In this article, I want to discuss some scalable small businesses that you can consider. First off, what is a scalable business? Or in the other words, what is considered a scalable business? A scalable business is a business that has the potential or wields the capacity to grow rapidly with sky-high returns on investment. When we are saying business is scalable we are saying that its product(s) can be availed to an ever-increasing number of people with very limited costs incurred. Scalability entails more than just the rapid growth factor. There are other aspects to scalability that are worth mentioning e.g. the ability of a business to be ascendable, elastic and innovative. For your own information, most investors are so concerned about the scalability of a business – if it is not the most likely will not bankroll it.

Content Creation Through E-Books

In one of my recent articles, I spoke about e-books. I listed it as a high-profit margin business idea. Once again it fits the profile of a scalable business. Digital content is in colossal demand nowadays and researching on and writing e-books is a great business idea. If you strategically pick the right topics or subject areas the potential of the business to grow rapidly is sky-high. John Locke has a book titled, “How I Sold 1 Million Ebooks In 5 Months”. You might want to get your hands on that book. Anyways, my point is that rapid growth and high-profit margins can be attained when it comes to e-books. “By the middle of March 2011, it had been calculated that “every 7 seconds, 24 hours a day, a John Locke novel is downloaded somewhere in the world.” That is a statement from a brief synopsis on Amazon about John Locke’s success. Key to note also is that his success has been possible without an agent in the picture – it has been purely self-publishing. You too can do that!

Content Creation Through YouTube Videos

Did you know that there are people in the world who now full-time focus on creating YouTube videos? The idea is to create videos that serve relevant and engaging content. Due to the monetization aspect of YouTube videos so much money can be made. This is in part because coming up with alluring videos can entail very low costs. Especially if you already have the necessary equipment the cost factor will be very low. Think of it this way, I earlier on spoke about the voracious appetite people have for content. I mentioned that one way of making content available is through e-books. (Alternatively, you can do blogging or a podcast). Well, YouTube videos are even more potent because they are much more engaging than someone having to read a book. This is because video-based content is the most alluring to people in general.

Social Media Influencing

The YouTube videos can also be used as a platform by social media influencers – but there is more. A social media influencing business is quite simple and if done properly scales like bananas. You choose a platform or several platforms – social media usually. You start creating content to build up an audience. Essentially you want a loyal and engaged audience that consistently grows. Then that will attract a wide array of individuals and enterprises looking to advertise their products to your audience. In Zimbabwe I can mention two notable examples – Madam Boss and The Comic Pastor. Their businesses exclusively deal with social media influencing. Just so you know, this a business that can be started by anyone. Those two actually started from somewhere – they just did not become famous in an instant.

Online Courses

The demand for online learning has surged. I am not just referring to the academic field only. I am basically referring to any form of learning in general. For example, someone might be looking for a way to learn a certain trade online e.g. detergent making. I can also throw in online tutoring here because to a considerable degree the approaches are the same. Lots of money can be made from online courses if well put together and rolled out. In some countries, there are several cases of people making over US$50000 every month from offering online courses. One of the most notable online course creators globally is Danielle Leslie. She has earned over US$10 million in revenue since 2016. You can develop an online course on virtually anything.

Car Wash

I know that in places like Harare there are many car washes. I reside just outside Masvingo and where I stay I am yet to see a well-constituted car wash business. In Masvingo town, there are some car washes but I am yet to see an exceptional one. I am not sure why it is like that but a car wash business is quite scalable. You can start with just a few clients and quickly grow to a point where you will have to enlarge your workspace. Even better you can end up diversifying simply because your clientele would have rapidly spiked. For instance, you can end up including a wide range of car-related services e.g. servicing, repairs, accessories and so on. All this can happen after just having started as a mere car wash.

In case you have not noticed there is a recurring trend when it comes to the first 4 scalable small businesses that I mentioned. In fact, there are two interesting aspects namely digital content creation – the digital aspect and the content creation aspect. In other words, we can actually conclude that the secret to starting a scalable business is in it being digital and directly or indirectly connected to content creation.