21 business ideas with low startup costs in the UK (2026)

Here’s the thing: the idea that you need lots of money to launch a business is one of the biggest myths out there.

According to recent data, the average UK small business gets off the ground with less than £6,000. When you consider that 95% of all UK small businesses are micro-businesses (run by teams of fewer than 10 people), it’s clear that the UK is a nation of lean, agile startups.

• In 2024, 317,000 new businesses were formed in the UK
• In 2025, over 89,000 new companies launched in the first three months alone — proving that the appetite for starting up is only growing

Most of the UK’s small business community is made up of people just like you — individuals starting small and focusing on growth.

All you really need is a great idea and the drive to make it happen. If that’s you, but you’re worried about money — don’t be. You don’t need a huge bank balance, a big team, or even an office. 

Let’s look at 21 of the best low-cost businesses to start based on your skills and what you need to get going.

In this article:

• How do you start a business on a budget?
• Low-cost businesses to start from home
• Creative low-cost businesses to start
• Online businesses to start on a budget
• Low-cost service businesses to start
• What are the most profitable low-cost businesses to start?
• What’s the best low-cost business to start?

The key to starting a business on a budget is knowing which costs you can and can’t avoid. 

You’ve likely seen business guides that suggest you need a significant pot of money to even consider starting. Usually, those high estimates are based on a traditional business model that assumes you need to invest heavily in tech, rent an office or hire a team.

But you can skip most of these costs. Here’s why:

• Office space: Working from home is a huge cost-saver. You’ll save money on rent, business rates, and commuting
• Inventory: The best way to avoid holding inventory is to start a service-based business. But if you do want to go down the inventory route, choose a sell-to-order business model, like print-on-demand, so you don’t spend too much money up front
• Hiring: Use freelancers or contractors on a per-project basis instead of committing to a full-time employee 

But, of course, there are a few items you will have to budget for. 

• Company registration: If you decide to form a limited company with Companies House, there’s a £50 fee. But there are cheaper alternatives, like Countingup’s company registration service, which is £12 
• Insurance: If you’re starting an advice-based business, like consulting or coaching (where you give professional guidance), you’ll need professional indemnity insurance, and public liability insurance if you visit clients or their property. Costs vary, but policies start from about £50 – £100 per year, depending on your industry, services and level of cover 
  Your time: Time is money — so be careful that you’re not spending too much time on unnecessary admin. For instance, with business banking, there are smart tools out there to help. Our business current account can help manage and automate your accounting and tax filing, saving you time and money

To get you inspired and ready to become your own boss, let’s dive into some low-cost businesses to start from home. 

For many of these ideas, you need little more than a laptop, a mobile phone, and a reliable internet connection.

These ideas let you turn your creative skills and talent into income. If you’ve worked these types of jobs before, you already have the right skills and expertise, and you know what clients are looking for.

Every new business needs a logo, imagery, and a website — and that’s just the basics. Graphic designers also support businesses with event stands, printed collateral, merchandise, and video storyboarding. If you have design skills and can use design tools, you could be the go-to design resource for many businesses.  

• Startup costs: £20–£50 per month. There are plenty of free graphic design tools out there, but Adobe Creative Cloud is the industry standard, which includes apps like Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign
• Useful skills: Visual creativity, understanding of branding, communication, AI tools like Midjourney 
• Starting tip: Offer to design social media templates or quick brand assets for local businesses to build your portfolio

Becoming a digital product creator involves creating and selling items online — think e-books, online courses, software, music, and videos. This is a great opportunity if you’re a subject matter expert because by creating and sharing valuable knowledge, you position yourself as an authority. This helps to build an audience and generate passive income through repeat downloads, affiliate links, memberships, and subscriptions. 

• Startup costs: £0–£50. Your time is the only real cost. You can create and package up products like templates and documents using free design and content tools like Canva 
• Useful skills: Clear communication, strong design, and marketing skills to drive people to your website (your shop)
• Starting tip: Solve a problem for a specific audience. For example, you could create a great budgeting spreadsheet for first-time founders that would help them tackle tax and other tasks more easily 

Approximately 15.5 million people living in the UK tuned into podcasts in 2025 — that’s a massive audience at your fingertips! Podcasting is an accessible and low-cost business to start from home if you have something valuable or entertaining to say. Your investment is low, but the potential for passive income and repeat revenue is high: you can make money through sponsorships, ads, or offering premium paid content to your most loyal listeners.

• Startup costs: £100–£350. You can start with one high-quality USB microphone and use free recording and editing software like Audacity. You’ll also need a podcast hosting service, which can start from around £15 per month, but there are free options available, like RSS.com 
• Useful skills: Clear speaker, strong interviewing or conversational skills, basic audio editing, and the consistency to maintain a regular publishing schedule
• Starting tip: Don’t try to appeal to everyone. Focus on a subject that you know and love to build a highly engaged and valuable audience

Words are every business’s most powerful marketing asset — think website copy, content, emails, and advertising. If you’re creative, a good writer, and have a keen eye for detail, freelance copywriting or editing is an easy, low-cost business to start.

• Startup costs: £0–£50. Your main tool is your laptop and maybe a subscription to a proofreading tool like PageProof
• Useful skills: Strong understanding of grammar, client communication, research, ability to follow brand guidelines, and time management
• Starting tip: Create a strong portfolio or website that sells your services — show you can adapt to different brand guidelines and highlight industry-specific expertise

Why not turn a hobby into a full-time profession that brings joy to others? With 36 million pets in the UK, there’s plenty of opportunity to offer devoted pet owners further ways to celebrate their fur babies. Pet portraits are in high demand, and it’s a fulfilling business because you get to see your client’s (usually positive and quite emotional) reactions to your artwork. 

• Startup costs: £50–£200. Depending on your style, you may need to cover art supplies like paints, quality paper, stationery, and a website to showcase your portfolio
• Useful skills: Artistic talent, ability to work from photographs, and great customer service 
• Starting tip: Partner with local vets or groomers — they often have notice boards where you can advertise cheaply (or often for free) 

If you’ve got some cool design ideas up your sleeve, custom apparel could be for you. This is where you create unique designs for t-shirts, mugs, or bags, but a third-party service handles the printing, shipping, and inventory only after a customer orders. 

• Startup costs: £50–£100. Your costs mainly cover setting up an online shop and paying for design mock-ups (you usually pay your supplier after someone buys from you)
• Useful skills: Design skills, trend spotting, and platform management
• Starting tip: Before launching, buy one of your own products to check the print quality, material feel, and shipping speed

These businesses are incredibly flexible, scalable, and ideal for starting on a tight budget. The main thing you need is your professional knowledge, which you already have! 

A virtual assistant is a remote professional who handles administrative tasks for busy business owners. The VA role is varied, and you can offer a range of skills and services to different clients. 

• Startup costs: £50–£200. You just need a laptop, reliable internet, and maybe a subscription to tools like Calendly or Microsoft 365 
• Useful skills: Organisation, communication, and familiarity with core office software (like the Google Suite and Microsoft 365)
• Starting tip: Although the VA role is varied, try specialising early. Instead of general VA work, target a niche, like VA services for property managers or VA services for busy founders

The UK’s online tutoring market is expected to be worth roughly £800 million by 2030. Do you have a qualification or expertise in a specific subject, like GCSE Maths, coding, or a language? If so, you can tutor students online or coach professionals through career changes and make a decent living doing it. It’s a fulfilling business, and you’ll get to see the results of your hard work as your students go on to succeed. 

• Startup costs: £50–£300. Costs cover a good webcam, headset, and a basic background check (DBS). This is required if you work with children, but it can improve trust and credibility in any case
• Useful skills: Patience, strong subject knowledge, and excellent online communication
• Starting tip: Research in-demand skills and subjects, like A Level Maths, and charge a little extra around exam times when demand is even higher 

Love numbers? Good, because a lot of small businesses don’t have bookkeeping skills and will happily outsource their accounting, invoicing, and payroll to a reliable bookkeeper. If you’re meticulous, financially literate, and have a head for numbers, becoming a bookkeeper is one of the top low-cost businesses to start. 

• Startup costs: £300–£700. You’ll need a formal training certificate to prove you have the practical skills (AAT is the UK’s bookkeeping standard), and bookkeeping software
• Useful skills: Attention to detail, trustworthiness, and an excellent understanding of financial systems like tax and payroll 
• Starting tip: If you handle client money or file tax returns for them, you must register with a supervisory body for anti-money laundering (AML) purposes

In 2025, most businesses want to have a social media presence — but it’s a time-intensive task. As a social media manager, you will maintain your clients’ social media accounts by creating content, scheduling content and engaging with their audience — all from home.

• Startup costs: £0–£50. You’ll need a social media scheduling tool, like Canva or Blaze, a laptop, and a mobile phone 
• Useful skills: Up-to-date knowledge of social media trends, content planning expertise, and strong communication skills
• Starting tip: Make sure you have your own social presence to show potential clients — use quality imagery and keep it regularly updated with original content

If you understand the secrets of the search engine (particularly Google) and can help a business rank higher in search results, you could set up as an SEO consultant. This skill is constantly in high demand because it drives high-quality traffic to websites, making it incredibly valuable for businesses of all sizes.  

• Startup costs: £100 – £200 per month. This covers subscriptions to specific SEO tools like Semrush or Ahrefs, which you need to carry out keyword research and website audits
• Useful skills: Analytical thinking, problem-solving, attention to detail, and a deep understanding of marketing strategy and content creation 
• Starting tip: Run a free SEO audit for a local business in exchange for a testimonial to start building your portfolio

Almost every business, charity, or freelancer needs a professional website, but they don’t often have the technical skills to build or manage it themselves. If you’re familiar with platforms like WordPress, Squarespace, or Wix from a technical (back-end) perspective, you can set yourself up as a web designer or developer.

• Startup costs: £50–£200. This covers a domain name, hosting fees for a year, and a premium website theme 
• Useful skills: User experience (UX and UI), HTML, CSS, design tools like Figma, good communication, and a basic understanding of SEO
• Starting tip: Specialise in a specific platform and audience, like building Shopify stores for small e-commerce brands, to become the go-to expert

These businesses involve providing a valuable service, often in-person, which means your main investment is your time, skills, and maybe a few essential tools. They’re great options if you prefer to be active, around people and out of the house (because working from home isn’t for everyone!)

Cleaning is a flexible business that’s constantly in demand because people are always busy, and they value a professional, reliable cleaning service. It’s also great exercise — who needs a gym membership when you can vacuum for 30 minutes and burn almost 100 calories? So, if you like the idea of helping people and transforming spaces, this could be the low-cost business for you. 

• Startup costs: £50–£200. This covers professional-grade cleaning supplies and insurance. Many clients will even provide their own cleaning products
• Useful skills: Attention to detail, reliability, efficiency, and strong client communication
• Starting tip: Focus on a niche, like deep cleaning for rental property changeovers or eco-friendly cleaning, to stand out from the competition

Busy pet owners are always looking for trustworthy dog walkers or people to care for their pets while they’re away. If you love animals, this is a fulfilling, flexible, and easy low-cost business to start. Plus, while your clients are technically people, you’ll spend most of your time with your new furry friends — cute!

• Startup costs: £50–£150. This covers specific pet business insurance, and good-quality leads and harnesses
• Useful skills: Basic animal first aid, patience, reliability, a base level of fitness, and great communication 
• Starting tip: Get registered with the local council or relevant bodies if you plan to offer pet boarding as part of your services 

If you’re interested in becoming a dog walker, you might want to check out our detailed guide on starting a dog walking business. 

Everyone needs a handyperson on speed dial — boilers, pipes, sinks, and lighting all go wrong at some point and need fixing stat. If you’re great at DIY and you know how to tackle those little household tasks that confuse others, you could consider becoming an odd jobs person. You can often build a great reputation locally, which leads to consistent work, and you can run your own schedule. 

• Startup costs: £100–£500. This covers essential tools, safety equipment, and public liability insurance
• Useful skills: Practical skills are essential, like plumbing, carpentry, and electrics, as is reliability, and excellent time management
• Starting tip: Get professional, branded t-shirts or jackets — it instantly makes you look more credible and trustworthy when entering a client’s home. You could even invest in magnetic business cards so clients can stick your number on their fridge

If you know the difference between burpees and star jumps, have a passion for fitness and the relevant fitness qualifications, you could become a personal trainer. This is a very flexible business: you could offer one-to-one or small group training sessions, or a mix of both. You don’t have to rent a gym studio, but instead use local parks, hire community halls, or train clients in their homes.

• Startup costs: £100–£700. This covers your Level 2 fitness instructing certification and Level 3 diploma in personal training (often combined and cheaper online than in-person). If you already have these certifications, you just need to factor in the renewal fee (about £100). Otherwise, budget for public liability insurance and basic portable equipment like resistance bands and yoga mats
• Useful skills: Motivation, excellent communication, anatomy knowledge, and time management
• Starting tip: Offer training services to local parents in your area in the morning — a highly valued market in the personal training world. They’re also a great source of referrals 

If you have substantial professional experience, maybe in HR, finance, or tech, you can monetise that knowledge by providing high-value advice and consultancy. This can be very profitable as you are selling valuable expertise, not goods.

If you love helping and talking to people, you could match candidates to job roles as a recruitment consultant. This is potentially high-commission work (many businesses want to secure the best talent, after all), so if you’re good at playing professional matchmaker, this could be the low-cost startup for you. 

• Startup costs: £200–1500 per year. You’ll need a LinkedIn Premium subscription so you can access businesses and candidates. However, it’s worth looking into Sales Navigator, which is LinkedIn’s most advanced subscription at £94.99 per month, as it gives you access to InMail and lead targeting
• Useful skills: Sales, networking, communication, organisation
• Starting tip: Understand the specific sectors you’ll recruit for (like tech, healthcare, creative etc) and connect with HR professionals and hiring managers in these sectors 

With the UK consulting market valued at over £20 billion, businesses of all shapes and sizes are ready to pay for your expert advice. If you’ve got a professional background in an area like finance, business management, or operations, you can sell your expertise to small business owners who need specific professional guidance. 

• Startup costs: £50–£300. This primarily covers professional indemnity insurance, a professional website, and a LinkedIn Premium subscription to help find and retain clients
• Useful skills: Proven industry expertise, strategic thinking, coaching skills, and clear communication
• Starting tip: Frame your service around a specific, high-value problem that will interest your target customer

If you’re highly organised and love planning, event management could be for you. Businesses often outsource the planning of corporate events, parties, and team-building days to specialist consultants. You’ll get to manage budgets, select venues, hire vendors, create marketing strategies and oversee the event from concept to post-event analysis — ensuring your client delivers a great event experience. 

• Startup costs: £50–£300. This covers a reliable project management tool (like Trello or Asana), networking costs like travel and conference tickets, and professional indemnity insurance
• Useful skills: Organisation, problem-solving, budgeting, and excellent vendor negotiation skills
• Starting tip: You could start by offering remote events like online team building days or remote retreats. These are more affordable for many businesses and could be a good way to build your business reputation 

From running targeted ads on social media to managing email campaigns, businesses constantly need help reaching customers online. As a digital marketing specialist, you can manage campaigns for several clients from your laptop, offering an excellent remote service.

• Startup costs: £0–£100. You need your laptop and potentially a subscription to an email marketing platform, like Mailchimp, or a marketing platform like customer.io
• Useful skills: Analytical skills, persuasive copywriting, understanding of advertising platforms, and budget management
• Starting tip: Target a single, high-growth sector, like fintech or local events, to establish your niche expertise quickly

This is an area that’s becoming more specialised because many businesses are focusing more on diversity, inclusion, and ethical hiring. If you have professional experience in HR — from handling employment contracts to internal comms strategies — you can set up as a specialist HR consultant. 

• Startup costs: £150–400. Your main costs are professional tools like a laptop and a LinkedIn Premium subscription. You must also invest in professional indemnity insurance, as you’re giving legal and strategic advice
• Useful skills: Up-to-date knowledge of UK employment law, strong communication (written and verbal), problem-solving, and good people skills (of course)

Tip: Membership in a body like the CIPD adds  credibility

• Starting tip: You could offer a specific HR ‘Health Check’ package for new or growing small businesses. This could involve reviewing their existing employment contracts and employee handbooks

The most profitable low-cost businesses to start are generally those with high margins, good scalability, and strong customer demand.

Let’s look at what those three things mean for a new business:

• High margins: This means the cost of providing the service or product is low compared to the price you can charge. Service-based businesses, especially those that sell intellectual property or time-based expertise, like coaching or consulting, fall into this category
• Scalability: This is your ability to increase revenue without a proportional increase in costs. 

For example: Digital products like online courses are incredibly scalable because you create them once and can sell them infinite times. 

• Strong demand: This ensures you always have a customer base that is willing to pay a fair price for your services. 

Here are a few examples:

• Online tutor/coach: High demand, high margins (you’re selling knowledge and expertise), and can be scaled via group courses 
• Digital product creator: Incredibly scalable with a large passive income potential, and a near-zero cost of delivery (downloads and subscriptions)
• Business consultant: High value because you directly help clients manage cash flow and plan for growth, leading to premium, retained fees and excellent margins

The answer to this question truly depends on whether your business aligns with your lifestyle, your skills, and the type of work you genuinely enjoy. 

To help, you could ask yourself these five questions:

1. Do you want to work from home? 

If yes, focus on low-cost businesses to start from home, like graphic design, editing, or virtual assisting. If you prefer to be out and about, consider businesses where you can meet clients and network.

2. Do you want to work with people, or alone?

If you’re a people person, consulting, teaching or recruitment might be your calling. If you prefer quiet focus, choose copywriting, SEO, or digital product creation.

3. Do you want fewer overheads? 

If your priority is maximum profit with minimal cost commitment, aim for an intellectual service like coaching or consulting, where your main cost is your time.

4. Are you more comfortable selling to businesses or consumers? 

Businesses expect a standard of professionalism and communication that can feel quite formal if you’re not used to it. Consumer-focused jobs, like dog walking or pet portraits, are more casual. But you’re more likely to land long-term contracts with a business, and short-term projects with consumers.

5. How quickly do you need to earn money? 

If time is of the essence, choose services like cleaning or freelance services that pay immediately. If you can wait for income, focus on building assets like a digital product or a podcast, which takes longer but can provide passive income later.

There you have it — 21 top low-cost business ideas to get your business brain ticking! 

For first-time founders and entrepreneurs, starting a business has never been more accessible — so don’t let a tight budget stop you from building something brilliant. 

Pick the idea that excites you, make a plan, and take that first step. When you do, we’re here to help. If you decide to form a limited company, you can quickly check if your preferred company name is available using our company name availability checker.

And once you’re set up, our business current account is built for budget-conscious sole traders and limited company owners like you. We simplify tax preparation, automate expenses, and make invoicing easy, so you can spend less time on admin and more time making your idea a success.

We’re cheering you on every step of the way!

The path to starting a low-cost business involves three main steps: 1) Decide on a service that uses your existing skills or experience. 2) Set up a basic professional presence with a simple website and a separate business current account to manage your finances. 3) Register your company, whether that’s registering as a sole trader with HMRC or using an official limited company registration service like Countingup.

You can keep startup costs low by selling service-based or digital products as well as working from home to eliminate rent and commuting costs. You can use free or freemium versions of software (like Canva or Trello) until your revenue justifies a paid subscription.

No, you generally don’t need a specific qualification to start a business in the UK, but some industries do require certifications (e.g. an AAT qualification for a bookkeeper). For most low-cost businesses to start, clients pay for demonstrated skill and a strong portfolio, not a formal degree. A strong portfolio or reliable trading history is usually more important.