What’s the Most Profitable Business to Start in 2022?

While profit may not be the only motivation for starting a business, it is certainly one of the deciding factors. Whether a new business succeeds or fails depends on its ability to make a profit. Building an audience/customer base, marketing, and developing a solid business plan are all key elements of most successful businesses, and they all lead back to one place.

22 Profitable Businesses to Start in 2022

Making a profit is very easy when starting with a profitable business model. Are there any businesses that will be profitable in 2022 that are most likely to succeed? Let's take a look.

1. E-commerce business

E-commerce businesses, which refer to all businesses where products are bought and sold over the Internet, are consistently ranked among the best and most profitable businesses to start. Why? Because they're easy to launch, don't require the overhead costs of a brick-and-mortar location, and give you access to a geographically diverse customer base. With over 2 billion e-commerce users online, now is the time to start e-commerce.

2. Drop shipping business

Dropshipping is a subcategory of e-commerce that refers to businesses that sell products they don't have in hand. Instead, products are shipped directly from the vendor to the customer. Drop shipping reduces your inventory costs and, in turn, increases your net income. And until 2028, the global drop shipping market is predicted to grow by 20% per year.

Drop shipping is common in industries where customers expect a wide range of products that can be cost-prohibitive for small businesses like bookstores. For example, many local bookstores may use drop shipping to ship directly from the publisher or a partner such as bookshop.org. 

This allows them to offer a wider selection of books without facing the challenges of stocking a copy or 2 of a particular title just in case a customer wants it. Be aware of the risks of drop shipping, including quality control, branding, and customer service.

3. Vacation or house rentals

Vacations and home rentals are more popular than ever. The home rental business is booming due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with annual home rental income reaching $40,000 annually in 2021. 

What is causing the increase in demand? Some travelers are looking for driveable destinations, opting to find somewhere secluded where they can get some R&R. Others are turning to unique vacation rentals instead of traditional hotels to reduce risk by eliminating exposure to other guests.

With the massive shift to working from home, others are looking for a place to work away from family distractions. As much as we all want to put this pandemic behind us, signs point to vacation and home rentals being top-notch business opportunities for the foreseeable future.

4. Online courses

Professionals are constantly looking for ways to sharpen their skills and advance their careers, providing a lucrative business opportunity for savvy entrepreneurs who want to turn their skills into passive income. 

These Courses covering business finance and accounting, strategy, management, negotiation, sales/marketing training, and public speaking are in constant demand. The course industry is only expected to grow, with the market growing to $375B by 2026. Do you want to start? Check out our free training to start your profitable online course.

Online Marketing Course

The marketing landscape is changing, and many businesses and professionals are looking for guidance on how to adapt. Creating an online marketing course covering email marketing, social media management, SEO, or database marketing can make a profit with minimal investment.

Language course

Are you a multilingual entrepreneur? Consider taking a language course. The language learning industry has continued to expand. You want to identify your target market to stand out from the competition. 

Who is your ideal student? Identifying your niche and narrowing down your audience will lead to more conversions and increased profits. Instead of offering "Beginner Spanish," consider something more specialized like "7 Days to Business Travel Spanish."

Hobby course

The last area of ​​the online course industry is hobby courses. Think embroidery, woodworking, or singing. Due to cost-effective pricing and convenience, the demand for these online courses has increased in recent years. The pandemic has increased demand here as well. 

People who have started working from home now have more time to explore topics that interest them. Others have taken stock of what's important to them and are finally mustering up the courage to stab at a beginner's piano. As a result, starting a hobby course in 2022 is a very profitable business idea.

5. Bookkeeping or accounting services

Bookkeeping and accounting service businesses maintain constant demand because everyone has to file taxes, and many people need to learn how to manage tax preparation. If you work in personal accounting, you'll see a spring rush as people look for help filing their taxes, but there are more profitable opportunities in the small business space. 

Your average small business owner doesn't have the capacity or expertise to manage bookkeeping and may not have the resources to hire an on-staff bookkeeper. With a net profit margin of 18.4%, accounting and bookkeeping services are one of the most profitable industries you can get into in 2022.

6. Graphic design business

Graphic design services are in constant high demand as outstanding graphic design can be a differentiator in the market. In the era of digital marketing and Instagram-friendly advertising, a company's graphic design is more important than ever. 

How profitable your graphic design business is depends on how much money you're getting paid compared to how much effort you put into the project. On average, graphic designers can earn $15 - $35 per hour based on their experience.

The low overhead of graphic designers allows them to run highly profitable businesses. But they can also fall victim to scope crawling and other revenue-eating methods. To ensure maximum profitability, build your business model to target high-revenue/low-labor projects. You can avoid scope reduction and other pitfalls with a clearly defined consulting proposal. For tips on how to put together a winning consulting proposal, consult our guide.

7. Digital Agency

Last year, digital agencies generated $20B in revenue. This is a huge opportunity to start and build a profitable agency. Want to learn how? Take our free digital agency course.

Social Media Consulting

As we mentioned above, social media marketing is more important than ever. Social media advertising is the second largest market within digital advertising. Global industry revenue of $138.2 billion is expected to grow to $18.4 billion in 2025. 

A rapidly expanding market with the low investment required to start a social media consulting business makes it one of the most lucrative opportunities for digital marketers.

Digital Marketing Consulting

Digital marketing is an emerging industry. For many small businesses, keeping up with the latest trends in email marketing or the next Google algorithm update can consume a lot of resources. 

If you have the skills to offer it all — email marketing, SEO, copywriting, social media — you can package it all into one highly profitable digital marketing service.

8. Copywriting

Copywriting is more than just fancy words and catchy taglines (although that still can be). As companies seek to build their audience, copywriters can make money with skills in writing viral or SEO content. 

What makes copywriting such a profitable small business idea? Digital marketing assets — especially those related to SEO and social media — can be revenue-generating machines for companies, and they come with the metrics to prove it. 

If you can provide real value for a client, you can command a hefty sum for your work, up to $45 an hour. The best part? There are virtually no startup costs to get this business off the ground.

9. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a business model where a company pays a third party to generate leads or traffic to the company. These days, everyone from Instagram influencers to major news publications relies on affiliate marketing to increase profits. 

If you have a strong audience…or plan to build one, you can make a bank with affiliate marketing. The industry generated $6.4 billion in 2019 and continues to grow, making it one of the best small business ideas in 2022.

10. IT Support

Listen, we're just going to say this. Most people don't know how to use the tech they rely on to do their jobs. If you've got the chops, you can run a successful business in IT support. In 2022, the IT services market is expected to be $852 billion. Not too worn.

11. Legal Services

Legal services are the most profitable of any service business. It is a high profit, constantly demanding, and relies on specialized knowledge. Specialization also allows legal professionals to focus on what they love most, whether working in estate planning, a commercial bank, or providing legal services for real estate deals. However, there will always be a need for legal services.

12. Auto repair business

While some major repairs require a trip to the full auto repair shop, many fixes can be made with simple tools. The average age of vehicles has increased to 12.1 years, which means more people are holding on to their cars and would rather repair them than buy them.

If you are a skilled mechanic, you can start an auto repair service with minimal startup costs and generate revenue quickly. Then, when you're ready to scale, you can open your auto repair shop and take advantage of those big repairs, too.

13. B2B (Business to Business) Services

Businesses can typically handle higher price points and service fees than end users, making B2B services a highly profitable industry with an expected 22% year-over-year growth rate through 2027. including real estate, cleaning, bookkeeping, accounting, legal, and marketing.

14. Real estate business

Real estate continues attracting investors as it is a consistently profitable industry. The advantages of real estate include the opportunity to generate passive income with a business model that relies on an asset that generates income (land or building) over time. Real estate comes with risk and requires a fairly large investment. 

A successful real estate business typically relies on a slow and steady business model, generating a small, more consistent stream of profits over a long period. Be wary of house flipping and other real estate models that can turn into a "get-rich-quick" scheme, especially if you don't have experience in the industry. 

Real estate can be one of the most lucrative businesses if you have the cash flow and risk tolerance to make it work. Deciding when is the best time to get into the real estate game is always a game, so reach out to the relevant associations in your area and ask questions before getting a license.

15. Software Development

Software development depends on technical skill sets. You have a very successful business if you put all your dev skills into proprietary software that can be marketed to other businesses. 

Most businesses need technology solutions that they need help to build themselves. While you can work on developing ad hoc solutions through software consulting, building proprietary software allows you to market a single product to a wider audience without requiring dev resources on a project-by-project basis. Increases gross profit.

16. Data Science Consulting

Data science is an industry driven by expertise. If you can give business leaders the data analytics they need to make informed decisions, you can demand premium pricing with an average hourly rate of around $60. 

Data is king these days, and if you know how to organize data to tell a compelling story, the sky's the limit. Expertise in a specific platform such as a CRM (Salesforce, SAP) or data tool (Microsoft Power BI) can make you stand out to companies looking for third-party advice or expertise for their data tools.

17. Resale and Rental of Clothing

As concerns over climate change and global warming grow, there is more pressure to do something, especially in fashion (the second most polluting industry). The clothing resale and rental market are expanding massively, and with Gen Z moving toward vintage and reused clothing, trends look set to grow this industry space by 127% by 2026.

19. Cleaning Service

High demand offers high-profit potential, with cleaners paid an average of $40-$45 an hour. Cleaning services are also scalable, require minimal overhead costs, and have high levels of customer retention. Given that customer acquisition is one of the highest costs for many businesses, that gives cleaning services an extra boost in the profitability department.

20. Cash-based business (laundry mats and vending machines)

Look for legacy businesses that need to catch up with the times. Vending machines and laundry mats are two business opportunities with older models and systems. You can quickly dress up a laundry mat with fresh paint and an updated logo if you have enough money. The best thing about this type of business is that they are still primarily cash-based. This means there is less overhead to accelerate their speed to implement technology systems.

21. Health Coach

More than ever, people are willing to spend money on personal health. The health and wellness industry is $4 trillion and growing. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, more people are working from home and seeking medical consultations on Zoom. 

This means that building and equipment costs, the most expensive part of a health and wellness business, can be reduced. Get started coaching people online in fitness, diet, mental health, career, or all of the above through your personal experience and brand.

22. Build a brand that you can monetize

2022 is the year of the content creator (the term was formerly known as the influencer). Starting a brand and making a profit around it has never been easier. So here are some branding ideas to help you grow an audience that can pay you back in cash:

• Currently, TikTok is the best channel to grow an audience quickly. Just make sure your content is entertaining and engaging.

• Start a podcast focused on your industry expertise.

• Create an Instagram account about things to do in your city.

• Start a blog (yes, that's still a thing) built around search terms about your favorite hobby.

• Start a YouTube channel about life hacks.

Remember, if you start a brand to make money, your audience will quickly unsubscribe, unfollow and ignore you. Building an audience supporting you financially takes patience, consistency, and dedication. Most content-driven brands take years before they have a niche audience that will support them through memberships, merchandise, and spin-off products.

Most Profitable Businesses Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What does it mean to be a profitable business?

Being a profitable business means your income minus expenses results in the black. When you're just starting, this formula is simple, but the more you grow, the more complicated the numbers get. Take our Finance for Founders course to learn the financial concepts you need to know before starting a business.

Q: What is the best profitable business to start?

At Founder, we've interviewed and collaborated with leaders across industries and business sizes. One of the commonalities of success is passion. It would help if you were motivated by solving a problem or your brand's mission. 

It can be as simple as helping people in your neighborhood drive safer cars or as big as fixing an old printer and ink system. Whatever your business idea is, it won't be profitable year after year if you don't love what it provides to society.

Q: How can I keep my business profitable?

Starting a business is hard. Being in business takes a lot of work. Your business will have an inflection point when you need to invest more to grow. At this point, you must decide what you want to risk for your desire. Do you want to be the CEO of a 50-person agency or have enough clients to pay your bills? 

These decisions will determine your profitability, whether raising prices, hiring an employee, or buying new software. Remember that overhead kills your profit; the biggest profit suckers are people. Do not act unnecessarily. Otherwise, you'll increase your bottom line.