50 Businesses to Start in the Service Industry

By Adam Boyd

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50 Businesses to Start in the Service Industry

People are always looking for faster, cheaper and easier ways to get things done without necessarily having to do it themselves.  Every single day. This is probably the reason why there’s never a shortage of new service-related business popping up somewhere.  There’s always a need for more.

If you’re a service-oriented entrepreneur who likes to be in the business of helping people, this might be a list you might want a look-through.

Scroll through our list of 50 service industry business ideas and find something that just might be right up your alley.

50 Businesses to Start in the Service Industry
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50 Service Businesses to Start today

Adapted from The Entrepreneur, this wide range of service business ideas will inspire you that it’s never too late to start a business if you are keen on putting a smile on someone else’s face and yes, money in your pocket.

With this list of potential service businesses, you have no more reason why you cannot start your own today.

1. Handyman Services

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Households will always have things that need fixing.  Be the person who can fix them!  If you are handy with the hammer and the wrench and have enough skills, go ahead and advertise your services in the local newspaper and you’d be sure that phone’s going to ring soon enough.

Related: The 4 Most Insane Outdoor Light Fixtures We’ve Ever Seen

 2. Dry-Cleaning Pickup & Delivery

Some people are too busy and just can’t be bothered with an errand.  Capitalize on this by offering a dry-cleaning pickup and delivery service.  You won’t even have to do the actual cleaning yourself!  It will be as easy as setting a pickup/delivery time and place with your client and bringing the clothes to the local dry cleaner.

You not only would be putting money in your pockets but you’d also be bringing in more business to the dry cleaner as well! Win-win!

3. Computer Training for Kids

Computers have become part of kids’ education as much as reading and writing are nowadays and kid-oriented computer learning courses are becoming more popular. Help them get ahead by offering courses like programming for kids or kiddie HTML if you have the skills.

4. Mobile Mechanic

Cars are ubiquitous on the road, but mechanics are not. Start a mobile mechanic service and you’ll see how cash can be picked along the streets every time there is a car that conked out on the road.

Related: How To Start A Body Shop Business

5. Power Washing

With your high-tech power-washing equipment in tow, you can make a good business out of washing muddy driveways or store front windows.

Related: How To Start A Commercial Cleaning Business

6. Mortgage/Debt-Reduction Service

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Not everyone has the math skills nor the patience to go through every payment structure available.  Offer your services to find the best alternative payment structures to help people manage debt or mortgage.  Trust me – they’d be glad you did!

7. Pool Services

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Start your own pool service in your community. All you’d really need are pool cleaning supplies, a hat, mighty arm muscles and a lot of determination.

8. Lawn Care

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There is money where the grass is green. Start a lawn care business and take charge of the mowing and fertilizing the lawns of the residential and commercial areas in your neighborhood. As long as the grass continues to grow, so will your business.

9. Home-Inspection Service

As the real estate business continues to boom, money also continues to come into home-inspection services. From assessing the structural condition of your clients’ residential properties to referring them to a contractor for repairs, a home inspector service remains in-demand.

Related:  How To Start A Home Inspection Business

10. Child-Identification Program

More parents have turned to technology to help keep their children safe.  Help parents secure the identity of their children at the same time secure your income with your own child-identification service. With the appropriate training and software, you can create child ID kits to store fingerprints, photos, dental records, medical history, and even DNA samples.

Related: How To Start A Daycare Business

11. Children’s Fitness

Kids these days would rather sit in front of the TV or a computer than go outside on their bikes.  Give kids in your neighborhood a reason to get off the sofa and run around with your kid fitness center.  Make sure you have Fun, kid-friendly fitness programs and equipment so kids would want to come back!

12. House-Sitting

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Give homeowners peace of mind while they are away with a house-sitting service that’s built on good reputation, integrity and trust. Give them the assurance that their homes including their pets and plants will be well taken care of.

13. Home Decorating

If you have a knack for decoration and design, you can start your home decorating service. A good connection with local furniture and accessory shops is a plus in this business.

14. Miniblind Cleaning

Mini-blinds are common installations in homes and businesses.  As common and simple as they are, they are such a pain to clean.  This is where your mini-blind cleaning service comes in.  The standard mini-blind service will include cleaning or dusting and the occasional replacement of broken blinds.

15. Pet-Food and Supplies Home Delivery

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Help homeowners cross out one item off their grocery lists by taking care of their pets’ food supply with your Lighten the burden of pet owners through your pet-food and supplies home delivery. As long as the pets will not run out of food supplies, you will not also run out of customers.

Related: How To Start An Animal Rescue Business

16.Mobile Pet Grooming

Pet owners would very much want to take care of their pets’ needs themselves but might not have enough time to do so. Do them a favor and take your pet grooming services to them.

Related: How To Start A Dog Day Care Business

17. Collectibles Search

If you’re into keeping old stuff or collecting vintage finds, this is a business idea for you. Serious collectors will pay top dollar to if it means they’re going to be one piece closer to completing their collection.

You won’t need a lot to start this business. You’d need a computer for sourcing antiques or collectibles online, a pair of sturdy walking shoes for when you go “picking” on foot, great haggling skills and tons and tons of patience.

Related: How to Start A Consignment Shop Business

18. Diaper Delivery

Everyone’s all about being clean and green.  It’s difficult though if you’re a parent that has a baby that seems to go through a pack of disposable diapers faster than one can say poo!  It’s not only expensive, it’s very bad for the environment too!

Give parents a cleaner and greener option with a cloth diaper pickup/delivery and diaper washing service.  Make sure you invest in good quality, industrial washing machines because washing soiled nappies is serious business.

19. Mobile Locksmith

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I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve gotten a call from my dad asking me to bring him his extra set of car keys because he’s locked his keys in his car – AGAIN.

Now that I live in another city, it’s a great comfort to know that there are mobile locksmith services my dad can call to come to his rescue the next time he decides to lock himself out of his car again.

20. Graffiti Removal & Abatement

There’s graffiti on walls everywhere, from schools to houses and commercial/state buildings. Although some are quite artistic, some are just straight up eyesores that need to be removed quickly. This paints a rosy business for a graffiti removal and abatement services.

21. Golf-Club Cleaning

Golfers like to keep their clubs in tip-top shape and ready for the next tee off.  Rightly so, as they likely spent a lot of money to get them. They’d need someone to put the shine back on their irons and woods after a round on the damp green. If your service is great and the price is right, you’d be sure that you’d be their golf-club cleaning service of choice.  That should bring in enough money to make you feel like you hit a hole-in-one!

If your service is great and the price is right, you’d be sure that you’d be their golf-club cleaning service of choice.  That should bring in enough money to make you feel like you hit a hole-in-one!

22. Self-Defense Instructor

Self-defense has become a primary need. If you have training and certification in self-defense techniques, then you can certainly slay in this business.  The most in-demand self-defense styles are Karate, Aikido, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, Jeet Kune Do and Taekwondo.  A plus of being in this business is your market ranges from kids to grown-ups.

Related: How To Start A Firearm Training Instructor Business

23. Adventure Tours

People like to go on adventure tours in a new city.  From experience, the best tours are those led by locals who have lived there their whole lives, who take you on non-standard tour routes while giving you interesting tidbits about each spot –those you don’t find in history books.  If you like

If you like traveling and history and don’t mind people tagging along on one of your adventure walks, you might as well get paid for it.

Related: How To Start A Campground Business (23 Step Checklist)

24. Court-Paper Serving

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Court-related errands are both tedious and time-consuming. Offer your services as a registered court-paper server to private lawyers to help ease up on their task while increasing your earnings at the same time.

25. Mobile Massage

Some people just don’t have the luxury of going on spa retreats to get massages which require time spent away from work and from home plus it can be rather costly. A mobile massage service might be a better alternative for these customers. Overhead is pretty low making prices relatively cheap compared to that of an actual spa resort plus they get to have a relaxing massage at home!

Related: How To Start A Hair Salon Business

26. Personal Chef

A personal chef is in demand in big cities where the affluent and busy working people and families abound.

Related: How to Start A Catering Business

27. Seamstress/Tailor

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As long as people continue to wear clothes, a seamstress or tailor will never run out of clients. Affiliate yourself with local boutiques or start your own custom-made apparel or alteration shop.

28. Porcelain Repair

The smallest chip, whether it’s on your finest china or the clawfoot tub in the bathroom, ruins its overall appearance and lowers its value.  Given the right training and repair kit, you can offer porcelain repair services to restore broken, chipped or cracked porcelain pieces and make the look like new again.

Related: How To Start A Jewelry Business

29. Cover Letter/Resume Service

There are some people, no matter how smart they are, who don’t seem to have any idea when it comes to writing a cover letter or putting together their CV or resume. If this is something that you believe you are good at, a resume writing service might just be that money making opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

30. Mystery Shopping

Who wouldn’t jump with the chance to go shopping and get paid for it?  Mystery shoppers are people who are hired by shop owners, market research companies and the like to report on a retailer’s quality of customer service.  Go shopping, report back, get paid, repeat.  Sounds like a plan.

Go shopping, report back, get paid, repeat. Sounds like a plan.

Related: How to Start a Retail Clothing Business (10 Steps)

31. Custom Closet Systems

Closets aren’t easily expandable but we all need just a bit more storage than we already have. So custom closet systems are the next best thing. Help homeowners reclaim valuable closet real estate as a closet-organizing extraordinaire.  Make your customers happy by maximizing every single nook and cranny, with hooks, dowels, racks and strategically placed shelving.

Related: How To Start A Crafting Business

32. Videotaping Service

With your training and experience in video production, you can open your own videotaping service. From weddings and birthdays to reunions, there is money to be made in helping people preserve the important events in their lives.

33. Reunion Organizing

If you are an outgoing person and have a skill in coordinating events—from arranging accommodations to food and entertainment, you can open your own reunion organizing service. This business assures repeat clients, as long as you know how to bring fun to a family or school class reunion activity.

Related: How To Start An Event Planning Business

34. Nanny Placement

Working parents in big cities rely on nannies to take care of their children while they are at work. With your wide contacts and references, you can open your nanny placement agency and handle the screening of nanny applicants to refer to potential clients.

35. Tutoring

Busy parents will get by with a big help from tutors who help ensure their kids’ maintain good academic standing in school. You’ll need to brush up on your skills in language, reading, writing and arithmetic of course.  Once you’re done, you can start your own tutorial service.

36. Photography

Nothing beats a good photograph to remind people of the events that are close to their hearts. From weddings, special gatherings, socials, and even funerals, photography service remain an attractive business.

37. Bookkeeping

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Business owners employ bookkeepers to ensure their cash flow and finances are kept in order. Despite the abundance of personal accounting software nowadays, businessmen continue to rely on the more personalized service bookkeeping agencies offer.

Related: How To Start An Accounting Firm Business

38. Freight Brokerage

As business turns global nowadays, storage and shipment of supplies or goods across land, sea, air or railways is indispensable. To ensure precious cargo gets to where it’s going with minimal to no bumps in between, a good freight brokerage service is essential.

Related: Starting a Trucking Company (Read This First!)

39. Executive Search

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As an executive search specialist, it’s your job to post job ads, sift through the applicant resumes, go through interviews, and screen potential employees. How you screen applicants will depend largely on the needs of your client.

40. Limousine Service

A limousine service can cater to different people.  From kids going to the dance, a couple in an extra special date, weddings, birthdays or the occasional VIP on a business trip who needs shuttling within the city.  There’s a wide market for this service.  Make sure you get your insurance in order, give good service and always aim for a good reputation.  These will be your ticket to referrals and repeat business.

Related: How To Start A Food Truck Business

41. Private Investigation

Who knew that one could make a legit money-making business out of being curious and nosy?   As a private investigator, your services are best offered to lawyers, individuals or even other businesses who need help gather information discreetly.

42. Children’s Transportation Service

For busy parents, a reliable transportation service who can take their kids safely to and from school is a lifesaver.  Schools are often in need of these services so make sure to visit nearby schools to see if they need your services for their students.

 43. Computer Consulting

Most, if not all big companies rely on computers for their daily operations in one way or another.   Thus, there will always be a need for computer consulting businesses whether be it a need for someone to look at a businesses’ computer system, network, standard maintenance or software and hardware upgrades.

Related: How To Start A Consulting Business

44. Website Designer

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Find your niche on the world wide web through your web designing skills. Boost companies’ presence online and your pocket’s content, as well.

45. Baby-Proofing

Help parents create a hazard-free home for their kids with your ever reliable baby-proofing service.  You’ll be in the business of making sure that kids do not have access to the stairs where they can easily trip and fall.  It will also be your job to make sure that closets, doors, windows, drawers are child-proofed so kids’ fingers don’t get caught in them.

Remember to install child-proofing on furniture corners too where kids can easily bump into and hurt themselves.

Related: The 6 Coolest Decks for Your Patio Business

46. Computer Repair

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Most of us consider ourselves heavy computer users but not necessarily know the first thing about how to fix them when they do conk out on us.  If you tinkering with your customers is your thing, a great business opportunity for you is to start your own computer repair service and make a great profit offering your services to those who are not as tech-savvy as you.

 47. Tax-Form Preparer

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People need to pay taxes every year.  For people who are most familiar with tax regulations and forms, it can be a money-making season.  Help reduce tax-induced stress and migraines by offering a reliable tax preparation service.  Your clients will be happy to pay you your fee just to get if off their hands and into your more capable ones.

48. Mobile Car-Wash and Detailing

Who has time to go to the car wash let alone wash their cars themselves nowadays?  So why not capitalize on this need and take your car washing and detailing services to your customers instead!  Potential clients include car dealers, cab companies, and car rental businesses.

49. Packing and Unpacking Service

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Packing is probably the most stressful part of the moving process. Start your packing and unpacking service, and make moving an income-generating business.

50. Carpet Dyeing

Carpet dyeing is a more pocketbook-friendly alternative to replacing worn and tired-looking carpets.  Business and residential owners alike will gladly jump on the chance to refresh the look of their homes and businesses with “new” carpet without breaking the bank.

Final Thoughts

These are only a few of the types of businesses you can try your entrepreneurial hand at.  There are literally hundreds of others out there – you just need to be aware of what your community needs.

Remember too that starting a business within the service industry can be simple or complicated.  It all depends on how ready and determined you are to make it in whatever business you decide on.

Enjoyed what you read? Have any questions? Let us know in the comments below, and make sure you sign up for the 21 point business startup checklist.

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