50 Small Business Ideas You Can Start in the Spare Room


spare room business ideas

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.

Choosing Small Business Ideas that Can be Started in a Spare Room: Our Methodology

When it comes to choosing the right small business idea for this scenario, there are several key criteria to consider. We’ll rate these criteria on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest importance and 1 being the lowest:

  • Room Suitability (Rating: 5): Assess how well the spare room suits the chosen business idea in terms of space, lighting, and noise levels.
  • Market Demand (Rating: 5): Research the demand for your chosen product or service in your local area or online, ensuring there’s a viable market.
  • Initial Investment (Rating: 4): Determine the initial investment required to start your business, including equipment, supplies, and marketing expenses.
  • Skills and Passion (Rating: 4): Consider your skills and passion for the chosen business idea, as your enthusiasm and expertise can drive success.
  • Legal and Regulatory Compliance (Rating: 4): Ensure that your chosen business complies with all local laws and regulations, including permits and licenses.
  • Scalability (Rating: 3): Evaluate whether the business idea can be scaled up over time as your customer base grows.
  • Market Competition (Rating: 3): Analyze the level of competition in your chosen niche and strategize how to differentiate your business.
  • Marketing Strategy (Rating: 3): Develop a marketing strategy to promote your business effectively, utilizing online and offline channels as needed.
  • Operating Costs (Rating: 2): Estimate the ongoing operating costs, such as utilities, maintenance, and inventory, to ensure profitability.
  • Flexibility (Rating: 2): Assess the flexibility of your business idea to adapt to changing market conditions or customer preferences.

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

spare room 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

spare room business

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

spare room business

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

spare room business

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

spare room business

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

TypeBusiness Idea
Online SalesCollectibles Sales
Drop Shipping Business
Art Print Sales
T-Shirt Design
Subscription Box Service
Handmade Business
Creative Services
Lettering ServicePortrait Photography
Stock Photo Sales
Web Design Service
Graphic Design Service
App Development
Online Platforms & MarketingDomain Sales
AdWords Website
Membership Website
Blog
Podcast
Social Media Management
Affiliate Marketing
YouTube Channel
Administrative ServicesVirtual Assistant Service
Phone Answering Service
Proofreading Service
Resume Writing Service
Bookkeeping Service
Craft & HandmadeHerb Garden
Woodworking Business
Meal Planning Service
Personal ServicesInterior Design Service
Tutoring Service
Music Lessons
Online Course Sales
Massage Therapy Service
IT Help Service
Business Consulting Service
Life Coaching Service
Translating Service
Home ServicesLaundry Service
Alterations Service
Makeup Service
Vintage Reseller
Rental ServicesTech Rentals
Tool Rentals
Party Rentals
Bicycle Rentals
OtherVoiceover Acting
Travel Agency Business
Vacation Rentals

Conclusion

Starting a small business in your spare room is not only a practical way to utilize your available space but also a smart approach to entrepreneurship. It offers numerous advantages, including minimal initial investment, flexibility, tax benefits, and the ability to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Plus, it allows you to test your business ideas with less financial risk.

Here’s a concise summary of the key takeaways:

Advantages of Spare Room Businesses:

  • Minimal Initial Investment: No need to rent or buy a separate space, reducing startup costs.
  • Flexibility: Set your own hours, making it suitable for those with various commitments.
  • Tax Advantages: Many countries offer tax deductions for home-based businesses.
  • Enhanced Work-Life Balance: Allows for better integration of professional and personal life.
  • Risk Mitigation: Test business ideas with less financial risk before committing to larger expenses.

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:

A Hub for Creativity and Innovation

Your spare room can become the birthplace of creativity and innovation. It provides you with a dedicated space to brainstorm, experiment, and bring your ideas to life. Many successful businesses, including some of the world’s most famous tech companies, started in humble garages and spare rooms.

Environmental Sustainability

Operating a business from home reduces the need for commuting and, consequently, your carbon footprint. With more people prioritizing eco-friendliness, a spare room business aligns with sustainability goals by minimizing transportation-related emissions and resource consumption.

A Solution for Work-Life Balance

Balancing work and personal life can be challenging, especially in traditional workplaces. By starting a business in your spare room, you gain control over your schedule. This flexibility allows you to allocate time not only to your professional responsibilities but also to personal activities and family commitments.

Tax Benefits

Depending on your location, running a home-based business can come with various tax advantages. You may be eligible for deductions related to your home office expenses, utilities, and even a portion of your rent or mortgage. Consult with a tax professional to explore the tax benefits available to you as a spare room business owner.

Testing Ground for Your Ideas

Starting a business, while exciting, can also be risky. Using your spare room as a testing ground enables you to assess the viability of your business idea without incurring substantial expenses. If the concept proves successful, you can scale up your operations gradually.

Community Engagement

A spare room business can contribute to your local community. By providing goods or services to neighbors or fellow community members, you establish a sense of connection and trust. This local support can be invaluable for the growth of your business.

Overcoming Space Limitations

Innovation often thrives in constrained environments. Limited space in your spare room can encourage you to think creatively about resource utilization, product design, and business operations. It forces efficiency and can lead to unique solutions.

The Power of Technology

Advancements in technology have made it easier than ever to run a business from home. With a reliable internet connection, you can reach customers worldwide, collaborate with remote teams, and access resources that were once exclusive to large corporations.

Image: Depositphotos.com


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Annie Pilon Annie Pilon is a Senior Staff Writer for Small Business Trends and has been a member of the team for 12 years. Annie covers feature stories, community news and in-depth, expert-based guides. She has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College Chicago in Journalism and Marketing Communications.