28+ Pop-Up Shop Business Ideas You Can Start Today [2024]
Interested in starting a pop up shop business in 2024?
We put together 28 of the best pop up shop businesses you can start in today.
For each business idea, we’ll show you real-world examples of other pop up shop businesses to help you see what it really takes.
Here's the full list:
1. Start a photo booth business
A photo booth business involves providing a portable and automated photography setup that allows individuals to take fun and creative pictures at events or venues.
This business is becoming more popular for various occasions like weddings, parties, and corporate events, providing a unique and entertaining experience for guests.
To start a photo booth business, you need to invest in quality equipment, create a user-friendly website to showcase your services and market your business to event planners and individuals hosting celebrations.
How much you can make: $350,000 — $500,000/month
How much does it cost to start: $6,000 (?)
How long does it take to build: 60 days (?)
This case study follows the journey of TapSnap, a photo booth company that grew to over 100 franchised locations in North America, servicing over 10,000 events every year and recognized as one of North America's fastest growing and best new technology franchises.
2. Start a shipping company
A shipping company can be a great business to start. You can get the support and training that you need to run a successful small business. You may already have some of the resources at hand. This could include what you need to transport goods and a vehicle or two that you can use to get these materials from point X to point Y.
Shipping is a crowded industry. Starting your own shipping company isn't as hard as it used to be. With the explosion in eCommerce, there's an increasing demand for small package shipping. Becoming a shipping company entrepreneur has its rewards. Shipping is an area where there's a lot of potentials to earn bounties, it serves as a good source of income.
How much you can make: $20,000 — $2,400,000/month
How long does it take to build: 180 days (?)
Nationwide Auto Transportation ships approximately 4,000 vehicles per month and has served more than 50,000 customers, offering custom services such as help for clients who cannot find suitable carriers for their vehicle.
3. Start an ecommerce marketing agency
Ecommerce agencies help online sellers achieve their eCommerce business goals through creative, technology, and marketing skills.
Hiring an eCommerce agency enables online sellers to start an eCommerce business or grow an existing one without employing full-time staff.
The eCommerce industry is often changing, and online sellers must match the current trends or risk being paced out by the competition. Balancing between production, launching creative services, and working on growing their eCommerce brands can be extremely difficult. Thus, the brands have no other option than hire eCommerce agencies.
Starting an eCommerce agency can be a profitable and fulfilling business opportunity. If you plan to state your eCommerce agency, educate yourself on the current trends and focus on building digital skills. You may focus on a particular niche or offer end-to-end services to your customers.
How much you can make: $1,500 — $465,583,333/month
How much does it cost to start: $1,500 (?)
How long does it take to build: 52 days (?)
Iman Gadzhi made over $1.2M in profit within two years with his social media marketing agency and education company, where he teaches entrepreneurs how to start and scale a profitable SMMA, with over 45 of his students making over six figures with their SMMA, and over 300 students having quit their regular jobs.
4. Start a holiday pop-up shop business
A pop-up holiday shop refers to a short-term, temporary retail event during the holiday season, often in winter.
Setting up an online or a brick & mortar pop-up shop provides a practical way for entrepreneurs to tap into the year's biggest shopping season.
5. Start an online retail store
Starting an online retail store is straightforward. All you need is a computer, a domain, and a web hosting service. Then, determine a niche for your online store, and conduct product research before listing products.
You can start your online store based on a drop shipping business model or list your self-made products in your online store.
How much you can make: $5,000 — $62,500,000/month
How long does it take to build: 51 days (?)
This case study follows the story of a successful online business that has made 7.2 million dollars in sales since 2012, with profits of around 30-45%, and the founders share insights on lessons learned and tools used.
6. Start a flash sale offering business
7. Start a complementary care provider business
8. Start a sample offering business
9. Start an interactive product demos business
How much you can make: $4,000/month
How long does it take to build: 60 days (?)
SmartCue, a demo automation platform, is helping software sales teams close deals faster with personalized product demos and has attracted 10+ pilots, both free and paid, since its launch in 2022.
10. Start a sampling tents business
11. Start an exclusive products business
12. Start a themed selections business
13. Start an in-store demonstration service business
14. Start a special guests business
15. Start a street entertainer business
16. Start a spooky deals and discounts offering business
How much you can make: $250,000/month
How long does it take to build: 90 days (?)
How this CEO created a multimillion-dollar membership business offering exclusive discounts on travel and branched off into over 30 categories of discounts for members, negotiating over 3,000,000 discounts around the globe that are not available to the general public and only available to their members.
17. Start a vending machine business
Starting a vending machine business in a crowded, busy city is an easy way to make money. Whether you want to run your own business, start a side hustle, or generate an income while at the office, this is the best business.
There are many advantages to starting a vending machine business, such as: low startup costs, simplicity, all cash-based transactions, and flexibility.
Here are the steps on how to start a vending machine business.
- Buy a franchise
- Find a location
- Secure all licenses and contracts
How much you can make: $30,000/month
How much does it cost to start: $2,000 (?)
How long does it take to build: 30 days (?)
iKrave Vending founder Lakinya started her vending machine business after observing the lack of consultants who specialize in vending machine operations, and now offers online training courses and mentoring to help others achieve success in the billion-dollar industry.
18. Start a mobile store
19. Start a competition organizing business
20. Start a customization business
How much you can make: $5,000 — $3,000,000/month
How much does it cost to start: $500 (?)
How long does it take to build: 60 days (?)
Bookblock co-founder shares how they grew their corporate gifting platform to a £2m annual turnover, and their plans to expand to the consumer market through their new gifting platform.
21. Start a charitable donation business
22. Start a previews and early releases business
23. Start a behind-the-scenes look business
24. Start an on-brand decor renting business
25. Start a light bites business
26. Start a magnetic signs business
27. Start a tote bags business
A white label tote bags business is where you order unbranded tote bags from a wholesaler, put your brand logo and resell them as if they were your own. You could request the manufacturer to customize the tote bags, so they fit your target market.
With a white label tote bags business, you do not worry about the tedious manufacturing process. All you do is market the tote bags to your target customers. Therefore, you can maximize your profits by negotiating discounted rate from the manufacturer.
28. Become a social media influencer
Social media has become integral to people's lives and daily routines. Given the importance of social media, brands are flocking to different social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok in the hope of connecting with their target audience.
A popular approach taken by these brands is engaging social media influencers. A social media influencer has established credibility in a specific industry and has access to a vast audience they can persuade to act based on recommendations.
Anyone can become a social influencer so long as they have the right strategy. Choose a popular niche based on your interests and start creating relevant content.
How much you can make: $2,500 — $300,000/month
How much does it cost to start: $601 (?)
How long does it take to build: 155 days (?)
How one mother built a profitable frugal motherhood, life, and travel blog from scratch, using Instagram, Pinterest, and paid sponsorships to grow from 0 to 18.5K followers and generate $1,500-$3,000 per month in less than two years.
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
