20 Best Business ideas in California with Low Startup Cost

California is a great place to start a small business. The state has plenty of resources and opportunities for new entrepreneurs. California has the highest concentration of technology companies in the US. Silicon Valley alone accounts for more than half of the country’s venture capital funding.

From there, it’s easy to see why California has become one of the most popular states for business owners.

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But what about all those other people looking for ideas for their businesses? What about those dreaming about starting small businesses but never getting around to it?

If you’re one of them, here are 20 highly profitable small business ideas in California that will help you get started on your path to success!

Here is The List of 20 Best Business Ideas in California

1. Homemade Food

Food Business

A subscription service that delivers freshly-made meals over a week or two to your doorsteps on demand. This idea can be expanded upon by offering different meal options like vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free dinner options on request. 

If you love cooking and you’re good at it, consider starting a mobile food service that makes meals on demand. You could have a special menu just for your customers, or offer different kinds of foods every day. You could also use social media to promote your business and reach people who might be interested in what you do.

Customers will love the convenience of having dinner delivered right to their doorstep without having to worry about cooking it themselves or spending time in front of the stove waiting for it to come out hot from the oven!

2. Mobile App Development and Web Design Services

Mobile tech

Mobile Apps are becoming the norm in both consumer and business sectors. This sector is expected to grow by 9% over the next few years.

The demand for web design services is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8%. This sector is expected to generate $10 billion by 2023 from $5 billion in 2016.

3. Create Photo Booths and Bring People Together with Them

Photo Booths

If your idea is centered around photos or video, then there’s no better place than California’s sunny weather and wide open spaces. You can set up shop in a public area or at a local event and entertain people with your creative talents all day long.

4. Video Production Content Strategy

Video edit

 If you have a knack for video editing, consider starting your own video production company. This can be done from home or in an office space that’s easily accessible by clients. You could offer services such as video production, editing, and promotion of content for websites and social media channels alike.

5. Start with the Recycling Business

Recycling Business

Most small businesses require at least some initial investment, so if you don’t have the capital to get started, you’ll need to find other ways to get started.

If you live in a neighborhood where recycling is not common, there are a lot of opportunities for collecting recyclables and reselling them. 

This can be done with a pickup truck or van and some bins that you can put out on the street. You could also start a collection service for residents in your area by offering weekly pickups on Friday afternoons.

6. Transportation Services

If you own a van or truck, it’s possible that someone will want to use it for transporting goods or services instead of renting one from an agency like U-Haul, for example. If this is true for your business, start offering transportation services instead of collecting recyclables. 

7. Start a Small Boutique

Small Boutique

If you have talent in sewing or other craftwork, why not try making skirts and tops for sale in an online boutique? This is a great way to cash your talent and make dresses because California is famous for its fashion industry! Open up an Etsy shop or find some local designers who would be willing to work with you on creating new designs for their clients.

8. Start Babysitting Service Provider

Babysitting

Babysitting services are one of the fastest-growing segments of the workforce, and plenty of people would love to have their own kid sitter. If you have a team that is able to provide this service, you can start your own profitable business!

9. Start Small Scale Manufacturing Services

If you want to start a small-scale manufacturing business, you don’t need a large space or employees. You just need the equipment needed for manufacturing and some materials to make your products. These can be bought at places like Ace Hardware or Home Depot. And since there is no sales tax on materials, it makes sense if you live in California to buy everything in bulk from stores.

10. Beauty Service Provider, Massager, or Mobile Beauty Parlor, and Haircut

Beauty Service Provider

With the rise in popularity of beauty services like massages and mobile beauty parlors, it’s never been easier than now to bring beauty into your own home or office.

You could have your own hair salon, where you offer your services on demand. You might also consider offering hair styling classes or a demonstration area where customers can see how they can do their own hair.

You could even take this idea on the road with you as you travel across California!

11. Pet Cleaner Service Providers

Pet owners often have trouble finding pet-friendly cleaners, but with this idea, you can offer all types of cleaning services for pets, including bathing and nail trims. You could even offer grooming services for cats and dogs!

12. Window Cleaner and House Cleaning Service Providers

This is a good option if you have experience as a house cleaner or if you’re just looking for something different to do every once in a while!

If you love being outside and getting paid to do so (and taking pride in your work), this could be something that interests you. Make sure that whatever kind of window cleaning service it is—whether it’s cleaning windows inside buildings or just outside buildings—it’s environmentally friendly and safe for humans and animals alike!

Moreover, This service can be used as an alternative to window cleaning from a professional cleaner. 

13. Senior Care Services

If you have experience working with seniors or a team with experience and expertise in caring for the elderly, this is a great way to make money while helping others. You can start a business providing care for them. For example, suppose you know how to ensure someone is comfortable and safe in their home. In that case, this could be an opportunity for you to create a new line of senior care services. You could offer “comfort care” or “assistant care.”

14. Open Knitting or Sewing lesson

This type of business is easy to start, and there are many benefits:

-It’s easy to get started with little or no investment

-You can make your own schedule and work from home whenever you want

You’ll be helping people who need it most – including students who are studying for exams, military personnel who are on deployment, single moms trying to earn extra money, etc. And it’s something everyone can do! You don’t need any special skills or experience to run a knitting and sewing center.

15. Carpet Installation Service: Cash Your Skill

If you have experience in carpentry or construction, this is the perfect way to turn your skills into a thriving business. It’s important to know that there are plenty of opportunities for you. The state is home to many businesses, which means that there are plenty of opportunities for you to find your niche and start your own business. 

If you have ever installed carpet at home, then this business idea is for you. You can use your experience in carpets to start a carpet installation service that offers services to offices, hostels, houses, and hotels.

16. Become a Travel Guide

Travel Consultant

If you’re looking for a new way to make money in California, consider becoming a travel guide. You can find tourists who are interested in outdoor expeditions and lead them on those adventures.

You’ll need to learn how to organize trips and activities and budget contingencies. Building these into your budget can be difficult, but it’s definitely doable if you keep at it!

You’ll need a license if you want to start your own travel agency or just get into the industry more deeply. There are only so many licenses available for travel agents in California—you’ll have to apply for one through the state government if you want to start working as an agent.

17. Introduce Natural Skin Care Products

Suppose you’re interested in offering natural skincare products as well. In that case, you should consider starting your own line of organic cosmetics. You can sell these directly at hotels or houses during large events such as weddings or corporate parties.

You could also market them through an app that allows users to schedule appointments with local beauty experts who will help them create their own custom beauty routine based on their skin type (e.g., oily/dry).

18. Start a Marriage agency

Marriage agencies are a great way to get started in the wedding industry. You can offer full-service catering, florists, caterers, and more. In addition to that, you can also help with your client’s wedding day flowers and other decorations. You can also provide dress shops for the bridesmaids or groomsmen.

19. Make your own local plant nursery and provide Vegetables Cutting Service in Hotels or Houses during Big Events

This is the perfect business for you if you have a green thumb and like to garden. You can use your skills as a gardener and sell your veggies at trade shows or at farmers’ markets.

If you have a yard or garden at home, consider starting up a plant nursery where people can buy seeds and plants from you directly instead of going online first and then buying them from Amazon or another website later on down the line (which is how most people do it).

This will cut costs for both parties involved and create more opportunities for repeat customers who might be interested in buying more plants in the coming months!

There’s a lot going on at events like weddings and festivals. If your vegetables aren’t cut properly, guests will be disappointed and possibly even less likely to come back next time. Plus, if they don’t like their food, they won’t recommend your business to friends!

 Find a cutting service that offers flexible hours and packages deals for multiple guests at once. You could also offer pre-made packages as an alternative—just make sure these aren’t too expensive!

 You can grow your own vegetables and sell them at events that are happening in hotels or houses. This way, you can get your vegetables cut, packaged, and delivered to the event.

20. Seafood Delivery Service

You can find a lot of great business ideas in California, but if you’re looking for something unique and out-of-the-box, you may want to consider this option.

Seafood is popular in California, so this would be a great way to get started with a new business idea. Plus, it’s pretty easy to make money from the seafood industry—you just need to make sure that you offer quality, fresh seafood at competitive prices (and maybe even add some specialties).

For something more laid back and relaxing, consider opening up a coffee shop near one of California’s many gorgeous beaches! The state has so many different locations that it would not be hard for someone with little experience running such an establishment!

21. Freelancing Services

Provide many freelancing services like graphics designing, image editing, video editing, social media post creation, and many more. In this business model if a user comes for the first time and you provide him a good services then there are very high chance that he will hire you for more work in the future.

There are many types of people and agencies who are working at a high level and they prefer to hire those who have all the solutions related to their requirements. They can be a small team of any agency, blogger, YouTuber, social media influencer, etc.

So, do proper and in-depth market research on the business or startup idea. This is a mini startup idea that can be started with very low investments. But it can be also scaled very quickly if you have good investments.

You need a proper team who are professional in the services you are providing to your clients. Hiring unskilled people can be a big problem for your business when your business or startup is new. Where you have to focus on the quality of services a lot.

22. Vehicle Wash Station

Washing a vehicle can be very tough for the people who do jobs, business, etc. To wash vehicles like bikes, cars, etc. many hours can be spent very easily. As a result, a lot of people prefer to wash their vehicles at the wash station because they are professional in the work, the wash can be done in very little time, etc.

In the vehicle wash, the car wash is very famous because most people use the car for going anywhere. There are also other vehicles used as well but the ratio is very low. At many locations, the ratio is very high for other vehicles than cars.

Starting a Vehicle Wash station can be a good idea and a profitable business if the wash station is opened at a good location where a lot of people come. If the location is wrong, then very high chance that your business can fail.

In the Wash station, there is a requirement for big investments for the first time. As the cost of the equipment for the station is very high. After the setup, the cost will become lower, you have to only pay for the people who are working for you, products used to wash cars, etc.

In a few words, the business’s success or failure depends on the market research, good location, etc. In case, you have low investments then you can start a wash station for limited types of vehicles like only bikes, cars, etc.

23. Investing Advice

Most of the people in the world know that just by investing with a good strategy at right time can make them million in just a few years. The actual problem is that people want to invest but they don’t know how to invest, where to invest, when to invest, etc.

As a result, to reduce risk and take the full benefits of the stock market most people prefer to hire someone who can give them investing advice (what to buy & sell, when to buy & sell, etc.). With this, they give a part of their profit and reduce the risk in the market as well.

In the investing advisory, there are very high profits. There is also tough competition too. If you have very high experience of investing and trading then you can start the startup with a few more experienced investors.

Most of the inventing and trading advisory startups, business, and agencies charges up to 40% of their net profit.

To start a startup to provide these types of services to people you need to be registered and pass a few tests that show you have good skills and experience in the field. These things because it is a very sensitive and a lot of scams happen.

Conclusion:

California is known for its beautiful weather, gorgeous beaches, and a variety of other natural wonders. It is also home to some of the most successful small businesses in the country. 

So, If you are looking for ways to start your own business in California, there are plenty of options available

However, It’s important not to lose sight of the fact that every single business starts with an idea. Of course, there are some people who just have good ideas and get right down to creating them. But for most of us, we need help along the way.

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