Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, there are a ton of software engineers who want to start a business. Unfortunately, it’s very hard to find a good idea that you can start in your spare time. It could be because these businesses have struggled or have been attempted already by someone else. In this case, I’ve decided to share some small business ideas for software engineers.
The entrepreneurship bug has bitten. You’re ready to get started on your new venture. But there is one major problem—there are no small business ideas for software engineers! After all, if you want to work for someone else, why wouldn’t you get a job at Google or Facebook? Why would you want to risk your free lunches and adult beverages for the uncertainty of starting your own company? It might be more complicated than it seems.
1. Start a newsletter publishing business ($7.98M/year)
Matt Paulson from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA started MarketBeat almost 11 years ago, a newsletter publishing business.
- Revenue: $665,000/ month
- Founders: 1
- Employees: 6
- Location: Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
MarketBeat is a business that has evolved and iterated upon overtime. MarketBeat’s predecessor, American Consumer News, started in my college dorm room in 2006.
There weren’t a lot of good ways for me to generate an income as a computer science student in a college town of about 7,000 people. When I was a freshman in college, I worked the cash register and the deep fryer at McDonalds. I knew I didn’t want to repeat that experience the following year. I was able to scrape together an income working a few odd jobs for the university, but what allowed me to graduate debt free was freelance writing.
– Matt Paulson, on starting MarketBeat ($665,000/month)full story ➜
2. Start a web development business ($744K/year)
Ty Fujimura from New York, LA, NJ started Cantilever Web Design & Development almost 10 years ago, a web development business.
- Revenue: $62,000/ month
- Founders: 1
- Employees: 6
- Location: New York, LA, NJ
I’m the son of a therapist and an artist, and both sides of that upbringing prepared me well to manage a creative business! I was always playing with code and design growing up, and was lucky enough to have my dad’s tech hand-me-downs to learn on.
I regret bootstrapping because it forced us into making decisions based on the fear of running out of money, rather than on trying to find long-term value.
I majored in Mathematics at NYU, but while in classes I started to get the itch to design again. I did some portfolio pieces in photoshop but needed a website. I taught myself the basics by spending hours in Barnes & Noble reading every web design and development book I could find (even though I couldn’t afford to take them home) and got hooked.
– Ty Fujimura, on starting Cantilever Web Design & Development ($62,000/month)full story ➜
3. Start a 3d printing business ($3.96M/year)
Roy Kirchner from Odesa, Odesa Oblast, Ukraine started Ultimate 3D Printing Store over 6 years ago, a 3d printing business.
- Revenue: $330,000/ month
- Founders: 2
- Employees: 4
- Location: Odesa, Odesa Oblast, Ukraine
In 2014, I was one-half of a partnership working primarily in advertising and marketing. At that time, my partner and I were successful and wanted to explore other verticals. We began working with a client who had a product that we believed was singular and unique throughout the world, and we put forward a significant amount of capital out of our own pockets to try and develop that product, only to reach a point where the deal went south and litigation ensued.
Make plans to do things as a family, and do your best not to let work interfere with those moments, but know that there are going to be times when you will have to sacrifice an outing, a dinner date, a holiday weekend.
In trying to think outside the box and figure out a way to create a similar product, I found myself for the first time in an innovation lab in Tampa, Florida, where I saw a 3D printer in operation for the first time. I couldn’t look away. I realized immediately that 3D printing had the potential to change the world as it became more integrated into daily business activities such as manufacturing. That’s when I decided to leap of faith.
– Roy Kirchner, on starting Ultimate 3D Printing Store ($330,000/month)full story ➜
FREE50 Lucrative Ways to Make Money on the Side [FREE LIST]Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get a free list of 50 side businesses you could start right now4. Start a laptop accessories brand ($24M/year)
Jack Yao from Boston, Massachusetts, USA started Mobile Pixels over 3 years ago, a laptop accessories brand.
- Revenue: $2,000,000/ month
- Founders: 3
- Employees: 4
- Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
I have used multiple screens my entire life as a professional and as a student. When I was forced to work on a small laptop screen at Amazon, I could not help but think about how much productivity was being lost across from the organization. That was the light bulb moment for me.
It is important to know your market and market size and then crafts your service or product specifically for that market.
I was discussing this problem over lunch with a colleague, and the idea of sliding a second monitor out from behind the first just came naturally. It was an idea that I could not shake.
– Jack Yao, on starting Mobile Pixels ($2,000,000/month)full story ➜
6. Food and Grocery Inventory Software
In the fast-paced world and the era of digitisation, restaurant owners are moving towards food inventory software. It is also because of the rise in online food delivery and online grocery delivery. This software is beneficial for not just online business but offline business as well. Food is a sector that will always grow. With the food and grocery inventory software, you will get an ocean of potential customers. You can give the option of customisable software to your customers as per their requirements. This start-up idea will be a money-making business idea.
7. Business Communication Software
In the post-COVID era, the culture of work from home is on the rise. Also, a collaborative team effort through a single platform is quite useful. Enterprises are looking for tools and software that streamline the communication among team members in a company. With this software, you can target small as well as big companies. Hire a freelance software developer or outsource this to a software development company. The tool that makes professional communication easy and interactive is going to be a hot-selling property.
8. Booking and Managing – Tickets & Reservations
A single platform to book and manage tickets and reservations is beneficial for individual users as well as business owners. The way you create and market this software will hold key to the success ratio of this software. Existing e-ticketing software has various issues. If you effectively address those issues, you can grow multiple times with this new business idea. Make sure to reduce loading time and show similar prices to other platforms to attract customers. When it comes to the software engineer business, this online business idea is going to rule the market.
9. E-learning software
With the rise in e-learning and online classes’ culture, e-learning software is a market-changing and mind-boggling start-up idea. This software will help people do online courses along with online classrooms that will replace the culture of offline tutors. This software also helps teachers in designing a course, scheduling, streamlining the syllabus, taking online tests, and quizzes. It can be useful for colleges, training institutes, schools, etc. One can also create an e-learning software where people will register their courses, and then customers can do those courses and receive certifications. You can tie up with prestigious universities that will gain more eyeballs and increase the customer base.
10. Audio to Text Converter
This software helps users convert audio into text. It is in demand because changing voice commands to text can make it more accessible for search engines. The competition is not much in this field as compared to other start-up ideas. This software requires Machine Learning and the use of AI that is still very new for many people. This online business idea is among the best start-up ideas because of the rise in internet penetration and increase in usage of voice commands on smartphones. You can hire a software development agency to create this software and then market it to turn your dreams of becoming an entrepreneur into a reality.
11. Mobile and Computer Security
The number of mobile and computer users is constantly on the rise. Software that enhances the security of a computer system or mobile will get several customers. This software will protect your device from virus attacks and remove malware from your mobile phones and computer systems. With the rise in internet banking and also the rise in the number of cases of phishing and online frauds, this software is the need of the hour. There are many players in the market, but there is always more demand for this software. These days, all the important information and data are put in mobile phones or computer systems. Hence online security is a top priority. This idea can be a turning point in your online business as this security has become a necessity. With the rise in internet usage around the world, the demand for this software will always be high.
Thus, to conclude, we can easily say that ideas lead to successful business ideas. A brilliant start-up idea will always have investors trying to convert the idea into a reality. They will help in execution and marketing. Here we have listed the best start-up ideas for software engineers and other people interested in converting new business ideas and their dreams into a successful reality.
Conclusions
Are you a developer looking to get into business for yourself? It may sound intimidating but it doesn’t have to be. Below are some ideas to get your juices flowing in terms of business ideas for software engineers that you could start today with little capital investment.