Most profitable small businesses in 2024, and how to start one in 2025

Many entrepreneurs want to know the most profitable business to start in 2025. After all, the purpose of building a company is to make money. 

However, the answer isn’t always clear. Many markets are over-saturated and some take years to get into (because of all the regulations and professional qualifications required). 

So what options are available? 

Let’s take a look:

Food truck

Believe it or not, the food truck industry is booming and represents a significant opportunity to make serious returns. Data shows the sector grew consistently over the last five years, and is set to balloon to an annual revenue of $6.87 billion by 2029. 

Driving this trend is the demand for convenient food. Consumers (particularly tourists) love street food and trucks offering unique recipes they can’t find anywhere else. Granted, waste is an issue. However, many companies in this industry are using enhanced inventory management systems to reduce this. 

Setting up a food truck business is usually straightforward. Once you have a license, you can lease a truck (at a relatively low cost), get a POS system so that you can accept payments and easily track your inventory, and start selling in designated spots immediately. You can also rock up to events and festivals at the weekend for additional profit outside of your conventional grounds. 

Car Wash

Car washes are another option if you’re keen to hit the ground running. Research analysts project the market will increase from $15.86 billion in 2023 to $23.79 billion by 2030, providing a larger pie for everyone to share. 

This growth is being driven by consumer demand. According to information from the International Carwash Association, 96% of car owners washed their vehicles in the previous year, and 89% went to professionals to get it done. 

Fortunately, car washes don’t require much upfront investment. You don’t need to buy a full-blown automated machine (unless you think you can make a return on it). Simple hand implements should suffice for the first few months. 

Once you start scaling, you can buy permanent or fixed premises. Moving out of a parking lot helps you build a brand and attract more customers from across your area. As your business grows, you’ll also want to start using a dedicated automotive payment processor to help track your revenue. 

Personal trainer

Personal trainers are also seeing growing demand for their services , and industry growth is expected to charge ahead by 14% annually until 2032. Driving this trend is the desire for a healthier, shapelier physique. More people want six-pack abs, toned, glutes, and thin waists. 

The monetary rewards of becoming a conventional personal trainer are often low because of the sheer level of competition. But if you can find another way to get into the industry, such as managing trainers or providing them with a platform they can use, the benefits can be substantially higher. 

Using a point of sale system to take payments from many clients in a single session is also a powerful technique. Trainers who can teach classes of 20 people at a time charging $15 each can make substantial sums of money in just a few hours. 

Auto repair

Auto repair is another sector worth considering if profits matter to you. Currently, the average age of cars is rising in the U.S. (from 9.7 ten years ago to 12.5 today), meaning that secondary markets are gaining more traction. 

Furthermore, many car owners don’t trust the large garages. Most want to go to smaller businesses, with 70% of work captured by independent companies. 

If you decide to set up an auto repair business, arranging merchant banking services is essential. Insisting on cash-in-hand will lower your reputation and cause people to go elsewhere. Furthermore, handling all that cash on your premises isn’t a good idea; you want it in the bank. 

Auto repair businesses succeed most if you can get your message out onto social media. Talking to people about what you offer and how you can help them with their mechanical issues builds trust and leads. 

It also helps if you can prove your honesty or lower prices more than better-known workshops in your area. Again, this builds trust and helps you keep customers for life. 

Cleaning services

Cleaning services are another business opportunity for those who know how to run them. Companies entering this industry have tremendous success rates, with many achieving profit margins of 6.6% or more. 

Cleaning services are an excellent business to get into because of the frequency you can deliver services. Office buildings, for instance, often hire hygiene specialists to come in every day to make their environments more pleasant for their workforces. The same is true of care homes and elderly people wanting to remain independent. 

The outlook for cleaning services growth is also substantial. More homeowners and firms are concerned about the negative effects of a dirty environment and are looking for people with solutions, driving demand. 

If you can get into a niche aspect of the cleaning services market in your city, that is a good idea. For example, you could offer electrostatic surface cleaning for hospital equipment or oven scrubbing for homeowners who want to avoid a dirty job. Margins in these specialist sectors are often higher. 

Partnering with a payment provider that simplifies recurring invoicing can streamline your payment process, making it easier to manage cash flow and improve customer satisfaction. By automating invoicing and payment collection, you reduce administrative overhead and minimize the risk of missed payments. This efficiency not only enhances the customer experience but also frees up valuable time to focus on scaling your business.

Social media management

Lastly, you could try social media management if you want to make a profit quickly. Average profit margins are around 6.9% with a typical business bringing in over $817,000 annually. 

Setting up a social media management company requires up to $10,000 and takes between one and six months depending on your level of expertise. It helps to build a relationship with a merchant account provider or credit card processor beforehand to take payments from other brands and businesses.

Social media management is a “light” sector, meaning it relies primarily on knowledge. Once you understand how to take care of a business’s profile, the rest is essentially advertising and a few computers. Diversifying into additional aspects, like public relationship management and social listening can also help.