192 Examples of Small Business (2024)

John Spacey, updated on August 16, 2023

Small business is any risk-taking and profit-seeking pursuit with less than 50 employees. These are a massive force that are collectively larger than big business. It is estimated that small businesses generate 50% of global GDP and provide 70% of employment. Nevertheless, it is difficult to compete with larger firms such that small businesses rely on business models that leverage strengths such as creativity, relationships and local knowledge. It is also common for small businesses to serve niche customer needs that are underserved by larger firms. The following are common examples of small businesses.

Activities	Adaptive reuse
Adventure travel	Advertising agency
Advertising design	Advertising production services
Agritourism	Airport concessions
Antiques	Art galleries
Artists	Auctions
Automotive customization	Bakeries
Beauty services	Bed & breakfast
Bicycle rentals	Boutique retail
Brokers	Business consulting
Business outsourcing	Business services
Business training	Cafes
Cakes shops	Campgrounds
Candy products	Carpenters
Catering	Childcare services
Cleaning	Conferences & events
Construction services	Convenience stores
Cosmetic products	Craft beverages
Craft supplies	Craftsperson
Creative reuse	Customer support services
Dance lessons	Dance studios
Data analysis	Data entry
Daycares	Deconstruction
Deconstruction	Delivery services
Dentists	Donut shops
Dropshipping	Dry cleaners
Ecommerce reseller	Ecommerce shop
Electricians	Environmental remediation
Environmentally friendly products	Equipment rentals
Event concessions	Event management
Event planning	Event production
Event services	Event vendors
Event venues	Facility concessions
Farmers markets	Farming
Fashion brand	Fast moving consumer goods
Film production services	Florist
Food & beverage tourism	Food products
Food retail	Food trucks
Footwear brands	Franchising
Freelance IT	Freelance design
Freelance writing	Furniture craftsperson
Gardeners	General contractor
Good business	Gyms
Haircare	Handmade products
Handyperson	Health food
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning	Home improvement services
Home inspector	Home renovations
Home staging	Homebuilding
Hostels	Hotel concessions
Hotels	IT consulting
Ice cream shop	Import / export
Insurance broker	Jewelry making
Junk removal	Landscaping
Lawn care services	Legal services
Limousine & chauffeur service	Liquidation goods
Maintenance services	Marketing services
Massage therapist	Media services
Mobile apps	Moving company
Music industry	Music lessons
Music management	Music schools
Musician	Niche retail
Niche travel services	One stop shop
Painting	Pastry shops
Personal services	Personal trainer
Pet services	Photographer
Plumbing	Podcasting
Pop-up shops	Private schools
Product customization	Professional services
Professional speaking	Professional training
Property management services	Publicity agency
Publishing	Pubs / nightclubs
Real estate agency	Record labels
Recreational facilities	Recruiting services
Repair cafe	Repair services
Reseller	Restaurant
Secondhand goods	Senior care services
Sewing & alteration	Social media marketing
Software development	Solar energy installation, maintenance & repair
Souvenirs	Spas
Speciality retail	Sports brands
Staffing services	Store within a store
Street vendors	Subscription boxes
Sustainable building retrofits	Systems integrator
Tailor	Talent agent
Tax preparation & accounting	Tea houses
Technology services	Technology support
Technology training	Thrift stores
Tour operator	Tourist attractions
Toy products	Training
Translation services	Transportation rentals
Tutoring	Upcycling
Vacation rentals	Value added reseller
Vegetable shops	Vehicle & equipment trading
Vending machines	Videographer
Vintage retail	Vlogs
Woodworking products	Yoga classes

Deconstruction is the process of salvaging value from a building that is about to be demolished. For example, removing doors and other valuable items and materials and selling them.

Fast moving consumer goods are supplies that consumers regularly repurchase such as food, toiletries and stationery. For example, a niche brand of organic tea.

Systems integrator is a type of consulting that specializes in getting different technologies to work together as one. For example, building a connector that allows one cloud service to feed into another cloud service.

Upcycling is the process of reusing things by creating things of greater value. For example, building walls with old bottles.

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