You can make any concept or idea into a business. And whatever you start as a lowly side hustle could become a larger business entity later.
How much money you need to start the business is relative to the scale of desired operations.
There are many businesses that you can launch for $1,000 to $5,000. Here are two side hustles that you can start and potentially launch as full businesses later:
- Power washer
- Tour group itinerary planner and leader
If you are willing to network, hustle, make connections, and make a coherent business plan, you could start a business for just $1,000. But it won’t be easy – nothing worthwhile is never easy.
Whether you start a business for $1,000, $100,000, or $1 million, you may want to protect yourself by launching it as an LLC. Let’s talk about that first.
What is an LLC?
A Limited Liability Company, or an LLC, is a kind of business entity that you can start on your own or with business partners. An LLC combines the best worlds of small business functions with those of corporate world business asset protection practices.
To put it simply, an LLC acts as a legally separate entity from the individuals or people who own it. An LLC is not a human being, but if you understand your local laws and have a good lawyer, an LLC can be used against litigants as if it were a real human being with assets instead of you.
When you own an LLC, your personal assets, tax, and debt obligations are wholly separate from the assets, tax, and debt obligations of the LLC. Even if you lost a lawsuit levied against your LLC, your personal assets and finances would be considered legally separate from the LLC.
The process of forming an LLC is a lot more complicated than the basic explanation I’m presenting to you. LLC start-up requirements differ from state to state. Make sure to consult with a lawyer as you start an LLC.
What are the benefits of owning an LLC?
- An LLC exists unto perpetuity until legally dissolved by all members involved
- Limited liability (This means that while your investment and startup costs and debts related to the LLC could be at legal risk in a lawsuit, your personal finances and assets never will be)
- Pass-Through Taxation (This means that each member pays taxes via their individual equity and ownership of the LLC – unless the LLC is registered as a C-Corporation, the LLC and its members cannot be taxed uniformly as one entity
- Less operating restriction as opposed to owning a corporation
The cost of applying for an LLC could be as low as $0 to $700 depending on where you live. (There are also some annual or ongoing operating fees associated with running an LLC relative to the type and the state residency of main headquarters.)
Do yourself a favor – get a lawyer to help you with this process. What you have learned here are just basic guidelines to orient you to the process – LLC laws are different in every state.
What you don’t know can end up costing you a whole lot in the long run.
The United States is the most litigious country in the world. More lawyers reside in the United States than in any other country. Giant global corporations protect themselves with lawyers – do the same even if your company was launched with $1,000.
Pressure Washer
The startup cost to get pressure washing equipment can range anywhere between $500 to $4,000 on the low end. (Some industrial pressure washers can retail for as much as $30,000 or more.
But there are many places where you can rent or buy used pressure washer equipment relative to where you live.
Getting a pressure washer within itself will not make you successful. You should differentiate yourself by finding businesses like commercial properties, warehouses, factories entertainment arenas, sports fields, trucking, van, and cab-based businesses, and other similar businesses, and make personal networking connections.
You need to know how to operate and troubleshoot such equipment and have reliable transport.
The average power washer company can make anywhere between $11 to $25 per hour. Find clients with fewer competition options and you can charge more.
Local or International Event Planner and Tour Guide
Have you ever been the victim of tourist trap scams? These usually occur when a shady tour guide operator company uses marketing to lure tourists on a trip and get them to spend money on trinkets and food.
This is an arrangement that the tour guide operator made beforehand with a collective of businesses. Everyone involved gets a cut of the profits or at least guaranteed business if the tour guide presents the tour group as sacrificial sheep to be fleeced.
Have you ever thought about doing this? Not fleecing tourists, but planning itineraries, acting as a tour guide, and leading tour groups during week-long or longer vacation excursions.
The world is opening up after the global lockdowns and people want to travel. And Americans are just as likely to travel domestically on vacation than internationally.
To do this, you need to make arrangements with a small hotel to house tourists. You could make the travel arrangements yourself. And you also need to make connections with local restaurants and small businesses on the premise that you can bring tour groups looking for souvenirs, eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and have incredible travel experiences.
And this is not about scamming people – you could act as the tour leader to guide tour groups through customized itineraries designed by you.
How much you spend on start-up costs depends on you, your proximity to interesting locations, and your skills in planning tour-guided trips. Startup costs that focus on introducing tour groups to unknown but special tourism spots local to you should not cost a lot.
The farther away the trip from your home, the more expensive the startup and operating costs will be.
If you’re familiar with Mexico or Canada and know several low-cost-of-living areas that tourists might enjoy visiting, your start-up costs could remain low too.
The point is that you need to be able to make preexisting business connections with businesses that can act as a collective to welcome tourist groups guided by you. How much money you could potentially make will depend wholly on those factors.
You can promote yourself and your exclusively designed tour guide itineraries on websites like TrovaTrip. You can also sell your own travel guides based on out-of-the-way but interesting locales on your experiences on Thatch.
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Allen Francis was an academic advisor, librarian, and college adjunct for many years with no money, no financial literacy, and no responsibility when he had money. To him, the phrase “personal finance,” contains the power that anyone has to grow their own wealth. Allen is an advocate of best personal financial practices including focusing on your needs instead of your wants, asking for help when you need it, saving and investing in your own small business.