50 Small Business Ideas You Can Start in the Spare Room

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.

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

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

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

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