Here are a list of businesses you can start with 1000. Lets play a game, you only have $1000 and need to spend it on a business that will make a good return on your investment, or ROI, and will continue to be a business that you can grow and make money with.
So the rules to this game is to choose a business that meets certain requirements and fits within the $1000 you have liquid to invest.
Well because we only have $1000, then we must choose businesses that require our sweat equity, the energy we put in, also know as active income VS choosing any business that will be classified as passive income.
Passive income would be like investing in stocks.
If I only had $1000 to invest, I would not put that into the stock market. And here’s why:
If you were to get an %8 return on your invested money, you would have only made $80 at the end of the year on that $1000 you invested and left untouched.
The issue with this strategy, is there are better businesses that you can invest in that will yield a much higher return on your money, you just need to bet on yourself, also if you only have $1000 to spend, then the game becomes how can I increase my ability to earn more and make more money.
Because parking $1000 bucks into a passive income vehicle at %8 for example, will be a very slow way to make any meaningful money.
Let’s says you invest the $1000 at %8 interest and let it sit and compound of the next 10 years.
Here’s how it plays out.
In 10 Years, you will have $2,158.92.
Let’s say you add $100 every month, and continue to add to it consistently for 10 years. That’s $19,542.80 and of that about 13K was your contribution.
So this scenario doesn’t play out too well either.
The goal with the $1000, is how can Invest this in a way that will yield the highest return and continually be a source of income.
You then take this cash machine that you have built, that’s hopefully now printing money, and now you can park that into more passive income vehicles like stocks or real estate and diversify your portfolio, but that’s a different article.
Drone Aerial Photography
This first business if one that I haven’t heard others mention, but a service ive paid for many times. I remember when I wanted to look at property in a different city, and needed something current, not a google street view. I hired a drone photographer that would go to the site and take video and pictures of everything that I needed and send me the images back over google drive link .
I paid about $300 on average per job.
So I reached out to the drone photographer and asked if he would mind sharing a little bit about his business.
He stated he does it full time and averages about 3-5K a month. Here are some of his package pricings, so that you get an idea.
- $800-$1,500 per wedding or similar event. (photo/video package)
- $150-$300 for a real estate still photography session (10 photos)
- $300-$1,000 for real estate video (5 mins)
Here’s how much you’ll need to start this business; keep in mind you will need transportation to get to the locations.
Startup cost:
- Drone — $500 (If we look here on google, we can get a solid one for about $500)
- Adobe Photo and video editing software — $15 per month
- Marketing — $250
There are a lot of services and events you can provide this service to. There are also websites like droners.io where you can post your services, this is actually the site I used to hire him. You can make back you initial $1000 after 1 or 4 bookings. After that it’s all profit, besides marketing and overhead.
Cleaning Service Company
Recently, my wife and I, started looking for some additional help around the house. About 2 years ago we bought our first home. It was originally built in 2020 and is about 4000 sq ft, 2 stories, 5 bed 4 baths. So just a lot of area to maintain and clean.
I made a video if you wanted to check it out later, but we saw some neighbors in our community started hiring a cleaning service that comes out and does a thorough deep cleaning.
It appeared to be a small startup, and I could tell by the marketing on the car so me being weird and invasive, I approached them and started asking them about their business.
I really need to start catching this stuff on camera.
Well, none of them really spoke English, except the owner. I told her I potentially needed the service and wanted to know more about their pricing and a little bit about her back story.
She started this business late last year and says she does many of the homes in the neighboring community. She started with just herself and now has about 3 employees contracted for her and if someone can’t make it, she steps in.
After asking her how much she charges and doing some research online. House cleaning prices range from $180 to $250 on average. And around $600 for houses 3000 square feet and up. +
Here’s an example of cost per cleaning by the hour:
Let’s say you start with just yourself, build up your reviews and then look to get homeowners on a subscription to clean their house once a month every month.
Once you get some consistent bookings, you can hire your first employee and start to scale.
You can average about 40-50 dollars an hour just by yourself. After 20 Hours booked you would have recouped your $1000 invested.
Startup cost:
Cleaning equipment and cleaning products can cost anywhere from $300 to $600 in startup costs, depending on the kind of equipment you buy. This can include:
A high-quality vacuum, which can cost between $200 and $400
$100 in monthly cleaning supplies
And about $150 on online ads and marketing
As for getting initial business, you can farm certain neighborhoods by going door to door, sending postcards, door hangers, letting neighbors know on your community Facebook page or running ads on google and Facebook.
Newsletters
So, picture this – this next online business is where legends like Sam Parr and Shaan Puri made their millions. Sam kicked things off with thehustle, selling this startup to HubSpot for a nice sum (we’re talking near the $30 million mark). Then Shaan Puri, Sams cohost on myfirstmillion, took the Milk Road from zero to seven figures in the first year and cashed in big time just a year later. What’s the secret sauce here?
I’ve recently dived into this world myself and let me tell you, newsletters can be a great business. It’s like having your own community to drop knowledge and make money at the same time. Â
First things first, find your niche – what gets you fired up? Cooking, gardening, tech, camping… Whatever it is, you can create a newsletter for a specific audience.
Then pick a platform. SubStack is a popular choice, and they’ve got free plans to kickstart your newsletter. As your number of subscribers grow, you can monetize with paid subscriptions or by getting some sponsors on board.
Subscribers will be willing to pay a monthly fee to access your VIP content as long as the value is there. It’s like having a backstage pass to your insider knowledge.
Also if you have an audience, sponsors and advertisers will pay to be included in your newsletter.
Startup cost:
With this business, there are very little startup costs. Substack has a free account, you can buy a domain name for $12 a year.
The tradeoff is this will take longer and will require a lot of upfront work that won’t yield a return until you grow your audience.
Trade Skill Business
Next, there are some businesses you can start, where you may already have an existing skill. Let me explain.
Last month my refrigerator stopped cooling, I called a company that had some decent reviews online to come check it out.
This was a two-man business, and he had bookings from 8 am to like 7 pm at night. I paid almost $400 to fix this issue with my fridge.
I predict that this 2-man business that fixes appliances was making about 20-30K a month.
If you’ve got a skill in carpentry, electrical, roofing, fixing appliances, painting, plumbing, general maintenance, or another trade skill?
That skill of yours is not just a talent – it’s a money-making machine waiting to happen. I predict that in the next 3 to 5 years, skilled trades are going to be talked about a lot more online amongst top businesses to start.
First, you’ll need to get the necessary licenses and certifications. No shortcuts here – got to keep it legit. Then, figure out your pricing game. Check out what other similar businesses are charging in your trade and set your rates.
These are service based businesses and here’s the golden rule: Always deliver top-notch work, always be on time, and provide stellar customer service and communication. Word-of-mouth and repeat business – is important in the trade skill business.
Startup cost:
This varies a lot here depending on the license, certification and tools needed to start, But I believe on average you can easily start this up for under $1000 and can make a lot of money doing this.
Notary Signing Agent
I was doing some research on this next business and came across this article of a young lady who quit her 9-5 job a year after starting this side business. She makes 10k A month now. The cost to get started will vary depending on where you live and the rules and regulations there and cost for the certifications and training.
This business can give you flexibility and you can work as much or as little as you like. This business is becoming a Notary signing agent.
Startup cost:
To become a notary, you will need your own transportation, pay for the necessary certification and supplies. As you grow so will your overhead, like any other business.
It appears that loan signings pay the most, so finding a way to balance loan signings and performing quicker mobile notaries may be a good strategy.
Overall this can be started under $1000 and after a few loan signings you can recoup your initial investment and everything after is profit.
I think money should also be allocated towards marketing and building an online brand to stand out against others.
Reselling Business
This next business is one I think is the easiest to start and you can absolutely do it under $1000. One of my first businesses that was a success, is when I simply found things for less that I could sell for more.
I started by selling stuff I had around the house, to make the first seed capital to even start this business.
There’s a website called liquidation.com where you can bid on items and flip them for profit on Amazon or eBay. A bunch of other sites also have these auctions where you can bid on stuff.
My neighbor is into reselling. She bids on storage unit auctions, and if she wins, she and her husband load up their truck with the winnings. I often see them unloading everything, and they even are kind enough to ask if I want first dibs on anything before, they sell it on Facebook, eBay, or Amazon.
They usually spend between 2 to 500 bucks on a unit and make around 1,000 to 2,500 bucks. Some units do really well, others just break even. The key is reinvesting the profits into more stuff to sell.
I talk about the reselling business, maybe more than any other business because it is the first business that took me from nothing to half a million in revenue my first year.
That first 100K is the most memorable for me and it’s the one that stuck with me the most.
However, all of these businesses have the ability to make you a great return on your $1000 that you have to invest.
