Editor’s note: This article was first published in December 2017, but it was later updated: the text speaks of a business being profitable “in 2021”, while the closing link points to “31 business ideas to start in 2018”.
If you’re looking for business ideas and you don’t live in a big city but in a small town or village, don’t worry. There are options of every kind. What business should you start in a village? Several variables need to be analysed to make sure your venture is profitable in 2021:
1. How many people live there. Starting a business in a small village of 3,000 or 5,000 inhabitants is not the same as in a medium-sized town or one with more than 20,000.
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Nor is it the same if the town where you want to start your company is on the outskirts of a city, 40 or 50 kilometres from it, or out in the countryside.
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We need to know whether the town has a high proportion of young people or whether, on the contrary, most of its population is elderly.
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How close it is to a motorway or a main road.
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How often tourists visit, or whether it’s the kind of place where every tourist’s arrival is a cause for celebration.
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Whether we have plenty of capital or, on the contrary, we have to invest little or nothing because we lack the means.
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Whether the town counts as a rural area or not.
And these are only a few of the variables we need to take into account.
What businesses can work in a small town?
(See: 15 easy business ideas to start, which could also be profitable in a small town.)
Here are some ideas for towns and villages of every size.
The internet knows no borders
Practically any tech-based business idea, such as opening your own online shop, can be started from anywhere in the world, whether you live in the Spanish capital (Madrid) or in the remotest village in Ecuador, as long as there’s an internet connection, of course.
Different business ideas that various entrepreneurs have already put into practice could come out of this.
1. A village “Amazon”
The first idea was carried out by an entrepreneur who lived in a small village in Spain (I’m afraid I can’t remember the exact case right now).
What this man did was talk to the town’s business owners about putting their products up for sale online.
He ended up creating his own company, which sold everything from handicrafts made by local people to farm produce, fruit, vegetables and so on, as well as office furniture.
You could say he created his own Amazon, but for products made in his village.
See also: Opportunities in times of crisis
2. Teaching local people how to make money online
Teaching others what you know is always a very profitable business. If what you teach happens to be how to generate income streams using the internet, it’s doubly good for the learner.
If the village has young people (and not so young ones) keen to learn how to create an online business or simply monetise a blog or website, you can set up a company like this that works as a kind of academy. This idea is actually being carried out in small villages in Andalusia, and in many cases the entrepreneur doesn’t need much investment, since they can reach an agreement with the town council.
We could add a bigger kind of idea, which would be to create a sort of mini Silicon Valley and launch several startups, but we understand that this is rather more complicated.
Which businesses are profitable in rural villages?
If you have a good piece of land (and in many cases a small one will do), you can focus on entertainment with these business ideas, which have proven they work.
3. Paintball
This game has its loyal fans, and you don’t need much money to get started. You only have to buy the guns, the protective gear and the paintballs. In many cases, as well as playing in the open field, it’s also played inside a warehouse so you can run the business all year round. Of course, an indoor site would require a bigger investment, since you’d have to put in the obstacles.
It’s a matter of analysing the viability of this idea, which would obviously be aimed more at attracting customers from outside the village, so in a way it helps to be some distance from the city, but not too far. Do a market analysis.
4. Humor Amarillo
I don’t know if you remember that Japanese game show (Takeshi’s Castle, broadcast in Spain as Humor Amarillo) where contestants had to get through all sorts of challenges and obstacles. The idea the show gave us is a business today. From what I’ve seen, the entry price for a good time full of laughs (and some exercise too) ranges between 15 and 25 euros a head.
Given the nature of this kind of entertainment, it makes sense for it to be on the outskirts of a city.
And yes, these can be very profitable businesses to set up on the edge of a city (in villages).
5. A military-style boot camp for losing weight
When we published this idea some time ago, it was thanks to several British entrepreneurs living in Córdoba (Spain) whose previous profession had been precisely the army.
These entrepreneurs guaranteed results, but of course not without a lot of effort and sacrifice. They would sign you up for a seven-day stay at the camp, which would be anything but a holiday. You’d be put on a strict diet and a disciplined exercise routine.
6. Relaxation, getting away or kicking bad habits
Sometimes people just need to get away from where they live for a while and get lost in order to find themselves. Some call it a spiritual retreat and others simply call it getting away. Other times they just want to quit a bad habit (alcohol, tobacco or other drugs), and that’s where this idea comes in; it has been spreading across Spain for some time.
Clearly, depending on the type of client you take in, you’ll need a qualification in some kind of therapy. In other cases, depending on how far you want to take the company, you’ll need several therapists. Someone who wants to stop smoking is not the same as someone who wants to quit harder drugs.
If the idea is to create a space where clients can relax, learn to meditate or simply get away for a few days, that’s a different matter.
Business ideas for a village that attracts tourists
If the village where you’re thinking of opening a business is attractive to tourists and surrounded by beautiful scenery, what business should you start there? We could talk about…
7. Adventure tourism
Hiking routes, rafting, canyoning, kayaking, bridge jumping… these are activities that are in demand today. I don’t know the legal procedures for opening a business offering these particular activities, but from what I’ve seen, there’s good demand.
8. Wine tourism, ecotourism and cultural tourism
If the village makes some kind of local wine, it can be a good draw for tourists interested in that, and so can cultural tourism, as long as there’s something about the place to show or tell. If it meets the conditions for ecotourism, that can also be an excellent option.
9. Selling local handicrafts
Selling all kinds of souvenirs to tourists is always a good business option. They can range from handicrafts to T-shirts printed with pictures of the village. If people in the region wear a particular style of dress, you can even sell that clothing.
This is one of the ideal businesses to set up in a village.
10. Safe-haven businesses: the ones that always work in a village
By safe-haven businesses we usually mean greengrocers, butchers, bakeries and bars, as well as those small shops that supply the locals with basic goods. They’re not businesses designed to make you rich, but they often provide enough to get by and create a job for yourself.
It’s well known that bars tend to do well in our country regardless of how much competition there is. It’s as if there were customers for everyone, but you can also create something completely different. That depends on the entrepreneur in question.
Depending on the kind of town we’re talking about, we could look for a way to open a slightly classier café. We’ve shared some tips for opening a café.
But basically, if you’ve ever wondered what to sell in a small village, fruit, bread, coffee and beer are products that have always sold in a village, whatever its size.
Profitable health and beauty businesses for a small village
People are increasingly aware of these issues, and they have less and less need to go to the capital to enjoy these services. These are profitable businesses in villages. It’s a matter of knowing how to promote yourself properly in your area.
11. Dietitian or nutritionist
I’ve seen professionals in this field set up in a village and, with good advertising, start attracting clients of all ages, because the truth is everyone wants to take better care of themselves.
12. Selling herbal products
Although a franchise in this sector might not be very profitable if the village is small, the truth is that herbalist products tend to sell quite well in small towns.
13. Hairdressing and beauty
It’s a matter of assessing the viability of this business based on the salons already open and the potential customers. We could even consider a hybrid of hairdresser and beauty services. And why not? Mobile hairdressing and beauty treatments, at the client’s home.
14. Eastern therapies
Yoga, meditation, martial arts and tai chi are services you can offer even in your own living room, and they’re increasingly in demand. For this type of business, neither the size of the population nor the age of its inhabitants matters.
Without a doubt, ideas 11 to 14 are businesses no village should be without, and you should consider starting one of them.
14. Photography studio
It’s curious that in very remote villages hardly anyone opens a photography studio. People often say there are no customers for it, but I honestly believe photographers don’t know how to sell the idea, or the beauty, of a photo shoot to an elderly couple, a family or even the young people of the town.
See also: Business ideas related to clothing
15. A low-cost shop stocked from AliExpress
We’ve often talked about using dropshipping to start an online shop, but what if it were profitable to use it to buy products wholesale on AliExpress and open a small shop with prices that not even the shops in the capital could compete with?
This idea could work, whether for clothing, tech gadgets or eye-catching products. I remember the day a young man turned up showing the local kids a 3-terabyte USB flash drive for 19.90 euros. He had bought it from the manufacturer behind a supplier selling on AliExpress. There was a minimum order, but the young man was so sure he would sell them that he ordered 1,000 units. He sold 100 on the first day, 400 the following week and the rest online. He says that had he known, he would have ordered even 10,000 units, since he was selling them for almost double what they cost him.
Nowadays I also see that the suppliers of some clothing shops are manufacturers found on AliExpress. The way business is done is changing, and it’s probably easier than ever to make money while taking on less risk.
One last point. In this article we’ve proposed some ideas with a single village in mind, but I’d like to remind you that it’s much more profitable to think about all the villages around you together. In other words, look on the map at where the other nearby villages are. Why? Because that would let us come up with other, more profitable kinds of business ideas. For example:
16. A local courier company
You can start your own delivery and courier business covering the four, five or twenty neighbouring villages. It’s a matter of studying the viability of this idea by talking to the companies or shops that might need the service.
17. There may be no room for a McDonald’s, but…
Something similar to a fast-food outlet (burgers, pizzas…) with home delivery and, if possible, delivery to the surrounding villages.
As you can see, there are plenty of options to consider, but every single one of them requires at least some research beforehand.
Opportunities you can offer in a village: a bonus idea
On top of all the businesses we’ve mentioned, the opportunities you can offer in a village basically come down to anything that improves people’s lives in every sense, whether as entertainment, as a way of meeting needs or as a source of income.
That’s why another way to make money could be to look for innovative products to sell in the village. How? On both Amazon and AliExpress you can research and find the most eye-catching products at low prices.
You can buy a few units, or buy wholesale and sell retail. For example, this article has some ideas for products you can sell. It’s a matter of continuing to research. There’s always something to be found that would catch people’s attention, all the more so if the village is small.
So if you were wondering how to make money in a village, I hope these ideas have helped. If none of them convinces you and the village has an internet connection, take a look at all the ideas we shared for making extra money online from home.
Want more ideas? 31 business ideas to start in 2018
Featured image: Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
