K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 2%
• Best For: Tailors and sewing experts, fashionable and creative entrepreneurs

If you love fashion, you can start designing your own clothes and wearing them as free marketing. The sky’s the limit when it comes to earnings—the world’s richest fashion designer is worth over $10 billion!

You’ll need:

Sewing machine
Fabric – Find fabric at your local craft store or order from Amazon clearance rolls for savings.
Fabric scissors – Our recommended scissors come with additional accessories including a measuring tape.
Measuring tape

It helps to understand pattern-making. Many seamstresses offer skills classes to help people learn the basics or hone specific skills. Connect with a local seamstress if you need help gaining experience.

Afshan Abbas, the founder of Fuchsia Shoes, makes $60K a month designing sustainably made shoes. Check out our interview with her below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Iz4tTVrZE

Keep reading for more businesses to start with less than $10K.

#61 Freelance writer

• Average Annual Revenue: $712K
• Average Profit Margins: 14.6%
• Startup Cost: $100-$200
• Time to Revenue: 1 month to 3 years
• Annual Market Growth Rate: -1.5%
• Best For: Writers, editors, and other language experts

If you love writing, a copywriting service is one of the best online businesses to start. There’s plenty of work for a small business owner. Copywriting service is focused on:

Writing content for businesses
Reviewing content for grammatical errors and SEO for businesses
Translation services if you are bilingual (or a ninja at Google Translate)

Use SurferSEO to optimize your writing for the web.

#62 Freelance editing and proofreading

• Average Annual Revenue: $25K+
• Average Profit Margins: 9%
• Startup Cost: $100-$1K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.9%
• Best For: Writers and language experts with a strong eye for detail

Another way to make money from your language skills is to edit things that other people write. If you’re an expert in grammar rules and have a sharp eye for spotting small errors, then editing can be a good business option.

#63 Web design business

• Average Annual Revenue: $239K+
• Average Profit Margins: 5.3%
• Startup Cost: $100-$1K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.4%
• Best For: Programmers, coders, and designers with strong time and task management skills

A website is a necessity for small businesses today—but most business owners aren’t web design experts.

If you are, you can build a successful online business offering web design services. You’ll be in especially high demand if you have skills like SEO-focused design, eCommerce design, or other niche expertise that can help drive more traffic to websites.

#64 Woodworking and furniture making

• Average Annual Revenue: $6.4M+
• Average Profit Margins: 8.53%
• Startup Cost: $100-$3.5M
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.9%
• Best For: Artistic entrepreneurs who like working with their hands

The woodworking industry in the U.S. is expected to surpass $291 billion in 2024, so there’s definitely a lot of profit potential for local business owners in this niche.

Woodworking equipment costs less than you might expect, too. You can get everything you need to start a business for around $3,500-$5,000.

The UpFlip blog post on how to start a woodworking business has more info on how to get started. Or you can watch this interview with Daniel Westbrook to find out how he started a $30K-a-month woodworking business:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTByJCFsr4k

Note that you’d need around 33 employees to meet the average revenue value listed above.

#65 Candle maker

• Average Annual Revenue: $60K-$120K
• Average Profit Margins: 5-15%
• Startup Cost: $100-$10K
• Time to Revenue: 30-90 days
• Annual Market Growth Rate: -9.3%
• Best For: Creative people with strong sales, marketing, and customer service skills

Candle-making is super easy to start; you just need:

10 pounds of wax
Pouring pitcher
A pot to put the pitcher in to create a double boiler
Thermometer
Containers to hold the candles
Scented fragrances
Wicks

Check out how the owner of Blk Sunflower made $300K in 18 months by making and selling candles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzZ5aTbiLh0

#66 Jewelry maker

• Average Annual Revenue: $114K+
• Average Profit Margins: 10.3%
• Startup Cost: $500-$250K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 2.0%
• Best For: People who are dextrous, creative, and have strong sales skills

Six of the top 10 Etsy sellers in 2022 were jewelry makers.

That’s both good news and bad news: There’s definitely a market, but you’ll also be up against a lot of competition from existing businesses.

Finding a unique niche or target audience is one way to stand out. Some popular types of jewelry that are affordable to make include:

Morse code bracelets
Upcycled jewelry made from found objects
Stone pendants and necklaces
Beaded necklaces
Personalized charms or pendants

#67 Decorating services

• Average Annual Revenue: $168K+
• Average Profit Margins: 10.6%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$100K
• Time to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.2%
• Best For: Artists, designers, and other creative entrepreneurs

Interior designers, Christmas light hanging companies, and prop designers are all decorating services that you can make a great living offering. These types of jobs are great for creatives.

#68 Graphic design business

• Average Annual Revenue: $123K+
• Average Profit Margins: 13.5%
• Startup Cost: $500-$5K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 2%
• Best For: Tech-savvy visual artists

Graphic designers make images for websites, social media platforms, and marketing materials—and there’s a lot of demand for these services.

This is among the best businesses to start for creative people who want flexibility. You can build a graphic design business by:

Creating custom images for clients based on their specifications
Selling your graphics through a marketplace like Pixabay or Creative Market
Selling items with your designs in a print-on-demand store

Whichever way you go, the startup costs are low.

#69 Photography business

• Average Annual Revenue: $50K
• Average Profit Margins: 7.3%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$10K
• Time to Revenue: 1-6 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.3%
• Best For: Visual artists, creative people with strong interpersonal skills

Most of the initial investment to start a photography business is buying professional cameras and camera equipment.

If you’re a hobbyist photographer and already have quality gear, you can get started for much less.

There are tons of niches in the photography industry, from portraits and art prints to ad copy photos. Choosing the right one for your skill set is the best way to set yourself up for success.

That’s how Mile High Productions built a $35K-a-month business doing drone photography for local real estate agents. See how they got started in this interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUcv1HAAbns

#70 Teach music lessons

• Average Annual Revenue: $18K+
• Average Profit Margins: 13.10%
• Startup Cost: $100-$1K
• to Revenue: 1-3 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 8.5%
• Best For: Singers and musicians who are good communicators and motivators

If you know how to sing or play an instrument, you can start a business sharing that knowledge.

Most music lesson instructors charge $25-$50 for a half-hour lesson, so you can make a very good living as a music teacher if you can keep a full student list.

What business can I start with $10K that serves food?

A brick-and-mortar restaurant might be rather involved and costly, but there are other food business models that can be started for under $10K in most places. Major cities will normally have more stringent requirements that might include:

A food handler card – Check for requirements in your area. Note that “Highly recommended” means not required.
Health district inspections
Additional insurance requirements

Let’s look at some attainable food businesses to start for under $10K.

#71 Start a food truck

• Average Annual Revenue: $41K+
• Average Profit Margins: 6.4%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$100K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.2%
• est For: Cooks and food service pros with excellent customer service skills

A food truck is one of the most popular food business models because:

Food trucks are less expensive than buying a restaurant.
You don’t have to clean the dining room
You don’t have to hire servers or hosts/hostesses
You can go where your customers are

To keep it under $10K, you’ll need to start it with a used rig and limited menu, but it can be done.

Vet Chef started with more upfront but still has some great tips for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCnE13BaQlk

#72 Become the ice cream man

• Average Annual Revenue: $279K+
• Average Profit Margins: 3.7%
• Startup Cost: $100-$3.5M
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.7%
• Best For: Customer service pros who like driving

Almost everyone recognizes the sound of the ice cream man coming around the corner. Kids run out to it in droves and parents know they are about to spend money when they hear the familiar tune.

These trucks differ from food trucks because:

The target market is kids,
There are more seasonal fluctuations.
You just need a freezer on wheels.

Keep reading for more food startup businesses to start with $10K.

#73 Meal prep company

• Average Annual Revenue: $21M+
• Average Profit Margins: 2.24%
• Startup Cost: $500-$250K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 18.8%
• Best For: System-driven chefs, cooks, and foodies

Hard-working families are often too busy to prepare their own home-cooked food. If you love cooking and want to make a great living, then start offering meal prep services.

Create a menu.
Market your meals.
Buy in bulk.
Offer pickup or delivery.

Check out Food Business Pros for information on how they make money running a food prep company.

You’ll need around 16 employees to make the average annual revenue listed above, as the revenue per employee across the industry is around $1.4 million.

Keep reading for another food idea that doesn’t cost more than $10K.

#74 Mobile food carts

• Average Annual Revenue: $41K+
• Average Profit Margins: 6.4%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$100K
• Time to Revenue: 3+ months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.2%
• Best For: Extroverted food pros with strong multitasking and sales skills

I’ve seen people in Las Vegas buy a rolling cooler, a bag of ice, and a 32-pack of water and then go sell it in parks, on the Strip, or on busy corners. They make their money back on the first 32-pack and then make $28 a case.

That’s the super cheap route, but you can go a more professional route by buying:

A hot or cold mobile cart like the one pictured below
A vehicle to transport the cart
The food to serve
Disposable serving utensils

Keep reading for more businesses to start with $10K!

#75 Catering

Three stainless steel food warmer for catering

• Average Annual Revenue: $124K+
• Average Profit Margins: 5.5%
• Startup Cost: $1K-$100K
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.0%
• Best For: Cooks and chefs who are organized with strong project and time management skills

The catering industry is expected to reach $378.39 billion in 2026 with a CAGR of 8.2%.

People hire caterers for weddings, business meetings, and other events. You can get everything you need on Amazon and (depending on your area’s food-service rules and regulations) cook the food at home.

Make sure to have a great presentation because people paying for premium services expect the presentation to be exquisite.

#76 Be a baker

• Average Annual Revenue: $1.52M
• Average Profit Margins: 5.4%
• Startup Cost: $100-$3M
• Time to Revenue: 1-6 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.1%
• Best For: Food industry professionals who are creative, good with customers, and have strong math skills

Opening a brick-and-mortar bakery costs more than $10,000, but there are ways to get started with less.

Mignon Francois spent about $5 to start baking cupcakes. She used the profits from that first batch to make more, and grew a name doing cupcake catering until she saved up enough to open a storefront. Hear her advice in this interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmviDvmh5js

#77 Make and sell artisanal foods

• Average Annual Revenue: $278K+
• Average Profit Margins: 16.33%
• Startup Cost: $500-$250K
• Time to Revenue: 6-18 months
• Annual Market Growth Rate: -0.8%
• Best For: Creative foodies who are good at planning and marketing

You don’t need to open a restaurant to sell food you make to customers. Another option is to make things like candy, pickles, sauces, or other homemade foods.

The startup costs for this are lower if you don’t open a storefront right away. Instead, you can start an online store or sell in person at farmers markets and other pop-up events.

Closing

We’ve provided you with a list of 77 businesses that cost less than $10K to start.

If you want to jump in where someone else left off, look for liquidated inventory sales and going-out-of-business offers with existing businesses for sale under $10K.

We’re always looking for business owners to profile in our blogs and YouTube videos. What are some businesses you’ve seen started for under $10K?

Business ideas

How to Start an Advertising Agency (and Make $500K/Year)

One of the hottest industries to start a business in is the tech industry—more specifically social media marketing.

We're going to walk you through the process of how to start an advertising agency so you can begin your path to success in digital marketing.

We talked to Jason Yormark, founder and Chief Social Officer of Socialistics, about how he started his company and has 4x the revenue since starting it 2.5 years ago.

He started off with Microsoft then started blogging during a year layoff before getting hired back.

He started the Socialistics advertising agency as a side project but has grown it to managing $2-5K social media marketing campaigns for 15 clients, including Habitat for Humanity and the U.S. Air Force.

We'll give you everything you need to know when starting an advertising agency, including an overview of the industry, developing the business concept, getting all the licensing/business requirements, commonly asked questions about advertising and marketing, strategies for launching, and business operations.

Throughout, we'll provide input from Jason and myself on what we have found that works and doesn't work. Keep reading to find out more.

Advertising Industry Overview

Business owners in all industries need marketing. Most small businesses don't have the time and knowledge to run their own ad campaigns, so there's a ton of opportunity for starting a new business in marketing or advertising.

Let's start by discussing the state of the industry. Because of the global pandemic, marketing spending dropped to $1.28 Trillion in 2020 according to PQ media. Jason experienced a drop in revenue which he attributes to:

[su_quote]Companies trying to keep employees overspend on marketing.[/su_quote]

I saw similar results in my marketing and blogging business from February through September of last year and then spending started ramping up again.

This year I've been getting approximately 3x the requests of previous years, which I attribute to my business maturing, combined with more business confidence.

Despite a drop in overall spending, according to Beroe Inc, global digital marketing was between $330-340 billion in 2020 and grew almost 13% over 2019.

Meanwhile, spending on legacy advertising formats like TV, billboards, and radio declined by 30%.

According to Safe Frog Marketing Group (through Hubspot), nearly 2/3 of companies hire an advertising agency or freelancer to manage part of their digital marketing needs.

Combine this with the number of marketing companies staying the same ,and spending on advertising expected to increase by 8-15% according to Forbes, this is the perfect time for starting an advertising agency.

One of the opportunities Jason told us about in digital advertising is the ability to attract potential clients with reduced retainers. Here's what he had to say,

[su_quote]Look for what companies hate about the industry. Then look to disrupt it. Month-to-month contracts have been a disruptor for us that has allowed us to do 3-4X growth in such a short time.[/su_quote]

Major Advertising Agencies and Other Competitors

Globally, the 50 largest marketing/advertising agencies make over $460 million in revenue or more. The top ad agency, Accenture Interactive made over $4.4 Billion in 2018. Wow! They are killing it! If you want to see the full list check out this article by Agency Spotter.

According to IBIS World, there are 5,585 digital advertising agencies in the United States, so there is a ton of competition, but plenty of revenue to start your own agency and work for your ideal client.

I did a little estimation of what the average marketing agency makes based on these numbers, and it's around $20 million.

Granted, some aren't going to be anywhere near this, but even if you are making $75,000+ working from home as a one-man company, that's not bad money.

Currently 2 years in, I make enough working part-time to pay the bills without stressing. It's not nearly what Jason estimated:

[su_quote]I was making about $60k with 80-90% profit when it was just me.[/su_quote]

Inspiration for Starting an Advertising Agency

The first step when you want to start an ad agency is to conduct research to determine what is right for you. Your marketing company should be focused on satisfying your potential client's marketing needs while utilizing your current skill base.

You may want to start a marketing company focused on a specific niche, such as Business to Business (B2B) or Business to Customer (B2C), a general marketing company, or you may want to start a digital marketing firm focused primarily on a specific social media network like Facebook.

You aren’t limited to just one type, but this decision will impact how to start a media company. This decision will drive every move going forward.

Some of the common types of marketing companies are:

Social Media Marketing - Focused on marketing through social media
Email Marketing - Email-based marketing
Brand Management - Building a brand through a variety of techniques
Content Management - Managing the flow of content
Copywriting - Writing about products, services, tutorials, or website wording
Product Marketing - Focused on analyzing interest in a product then selling the product
Marketing Analysis - Analyzing how to improve through meeting market demand
Growth Marketing - Focused on increasing the market share through marketing
PR/Communications - Communicating with external stakeholders
Event Marketing - Marketing events like concerts or business conferences
SEO/SEM - Improving organic search results or paid search results
E-Commerce - Marketing products sold online

The Muse has a great article that describes what each type of marketing is like.

Socialistics focuses on social media marketing for B2B primarily. Jason told us,

[su_quote]It's too hard to fight for every business out there. We look for clients who believe marketing is valuable, their business is ready to be marketed, and that we are confident we can help them. If either of those aren't there, then we aren't the right company for them.[/su_quote]

Marketing is focused on helping people or companies become aware of a product or service and helping them move from unaware, to aware, to researching the offering, and finally to purchase.

Each business has a different model for accomplishing this. We'll show you some of the ways to achieve this.

Keep reading for different types of marketing agencies.

Name Your Marketing Company

I can't stress enough the importance of the name you choose when starting a marketing company. It will communicate what the company is all about. Keep reading for ideas about how to name your startup marketing agency.

Does the name explain the business?

A man sitting on a chair with his laptop

Socialistics' name is a bit of a challenge for me to picture what it does. The name is unique, but here's how I break it down:

Social - " of or relating to human society, the interaction of the individual and the group, or the welfare of human beings as members of society" - Merriam-Webster Dictionary

-istics- "of, relating to, or characteristic of" - Merriam-Webster Dictionary

It took me a minute to wrap my mind around the name to realize it meant relating to social media. I wonder whether Jason was going for something that made people think more about what it does.

He could be taking the exact opposite strategy of what I'd normally suggest, which could potentially offer similar results.

I tend to prefer including words like Marketing, Advertising, or something to identify what your company actually does, which can make it easier for people to think of it when they are looking for help.

Is it easy to spell?

Make sure your business name is easy to remember when using a search engine. A crazy name like Onomatopoeia Tees makes searching for your business difficult because it's hard to spell.

Because people tend to type fast, it can be helpful to register domain names for common misspellings of your business name and forward them to your website to make it easier for customers to find you.

Location

Including your state, county, or city identifies you as a local business. For example, Sin City Modeling Agency would obviously be focused on models in Las Vegas.

I would typically discourage this for a marketing company unless you are specifically trying to narrow your business model to serve clients in the local area.

There is too much remote work available to limit yourself from the start. Later it might make sense, but in the beginning, it can be hard to get that first big client.

Branding

Does your name fit your branding? Some business owners focus on visual ideas for a logo before a name. Fortunately, Socialistics logo spells out what they do for people. Take a look:

As you can see, it has their name and "a social media agency."

The "S" in the logo also hints at one of the advantages of social media marketing: the fact that internet marketing offers a closed-loop marketing strategy, while other forms of advertising do not.

Overall, I like it. It tells what the company does, suggests differentiation to those who know about the industry, and also could have ties to their belief in community service because what we put out into the world comes back to us.

Register a .com

Find a name for which the .com domain is available. It's the most recognizable. You can conduct a search by clicking here. The longer you can purchase it for, the better. This helps communicate that you are in it for the long haul.

Some great places to buy a domain include:

Google Domains
Go Daddy
Your Web Builder
Unstoppable Domains - only use if you are familiar with blockchain technology

Test Your Name!

See how people like it. Check Google Trends. Read articles like Five Tools for Naming a Business.

Make sure to check what happens if people shorten it. You wouldn't want to name a business Sensational Product Advertising & Marketing because people might shorten it to SPAM, and that goes right to junk mail.

Once you're satisfied with the name, register your business name with the government so you can protect someone else from getting it.

Write a Business Plan for Your Ad Agency

You need a business plan to help define the advertising agency's objectives and strategy.

A business plan for your advertising agency guides decision-making, helps financiers consider whether to provide startup costs, and gives you something to show businesses who could be potential partners or clients.

A business plan should answer the following questions:

What was your inspiration for starting an advertising agency?
What problem are you solving for clients?
What is the market opportunity? Who are your clients? What types of businesses need your services?
What is different about your advertising agency? Why should other businesses believe you will be successful?
What progress has your agency made so far?
What startup costs have you already incurred by starting an agency?
What do you need funding for? What are the costs associated with incremental sales?

A creative business plan goes a long way. It needs to be inspiring, informative, and factual. There are a ton of businesses in constantly changing environments, so you need to stand out to a potential client.

A business plan that is constantly evolving helps you keep your business plan in line with where the business is and where you want it to go. We've compiled some resources to help you build an awesome business plan.

Templates

We've gathered templates to help you develop your business plan. Here are some of the best:

One-page business plan
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Business Guide
State-specific templates
Business Plan Template for a Startup Business

Resources

It gets better! Here's some free and low-cost education on business plans:

How to Write a Business Plan
SCORE's free business plans and startup assistance resources
The Complete Business Plan Course (Includes 50 Templates)

How to Start an Online Advertising Agency

Most types of businesses have similar processes that have to be performed.

Whether you want to know how to start a digital marketing agency or how to start a social media marketing agency, there are related expenses that will be incurred. Every agency will need to:

Legally establish the advertising agency
Obtain necessary licenses and tax requirements
Obtain funding
Establish a location
Create a website
Create social media profiles
Have a tech stack that simplifies the operations of your small business

We'll give you tips and information on how to get the most of your digital marketing company in each of these areas.

Legally Establish the Advertisement Agency

You've developed a plan and created a name for your advertising agency. It's time to create the legal structure.

For best results, hire legal representation that has experience starting advertising agencies, like an attorney, accountant, or tax specialist.

It will simplify the process so you can get clients, build a team, and run creative campaigns.

There are five basic types of legal structures that most people will utilize: sole proprietorships, Limited Liability Corporations (LLC), Partnerships, Corporations, and Franchises.

Each has its pros and cons. You'll have to decide which is best for you, but we've gathered information on each to make it easier.

Sole Proprietorship

A sole proprietorship is the easiest way to start a digital ad company, but the structure doesn't protect the owner's personal assets from legal issues. That means if something goes wrong, you could lose both your agency and your home.

This structure is the least difficult to set up, but I'd recommend agencies getting professional liability insurance and cybersecurity insurance because you'll be a potential entry point to clients' systems.

If your website, email, or other services get hacked, it could be detrimental to more than just your agency: it could cause client lawsuits.

To start a sole proprietorship, fill out a special tax form called a Schedule C. Sole proprietors can also join the American Independent Business Alliance.

Limited Liability Corporation (LLC)

An LLC is the most common business structure used in the United States because an LLC protects the owner's personal assets.

It's similar to partnerships and corporations, but can be a single-member LLC in most states. An LLC requires a document called an operating agreement.

Each state has different requirements. Here’s a link to find your state's requirements. Delaware and Nevada are common states to file an LLC because they are really business-friendly. Here's a blog on the top 10 states to get an LLC.

Partnerships and Corporations

Partnerships and corporations are typically for massive organizations or legal firms.

Unless there is a specific reason you need a partnership, it is better to do a multi-person LLC. Investopedia has good information about partnerships and corporations here.

Franchise

There are several opportunities to purchase successful franchises. TopFranchise.com has a list of 10 advertising companies that you can start as a franchise.

This makes it where an entrepreneur can benefit from the reputation of an established clothing printer that has already worked out many of the kinks of starting from scratch.

Check out our BigFrog videos to learn more about franchise benefits. They are a t-shirt printing company, but they still have great advice on the business model.

Obtain Necessary Licenses

Each location has different licenses, permits, or tax forms required. Use the SBA License and Permits page to find requirements for your locations. Some locations have very confusing regulations.

If you don't work with a legal representative, make sure to talk to the employees who work in the licensing and tax offices. They can give you advice on which licenses you actually need.

Make it a point to follow the laws. I once met a person who failed to follow the proper regulations, and it cost her a substantial fine and nearly 100 hours of community service per month.

Obtain Funding

People sitting and planning about funding a business

Ad Agency startup costs can be achieved for under $1,000. You basically need some space in your home, a website, social media, and some time.

If you are going to rent an office space or run a ton of paid ad campaigns, the cost goes dramatically up.

That's not really necessary unless you are starting a franchise or have a local team that needs a space to all work together. When it's just you, an advertising agency can be started for less than a few hundred per month.

If you do need to obtain external funding, other options include:

Loan from family or friends
Business partner(s)
Government programs

The SBA offers free courses on financing options and funding programs. For info on using personal funds to start a business, check out this article from The Hartford.

Alternative sources of funding include:

Crowdfunding
Credit cards
Home equity loan
Rollover for business startups (ROBS)

Establish a Location

For most small business owners, an advertising agency can be a home-based business until you've reached profitability. Many will meet a client at a local coffee shop.

If you feel you need a more professional location to book the job, I'd recommend looking into office-sharing services like WeWork. They let you share space with others, reducing the expenses of having an office.

Some things to consider if you go other routes are:

How many people will be on my team?
How many people will come to a client meeting?
How can I display my campaigns?
Does space encourage the exchange of ideas?
How quickly is the company growing?
Will we have a sales team to answer client calls?
Are we 24/7 because we offer services across the world?

Contact a local commercial real estate agent to assist you in the search. You can search for them by your area here.

Create a Website

A website is critical to a marketing company. It's often the first thing people see, and if the job isn't done right, why should they trust you to do their advertising right?

From a marketing perspective, your website needs to show you get results. But what does that mean?

Some things I look for when I search for businesses include:

Do they come up when I search them? With Target, Yes they do.
Does it show Wikipedia or Google My Business information in the search? If not, make sure you fix that.
When I click on the link, how fast does it load? I want instantaneous on desktop or less than 3 seconds if over cell phone data. Any less, and you are losing customers. Google has extensive data on what is expected to rank high in search.
Now that I'm on the site, does it look professional? If not, I'm probably going to run unless I can tell they use it for experimentation.

Building a great website is so important. Fortunately, there's a lot of things that make it easy. Using web builders has never been easier. They have tons of plugins and drag-and-drop functionality. I'd recommend the following:

Easiest to use: Wix
Best features: Wordpress
Other Options: Great List

Add the list of website builders into the article. Get affiliate links from Serge.

Alternatively, you can hire a web developer, but they'll probably charge you up to $25k to do the same setup you would anyways. They just accomplish it quicker because they know what they are doing.

Create Social Media Profiles

I'd recommend having all possible social media profiles because you never know where you'll find a client. For B2B, the best is LinkedIn, but I'd also make sure you are on:

YouTube - Best for Video
Instagram - Best for products and other marketing that uses pictures
Facebook - Best for B2C marketing
Twitter - Financial markets, political, and crypto are big industries on Twitter
TikTok - Short fun videos primarily targeted to ages 30 and under

You can start with one and focus on it or try them all and narrow them down based on the results. Hootsuite has some good information on best practices. You'll need to keep up to date on these if you are starting an advertising agency.

Have a tech stack that simplifies the operations of your advertising agency

Every advertising agency will need a tech stack to make running the business easier.

I'm not going to go into great detail on each of them as they all have great educational resources available that I suggest you utilize as you'll be using them a lot. Here's the list of some I love:

HootSuite or other social media management tools that put all your social accounts in one place and let you manage it from their dashboard.
Google Workspace for email, spreadsheets, presentations, and cloud storage.
Integrated accounting software that connects to your bank and allows automation so you only have to set a rule once. PC Mag has a great article about various options.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software to keep all your information in one place. Agencies have a ton of content they handle for a lot of clients. Being able to keep track of it in one place is crucial for the success of the business.
Content Management Software (CMS) is used for storing, labeling, and sorting content. A CMS may be part of a CRM, or it may have to be integrated, but easy access to files is critical to assist clients.
Analytics Software will be needed and attached to all web assets so you can track how you are performing. This will be true for both the advertising agency and your clients. You can't improve results if you aren't measuring them.

These are the bare minimum I would suggest before starting an advertising agency.

Business Expansion

Now that you have everything you need to start an advertising agency, it's time to find clients and expand the business.

Marketing and Advertising Strategy for an Advertising Agency

Finding clients can be done in a variety of ways. Agencies can use their personal network, the same ad strategies you plan to use for clients, conventions, and other techniques. The biggest thing is to be sincere.

Jason told us about how he managed to land the Air Force and Habitat for Humanity. He told us,

[su_quote]The Air Force was more about nurturing them than pursuing. They were frustrated with 30-page reports they didn't understand. So I sat down with them and took my time, understanding what was really important to them.[/su_quote]

In other words, always be ready to listen because that might be enough to land a client.

Here's what he had to say about Habitat for Humanity:

[su_quote]They had somebody at an event. Heard a speech and liked what they heard. We had to pursue them though. We had to follow up because it was a strategic decision. It's feel-good work and brings us clients because it speaks about our morals.[/su_quote]

[su_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb1czTEK8f8 "]

In that scenario, he had to do lots of follow up and be patient. When clients say "no," they mean they aren't ready yet.

Potential Partnerships and Collaborations for an Advertising Agency

Partnerships and collaboration for an advertising agency may come from selling other tech that they find useful, being listed in blogs and reviews, or through fields like photographers, graphic designers, and developers.

Another source of partnerships is non-profit institutions. As Jason pointed out:

[su_quote]Habitat for Humanity wasn't so much about the money as the message it sends about our business and our values.[/su_quote]

If you can get a client that people know and share their values, it makes expansion so much easier.

Contact List Building for an Advertising Agency

Every person you come in contact with is a referral. Anything you do you should be trying to get followers, likes, and people signing up for your email list.

This makes a huge difference. You can then share more content with them to help them get closer to becoming a client. Even if they don't own a business one day, they might soon.

Some useful tools include:

Hubspot - Free email marketing tools, including forms, databases, analytics, and templates
MailChimp - Similar to Hubspot’s marketing services but started as an email marketing company.
SendGrid - Most of my software development clients prefer SendGrid. It’s more tech-heavy though

Advertising Agency Daily Operations

An advertising agency makes its money from retainers and is mostly a time-intensive business.

The reason digital marketers use scheduling tools for as much of their work as possible is they need someone to be available when their clients need them.

People tend to use Facebook at specific times every day. If no one is available to respond to comments because they are working on something else, that is going to harm the advertising agency's clients.

If you are unable to satisfy your clients' needs, they'll go somewhere else.

Jason focuses on "service over revenue growth" because the revenue growth will come with time.

As long as they retain the customers they have, they know they'll have around $40k/month coming in consistently while managing 15 clients.

Remote Workforce in Advertising Agencies

Jason was concerned that his team being spread across the world would hurt him.

The idea that your team couldn't be all together was something he viewed as a challenge at first, but now he views it as one of the main sales points. He told us:

[su_quote]Turn weaknesses into strengths. Remote saves clients money and gives more access to talent. It also gives the client 24/7 service.[/su_quote] [su_quote]You can expect each client to be around $2,000-5,000 and require 20-40 man-hours to give them proper service.[/su_quote]

There are a ton of great resources to be able to utilize the global workforce. Companies like Upwork are a great place to start. You can find reviews of other places to find marketing freelancers in this blog.

Top Advertising/Marketing Influencers

Neil Patel - He’s marketed everything and has over 2 million followers across all channels. His blog gets over 4 million views per month.
Matt Bailey - Over 20 years in Marketing and author of Internet Marketing: An Hour a Day (2011)
Gary Vaynerchuk - Over 30 Million followers across his platforms.

Conclusion

Starting an ad agency can be a highly rewarding career. We used insights from Jason Yormark and myself to help you get an inside look at what life in the marketing business is like.

We provided you with the knowledge and resources to learn about the industry and name your company.

You have tons of resources to get the business up and running, ideas on where to find clients, and ways to operate the business.

Now it's up to you. Will you be the world's next great advertising agency?

Business ideas

Monday.com Review: Pros & Cons, Ratings & More

Monday.com reviews all cover the same material, but do they actually implement Monday to test it? We did, and you’ll know what to expect after reading our Monday.com review. Monday has a lot of great features. Most of them work well, there are some bugs though, and we’ll let you know what to expect when you choose Monday workforce software. Monday will help you get the most results for your money with consistently higher ROI than other paid packages. Get ready to find out how.

What is Monday.com?

Monday.com Work OS is an open platform where anyone can create and shape the tools they need to run every aspect of their work. By combining building blocks, like apps and integrations, organizations and teams can build or customize whatever they need to optimize efficiency, productivity, and collaboration. Monday has a variety of features depending on what you need to do. Monday has six main products:

Monday Sales CRM: A customer relationship management tool used for contact management and tracking the sales process.
Monday Marketer: Used for tracking marketing campaigns and content generation.
Monday Projects: Used for planning, project management, and monitoring projects.
Monday Dev: Used for planning a roadmap, tracking development and bugs using either kanban or scrum methodologies.
WorkForms: Create surveys to gather information, use them as embeddable content or shareable links.
Canvas: A whiteboard that multiple people can work on at once.

All the features on Monday.com

Monday.com has a ton of basic features to make it easy to manage your business. Features include:

Dashboards: Use dashboards to understand important data at light speed with graphs, calendar views, timelines, and work progress.
Automation: You’ll use these to improve workflows, notifications, and emails. There are more than 200 automations ready to use, plus custom workflows with the Enterprise plan.
Kanban: Used in software development to manage the creation of new features. Provides an easy setup with a customizable user interface.
Digital Asset Management: Helps you manage file storage for easy access and reviews. Monday integrates with Adobe products. Canva integrates with Monday through Zapier or Make (formerly Integromat).
Software Integration: Seamlessly integrate with hundreds of apps. You can even embed apps directly into Monday.com. Check out the full list of apps.
Gantt Charts: Use this view to measure the team's progress, improve scheduling, and remove bottlenecks in your processes.
WorkDocs: Help keep the whole team on the same page with Monday WorkDocs. You can create reports and checklists without sending the documents back and forth by adding multiple users to the document. This is great for progress reports or updating business plans.

In addition to the emphasized features, they have a chart of all their features which you can view. Depending on your needs, you’ll automatically want to go with certain plans.

Monday.com Reviews

There aren’t many project management tools that are as highly rated as the Monday program. They have a lot of different offerings, so I’ll provide a Monday.com review for the following categories:

Reviews of Monday.com on Trustpilot
Monday Mobile Apps Review
Monday Desktop App Review
Monday CRM Review
Monday Marketer Review
Project Management Tool Review
Monday.com Support Team Review

Get ready for a Monday.com review on it's Trustpilot score.

Reviews of Monday.com on Trustpilot

At UpFlip, we prefer to use Trustpilot to establish what software companies are eligible as potential partners. Trustpilot includes: [su_note note_color="#dbeafc"]

Number of Reviews
Overall Rating
Percentage Rated 1 to 5 Stars
Quickness of Response to Negative Reviews
Reviews by Keywords

[/su_note] Monday.com scores 4.3 stars on about 3,000 reviews and 95% are 4 stars or above. The majority of positive reviews mention that Monday is a very user-friendly program. Some even call it their go-to tool. The majority of the 3-star and below complaints are because of the support functionality. For those who expect support on the fly, you’ll want to get the Enterprise plan because the other paid plans don’t include dedicated support personnel. I personally expect 24-hour windows for email support, but every business is different. Next, Let’s look at the mobile app.

Monday App on iOS and Android

Many people do most of their work from mobile devices and the Monday app satisfies most of their needs. That means you need a user-friendly program that works on a variety of screen sizes. On iOS, Monday has around 13,000 reviews with a 4.7-star rating. The most favorable rating states that Monday solved problems that 25 other tools couldn’t. That’s quite a glowing recommendation. On the negative side, there are a lot of complaints about specific screens. While I was testing the app, I noticed there wasn’t a fit-to-screen view for the survey responses, nor can I build surveys on the go. monday.com review iphonex screenshot

On Android, Monday.com has a 4.5-star rating with more than 15,000 reviews. monday.com review mobile android screenshot

Make sure you seek out reviews for the specific features you need in the app. I’d love to review them all, but there are so many that I can’t possibly do it in a single blog.

Monday.com Desktop App

The desktop version of Monday.com is robust with the same features as the cloud version. Here, you can even sync multiple accounts. I had an old one I forgot about and it took less than a minute to sync them. I would personally like to see a more beneficial offline mode. I intentionally disconnected my internet to see what the Monday.com desktop app would show and it showed less information than the mobile app in airplane mode. I’d like to see them update the desktop version to allow similar features. The main advantages of the desktop app are:

You can set it to open on startup. This feature is highly beneficial for people who spend their whole day on Monday.com.
A desktop app prevents distractions. When you have tabs open in a browser, it’s easy to get distracted. The desktop app doesn’t have many of the common distractions embedded.

Monday.com CRM

Person Drawing Customer Relationship Concept On Notebook

One of the features that is beneficial for all businesses is the CRM tool. Monday makes it easy to start a CRM with their templates. You have three choices: CRM: Focused on Deals, Contacts, Accounts, Leads, Activities, Sales Dashboard, and Learning Center. The CRM makes it easy to keep track of your customers in one place. You can tie contacts and deals to specific accounts to make measuring client lifetime value easier. Real Estate CRM: Includes Properties, Contacts, Agency Dashboard, and Learning Center so that you can easily keep track of listings, clients, and performance metrics. Learn more. Fundraising CRM: Nonprofits, political organizations, and business endeavors alike benefit from using the fundraising CRM to track the relationships of potential and active donors, their contributions, funding events, and the knowledge base to help make the most out of the system. Find out how to use the template. I’d previously set up the standard CRM and had not used it in months, so it gave me a great opportunity to show what can happen if you aren’t using good automations. Here’s what happens if the contacts are done right and connected to accounts: Monday.com correct set up

Here’s an image of what you might encounter if you don’t set it up right before importing everything: 358 contacts that you have to find a way to correct. Make sure you test it on a small batch before you pull in all your emails. Otherwise, you might find it a little overwhelming. Monday.com incorrect set up

Good news! I was able to move my old account over to the new one. Best part? The transfer literally took seconds! Overall, I love the functionality, but I strongly recommend following the directions in the CRM Learning Center. It’s a good starting point to ensure you make the most of your customer data with just a few clicks. For me to get the most out of the CRM, I will need at least the Pro plan to fix my mistake because I’ll need more than 240 actions to get the contacts working properly. Once my free trial expires, I will invest in it to get my business running like a fine-tuned machine.

Monday Marketer

Monday Marketer is another one of the Monday.com templates. The template includes a marketing plan, creative requests, and a marketing overview dashboard. The marketing overview is probably one of the most interesting of all the features I’ve played with so far. Check out Monday.com for information about the overview. In less than a minute, I embedded my Facebook store and Twitter account. I definitely encourage you to look into the features on this. It’s by far the most user-friendly program I have tested. Compared to other project management tools like Hootsuite or Hubspot, I much prefer the simplicity of Monday.com

How to use Monday.com for project management software?

There are templates for a variety of project management tools by Monday. They have tools for most industries that use project management, whether you are in the construction field, product or software development fields, manufacturing, and healthcare. There are both individual templates and bundles. Most of the time the word management is in the bundles for project management tools. Monday has really thought out the templates for project management. When you compare it to the Project Management Institute’s project phases, you’ll find that Monday.com covers all the documents that are expected to build projects in construction and IT. I wish they’d bundle the entire section together so you can implement it more quickly. There is some overlap between templates for project management software. Monday can definitely get the job done though. The basic features are not as beneficial as the pro features because project management needs multiple boards to handle various projects. Combine that with the vast increase in automation and integration actions, and spending an extra $10 per month per employee is worth the additional cost.

Monday.com Support

Some reviews I’ve read say that Monday.com support wasn’t the greatest, but I was pleasantly surprised with the quickness of their response. At 2:29 PM on a Saturday, I wrote to them because I could not connect my Google account to the integrations. Here’s my message:

Brandon Boushy Jun 11, 2022, 2:29 PM PDT I have 2 Monday.com accounts connected to google. I have moved the older one brandon-boushy over to brandons-insanitorium. I've also removed access in Google, but it's not letting me create an integration to bring emails and contacts into the contacts board.

I was delighted when 2.5 hours later, I received an email with step-by-step instructions including pictures. I have included the text from their email below. Jun 11, 2022, 4:52 PM PDT Hi Brandon, (Name Removed for Privacy) here from the Monday.com team! I'll be happy to help . I see that you are trying to set up an integration in your account: brandons-insanitorium, but you are not able to do so. I'll be happy to look into this for you. I was checking your accounts and I see that this account: brandon-boushy.monday.com, is still active at the time. I would recommend you remove the sync from your Google account in your trial account: brandon-boushy.monday.com, by following these instructions(redacted): I established that the process wasn’t solving the issue and sent another email around two hours later. The email gave Monday.com permission to access my accounts and I asked for guidance on how to delete the old account. They sent a response almost immediately and I followed those directions. I still couldn’t get it to work. Support requested a video two minutes later, and I told them I was going to work more on it the next day. If they ask you to send a video, you’ll need to either upload it to YouTube or use the specific program they requested. I’ll be following up with them again on this as I did not get this completed, but the support was what I’d expect (minus not figuring out how to solve the problem yet.)

How much is Monday.com?

Monday.com prices have five tiers of plans for any size of business. They range from the “Free Forever” plan to the Enterprise plan. The pricing is based on the number of users, the features offered, and whether you pay monthly or annually. If you choose to be billed annually, you’ll save 18%. Monday.com pricelist

When you sign up, you’ll get a free trial period. It lasts for 14 days and has all the features of the Pro plan. If your trial period ends before you fully set up the software, you may be able to get an extension. When I signed into my old one I got an extra seven-day trial. Next, I’m going to discuss my thoughts on each plan. We’ll start with the free version.

Free Forever Plan

The Monday.com Free plan is great for some business owners. I would suggest using it if:

You are just starting a new business.
You don’t have employees.
You want to familiarize yourself with Monday.com.
You want to implement a better system but need more than the two-week free trial period to do so.

While the Free plan has some useful features, it is limited by: [su_note note_color="#dbeafc"]

Max 2 users
500 MB storage
Under 1,000 items
No automations or integrations

[/su_note] Once you have done as much with the free plan, I’d recommend upgrading to higher-level plans. The next step up is the basic plan.

Basic Plan

The Monday.com price for the Basic plan starts around $30 per month or just under $300 per year when billed annually. The usability of the project management tool increases too. Monday.com includes:

Up to 40 users without contacting support
Unlimited users if you contact support
Unlimited Items
5 GB of storage (decent for small companies that aren’t in the creative industry)
Unlimited admins with the basic plan

There are still some project management limitations that Monday.com includes in this package:

5 GB storage will never work for artistic companies.
Users do not have automations or integrations.

Once you have done as much with the individual plan, I’d recommend upgrading higher-level plans. The next step up is the standard plan.

Standard Plan

The Standard plan is the absolute minimum in which a fully operational business should consider long term. In addition to the project management features in the basic plan, Monday.com includes:

20 GB of storage
Zoom Integration
250 automation actions per month
250 integration actions per month
5 Boards per dashboard
Timeline View
Calendar View
Map View
6 months of activity logs

Monday.com adds a lot of features in the Standard plan for their project management software, but it still has some limitations including:

Email integrations will quickly consume monthly integration and automation limits for any business that uses them.
20 GB storage is still fairly small, but at least you can integrate a Google Drive or Dropbox to increase the storage space if that’s your only limitation.

I’d say this package is best for:

Small teams (Less than 10 people) that want to automate a lot of their work.
A project manager that wants to share project progress with subcontractors, but who doesn’t have a large support team.
Teams that don’t need lots of file storage space.

Let’s look at the most extensive plan that doesn’t require contacting the Monday.com team.

Pro Plan

If you want project management software that can do almost anything without having to contact customer support, this is the plan for you. The Monday.com Pro plan is meant to simplify your entire digital life. It adds other tools that make a huge difference including:

Time tracking
Formula Column
25,000 integration actions per month
25,000 automation actions per month
10 boards per dashboard
Unlimited guest access
2 New Views
Private Boards and Docs
Google Authentication
Board level admins (Perfect for Separating sales teams, marketing teams, and your service teams workloads).
1 Year activity report.

This is the best package for most small business needs because the tool effectively allows you to replace many of the admin tasks that can become costly if you have a person manually doing them. Once you have the project management software setup, you’ll have more time for personal and business endeavors. Despite this plan having most of what small businesses need, there are some businesses that should skip the Pro plan including:

Any business with more than 40 employees. You know they want you to talk to the customer reps if you have more than 40 employees because they think you need the coolest features.
Any business that has to abide by HIPAA regulations
Any business that needs advanced support functionality and administration
If automations and integrations exceed the maximum for the professional plan

Given the higher price tag is only twice the price of the basic plan, I can’t imagine why you would go with a lower version of the workforce software. The added benefits are worth the price. Monday makes it easy to reduce the workload for your entire team with this package. Let’s look at the Enterprise plan next.

Enterprise Plan

Monday.com’s Enterprise plan is the most advanced tool for small businesses. It includes:

Everything in the other paid plans
Your own personal success manager
5 years activity report, which is great for audits
Advanced IT Administrator Controls
HIPAA compliance
Advanced Reporting
Uptime Service Agreement

The most advanced tool from Monday.com uses custom pricing based on the needs of the business and the number of users. Enterprise pricing will scale based on the needs of each small business. For instance, doctors' offices will need HIPAA-compliant software, while others won’t. Monday.com enterprise plan

You can find huge success implementing the advanced features, but it may be cost prohibitive for many small projects. Unless you absolutely need some of the features in the Enterprise package, I would suggest:

Familiarizing yourself with the Monday.com knowledge base
Maximizing the utilities offered in the Pro plan
Having a team of 41 or more people.

FAQs About Monday.com

How much does Monday.com cost?

Monday.com has a payment plan for all levels of business. From a Free plan to the Enterprise level, pricing scales based on:

Number of people
Features
Number of automation actions
Number of integration actions

Fortunately, they make it easy to add team members as you go and offer a 18% discount if you choose to be billed annually. In addition, they disclose the costs upfront so you don’t get a hidden surprise when the bill comes.

What is Monday.com used for?

Monday.com is mostly used for project management, automating work processes, creating forms, and customer relationship management. It can integrate with software including Adobe, Microsoft Excel, Google Drive, social media accounts, and more.

What can integrate with Monday.com?

You can integrate some of the largest software providers in Monday.com. Check out the full list of apps. Anything that doesn’t have pre-built integrations in Monday.com, you can create and map them using either Make (formerly Integromat) or Zapier. Alternatively, you can hire a Monday Partner to help you set up Monday with custom integrations.

Monday.com competitors?

Monday.com has multiple competitors. The primary competitors are:

Asana: More free team members, but higher prices for paid plans and lower TrustPilot reviews.
Clickup: Better support and more features at lower tiers, but lower TrustPilot reviews.
Nifty: On G2 reviews claim that Nifty is easier to set up and has better support, but it costs three times as much and has no ratings on TrustPilot.

Some are better at specific aspects than Monday, but few are overall better workforce software. Monday.com does a good job at most of the tools it offers.

Monday.com pros and cons?

There are a ton of pros and cons to Monday.com. The table below compares the benefits and drawbacks of using Monday. Monday.com pros and cons

Conclusion

Ultimately, I think Monday.com can have tremendous benefits for an organization. The software has one of the highest returns on investment compared to other software. I realized that there seems to be a real gap in the workforce solutions market. I think that this kind of software should start by asking what software you use to do your work in all major aspects of your business. Start by integrating it, then automatically build what you need based on the answers to those questions. It doesn’t seem that anyone has really nailed the process yet. Maybe Monday.com will be the first or maybe someone else will. I look forward to seeing advancements in this field. What software do you use to manage all your daily tasks?

Business ideas

Comments

Matt Weiland@ 2020-12-31 15:59:40

Is the price / cost of hiring a business broker worth it or should you always try to sell your business independently on your own?

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How to Value a Business: If You’re Looking to Buy Or Sell

The Challenges of Valuing a Business

What Else You Should Know

A Tale of Two Cars

The Power of Emotional Attachment

I’d Buy THAT for a Dollar

How Negotiating Affects Price

When Comparisons Become Meaningless

A Tale of Two Cafés

The Goodwill Factor

B.Y.O.A. (Bring Your Own Assets)

Business Valuation Formulas

Asset-Based Method

How Accurate is Revenue Model Business Valuation?

Discounted Cash Flow

Come Up with A Range of Values

Conclusion

Author

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