As always, it's up to you to research these ideas more, if you like them. And as with any small business, check you're local laws to ensure you stay in compliance. It would be a shame to get your new business up and running only to be shut down and maybe even fined.

Cleaning Service. Focus on one of commercial or homes. Either way, the start up is very simple. You'll need reliable transportation, a vacuum cleaner, duster, mop/bucket, broom, garbage bags, rags and lots of cleaners and soaps. Besides the car, it might cost you $200-$300 dollars to get started. Advertise in local free forums, posting boards and newspapers. It's better to start this business with a partner. That way, when your client list grows enough that you need a second team, you simply split from your partner into two crews, each with a trainee. This ensures that jobs get done right, to your standards.

Window Washing. Lots of people don't want to climb up a ladder and wash the outside of their second story windows. A car, a ladder, a bucket, a squeegee and soap is all you need to get this company off the ground. you can charge between $40-$100 per job depending on number and sizes of windows and how many are on the second floor or higher. You could likely do between five to ten jobs a day which should earn you $200-$500, depending on your number of bookings. The work is easy and the only real downside is if you live in a colder climate. You may need to offer snow shoveling in the winter to stay busy.

Contact Trader. This is very time consuming and not very profitable to get started but it is totaly free and could become very lucrative. Basically, you just surf around the internet and anywhere else you may find and collect, record and compile e-mail addresses into relevant lists. Then you seek out companies and/or people that might have an interest in aquiring a list of 100 small business owner contacts, or 200 farmers, or 150 single moms, 250 single people, 50 avid restaurant goers, whatever. Many addresses you find will fit into multiple catagories, and since you keep your lists, you can sell them over and over and always keep building them. You can get as much as $1 per contact provided and even offer to do thier mass e-mailings for them for double fee or something like that.

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