small business

Top 12 Small Business Ideas for Men that You Shouldn’t Miss! (Packed with Actionable Tips and Tricks)

Man on the phone working outdoors

With our society becoming more aware of how less we differ from one another in terms of gender,  several opportunities have opened up for people on either side of the spectrum. For men, this means that jobs that were earlier considered too “feminine” have now opened up for them as well.

In this blog, we have put together a list of popular small business ideas for men, requiring a low investment cost, that can turn out to be very profitable and successful. Whether you’re a fresher looking for a new way to gain experience or someone planning to start a new venture on the side while working at a regular job, these ideas are the ones you can definitely consider.

Without any further delay, let’s dive right in!


1. Freelancing

Freelancer working on a computer

With everyone looking to follow their heart and earn money from doing what they love, freelancing is an option you have to consider. Freelancing does require you to have prior experience to succeed but that’s not necessarily a bad thing! 

Freelancing is about finding customers that would require any skill that you choose to sell to them. This could include coding, art, consulting, engineering, data entry, and so much more. As long as what you do can provide value to someone, there is a way for you to freelance that service. 

Using your current knowledge, here are some freelancing services you have to consider to make money on the side with relative ease:


A. Tutoring services

Is there any topic that you consider yourself an expert in? You can make money by simply spreading your knowledge to those who need it through freelancing. 

You can start by selling online services on an hourly basis and expand your client base. Select a niche of people you would cater to on the basis of factors such as geographical location, academic qualification, specific tests your clients would be attending, and so on. This will help you stand out as a tutor from your competitors.

With experience, you can also move your services offline. As you start to see growth in your business, you could switch from freelancing to starting a full-fledged tutoring business!


B. Content writing

Content writing is one of those skills a man can pick up and choose to freelance while sitting at home. It can be pretty lucrative as you could attend to many of the customer needs such as blogging, copywriting, social media content writing, and so on.

Your extensive knowledge in any particular field can help build your brand as a content writer and hence generate more revenue. Topics like sports, cars, stocks, etc. are some of the large variety of topics you can address.

Finding customers or putting yourself out there as a freelancer has never been easier than it is today. Consider using websites like Fiverr and Freelancer to advertise yourself or simply find your customers yourself by entering information about the service you provide and defining your prices. These websites will connect you with your customer and keep a small cut-off of your transaction. 

With all said and done, it is pretty obvious that a small-scale business like this one requires you to be punctual and deliver quality service. Since the success or failure of your business would depend on your customer’s reviews and experience, you need to learn how to be patient with people and manage them too. 

Looking for new ways to market your freelancing business?
Consider these 7 freelance marketing strategies to get more clients and boost your business!


2. Drop-shipping 

Man packing items in a cardboard box

If you wish to start a full-fledged business remotely, this model would be just the right one for you! 

Drop shipping allows you to act as a middleman by getting a product of your customer’s choice to them by contacting the manufacturers who directly ship that product. With this, you can have your business set up with very low initial start-up costs and no need for any kind of warehouse or storage area.

By removing the requirement for any kind of storage unit, your risk factor is zero! Products from your online store will be supplied directly to the buyer from the supplier, while you receive a cut in the end for making the transaction happen. This makes drop-shipping one of the most profitable part-time business ideas for beginners out there to start from home.

Drop shipping can be a great way to start with your “side hustle” as a part-time job while doing your full-time job side-by-side since you do not need to be working during business hours. Shopify is one of the best e-commerce systems out there, with special features designed for this type of business. It can be a great way to kick off your drop-shipping business.

As wonderful as it sounds, the idea of relying completely on a supplier’s stock can be troublesome. 

Since your customers do not know about the existence of your supplier, you will have to take all the heat for any mess-ups from their end as well. Your dependence on your supplier’s stock can lead to longer lead times and lost customers. You will also need to account for the fact you will not be able to purchase your items from your suppliers in bulk, bringing down your profit margins.

To start off, you will need to pick a niche and find a reliable supplier. Build a visually appealing website and work on marketing channels to put yourself out there. Done right, drop-shipping can see you make $100,000 in a year!


3. Event Planning

Golden dining hall with circular tables, chandeliers and chairs

As the name suggests, event planning is a field where people are paid to host and manage their customers’ events. If you have a decent amount of organizational and communication skills, stepping into this steadily growing industry can prove to be extremely rewarding. 

Event planning is an industry that is dominated by women. Being a man, you can stand out from the rest of your competition by providing your services for events like bachelor parties or business meetings.

With low required start-up costs and no need for any sort of formal education or training, this field might be something that you can step into with relative ease. However, with a hundred things that could go wrong, event planning can be stressful and tiring due to the long/ anti-social work hours and long periods of unemployment. 

But these cons come with a lot of pros too! 

You get the opportunity to conduct a high variety of events ranging from sporting events and charity fundraisers to product launches and conventions. You will also get to meet a lot of interesting people along the way. This, along with the extremely varied pace at which you will have to work at different stages of an event, will never leave you bored.  


4. Social Media Management 

Phone screen displaying social media apps.

As a social media manager, your job will be to bring your clients in front of a new pair of eyes. This could be about the products they sell, the services they provide, or their very personalities. 

With millions of people on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin, etc., lots of businesses are looking for people to help them expand their customer base using these sites.

This business would require you to be technologically savvy, have a great sense of organization, and have the ability to conduct thorough market research. Some of the responsibilities you will have to take over include:

  1. Managing social media campaign
    You will be in charge of making a lot of creative decisions such as the usage of photos, videos, gifs, etc. in order to help your client (or, your client’s business) reach the most number of people they possibly can. This would include promoting an organization’s brand, its events, or any other announcements.
  2. Maintaining your client’s brand image
    While running your marketing campaigns it is important to keep in mind the perspective of the person or organization you are marketing for. This would require you to keep their brand’s tone and marketing style consistent. Doing so will give your page a personality and cause people to gravitate toward you.
  3. Analyzing success and failure
    A significant part of marketing is analyzing what is working and what is not. You will have to keep these points in mind while going forward with the content you create for the page. Incorporate the changes you see fit from the feedback you have gathered to improve your content and grow faster.

With getting better, however, comes a few challenges. You will have to be extremely careful since the small mistakes you make will also start to grab a lot of attention from your viewers. You will also need to keep a constant pace with respect to how you plan to improve your marketing game.

But of course, this also means that you will get the opportunity to work with your favorite social media platforms, get real-time feedback on how well your procedures are working, put out creative content that can make a large positive impact on society, and much more.


5. Blogging and Affiliate Marketing

Man going through a social media profile on their computer and mobile.

Affiliate marketing is the perfect way for you to start a business from the comfort of your home. It is a business strategy that includes promoting your client’s products or services. Unlike social media marketing, however, you will be using your own platform to do so. Clients will pay you in return depending on the amount of value you bring to them.

There are a few ways you can go about doing this, but one of the most viable small businesses for men would be blogging. 

Blogging is a good side business idea for men that requires a very minimal initial investment. Successful bloggers make millions through their blogs from the comfort of their homes.

Talking about your passions in your blogs can be a great way to start. As you keep going, you can even give yourself a niche and earn your name within that very field! Topics such as cars, sports, cultures, history, and so on, have a huge amount of following and can help you stand out over time with your proven expertise. 

This online business idea, however, can seem monotonous at times. This is because it would require you to be very patient during both, the process of creating your blogs, as well as with the time it might take you to earn recognition. With no real control over your income, having a stable one can be difficult until you are well established. 

To start earning money, you can monetize your blog by selling ad spaces or advertising for other people on your platform. Earn money every time a customer clicks on the product that you advertise in your affiliate. You can also freelance your services by writing blogs for people on their platform to earn money from it.

Pro tip: You can also earn extra profits by creating and selling courses from your experiences in affiliate marketing and blogging.


6. Catering

Sushi served on small plates

If you have a passion for cooking, starting a catering business might just be the perfect way to capitalize on your passion. And for that, all you need is a kitchen and your ingredients!

To maintain low overhead costs, you can start with home-delivery meal services. This way you can prepare wholesome and fresh meals without needing to worry about customers showing up. You can easily find the right customers since the market is always open for healthy homemade deliverables!

Running this kind of business, however, can be very demanding. Catering requires you to be patient, organized, creative, and outwardly a person. Since a huge part of your job would include managing people and living up to their expectations, you will have to be able to maintain professionalism and stand strong under pressure.

As you grow and establish yourself as a business, here are some of the other ways you can consider running your catering business:


A. Takeaway catering

Families can come in and purchase their favorite food items from you to take back to their homes. This way you will not have to worry about having to deliver to people’s locations, or having to set up a full-fledged restaurant. 


B. On-site catering

If traveling is something you enjoy, on-site catering is the perfect direction to move your business into. You can provide your services at various functions like weddings, parties, and corporate events.


C. Hybrid 

As the word about your services spreads and the demand for your food increases, the number of opportunities for you to provide services at large events will also grow. However, this does not mean you will have to stop your delivery services. As your team grows, you can keep both aspects of your business running side-by-side – thereby, keeping a steady income flowing in.


Some things to keep in mind about this business include the licenses and permits required to start along with a proper kitchen setup. And to stand out from your competitors, make sure you’re investing a good amount of your time into getting the word out about your business. 

Although it can be taxing, starting a catering business can be very profitable and self-rewarding. The profession also allows you to accurately estimate the costs required for food production which in turn helps reduce risks and expenditure.


7. Cleaning Services

Cleaner spraying a wooden surface with liquid to clean it

Cleaning is one area that will always be evergreen. People realize how important it is to stay in a clean and healthy environment but a lot of times they are too busy or simply do not want to take the step themselves. If you are conscious about your ways, meticulous, and are more of an outdoorsy guy, this business is something you should definitely look into.

Not having much of a start-up cost adds to the advantage of the huge demand you will be supplying to. All you will need are your basic cleaning supplies and a vehicle to get you around. You also do not require any kind of training or experience to get started, since this is something you can simply get better at with practice.

Once you have a stable number of requests that come in or a good amount of regular customers, consider hiring people to increase your reach as a business. Also, consider using cleaning scheduling software. These software can make your life so much simpler by automating the booking process, adding appointments to your calendar, sending out reminder notifications, and so on.

As you grow you can move from cleaning houses to cleaning hospitals, schools, offices, and even events. With this, you can also slowly expand your business into other verticals like polishing furniture or cleaning cars. The cleaning business can be a perfect way to start a side hustle while working a regular job. 


8. Tour Guide

Tour guide rowing a wooden ferry with people in it

If you have spent a lot of your life outdoors and enjoy a good adventure or learning about your surroundings, starting a touring business can be a very interesting step to take for older and young men alike. 

As a tour guide, you will have the opportunity to travel to places you love, study them, and get to know every detail about the very place that fascinates you. You can then start providing your touring services and earn money by giving people an experience of a lifetime.

These experiences could include activities like fishing, hunting, racing, and so on. If you’re not such a sporty person, however, you can even make a living by giving people tours of historical places, talking about their history and significance.

As you can tell, running such a business would require you to be comfortable around groups of people. You will have to learn how to sell them an experience and be entertaining. Get used to the attention, because you’re going to get all of it! Having knowledge of multiple languages can be extremely helpful in a profession like this one.

Start by building a website and creating an online presence for yourself. If people like your personality, they will be drawn to the services you offer. You can even consider making video tours and behind-the-scenes videos of events, to bring a little extra value to your services.


9. Landscaping Services

Man levelling their backyard with a roller.

Landscaping is one of those business ideas for men that comes with tremendous amounts of money.

If you are someone who is not comfortable sitting in front of a computer all day, landscaping gives you the opportunity to earn money by doing physical work. 

Landscaping services is a field with a lot of demand on a regular basis. Suburban areas are filled with lawns and gardens that need regular trimming and maintenance. Make sure you invest in good equipment, for you will require it to perform your design and maintenance procedures well.

You don’t require experience in the field to start off but it can definitely be helpful. You will need to work on your craft in order to stand out and get more potential customers looking for you. Adding to this, the amount of time and energy you require to perform physical labor on a regular basis can wear you out. 

Nevertheless, you’d be surprised by how easy it is to find new customers. A simple way to put yourself out there is through traditional door-to-door sales! Find homes with lawns and gardens, and offer them your services. This will also help you learn about who your competition is and where you stand when compared to them. 

This business can earn you up to 6 figures a year with time, making it a great option for serial entrepreneurs.


10. Barbershop

Barber cutting a boy’s hair at the barbershop.

Are you a creative individual with a knack for cutting hair or general grooming? Do not miss out on the opportunity to start a business as a barber! Starting a barbershop business may not be as easy as some of the other home business ideas for men mentioned here, but is definitely one of the more self-rewarding and profitable ones. 

Starting a barbershop, however, does come with its own set of requirements. Firstly, you will require a certain amount of skill, knowledge, and experience in the field before starting to provide your services as a barber to people. As a barber, you have a very low room for error since making mistakes while cutting hair can be extremely harmful to your business identity! 

Even though there is a fair amount of regulation you will need to abide by, and permits you will need to obtain, just like the cleaning business, a barbershop will never face a problem with regard to demand. People will always need someone to cut and style their hair. This will give you, as a business owner (and the people you hire for that matter), a decent sense of job security. 

One way to start your business is to provide your services to people privately. Start-up costs will not be as high since you would only require your basic barber supplies and a mode of transport. Your customers will greatly appreciate being able to avail of your services from the comfort of their homes. 

Lastly, one very important point to keep in mind is that being a barber is a very social business. You will need to be able to keep a steady conversation, listen well, and maintain steady relationships with people in order to stand out in your space. Your personality will play a huge part in your success.


11. Designing

Unlike some of the home-based business ideas we’ve mentioned in this blog, designing is a business that demands a certain personality trait: the innate ability to find creative solutions. Designing is one of the more artistic businesses that would require you to make your client’s products look appealing along with making them as easy to use as possible. 

Let’s talk about two of the most popular design work-from-home business ideas for men:


A. Web Designing

As someone who has never heard of your business, your website design could be your prospect’s first impression of you and may very well be a deciding factor on whether or not they would like to avail the services you provide. 

All the self-business ideas mentioned in this blog will be able to engage with a lot more people by simply having a well-designed website for their business. 

This is where your part as a web designer comes in. Getting into the field with prior experience is always helpful, but this does not mean it is a skill you can not pick up. As long as you are technologically savvy and have an artistic mindset, the technical aspect of it is something you can easily pick up over time. 

It may sound very interesting to get into, but once you start, finding expertise in web design would require you to maintain a steady effort and discipline. You can consider using websites like Codecademy to pick up the skills you would require as a web designer. 


B. Graphic Designing

Apple iMac, a keyboard, and a graphic design play book

As a graphic designer, your job is to make use of creative ideas to make your client’s brand stand out from the rest. This could include designing: 

  • Layouts, 
  • Marketing graphics for magazines, newsletters, and fliers,
  • Logos for a product, brand, organization, etc.

To start off, consider creating a website to create an online presence for yourself. Advertise your services and build a portfolio to steadily grow your business. Just like web designing – with an artistic mindset – you should be able to pick up the technical skill required by dedicating time and staying devoted to your craft.


All in all, starting a design business of their own can be a great opportunity for young men to start earning money without having much to start with. All you need is a computer and a stable internet connection! It might get a tad bit frustrating to be tied to your computer all day, but we’d say it’s worth it. Wouldn’t you?


12. Photography 

Photographer taking a photo from the top of a mountain

If you’re looking for an easy-to-start business idea with a small investment, starting a photography business is an idea you can consider. Photography as a skill is one that you can study and pick up over time, but would definitely require before you can hope to start earning a decent amount of money.

All you will need to get started is a decent camera and other equipment to help with factors like lighting, storing the pictures, and editing. 

Before you go ahead and start finding yourself customers, it is advisable to pick a niche and stick to it in order to stand out in that particular field. Some of these niches could include:

  • Wedding photography
  • Travel photography
  • Newborn photography
  • Real estate photography
  • Wildlife Photography
  • Landscape photography, and so much more!

Starting off with your friends and family can be a great way to learn about the preferences people have, get useful feedback without the fear of judgment, and gauge the prices people might be willing to pay for your services. 

Prices, however, are something that you will have to decide depending on how your competitors are pricing their services. Once you have established yourself within a particular niche, you can start to define your own price on the basis of what you see your worth to be.

You must keep in mind that actually clicking photos is a very small part of what you will have to do as a photographer. You will have to spend a lot more time and effort on editing, traveling, managing people and accounts, and so much more. Even scheduling your appointments with clients can tend to get extremely stressful. To manage your appointments and the daily admin, you can consider utilizing scheduling software. 

With an intuitive photography scheduling software, you can let clients book appointments 24×7 from an online booking portal and easily view and manage your schedule with an intuitive calendar. You can remind customers of their upcoming appointments by sending automated reminders and thereby, prevent no-shows. You can even set lead cancellation and re-schedule times to prevent any last-minute edits to appointments, or worse, cancellations.

That’s not all! You can have every client’s key data at your fingertips, sell gift certificates on your booking page, collect payments online, and do so much more. 


Final thoughts

Once you have your business up and running, managing your customers, personalizing their experiences, and making sure they arrive on time for their appointments are just some of the additional responsibilities you will have to keep in mind.

If you did find an idea that seemed interesting to you, all that’s left to do is begin! The initial process of starting your journey might seem difficult but once you gain momentum, there’s nothing that can stand in your way.

With knowledge of some of the best small business ideas for men, which idea do you resonate with the most? Let us know in the comments below! If you’re looking to start a side business from scratch, it might as well be something you enjoy, don’t you think? 

That said, we hope you find a journey of your liking and run it successfully. All the best! 😊


About Appointy

We at Appointy, help business owners grow and run their businesses with our online scheduling software. This blog was a part of our ‘Manage your Business’ category, where we provide expert tips, and resources, or simply talk about the challenges that small and medium businesses face every day. 

If you have any thoughts on this blog or would like to chat about your business struggles and achievements, let us know in the comments below. 

We love a good talk!