Do you want to start a business offering product or services to female customers? If YES, here are 17 best small business ideas targeted at women.
The world is split into two equal gender halves, male and female. Starting a business that targets one half of that divide is enough to net you great profits out of your endeavor depending on how you position and promote your business. Of the 2010 Census population, 157.0 million were female (50.8 percent) while 151.8 million were male (49.2 percent).
Starting a business that targets a supposed demography of over 151 million people would sure make waves. This then means that it is quite possible to start a profitable business that targets just women. If you want to start a business that is projected primarily at women, or who women would be your main customers, here are few businesses you can look towards starting.
Best Businesses Targeted at Women
All over the world, it is known that female hair is what adds beauty to a women’s feature. It is for this reason that there is hardly any woman who doesn’t pay attention to her hair. This is irrespective of whether they make their hair weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or quarterly.
The idea is that in general, women love to have a new hairstyle as their pockets permit. A hair salon business is one profitable business that is targeted at women.
In your hair salon, you can braid hair, fix weaves, perm the hair, straighten it, and what have you. You may want to start out with learning the skill and then broadening your horizon. To further maximize your income, you can decide to start selling hair products, wigs and other hair attachments.
2. Female Jewelry Business
From time immemorial, jewelries were mostly targeted at women, and today, women still remain the largest customer segment at jewelry shops.
You can choose to focus on precious stones like gold, silver, diamond (a girl’s best friend), platinum and other glittering beauties. You can also sell beaded jewelries of every kind. It all depends on your niche, what catches your fancy, and what is trendy in your area of marketing.
3. Beading Business
Beads are another form of jewelry, but there are totally on a niche of their own. A beading business specializes in the design, creation and distribution of beaded items such as beaded jewelry, crafts and fabrics/clothing, or in selling beads and beading materials.
Beading is popular amongst professional crafters and home hobbyists alike, and guess what, this business is mostly targeted at women because women are the primary buyers of bead jewelry. Beading does not require a lot of space or significant technical training, making it a very accessible home business option. If you are interested in selling beads or selling your hand-crafted beaded items, then you are unto a good business.
4. Nail Studio
Can you guess the segment of the population that are the most mindful of their nails? Yes, you got that right, women. This is why a nail studio is a well targeted business that is sure to draw in ladies in their droves, only if you know your craft. U.S. nail salons bring in more than $5 billion in revenue annually.
These specialty beauty salons have been around for years. But the industry is still growing, meaning there are plenty of opportunities for new entrepreneurs to break in and offer unique services and experiences. Because of their straightforward Business model, salons are often easier to break into than other types of startups. This means you can spend more time doing nails and less time chewing your own.
5. Make up Artistry
When makeup was first conceived, it was targeted primarily at women, and women are still the largest users of makeup all over the world. So if you want to start a business targeted at women, then you have to start a makeup artistry business.
A makeup artist specializes in changing the appearance of various customers. These changes are created by a combination of makeup, specialized tools, and artistic talent. If you have not perfected your skills, you may have to go in for further education and training in the area because your skills are what is going to keep you in business when all else fails.
6. Cosmetics Retailing Business
Just like makeup shops, cosmetics have their primary target as women, and cosmetic shops have women as their major customers, so this is one business that is targeted at women. Cosmetics sales generate billions of dollars every year worldwide, and starting out in the industry is relatively straightforward as far as new business ventures are concerned.
There are numerous ways to sell cosmetics and make a profit, including launching your own direct-to-consumer line. Opening a retail cosmetics store is no easy feat. However, it could be a profitable one.
These days, beauty is a booming billion-dollar industry, predicted to grow to $750 billion by 2024. Still, however promising the numbers may look, there is a lot of careful planning and number crunching involved with opening any retail business.
7. Online Female Boutique
Women are more attuned to shopping and if you can open an online female boutique, you can fully target this demographic. With online clothing stores being a multi-billion-a-year industry, it’s by far one of the most popular eCommerce niches.
With sales expected to reach $713 billion by 2022 and emerging worldwide middle classes with disposable income, there is a lot of potential business to cash in on. An online female boutique entails selling clothes, shoes, and other fashion accessories that are made for women. You may be required to build a very attractive website so that you can attract loads of people.
8. Paint and sip business
A study of the various paint and sip businesses around have revealed that these business usually draw in mostly female crowd, maybe because of the laid back atmosphere of the business, and it is mostly for recreation and relaxation.
The paint and sip industry consists of group painting lessons accompanied by wine or other beverages. This is yet another business that is targeted at women. You may even give your own a twist, you can make it exclusively for women, say widows or single mothers.
9. Female Fashion Store
The female fashion store is the brick and mortar version of the online female boutique. If you just want to target women as your demography, then you can open a female fashion store. What does this business entail? It means that you can buy fashion goods from wholesalers or retailers, and have them displayed and sold in your shop.
You may also consider buying directly from suppliers in other countries – especially where they are being manufactured. This would give you access to variety and would as well reduce the coat for you.
10. Purse and Bag Company
Female fashion is not complete without a purse or handbag to go with it, so starting a purse and Bag Company is one business that targets mostly the female population. To make it strictly for women, you can create and sell just female purses and bags; after all, it’s only a woman that buys handbags for every color of shoes they have.
Creating and manufacturing purses and bags is a terrific business enterprise to start right from the comforts of the home, as not only can the business be run on a part-time basis, but there are also almost no operating overheads to bite into monthly profits.
Unique designs and utilizing uncommon materials for the making of the handbags can be your competitive advantage, and completed products can be wholesaled to fashion retailers or placed on consignment in local retail shops. Additionally, the handbags can also be sold directly to consumers by displaying the products at fashion or craft shows or selling them online.
11. Cookie Gift Baskets
There are feminine gift baskets and they are masculine gift baskets. If you start a cookie gift basket business, who do you think would be your main customers? Of course it’s the woman.
A cookie gift basket with homemade cookies is one of the most profitable cooking business ideas any individual can start with low-cost investment. People always search for innovative gifts with homemade specialty items. You can offer special cookie gift baskets for specific occasions.
12. Creche/Babysitting/Daycare
The category of working ladies are increasing rapidly especially today where there is an increasing prevalence of single motherhood.
Women are ones that produce and care for the children, and the onus lies with them to seek their continued welfare. This is why a creche or babysitting or daycare business would have mostly women as their customers. Babysitting is one of the highly profitable home-based business ideas that are targeted at women.
13. Crochet Knitting Business
Crochet knitting is yet another business that is targeted at women. This is because crocheted items are made with yarn and they tend to always look soft and fluffy. Most items that are crocheted include, baby booties, necklace, afghan, table cloth, even phone cases, but which man would be caught using a crocheted phone case?
That’s what I mean. This business opportunity is ideal for passionate crochet knitters who want to turn their hobby into a profitable venture. One can consider starting this business when he or she has any other knitting business already.
14. Candy Making
Candy making is an awesome business idea for people to turn their hobby and skill into a profitable home-based business model. Guess who love candies the most? Ya, it’s women and kids. Homemade candies are very easier to make and are also quite popular. From chocolates to lollipops, children and mature adults enjoy indulging in candy.
15. Natural and Organic Beauty Shop
Women have pretty much had it with synthetic chemicals and are readily switching lanes. Online shoppers are getting more and more conscientious about their choices, and especially so when it comes to beauty products.
Running a beauty shop that’s built on strong ethos and values that resonate with nature and animal lovers is one of the hottest Online business ideas right now. This business can be easily targeted at women by stocking only organic female products.
16. Women’s Sportswear line
With LuluLemon spearheading the way, online sportswear shops for women are quickly climbing to the top of the most popular idea amongst ecommerce entrepreneurs.
Since yoga pants are clearly here to stay, it’s safe to say that the athleisure trend is one of the best and, perhaps, the least explored niches in ecommerce right now. With women taking their place in physical fitness, women sport wear line is set to be big business in the future, even in the here and now.
17. Sell Feminine Hygiene Products
The business of feminine hygiene products is a 3-billion-dollar a year industry. This is one business that is targeted exclusively at women.
Some of the products you will be stocking and selling include sanitary pads, Tampons, Panty liners, Menstrual Cup, Feminine Hygiene Wash, etc. Feminine hygiene products have no doubt become a must-have for several women today, thus making this a very profitable business.