You don’t need a ton of space to start a small business. Once the kids have moved out or you’ve finally cleaned out that room at the end of the hall, that extra space can help you get a new business off the ground. Here are 50 small business ideas you can start in a spare room.
Why You Should Start a Spare Room Business
Starting a business can be a daunting endeavor, but leveraging an existing resource such as your spare room can make the journey significantly more accessible. Here’s why you should consider starting a spare room business:
- Minimal Initial Investment: Utilizing your spare room means you won’t have to rent or buy a separate space for your business. This can significantly reduce your startup costs.
- Flexibility: Operating from home provides a flexibility that can’t be matched by traditional workplaces. You can set your own hours, which is particularly useful for those with family commitments or other responsibilities.
- Tax Advantages: Many countries offer tax deductions for home-based businesses. This might include deductions for home office expenses, utilities, and even a portion of your rent or mortgage.
- Enhanced Work-Life Balance: Being closer to home, or in it, can provide a better balance between your professional and personal life. You can take breaks when you need to, spend time with family, or engage in personal activities.
- Test Ideas with Less Risk: If you’re unsure about your business idea’s viability, starting from your spare room can be an excellent way to test the waters. If it doesn’t work out, you haven’t invested in a long-term lease or other substantial expenses.
Spare Room Business Ideas
Collectibles Sales
Ecommerce marketplaces like eBay give entrepreneurs an easy way to sell various products online. Collectibles are especially popular. And you can use your spare room as an office and storage space for all those products.
Drop Shipping Business
For those working with smaller rooms, you could simply use the spare room as an office space and then work with a dropshipping company to fulfill ecommerce orders.
Art Print Sales
With an office and professional printer, you can start a business where you sell prints of your artwork online.
T-Shirt Design
You could also have your artwork printed on t-shirts and various other products. You can either fulfill these orders yourself or use services like Redbubble or Society 6 that will ship them directly to your customers.
Subscription Box Service
Subscription boxes are becoming increasingly popular. You can use your spare room to organize the products you source for your box each month.
Handmade Business
There’s also a wide variety of handmade businesses that you can start where you use your spare room as a crafting space and then sell products on sites like Etsy.
Scrapbooking Service
For those who enjoy scrapbooking, you can set up a workshop in your spare room and use it to create custom layouts for customers.
Lettering Service
You could also use your creative talents to start a lettering service where you create designs for brands or for various paper goods.
Portrait Photography
Photographers, you can set up a studio in your spare room with a professional backdrop and lighting equipment.
Stock Photo Sales
You could also set up a photo space that you use to take stock photos that you can then sell online.
Web Design Service
For tech and design savvy entrepreneurs, use your spare room as an office where you can work on websites for clients.
Graphic Design Service
You can also use your design skills to offer various services to businesses, like logos and other branding and marketing materials.
App Development
If you’re extremely tech savvy, you can build a business where you develop mobile apps for clients, using your spare room as an office space.
Domain Sales
Another way to help companies and individuals looking to start websites, you can sell website domains.
AdWords Website
Or you could start your own website and use AdWords or similar advertising services to earn revenue.
Membership Website
You could also start a website where you offer exclusive content or features to visitors who pay a monthly subscription or membership fee.
Blog
Starting a blog allows you to continuously deliver valuable content to your readers. Then you can earn money through ads or sponsored content.
Podcast
Similarly, you can deliver valuable content in an audio format by starting your own podcast, using your spare room as a recording studio.
Social Media Management
You could also use the room as an office where you manage social media campaigns for business clients.
Affiliate Marketing
Or you could share content through social media, blogging and other formats and include affiliate links to earn a portion of those sales.
YouTube Channel
You could also set up a video studio in your spare room where you can film YouTube videos and then earn money through ad sharing.
Virtual Assistant Service
Or you could turn the room into an office where you offer a variety of services to business clients as a virtual assistant.
Phone Answering Service
Lots of businesses outsource their call center or phone support operations to others. You can work with small clients by offering phone answering service in your spare room office.
Smartphone Repair Service
For those who are skilled with hardware repairs, you could offer a service where customers send their smartphones to you so you can fix cracked screens and other issues.
Proofreading Service
You could also offer proofreading and editing services to authors and businesses that need a second set of eyes on their work.
Resume Writing Service
Or you could offer a service where you create resumes, cover letters and similar materials for job seekers.
Bookkeeping Service
If you’re skilled with accounting and bookkeeping tasks, you can use your spare room as an office where you provide those services to business clients.
Herb Garden
You might need a lot of space to grow food. But if you have sufficient light in your spare room, you can start a small, indoor herb garden and then sell those fresh herbs.
Woodworking Business
With enough space, you can also start a woodworking studio where you make small products or furniture pieces to sell.
Meal Planning Service
It you have a lot of knowledge about food and nutrition, you could offer a service where you plan out meals for clients from your home office.
Interior Design Service
Design savvy entrepreneurs can also use a home office to plan out interior spaces for an interior design business.
Tutoring Service
For those looking to work with people one-on-one, you could start a tutoring business using your spare room as a classroom.
Music Lessons
Musically inclined entrepreneurs can also offer one-on-one music lessons to clients out of that space.
Online Course Sales
If you’re more interested in teaching online, you could create online courses and sell them to customers online.
Massage Therapy Service
For those trained in massage therapy, you could set up a studio in your spare room where you welcome clients.
IT Help Service
Tech savvy entrepreneurs can work with clients remotely by offering IT help to those who call or chat with tech questions.
Business Consulting Service
If you’re an experienced entrepreneur, you could start a consulting business where you work with other business owners online or using your spare room as a meeting space.
Life Coaching Service
For a more general approach, you could offer life coaching services to individuals looking for help with anything from scheduling to finances.
Translating Service
If you know more than one language, you can offer translating services to businesses, using your spare room as an office.
Laundry Service
You could also add a washer and dryer, along with other laundry supplies, to your spare room so you can offer laundry services to customers out of that space.
Alterations Service
If you’re skilled with a needle and thread, you could open a small alterations studio out of your spare room.
Makeup Service
Makeup artists, you could also welcome clients to your spare room studio for makeup services.
Vintage Reseller
Or you could use your spare room as storage and a photo space for vintage goods that you can resell online.
Tech Rentals
You might also consider using your spare room as a space to store tech equipment like audio and video recording devices that you can rent out to people and organizations that want to use those items without buying them.
Tool Rentals
Or you could apply a similar concept to large tools or automotive products that people are unlikely to actually own themselves.
Party Rentals
Party supplies like tables, buffet setups and decorations can also lend themselves to a rental business model.
Bicycle Rentals
If you live in an area where there’s a lot of tourist activity or bicycle traffic, you could also start a bike rental business and use your spare room as a storage space.
Voiceover Acting
Lots of businesses use voiceover artists for ads, video content and more. So you could offer that service out of a home studio.
Travel Agency Business
You could also help consumers plan out their vacations and find travel deals, especially if you can work with large groups that need help planning.
Vacation Rentals
And of course, you could use your spare room as a space that travelers can rent out on sites like Airbnb.
Types of Spare Room Business
| Type | Business Idea |
|---|---|
| Online Sales | Collectibles Sales |
| Drop Shipping Business | |
| Art Print Sales | |
| T-Shirt Design | |
| Subscription Box Service | |
| Handmade Business | |
| Creative Services | |
| Lettering Service | Portrait Photography |
| Stock Photo Sales | |
| Web Design Service | |
| Graphic Design Service | |
| App Development | |
| Online Platforms & Marketing | Domain Sales |
| AdWords Website | |
| Membership Website | |
| Blog | |
| Podcast | |
| Social Media Management | |
| Affiliate Marketing | |
| YouTube Channel | |
| Administrative Services | Virtual Assistant Service |
| Phone Answering Service | |
| Proofreading Service | |
| Resume Writing Service | |
| Bookkeeping Service | |
| Craft & Handmade | Herb Garden |
| Woodworking Business | |
| Meal Planning Service | |
| Personal Services | Interior Design Service |
| Tutoring Service | |
| Music Lessons | |
| Online Course Sales | |
| Massage Therapy Service | |
| IT Help Service | |
| Business Consulting Service | |
| Life Coaching Service | |
| Translating Service | |
| Home Services | Laundry Service |
| Alterations Service | |
| Makeup Service | |
| Vintage Reseller | |
| Rental Services | Tech Rentals |
| Tool Rentals | |
| Party Rentals | |
| Bicycle Rentals | |
| Other | Voiceover Acting |
| Travel Agency Business | |
| Vacation Rentals |
Image: Depositphotos.com
This article, “50 Small Business Ideas You Can Start in the Spare Room” was first published on Small Business Trends