These are a few businesses that you can start here in Trinidad and Tobago for minimal costs today (or maybe during the course of a week or two). I’ve tried a few of these and I still actually run a few to this day, making me all of my income. If these business ideas worked for me them surely they will work for you.
Sell Clothing
I used to sell clothing, now I assist other clothing businesses with their online sales. Therefore I know a thing or two about this line of business. There are two easy ways to get into this line of business.
- You can sell other brands. This is the easier of the two. You can choose popular brands, import them and resell them. Amazon is a good source for getting products to sell and you can use my Skybox service to import them into Trinidad. I’ll talk about the importing part of this business later in this article. There are countless websites you can find to buy your goods from, import them and resell them for a profit. My advise here is to find a specific niche at first rather than try to sell all types of clothing. eg you may focus only on fitness apparel for women, or you may focus only on tall men. Niching down is a sure way to build up a brand for yourself and a reputation within a speific community.
- Create and sell your own brand. Maybe you have your own creative flare, maybe you can make your own clothing or maybe you can even add your own custom prints to exisiting clothing. I have clients who do both. This may take a bit longer since you are going to need to create demand of your clothing. The upside however is once you create this demand and following, you’ll be in control rather than relying on what another brand produces and hoping that it sells.
An online retail store
I used to import electronics for resale from Amazon. My most profitable item back then was actually the Kindle Fire which carried a decent profit margin. Back then I was one of the few people in Trinidad and Tobago selling these tablets. Another item with a decent profit margin used to be Lightning Cables since Apple didn’t begin limiting manufacturers to only producing “verified” products. I made a killing on these 2 items! I also offered free delivery to anywhere in the country, even for a data cable since the profit margins were that good.
The point I’m making is that there are many products available online that you can import and resell for a decent profit margin. At the end of the day, most if not all products we consume here in Trinidad and Tobago are imported from somewhere. The trick for you is to find some products with a demand locally and sell them.
A graphic design business
Are you able to use Photoshop or Illustrator or even Canva? Do you have a creative eye? Got a computer or even a mobile device to create graphics on? You might already have what it takes to make some money. This is one of those businesses I still make money from. I’m reasonably good at Photoshop and I have a reasonably good creative eye. I have clients willing to pay me for my expertise since they simply don’t know how to do the graphic work I’m capable of producing. Maybe if you decide to start this business you can hit me up. I won’t mind outsourcing work to you if your portfolio is good enough.
A website design business
Again, this is a business I still run to this day (you are on this blog that is promoting my service). My niche is affordable e-commerce websites. I sell my e-commerce websites for $850TTD and sometimes as low as $250TTD for business owners who need the discount. There are others in this same line of business who sell their websites for $20,000TTD and up. I’m not going to tell you how much to charge your clients, I’m not even going to say don’t compete with me because there is a lot of room in the market for all of us. In all the years I’ve been doing this I can tell you that new clients are literally born every day. (Yes there are people who are now clients who weren’t born as yet when I first started and I’m only 33 years old…)
My advice if you decide to start this business is to understand which niche you are serving and try to be the best in it. There are also competitors born every day as well. Maybe one of you reading this may give me a run for my money?
A beauty business
The beauty industry is huge. Maybe you are good at makeup or hair? Maybe you can sell products in this niche (see the above paragraph). People are going to always want to look good in any economy. If this industry interests you then you can start your business today. Begin marketing your services or products and build a clientele.
A cleaning business
Christmas is coming and many people will need help to power wash their yards and clean their homes. With what’s happening around the globe at the moment, cleaning is a valued service to everyone from commercial to residential to automotive. There is a demand, if you are willing to supply then that’s an almost guaranteed business plan right here. Why not try it out?
Conclusion
If you are reading this article then chances are you already have a business idea but aren’t sure if it makes sense to begin. Maybe you know it’s a good idea but you don’t know where to start! I’ll give some advice that my oldest cousin, the owner of Kitchen Depot Limited told me many years ago (btw his website was the first I ever built.. go have a look and judge me a bit). He said the trick to business is to just start. Don’t even worry about registering and all that right away. Just begin and you’ll know if it makes sense to continue. Needless to say, I began many years ago and I’m still in business. Now it’s your turn! Today is the day to start that business you’ve been thinking about all this time.
Now to plug my shipping service. Our newest division at Pellau Media (so new that it isn’t even on the website as yet) assists small businesses to import goods from any major port worldwide. For those ordering from websites based in the USA then that port will be in Miami. We can ship and then deliver to your doorstep here in Trinidad and Tobago. No credit card to order? Well, no problem either because we can assist you with ordering the goods as well. Should you need assistance then you can reach out to me via WhatsApp at 1-868-264-1936
One last plug. Most if not all of these businesses listed above would all benefit from having a website from the start. Take it from me, it is extremely important, to begin with, the right processes in place, than to be struggling years later to get it right. A website with proper branding and a marketing strategy will ensure you succeed rather than “hoping for the best”. Should you need assistance then you can reach out to me via WhatsApp at 1-868-264-1936
