The 38 Best Home-Based Businesses To Start In New Mexico [2024]

Updated: January 20th, 2022

Interested in starting a business in New Mexico in 2024?

We put together 38 of the best businesses you can start in New Mexico today.

For each business idea, we’ll show you real-world examples of how you can start your profitable, home-based small business in New Mexico.

Here's the full list:

1. Start a food tour company ($120K/year)

Joe Griffith from New Mexico, USA started Wander New Mexico Food Tours over 8 years ago, a food tour company.

  • Location: New Mexico, USA
  • Revenue: $10,000/ month
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 1

Case Study

My name is Joe Griffith and I’m the founder and owner of Wander New Mexico Food Tours. We offering walking food tours of downtown Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

Never been on a food tour? Imagine visiting a good friend in a city you’ve never been to. This friend plans an afternoon food crawl, taking you to her favorite restaurants, breweries and culinary spots in the city. Along the way, she introduces you to some of the locals, who give you a sense of the city, the culture, and what it’s like to live there. She also introduces you to some of the chefs and owners at the restaurants – they’re excited to have you visit, and they take the time to share with you their story and the inspiration behind the dish they’ve prepared for you.

That’s our product – an immersive culinary experience that leaves people with a better understanding of Santa Fe and it’s a rich history and culinary traditions.

how-i-started-a-walking-food-tour-business-growing-70-year-over-year

2. Start an event planning business ($420K/year)

Akshay Patel from Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA started Simply Decor and Events ago, an event planning business.

  • Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
  • Revenue: $35,000/ month
  • Starting Costs: $$500
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 2

Case Study

Hello, I am Akshay Patel from Albuquerque, NM the land of enchantment. I started an event rental and decor company that led me to an event venue. The View Event Center is a lavish space that is an indoor and outdoor event venue with panoramic city views. Our high-end venue with experienced staff will assist from venue decor to the smallest details entailed in making memories of a lifetime. Simply Decor, Tents, and Events ensures exclusive decor and thrives to bring your event to life through customized, elegant decor for all of their clients.

The full-service company will individually work with every client to design their event that will intrigue every eye in the room. Our company is broad that we get many different types of customers and we make many great connections with them as well. The company was making upwards of $380,000 a year.

how-i-started-a-35k-month-event-decor-business

3. Start a life coaching business ($120K/year)

Foti Panagiotakopoulos from Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA started GrowthMentor over 5 years ago, a life coaching business.

  • Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
  • Revenue: $10,000/ month
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 1

Case Study

Hi everyone! My name’s Fotis Panagiotakopoulos and I’m the founder of GrowthMentor, a platform where you can connect with vetted growth mentors for one-on-one calls.

Growth mentors are rigorously vetted with just around 5% being accepted onto the platform. We only accept mentors that have a high level of both hard and soft skills with an attitude that says “I genuinely enjoy helping and am not doing it just for the money.”

The mentors are primarily made up of growth marketers, product managers, founders, and startup veterans with years of experience. Over 2,500 mentorship calls have been booked on the platform to date.

how-i-launched-a-5k-month-platform-to-connect-with-growth-mentors

4. Start an exercise app ($12K/year)

Joel Runyon from Austin, Texas, USA started MoveWell over 7 years ago, an exercise app.

  • Location: Austin, Texas, USA
  • Revenue: $1,000/ month
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 1

Case Study

My name is Joel Runyon and I started an app called MoveWell. The app is designed to help you move better, get stronger and prevent injuries. It’s your ultimate movement and mobility companion.

Our customers are athletes and desk jockeys looking to perform better in fitness and generally move better and have less pain. The app has been out for a few years and currently brings in about $1,200-$1,800 per month, a nice amount of extra cash, but not really a huge business yet.

Even though MoveWell brings in the smallest amount of revenue of any of my ventures, the project has some of my most enthusiastic followers. I used to have a business partner, but recently bought him out and am looking to scale the business even more by adding coaches, consistently adding content, and doing branded partnerships over the next 6-12 months.

how-i-built-an-iphone-fitness-app-to-1-000-mrr

5. Start a finance blog ($90K/year)

Alexis Schroeder from Colorado, USA started FITnancials over 11 years ago, a finance blog.

  • Location: Colorado, USA
  • Revenue: $7,500/ month
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 1

Case Study

Hey! My name’s Alexis and I run a personal finance blog called Fitnancials. I teach millennial women how to manage their money, save & invest more, and earn extra money with side hustles.

I actually started my business back in 2013 as a fun hobby. Fitnancials was originally a health and fitness blog (as well as personal finance), but I ended up ditching the health portion altogether because it no longer resonated with me anymore. I wanted to be hyper-focused on finances.

I had zero intention of creating any income from Fitnancials. It was purely a passion project where I shared tips and tricks with my friends and family (because people were always asking me for weight loss tips since I had lost 60 pounds).

how-i-started-a-7-5k-month-blog-about-personal-finances

6. Start a moving company ($720K/year)

Max Maher from Chandler, Arizona, USA started Skinny Wimp Moving over 8 years ago, a moving company.

  • Location: Chandler, Arizona, USA
  • Revenue: $60,000/ month
  • Starting Costs: $$18K
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 12

Case Study

My name is Max Maher I am a serial entrepreneur, lifelong learner, and a founder of Skinny Wimp Moving!

Starting out, I formed a small landscaping company at 13, a sports supplement company at 16, then a pool service company, called PoolsMax at 18. The amalgamation of these businesses along with ruthlessly saving enabled me to purchase existing moving trucks and warehouse space of an unprofitable moving company which became the first Skinny Wimp Moving Co franchise when I was 19.

Skinny Wimp Moving provides household and commercial moving services based out of Phoenix, Arizona with an emphasis on customer comfort, simple pricing, and friendly faces.

how-i-started-a-1m-year-moving-company-at-19-years-old

7. Start a backpack line ($300K/year)

Kelly Belknap from Denver, Colorado, USA started Adventurist Backpack Co. over 6 years ago, a backpack line.

  • Location: Denver, Colorado, USA
  • Revenue: $25,000/ month
  • Starting Costs: $$7K
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 0

Case Study

My name is Kelly Belknap, and I co-founded Adventurist Backpack Co. along with my wife Matilda Sandstrom.

We design minimalist backpacks for travel, and for every backpack purchased, 25 meals are provided to families in need across the U.S. (We do this through our partner Feeding America, providing meals to over 200 food banks across the country.)

Our flagship product is our Adventurist Classic backpack, which is made as a daypack for travelers, hikers, students, and everyday use. It’s padded front/back for electronics and completely weather-resistant for any adventure - and also fits perfectly underneath the seat of an airplane. We have the Adventurist Classic available in 6 colors, and have 2 new designs on the way which will be available on our website starting at the end of August.

how-this-husband-wife-duo-started-a-backpack-brand-that-gives-back

8. Become an it consultant ($25.2K/year)

Dan Khadem from Denver, Colorado, USA started Access Database Support over 12 years ago, an IT consultant.

  • Location: Denver, Colorado, USA
  • Revenue: $2,100/ month
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 1

Case Study

My everyone. My name is Dan Khadem. I’m from Denver, Colorado and have a wife and 2 kids. I might have the most interesting or unique story because I have two very opposite things going on in my life. For my first business, I started a database consulting service for small and medium-sized organizations. This is using my technical skills and is very much using the Type A side of my personality. On the other end of the spectrum I do commercial acting and modeling. This is essentially for advertising in the form of print ads and commercials.

I’ll start with my database consulting business since that’s what I started with and what I’ve been doing longer. I essentially help organizations manage and declutter their data. My full-time day job is a database programmer in medical research so I’ve taken this skillset and applied it towards helping small and medium-sized businesses and organizations tackle a data problem that is holding their business back.

Typically it’s an organization that is struggling with managing their data and need some help moving from disorganized spreadsheets to a clean and efficient database program. Other times it’s a business that needs a custom program to automate or support a task like managing their human resources, their clients or some sort of maintenance schedule that they need to run their business.

how-a-database-consultant-became-a-commercial-model

9. Start a training software ($5.4M/year)

Chris Ronzio from Scottsdale, Arizona, USA started Trainual over 7 years ago, a training software.

  • Location: Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
  • Revenue: $450,000/ month
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 59

Case Study

I’m Chris Ronzio and I’m the founder and CEO of Trainual, the leading playbook builder for businesses.

Trainual is a one-stop-shop for documenting your SOPs and training and onboarding your team. The app provides an easy way to capture every process, role, and responsibility, creating a consistent, teachable, and scalable knowledge base, centralized in one place.

At the heart of this work is a desire to help business leaders find the time to do more of what they love by providing a way to document and delegate what they do. Our mission is for every business to have a playbook.

how-we-ve-grown-our-business-and-added-3m-arr

10. Become an author ($240K/year)

Nick Thacker from Colorado, USA started Conundrum Publishing over 7 years ago, an author.

  • Location: Colorado, USA
  • Revenue: $20,000/ month
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 2

Case Study

My name is Nick Thacker, and I’m a full-time thriller writer. I write action-adventure fiction for armchair adventurers, and my books have been insultingly referred to as “airport books,” a descriptor I absolutely adore and use as often as possible.

I started like any author — making no money, and begging for people to read my stuff. Now I generate about $10-14k/month in revenue, between writing, business, and related projects.

nick-thacker-update-landing-a-three-book-publishing-deal-staying-focused

11. Start a swimwear line ($60K/year)

Ally McCarthy from Sacramento Ca started Amanda Louise Swimwear almost 3 years ago, a swimwear line.

  • Location: Sacramento Ca
  • Revenue: $5,000/ month
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 0

Case Study

Well hello again! Amanda Freick here - the owner of AmandaLouise. We’re a Luxury Beach and Fitness Competition swimwear company completely dedicated to the women in our community. Although I LOVE bikinis, my real purpose is supporting the physical, mental, and spiritual health of my girls. I like to say that the swimwear is the physical embodiment of that because you look great, you feel great.

Our business is in two parts. 1) Luxury Beachwear and 2) Fitness Competition Suits.

1) I freaking love bikinis. I live in Arizona where it’s pool weather 6months (or more) out of the year. I have a pretty specific style when it comes to my swim wardrobe, simple yet sexy. I knew what I wanted, but couldn’t find it on the shelves. Now I create made-to-order, high-quality suits for women like me who just want to be simple, sexy, and show off their curves. Our 2020 collection is called Crystal Vibes and includes a genuine crystal with your swimwear. This came about because I’ve stepped into my spirituality practice over the last couple of years, and knew I wanted to blend it somehow into my swim line (beyond just talking about it on my podcast - Confessions of a Fit Chick.)

how-we-created-a-new-brand-of-masks-to-drive-new-revenue

12. Dropshipping men's grooming products ($42K/year)

Ray Moyers from Queen Creek, Arizona, USA started HUSKYBEARD over 7 years ago, a dropshipping men's grooming products.

  • Location: Queen Creek, Arizona, USA
  • Revenue: $3,500/ month
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 1

Case Study

My name is Ray Moyers and I purchased Huskybeard 1 year ago, on June 15, 2018. Huskybeard manufactures all natural beard care products using only the highest quality ingredients sourced in the USA. All of our products are handmade in small batches to ensure the highest quality and longest shelf life.

We mainly sell beard oils, beard balms, beard combs and beard brushes to bearded men. We have also found some success selling to women that want to introduce the bearded man in their life to the benefits of maintaining a healthy beard. We’ve had many women tell us that our products are the first beard products they’ve found that they like the smell of.

I have had men that have used dozens of other products, and men that have used one product forever and refuse to use anything else, switch to Huskybeard because my products are “the best they’ve ever used.”

the-tough-lessons-i-learned-after-buying-an-ecommerce-business

13. Develop a seo software ($2.64M/year)

Todd Hooper from Boulder, CO, USA started Prerender.io over 10 years ago, a seo software.

  • Location: Boulder, CO, USA
  • Revenue: $220,000/ month
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 4

Case Study

My name is Todd Hooper, and I’m a software engineer. I founded Prerender.io in 2014. Prerender.io allows search engines to crawl SEO-friendly versions of React, Angular, and Javascript websites.

As a solo founder and employee, I bootstrapped Prerender.io from zero to $2.5 million in ARR over 5 years!

how-i-bootstrapped-my-saas-company-to-2-5m-year-in-5-years-as-a-solo-founder

14. Start a transcription business ($1.2M/year)

Ben Walker from Denver, CO, USA started Transcription Outsourcing, LLC almost 14 years ago, a transcription business.

  • Location: Denver, CO, USA
  • Revenue: $100,000/ month
  • Starting Costs: $$150K
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 5

Case Study

My name is Ben Walker and I am the CEO and Founder of Transcription Outsourcing, LLC in Denver, Colorado.

We provide guaranteed transcription services to the medical, legal, law enforcement, financial, academic, and general business industries. This means we work with doctors, lawyers, law enforcement agencies, wealth management companies, universities, authors, podcasts, and even insurance companies to help them run their offices better.

Transcription Outsourcing was awarded the NASPO ValuePoint ($16 billion in annual sales from 65 contracts) transcription services contract three years ago, over 26 other companies, and haven’t looked back since.

how-we-started-a-100k-month-company-that-provides-transcription-services

15. Start a children's clothing business

Cameron Olthuis from Park City, Utah, USA started Sawyer over 6 years ago, a children's clothing business.

  • Location: Park City, Utah, USA
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 3

Case Study

Hi there, I’m Cameron Olthuis, owner and operator of Sawyer. Sawyer is a high-quality kids clothing brand that makes soft, durable products with timeless designs that inspire them to get outside and explore the natural world.

We discovered a striking statistic:

Kids today spend less time outside than maximum security prisoners.

starting-a-kids-clothing-brand-and-growing-to-12k-mo

16. Become an online dating consultant ($62.4K/year)

Shane White from Austin, Texas, USA started The Match Artist over 6 years ago, an online dating consultant.

  • Location: Austin, Texas, USA
  • Revenue: $5,200/ month
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 0

Case Study

Hi everyone, my name is Shane and I’m the founder of The Match Artist. We help singles take amazing pictures for their online dating profiles. Our flagship product is the 3 hour Executive shoot, which gets you about 100 different photos in 7 different settings.

Most importantly, this package comes with an e-mail course and one-on-one coaching so you can take better photos in the future. Many people (especially guys) are horrible at taking pictures. The Match Artist teaches you how to look at the camera, and how to show your most attractive and authentic self. This empowers you to take better photos, even after the shoot is over.

The Match Artist is More Than a Typical Photography Company

how-i-built-my-own-business-improving-online-dating-profiles

17. Start a socks business ($12M/year)

Dane Jensen from Austin, Texas, USA started Sock Club almost 13 years ago, a socks business.

  • Location: Austin, Texas, USA
  • Revenue: $1,000,000/ month
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 38

Case Study

Hi, Dane Jensen here, my business partner Noah and I run Sock Club. Our flagship product is socks of course. We started Sock Club as a monthly subscription where we would deliver a pair of unique socks to our customers every month. As we’ve grown we’ve developed a manufacturing supply chain here in the United States. Having the ability to make our own socks made it possible to enter the new market of custom socks. Now making custom socks is 90% of our business and the subscription 10%. Last year we did $12M+ in revenue and we plan to do more than that this year.

how-i-started-a-1m-month-business-selling-custom-socks

18. Start a mom blog ($36K/year)

Audrey Marshall from Utah, USA started Mommy Enlightened almost 6 years ago, a mom blog.

  • Location: Utah, USA
  • Revenue: $3,000/ month
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 2

Case Study

My name is Audrey and I am a blogger at Mommy Enlightened. This site is focused on giving new mothers advice on pregnancy, babies, toddlerhood, and motherhood in general. I started Mommy Enlightened with the intention of making money, but I genuinely wanted to give moms like me a place to find good information. A year after I started it, I realized the mother’s I wanted to reach were the ones who were struggling with their self-confidence, so this is who I write to now (when I write - I have a writer who I pay to write most of the content).

I sell a small pregnancy journal. Graphic design is another passion of mine (and I actually have another blog that I share with my husband on it) so I made it for fun and now I sell it. It does fairly well, but I do plan to create a toddler product this month because that is where my most engaged audience is. My target reader is a toddler mom who wants to discipline her child in a loving way but isn’t really sure how to do it without being a pushover. She is overwhelmed by motherhood and life in general, and my hope is to ease that overwhelm and help her build up confidence.

My current flagship product is actually on my graphic design site, and it’s a complete graphic design course focused on Pinterest pin creation for bloggers and other online business owners. My partner and I started doing virtual assistant work at the same time I started my blog, and I ended up working with some big names in the blogging world. Because of that, I have others sell my graphic design course. I do not have an audience of my own (yet), but I’ve still profited greatly from the sales of the course because of my affiliates.

how-i-started-a-3k-month-blog-writing-about-motherhood

19. Start a marketing agency ($1.2M/year)

Travis Richardson from Denver, Colorado, USA started Impressions Agency almost 11 years ago, a marketing agency.

  • Location: Denver, Colorado, USA
  • Revenue: $100,000/ month
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 20

Case Study

From Honeymoon to Prosperous Company

I’m Travis Richardson. My wife Charisa and I started our company Impressions Agency in 2013--an online digital marketing agency. At that time we were living in Costa Rica on the beach. Our end goal then was to pay our bills of $800 per month (dreaming big :)) while living the Pura Vida lifestyle. My hidden motive was to turn our Costarican experience into an indefinite honeymoon. At that time we had been married for 6 months.

how-we-started-a-100k-month-marketing-agency-during-our-honeymoon-in-costa-rica

20. Start a hygiene product company ($60M/year)

Josh Elizetxe from Scottsdale, Arizona, USA started SNOW almost 7 years ago, a hygiene product company.

  • Location: Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
  • Revenue: $5,000,000/ month
  • Starting Costs: $$150K
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 25

Case Study

Bootstrapping A Household Brand Beyond $100M at 28 years old

My name is Josh Elizetxe, commonly known as “Josh Snow”. I have been building and scaling businesses for 10+ years. Most recently, our brand of premium oral care products, SNOW, has garnered over 10,000 reviews and is considered a fan favorite.

The flagship product focuses on the cosmetic benefit of oral care with a teeth whitening system for professional whitening at-home.

snow-update-how-we-nearly-doubled-returning-customers-during-the-pandemic

21. Start a non-profit fundraiser

Heather McGehearty from Addison, TX, USA started StandUpLD over 7 years ago, a non-profit fundraiser.

  • Location: Addison, TX, USA
  • Starting Costs: $$20K
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 0

Case Study

We named our organization StandUpLD because we wanted to empower children and their parents by giving them a voice and helping them have the confidence to stand up for themselves and acknowledge their learning differences; to own it. There can be such a tremendous sense of isolation for children with learning differences. And with that, of course, often comes depression, which children with learning differences experience at greater rates than the national average. Imagine the sense of inadequacy a child feels when they’re working as hard—usually much harder—than others in the classroom but those efforts aren’t bringing results. What’s more, it’s not uncommon for a learning issue to be mistaken for a mental health issue. You can imagine how that mislabeling can affect self-esteem, depression, and escort in a host of other issues they face once they reach their teen years. According to Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, there is a significant overlap in learning differences and substance abuse.

Something is only a failure if you don’t learn from it. If you do and can use that knowledge to your advantage, it can hardly be called a failure.

Without access to proper remediation and organizations like StandUpLD—and others with similar missions—children in at-risk communities who have a learning difference are even more likely to fall into negative and self-destructive behaviors. As an example, 48% of today’s prison population has dyslexia. Those children, along with any child challenged with a learning issue, is why StandUpLD is truly a heart mission.

on-starting-a-non-profit-to-support-children-with-learning-differences

22. Start a towels business ($144K/year)

Grace Druecke from Scottsdale, Arizona, USA started The Bali Market about 8 years ago, a towels business.

  • Location: Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
  • Revenue: $12,000/ month
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 0

Case Study

Slim margins, out of stock inventory and a shaky foundation. That’s how The Bali Market functioned in its first year of business.

I’m Grace and I own The Bali Market, a Turkish beach and bath towel company. The business was launched on Amazon in 2016. I didn’t have a clear understanding of how I was going to run the business. I mean, I didn’t even know who I was selling to or why they would actually want my towels. Regardless of my muddled business plan, I crawled my way to the first page of Amazon. My towels sold out quickly and were getting five-star reviews.

That all sounds great but my margins were tiny (thanks to Amazon's hefty fees). And selling out meant I lost my first-page ranking. Even once I had more products in stock I was unable to get back to the first-page status.

how-i-started-a-12k-month-turkish-beach-and-bath-towels-brand

23. Create an online course ($1.2M/year)

Alex Nerney from Texas, USA started Create and Go over 7 years ago, an online course.

  • Location: Texas, USA
  • Revenue: $100,000/ month
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 0

Case Study

My name is Alex Nerney. My business partner Lauren McManus and I started an online blog, two of them actually, that we were able to make a full time income from. We started out with building a health and fitness blog Avocadu. It seemed like a reasonable first niche to start in as I was a personal trainer at the time. After growing that blog to six figures a year Lauren and I decided to start Create and Go to teach others exactly how we did it and share our journey as professional bloggers with them.

We have a lot of customers from all over the world, but they all have at least one thing in common: They dream of making some income through an online blog. Whether that’s to quit their soul sucking day jobs like we did, or to be a stay at home parent, or just to have more financial freedom. Our flagship product on Create and Go is our Pro Blogger bundle, and it aims to give every student exactly what they need to accomplish that dream. It contains all of our individual courses and is our start to finish blogging guide that teaches each student how to start a blog.

After growing Create and Go to have over 10,000+ students now and having an average income of around $130,000 a month combined from our blogs, we have been able to really reflect on how much we have accomplished. Lauren and I quit our jobs only a few years ago, but honestly, the life we have lived since doing so makes it seem like it was another lifetime ago.

they-quit-their-jobs-make-1-2m-year-with-online-courses

24. Start a subscription box business ($240K/year)

Michael Arciola III from Austin, Texas, USA started Southern Cigar Co almost 9 years ago, a subscription box business.

  • Location: Austin, Texas, USA
  • Revenue: $20,000/ month
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 0

Case Study

I’m Michael Arciola III and the founder of Southern Cigar Co. At the time of founding, I was a student at Florida State University studying computer science and business. I started the company 4 years ago out of my apartment and couldn’t be happier with the progress we’ve made thus far.

Southern Cigar Co.’s primary product is a subscription box, which was all the hype then and still is now. Our primary customers are fathers, golfers, businessmen, and new hobbyists. We ship worldwide and have shipped to over 30 different countries so far. Currently we are doing ~250k a year in revenue, but this has been growing at about 20% year over year.

Me packing boxes outside out apartment on the deck. I would do them in batches, this being one of them.

how-i-started-a-20k-mo-cigar-subscription-business-as-a-college-student

25. ($120K/year)

Gia Paddock from Phoenix, Arizona, USA started Boutique Rye almost 7 years ago, .

  • Location: Phoenix, Arizona, USA
  • Revenue: $10,000/ month
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 0

Case Study

Hi everyone, my name is Gia, and I am the owner of Boutique Rye. We are a women’s clothing and accessories boutique that is all online!

We have anywhere from clothes that are appropriate for work or clothes that will make you turn heads on a night out on the town. I try and buy clothes with many different styles in mind. I'd like to think that we are a one-stop shop for a diverse group of women!

how-i-grew-my-clothing-boutique-to-10k-month-in-6-months

26. Start a crime scene cleanup business

Nick-Anthony Zamucen from Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA started Bio-One about 16 years ago, a crime scene cleanup business.

  • Location: Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 7

Case Study

Hello readers, this is Nick-Anthony Zamucen again. I have created four franchised organizations, working on the fifth as I type this. I have sold two of those organizations to private equity companies for an 8x multiple and frankly, after the second sale, I don’t have to work another day in my life, but how boring would that be?

The reason for living is giving and creation and I love to do both. Plus, I enjoy showing aspiring Entrepreneurs actually how to be successful and not become Wantrepreneurs. Success breeds success.

how-we-grew-to-127-locations-and-got-featured-on-a-tv-show

27. Start a niche accessories brand ($1.2M/year)

Braxton Manley from Austin, Texas, USA started Braxley Bands almost 7 years ago, a niche accessories brand.

  • Location: Austin, Texas, USA
  • Revenue: $100,000/ month
  • Starting Costs: $$20
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 3

Case Study

My name is Braxton Manley and I am a 23-year-old living in Austin. I started Braxley Bands with my dorm-mate Grant Andrews as a class project at Texas Tech about 3 years ago.

We created an elastic Apple Watch band and started making them by hand on my Nana’s sewing machine. We have since scaled the business from an original $20 upfront for materials to $100K a month on Shopify. No other capital or investment was ever put into the business.

how-we-turned-20-into-a-100k-month-accessory-brand

28. Start a shoe brand ($48M/year)

Steven Sashen from Broomfield, Colorado, USA started Xero Shoes over 14 years ago, a shoe brand.

  • Location: Broomfield, Colorado, USA
  • Revenue: $4,000,000/ month
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 67

Case Study

Hi, I’m Steven Sashen and I’m the co-founder (with my wife, Lena Phoenix) and CEO of Xero Shoes.

Xero Shoes are addictively comfortable, lightweight, minimalist, casual and performance shoes and sandals that people in 97 countries wear for everything from a walk on the beach to a mountain hike to running a 256k ultra marathon across Madagascar.

Everything we do is based on what’s natural.

xero-shoes-growing-a-shoe-brand-to-460k-month

29. Start a drinkware brand

Jon Fox from Boulder, Colorado, USA started EcoVessel over 13 years ago, a drinkware brand.

  • Location: Boulder, Colorado, USA
  • Starting Costs: $$15K
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 11

Case Study

I grew up in a family where both of my parents started their own businesses, so I have had an interest in being an entrepreneur since I was fairly young. My brothers developed the same interests and one of them teaches entrepreneurship at an International University in Barcelona, and I have a twin brother that chef and founder of multiple restaurants in San Francisco.

To be successful, you can never stop innovating and trying out new ideas.

I studied Business with an emphasis in Marketing in college and got started in my career in technology sales in Arizona and then in the Bay Area. After working in technology for several years, I decided that I wanted to have a larger impact on people’s lives and do something that would help people, so I started an alternative health wellness center, called Whole Body Balance, in Boulder, Colorado. From there I got interested in designing and developing products and started a company that manufactured and sold water filtration systems.

on-starting-an-insulated-drinkware-brand-and-growing-sales-100

30. Start a puppet fabric store ($120K/year)

Laurie Nickerson from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA started Puppet Pelts over 11 years ago, a puppet fabric store.

  • Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
  • Revenue: $10,000/ month
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 2

Case Study

My name is Laurie Nickerson and I and the co-owner of Puppet Pelts. At Puppet Pelts, we manufacture and sell hand dyed fabric used for puppet skins to professional puppet builders around the world.

Our Pelts are made from a textile that is really only used for puppets. It is a wonderfully stretchy nylon fleece fabric that is milled in the United States. We buy the fabric in white and dye it a bunch of colors to sell to our customers.

growing-to-9-000-month-selling-hard-to-find-puppet-fabric

31. Start a business communications software ($120M/year)

Yaniv Masjedi from Scottsdale, Arizona, USA started Nextiva almost 16 years ago, a business communications software.

  • Location: Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
  • Revenue: $10,000,000/ month
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 1000

Case Study

Hi, Everyone! My name is Yaniv Masjedi and I’m the CMO of Nextiva, a leading business communications company based in Scottsdale, Arizona. I’ve been with the company since the very beginning (spring 2008) when we signed our first customer.

Our co-founder and CEO, Tomas Gorny, came up with the idea for Nextiva after experiencing a ton of inefficiencies in the business phone service and business communication market. He wanted to solve for those and create a company that was focused on continually innovating and delivering the best customer experience the industry had ever seen.

how-we-developed-a-10mm-month-business-communications-software

32. Start a health care training business ($180K/year)

Kyle Golding from Oklahoma, USA started Vorttx Training and Testing over 7 years ago, a health care training business.

  • Location: Oklahoma, USA
  • Revenue: $15,000/ month
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 0

Case Study

My name is Kyle Golding, I am a co-founder and CMO of VORTTX Training and Testing SaaS virtual emergency response training system for long-term healthcare facilities. I co-founded VORTTX Training and Testing in 2016.

VORTTX is a yearly subscription service currently generating 1% of the market potential of one hundred million dollars a year in our second year of full-time operation.

After nearly a year in development, the adoption rate of VORTTX from the public launch to the end of the first 12 months was over 500% and still growing.

how-we-built-and-launched-a-health-care-training-platform

33. Start a bathrobe business ($120K/year)

Evan and Jackie Streusand from Austin, Texas, USA started Highway Robery over 7 years ago, a bathrobe business.

  • Location: Austin, Texas, USA
  • Revenue: $10,000/ month
  • Starting Costs: $$7K
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 0

Case Study

We started Highway Robery (roe-bur-ree)..get it? - a sustainable robe company based in Austin, TX, making colorful kimono-style robes, and we’re doing a new twist on an old standard.

With our robes, we strive to exude a sense of adventure and whimsy so that our wearers can stay in touch with their inner-goofball. We make all of our robes in the USA, using sustainable production methods. We focus on having as little waste as possible and ensuring that our sewers are treated (and paid) well above industry standards.

All of our robes are one-size-fits-most, and are gender neutral. It was important to us to be as inclusive as possible with our robes.

how-this-couple-launched-a-premium-robe-business

34. Start a food tour company ($900K/year)

Jessica Baumgart from Denver, Colorado, USA started Delicious Denver Food Tours over 6 years ago, a food tour company.

  • Location: Denver, Colorado, USA
  • Revenue: $75,000/ month
  • Starting Costs: $$2K
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 3

Case Study

Hi, I’m Jessica Baumgart, and in 2017 I founded Delicious Denver Food Tours to connect Denver locals and visitors to my city’s amazing food scene.

Many people don’t know what a food tour is, although they are the fastest growing sector in tourism. Food tours are walking (sometimes driving or biking) city tours that feature local restaurants, dishes and chefs.

how-i-started-a-wildly-successful-food-tour-business

35. Become a software developer ($1.8M/year)

Sajin Rajan from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA started Epixel Solutions over 8 years ago, a software developer.

  • Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
  • Revenue: $150,000/ month
  • Founders: 3
  • Employees: 150

Case Study

Hi, this is Sajin Rajan, co-founder of Epixel Solutions, LLC. With at most satisfaction, I’m happy to share my story with you. When I launched our flagship product, Epixel MLM Software in the global market back in 2015, our motto was to create a revolution.

God’s grace and our team’s effort made that dream come true. Friends, you must be familiar with Amway products! They sell their products using the MLM business model. Well, as their products were accepted worldwide, they do have a large customer base. It's not an easy task to manage them and their different range of products. Similarly, many companies that are popular globally as well as the startups who just got entered into business.

The main pulp of MLM business are customers or to be more precise - 'distributors'. The source of income for the distributors is commissions or bonuses and for companies, it's sales.

how-i-started-a-70k-month-business-selling-software-for-mlms

36. Become a business coach ($120K/year)

Stacey Haynes from Dallas, Texas, USA started Thrivette over 5 years ago, a business coach.

  • Location: Dallas, Texas, USA
  • Revenue: $10,000/ month
  • Starting Costs: $$10K
  • Founders: 2
  • Employees: 2

Case Study

Hi y’all, I’m Stacey Haynes, founder of Thrivette, a community of people where we “Make Things Happen.” Our company offers consulting, as well as free resources in our Thrivette Lab, to help businesses grow. I have over 15 years of experience in the customer service/call center industry. My husband, Jason, is an architect turned web designer. We have had countless side hustles over the years to help fund our bigger dreams...real estate. People continued to ask us how we did it, so we started Thrivette as a way to compile information for people to reference anything from getting started with crowdfunding, to selling on large e-commerce platforms (Like Amazon, Etsy, and Shopify), to dealing with customers in real life as a landlord.

Our highest paying clients, are Fortune 100 companies that range from retail, candy, dog food, and insurance. However, we are passionately transitioning into serving those ready for the start-up hustle! We have a large growing market of customers who want to start that side hustle or make enough profits to quit their 9-5. So teachers, stay-at-home parents, recent grads, are all a huge part of what we do.

We love encouraging these people to get to the next level and will give as many free resources and advice as we can. Jason and I believe in giving away all our “secrets” because as entrepreneurs we know there are struggles lots of hoops to jump through, just to get something simple started. People can get overwhelmed, but we love jumping in and helping them find their way. Our goal is to help people get going, accomplishing small wins, and ultimately finding success.

how-i-started-a-10k-month-business-helping-entrepreneurs

37. Start a niche accessories brand ($7.2K/year)

Alex from Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA started AR Catch22 about 15 years ago, a niche accessories brand.

  • Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
  • Revenue: $600/ month
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 1

Case Study

Hi! I’m Alex Corstorphine, founder of AR Catch22. AR Catch22 produces and sells bolt catches for .22lr converted AR-15 rifles.

Before getting into the business side of things, it’s probably worthwhile to explain a bit about what a bolt catch is and does.

Standard AR-15s shoot a .223 caliber round and, like most other semi-automatic rifles, the bolt (the part that moves back and forth to load new rounds and eject old ones) is automatically held open by a bolt catch after the last round is fired. This feature is helpful because an open bolt shows the rifle is clear (i.e. no rounds are loaded) and helps with quicker magazine changes.

how-i-designed-an-accessory-to-use-multiple-types-of-rounds-in-a-rifle

38. Start a shipping company ($240K/year)

Dvir Edri from Denver, CO, USA started Car Shipping Calculator over 13 years ago, a shipping company.

  • Location: Denver, CO, USA
  • Revenue: $20,000/ month
  • Starting Costs: $$100K
  • Founders: 1
  • Employees: 7

Case Study

Hi! I’m Dvir and I run Nationwide Auto Transportation. NAT is an auto shipping broker, which means that we connect consumers in need of car shipping services with truckers who transport vehicles across the United States.

Since the inception of our company 12 years ago, we have served more than 50,000 customers - many multiple times. We ship approximately 4,000 vehicles per month.

Transporting the Batmobile

how-i-started-a-20k-month-auto-shipping-broker-business

meet the author
Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.