20 Most Profitable Small Business Ideas for Small Towns

6 min readJun 12, 2017

Staying in a small town or rural area doesn’t mean that there is any kind of restrictions to reach your goal of starting a successful business. There are numerous profitable small business ideas for small towns which can be easily established with little amount of capital investment. In this article, I have made a list of the best small town businesses that thrive and returns back you a good profit margin.

1. Water Refilling Station

Water is the basic necessity of the human life and this business has a great market potentiality due to the scarcity of pure drinking water especially in small towns. There is a steady growth in the number of customer count every year hence make this business promising. You can easily start with minimum investment and expect a great return of profit.

2. Computer Repair Business:

small towns or semi-urban areas lack professional computer experts, thus users and different institutes like schools, colleges or government offices need to depend on the service from the urban area. So, if you have the skill in computer repairing, then there is a huge market to venture in small towns.

3. Make Money Selling Snacks:

It is another attractive and profitable small business idea for small towns. Snacks can be easily made from home or small units and it has a huge demand in both rural and urban areas.

4. Tea Bag Manufacturing:

Tea bags might not be much popular in use in rural areas, but manufacturing cost of the same will be much cheaper in small towns. Later on, this can be sold in a good margin of profit in markets where it has the demand. Read More about Tea bag making business.

5. Starting a Bonsai Business:

Small town areas are the best place for plantation business due to the abundance of place and fertile soil. Bonsai business can be easily done in a small place and it has a great demand also along with huge profit margin in compare to the required investment.

6. Quail Farming Business

Farming of quail is more convenient and profitable than other farming birds as they need a very small place to breed and this business can be started with very less investment and labor. The demand of quail is also very high in the market.

7. Soft Toys Making at Home:

Soft toys making process is very simple. If you are a creative person, you can make numbers of cute, fluffy toys and dolls with a few easily available materials. Soft toys making business is one of the most profitable small business ideas for small towns in compare to the required investment and has a huge market demand in all over the country.

8. Tissue Paper Making Business:

With rapid modernization, the use of tissue papers is also rapidly increasing in every sector. The manufacturing process of tissue paper is very simple with few machinery and easily available raw materials. It has a great market potentiality to prosper. In small towns, there is lots of vacant space and semi-skilled labors available in cheap price. Initially, you may rent the machinery and start manufacturing tissue papers.

9. Plastic Products Manufacturing Business:

Plastic products like mugs, bucket, toys etc has a mammoth demand in the Indian market. Thus, venturing into this business with small capital will be a wise decision to make to become a successful small business owner.

10. Start School Bag Making Business:

With the availability of different modern equipment, manufacturing of school bags has become very easy and the cost of production has also got reduced. School bags have equal demand in both rural and urban area, thus making it one of the most profitable small business ideas for small towns.

11. Chicken Hatchery Business

The rural areas get a natural advantage for the farming business. The calm environment and unpolluted natural resources along with an abundance of the area help the livestock to grow at their best. Over that, chicken is most demanded livestock in India and even in the world.

12. Rubber Band Manufacturing Unit:

For household use or in business or in offices, rubber bands are one of the basic items that every single person uses in the daily life. The production process of the same is very simple and due to the cheap price, it has a great demand in the market. Read More about Rubber Band Making Business.

13. Small-Scale Flour Milling Business:

Flour is consumed in huge quantity in our country and that is also in both rural and urban area. Thus starting a flour milling business with a small investment ensures a bright future in the world of business.

14. Leaf Plate Making Business:

This one is another most lucrative and profitable small business ideas for small towns. Leaf plates of different sizes are used in huge quantity for serving food on different occasions and in food shops too. Being eco-friendly in nature it has a greater demand than the other alternative products. If you are leaving such a place where sal leaves are plentiful, you can start Leaf Plate manufacturing business with manually operated sal leaves making machine and make a good living.

15. Start Tailoring Business

Either for making a new dress or repairing an old one, every household in our world needs the service of a tailor. Do you have skills in sewing and making dresses? If so, you can easily start Tailoring Shop business at your home also with a very tiny investment and huge profit.

16. Papad Making Business:

Making papad is a very common habit of women in countryside areas. If you get praise for your manufactured papads, you can easily commercialize the skill with a papad manufacturing business. It is not at all capital intensive.

17. Naphthalene Ball Manufacturing Business:

Naphthalene balls are used in all over the world to protect clothes from different kind of insects and bugs. Due to the less MRP and high usefulness, it has a great demand in the market. That’s why it is one of the most lucrative small town businesses that thrive.

18. Drinking Straw Making Business:

It is for drinking cold drinks, lemonade or lassi, straw is used in all over the world for these purposes. As different businesses are the customers of this product, the demand for the same also increases. Read more about Drinking Straw Manufacturing Business.

19. Herbal Hair Oil Manufacturing Business:

Natural virginity is the greatest advantage of starting a business in rural areas. Due to the effective result and zero side effects, herbal oils have a great demand in the market along with great profitability.

20. Start a Sewing School:

Like you, there may be many others who want to start their own business. So with your skill in sewing, along with the sewing business, you can also earn money by teaching your skills to others. This is a completely free of investment business if you already have the equipment which makes it very profitable small business ideas for small towns.

The lower labor cost and cheap land prices along with the different natural benefits are the main advantages one can enjoy by starting a business in small towns or semi-urban areas.