20 Business Ideas For Starting Your Own Service Business
1. TRAVEL CONSULTANCY
Travel consultancy is and will always remain one of the top business startup ideas anywhere in the world. Same goes for the Pakistani market, too. Although world travel did take quite a bad hit due to Covid-related travel restrictions, now that a lot of countries have already eased down the travel protocols, the demand for air travel has gone up again. To start a travel agency or travel consultancy in Pakistan, all you need is some local and international licensing/permits, a small office setup and some basic information about world travel that includes routes, air ticket fares, hotels and accommodation, local or international laws, etc. A good travel agent can make decent money in this business.
2. MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT
Are you good at mobile app development? Then it’s time that you start selling your technical skills to foreign clients and earn money in USD, EUR or GBP through various freelancing platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr. The pre and post Covid era has seen a rapid increase in the global demand for mobile apps both on Android and iOS. It is certainly a good option to go for if you have the skills that are required in this business, and once you start making good, long-term work relationships, you can build up your own team here. Also offer clients to convert their websites into mobile applications and learn how to do it.
3. REAL ESTATE CONSULTANCY
Providing consultancy services to investors or private buyers in real estate has always remained one of the most lucrative businesses in Pakistan. Even with all the ongoing political or regional instability, there will always be people looking to invest in real estate and they will need to talk to someone who is knowledgeable and up-to-date about the land prices in the country. All you need is a small office setup and you can get the ball rolling! It is highly recommended that before launching your own real estate company, go and work for existing ones so you can learn the art of closing deals.
4. CONTENT WRITING
Copywriters, ghostwriters, book editors, creative writers, etc., are always in high demand globally. Most companies or writing agencies do not want to hire people on-site to keep their costs low, so they go ahead with writers who offer freelancing services at affordable rates. Also, the pandemic and recurrent lock-downs in different parts of the world has increased the global demand for writers working remotely. All you need is a decent computer, a stable internet connection and some good writing skills. Once you start getting regular projects, you can always look for expansion in terms of hiring good content writers from the local market and outsourcing projects to them.
5. GRAPHIC DESIGNING
If you believe that you are good at creating and portraying a combination of visuals, content and images that looks good and serves the purpose, you should give a serious thought about learning a basic + advanced level graphic design- ing course. There are a number of online platforms that offer both free or paid graphic designing courses that give you the knowhow about graphic design- ing (Adobe, Coral, etc.). Once you have mastered these skills, you can create a wide range of content for your clients that includes company logos, brochures, magazine content and covers, newsletters, website content, etc. If you are not interested in learning hard core graphic designing, consider Canva Pro.
6. LEGAL CONSULTANCY
In this modern-day, tech-savvy era, people do not really want to have a lot of physical meetings or visits for their legal matters. They tend to get most of the things done on phone or through virtual setups. If you are a lawyer by profession or can offer paralegal services, you can set up your own office or an online plat- form where you can charge your clients per session, by hour or any other way that works for you. Almost all the processes of SECP and FBR are now online. You just have to get client's user and password information and you can file their tax returns and all other documents via online submissions and payments. You also can collaborate with existing companies and work as reseller.
7. EDUCATION CONSULTANCY
This might not be as easy a startup as compared to others in our list, however, it is quite a lucrative business once you have good, reputable educational institutes, schools, colleges and universities on your panel. A lot of students want to study abroad at renowned institutions, however, most of them do not have the right information and guidance that they need to get themselves enrolled at those educational institutions abroad. Once you equip yourself with all the information, you can kick off your education consultancy with minimal investment. The best part is that you get paid by both parties the student and the institute! Don't neglect to incorporate scholarship opportunities in your services.
8. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
Most .Net, WPF, C++, Javascript, PHP developers, etc., make decent money from their 9-5 jobs in the local market. However, if you are looking for more growth in this technical field, then you can always go for freelancing and later on setting up your own software development business startup in Pakistan. The international market is a big one for this field, without a doubt! There are a lot of individuals, companies and agencies outside Pakistan that are constantly looking to build work relationships with local software developers and software development companies. There are now dozens of international payment gateways which you can access while sitting in Pakistan.
9. RECRUITMENT & TALENT ACQUISITION
The past one year or so has been quite difficult for a lot of people across the world - the same has been the case in Pakistan, too. With an economy that has struggled during the past many months, a lot of people have lost their jobs during and after the 1st, 2nd and 3rd wave of Covid-19. If you can bridge the gap between employers and people who are actively looking for job opportunities, you can make some serious money out of it. Platforms such as rozee.pk, mustakbil, jobz.pk and bayt.com are examples of some of the best recruitment and talent acquisition businesses in Pakistan. Focus on the training part as well as industry does not need raw talent, it requires job ready skills candidates.
10. VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
Managing or providing assistance to someone living on the other side of the world has become quite a thing in Pakistan now. Virtual assistance (commonly referred to as VA) is a service that involves providing online services to clients and charging a fee for that. Once you have clients on board, you can hire a team in Pakistan and make some serious money out of it.
11. TOUR GUIDE SERVICES
Do you think you know your city or country well enough? If yes, then it wouldn’t be a bad idea to try out tour guide services as a startup. With minimal investment required, this business can become quite lucrative, provided that you are able to connect to foreign travelers who are visiting your city and need someone who is able to guide them during their tour.
12. FRANCHISE CONSULTANCY
Opening up a new franchise is not always a walk in the park. There are several factors involved that both the franchisor and the franchisee need to take into account before a new franchise can be made functional. Franchise consultants can help the two parties work out everything in a smooth way and earn a commission out of it. You just need a good network to start with.
13. EVENT MANAGEMENT
Ever since the lockdowns were eased in Pakistan a few months ago, event management business has once again witnessed a rapid increase in demand from various sectors of the economy. Setting up an event management business might seem initially easy, however, you will need some good connections in the industry or sector that you are looking to target. If you already have good PR in the local market, there is a good chance that your event management startup can flourish sooner than you might think.
14. WEDDING PLANNING
Lavish weddings in this part of the world have always been a ‘thing’. Be it Pakistan or any other South Asian country, people will spend a lot of money on weddings and related events. If you believe that you have or can learn the skills that are needed for this, you can start your own wedding planning and consultancy business in Pakistan. Urban cities like Karachi, Islamabad or Lahore have a lot of market for this business. Be selective as much as possible in the vendor management as it is the make or break point for your company.
15. FOOD DELIVERY
Yes, it might require some initial investment, however, a food delivery business can turn out to be a real success if you plan and execute your short-term and long-term goals well. Even with a few big guns already in the market, such as foodpanda, food delivery is and will always be a business with endless opportunities in Pakistan. The things that you might need may include a decent mobile app, good restaurants in your list and some energetic bike riders. Don't try to jump nationwide, initially hunt local food leaders and start with it.
16. SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT
Online buying and selling has made it almost necessary for brands to have a strong social media presence, regardless of which business model, sector or industry they belong to. For this, companies are constantly looking for skilled social media managers that have the necessary skills and experience to manage their social media outlets. If you have those skills and are quite handy with managing Facebook, Instagram or other social media pages for your clients, you can set up a social media management agency or a startup, and target both local or international clients. Remember this business needs multiple skillsets from the start, instead of hiring try to learn from online courses.
17. TUTORING
Providing tutoring services is an option that a lot of young, well-educated people opt for in Pakistan. This is not something that you might be hearing for the first time. But what you might not know is that a lot of people from outside Pakistan pay good money for online tutoring services through various platforms such as Upwork or Fiverr. If you are knowledgeable on a certain subject and have good language skills, you can offer your tutoring services to students living miles away from where you are, and make good money. Down the road, you can always go for an expansion in terms of setting up a virtual academy for long-distance learning, or go for a physical setup for the local students.
18. MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTE
The past one year or so hasn’t been easy to cope up with for a lot of people around the world. As a result of this, an increase in various mobile apps was observed related to mental or emotional wellness. To open up a physical or a virtual mental health setup, you might need some certifications to prove that you are authorized and educated enough to practice this. So this might not be an option available to all, however, those who have the necessary licenses can avail this opportunity. This is an era of collaboration not the competition so instead of taking solo flight, you always can collaborate with those organizations who possess all licenses required to run a setup like this.
19. HEALTH & FITNESS INSTRUCTOR
This is another business idea that you can start with zero or minimal investment. If you have a good social media following, you can start posting fitness related content on your channel, talk about virtual coaching classes or sessions and once you get a good response, you can start charging for it. Take professional body builders on board as trainers and host webinars while selling monthly subscription.
20. AFFILIATE MARKETING
Blogging or affiliate marketing is not a new business idea anymore, however, the Pakistani market still has a lot of potential in this business. If you know how to blog, you can talk about certain products or services, redirect or link to their pages and earn a commission on each click or buy (depending on the affiliate model you go with). Big giants such as Amazon and Tesco pay good amounts of commissions to affiliate websites.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Pakistan is a country with endless opportunities for foreign investors and business owners. As far as the service sector is concerned, there are still a lot of areas yet to be explored by entrepreneurs and skilled workers. The major factor is polishing and up-grading your skills before you decide to sell them to your clients. Once you know this art, you can open up yourself to new horizons in the service sector of Pakistan.