15 Creative Business Ideas That are Worth a Brainstorming Session in 2024

The ideation stage for any aspiring business owner can be a tough place to get out of. With so many startups surfacing in the market, it’s hard to stand out. We have curated a list of unique, innovative business ideas that may help you decide.

It can be quite overwhelming to commence a business venture nowadays, especially with numerous new businesses making their presence in the market. Many businesses start and end at the research phase itself. If you feel stuck in that rut too and don’t know where to start, you must remember there is no dearth of opportunities. We have a list of creative business ideas that are not only good for a casual brainstorming session but can also be profitable.

Creative Business Ideas That Have a Great Potential

If you have been brainstorming business ideas with your peers and haven’t arrived at a single decision yet, then maybe you need to look at more options. Browse through this list that can help you convert your invention idea into product:

1. Data Exchange Platform

Data is one of the most pivotal aspects of a business’s success. With data exchange platforms, you can facilitate the data sharing and transfer process smoothly. Since many businesses, government agencies, research organizations, etc., need data, building a robust platform can be prolific for you.

Octavio Marenzi, the CEO and Founder of Opimas, LLC, a management consultancy focusing on global capital markets, has investigated the profitability of this business. He said that the profitability of this business is currently around 76%. This can be one of the great business ideas.

Popular Data Exchange Platforms:

• Snowflake Data Exchange
• OneSchema
• Dromo
• PartnerLinQ
• Flatfile

2. Support Services for Freelancers

This business idea will work for you if you want service business ideas. There’s a sea of opportunities for freelancers, but staying on top of things like invoice generation, taxes, promotional strategies, etc., can be daunting. What they seek is a one-stop online solution that will streamline the operational tasks for them. This solution can include services like financial assistance, boosting profiles for increased visibility, or a virtual assistant. This can work for both service providers and seekers. This is one of the trending business ideas with a lot of potential, as only a few companies provide this service.

Popular Companies for Freelance Support:

• Harvest
• Freeagent
• Mint

3. Self-Checkout Counters

Partnering with a retail business is an effective way to increase your brand awareness. You also constantly create an opportunity to reach out to new audiences. Self-checkout counters leverage artificial intelligence to detect products and their barcodes through images. This way, the customer is in charge of checking out their purchases without human intervention. Moreover, multiple counters will reduce the chances of long queues, saving a customer’s valuable time. 

According to a report, the market for this project is predicted to rise from USD 5.64 billion in 2024 to 18.01 billion by 2032.

Popular Self-Checkout Counter Companies:

• ITAB
• Fujitsu
• NCR Corporation
• Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated
• MetroClick 

4. Virtual Reality Fitness Sessions

Various industries are reaping the benefits of virtual reality and health and fitness too is one of them. People who don’t want to compromise on their fitness routine can reap the benefits of this technology. Besides allowing fitness enthusiasts to work out from any corner of the world, VR fitness sessions can also keep the user hooked with entertainment. This can be a great option when looking for unique small business ideas. This can happen with the inclusion of games, improving a user’s mental and physical well-being.

To make your mark in the industry, not only must you add unique features to your VR headsets, but you should also ensure you follow some of the best marketing strategies for startups.

Popular VR Fitness Solution Companies:

• Pistol Whip
• Beat Saber
• Supernatural

5. Drones for Tree Planting

What’s better than utilizing technology for the environment? This can be one of the great entrepreneur product ideas for you because it allows you to ally with the government. With rising concerns regarding climate change, afforestation can work as a promising business idea. Investing in the right drone technology with quality seeding capability will assure you a secure position in the market. Interestingly, not many companies are in this industry, which is a good opportunity for you to tap into.

Popular Drone Seeding Companies:

• Mast Reforestation
• Seedcopter 2.0 by Marut Drones
• Dendra Systems
• AirSeed

6. Personalized AI Learning Platform

The role of AI in education is ever-evolving. In the current scenario, AI can be leveraged to customize user learning experiences. When it comes to learning, one-size-fits-all doesn’t work, especially for corporate employees. Training employees can be made easy with a customizable learning system in place. This will allow you to connect with leading corporates and e-learning companies. The system can lay out a learning plan based on an individual’s skills. This can work as one of the best ideas of businesses to start your entrepreneurial journey.

According to a study, after generative AI technologies were integrated into some of the e-learning platforms, user engagement increased by 25%. Moreover, there was a 20% rise in course completion rate.

Popular Personalized AI Learning Platform Companies:

• Absorb LMS
• 360Learning
• Zavvy
• Docebo
• EdApp

7. Privacy-First Social Media Platform

Living in a world that prioritizes social media, maintaining privacy has become a thing of the past. While this gives us the chance to be seen and stay in touch with everyone worldwide, it has its downsides. This is when a privacy-first social media platform can come to the rescue. This platform keeps a user’s privacy at the top.

It runs on blockchain and acts as a decentralized networking system. If you’re looking for niche business ideas and want to revolutionize the social media market, you must consider this one.

Popular Privacy-First Social Media Platforms:

• MeWe
• Mastodon
• Telegram
• Diaspora
• PixelFed

8. Virtual Fitting Rooms

This is another way to enhance the retail shopping experience for buyers. Research predicts that the initiative will allow the fashion industry to save billions by 2025. Virtual fitting rooms are a win-win situation for sellers and potential customers. This is one of those creative business ideas that promise growth. Plugging in a virtual fitting room in an ecommerce store can reduce the chances of returns or exchanges. Moreover, this feature will save potential customers’ time and provide them convenience.

Virtual fitting rooms can enable you to partner with some major ecommerce websites. This technology can be a great option if you tap the ecommerce market and look for viable business to business ideas.

Popular Virtual Fitting Room Technology Companies:

• Knix
• Klarna
• Reactive Reality
• Metail
• 3DLOOK

9. Smart Mirrors

The smart mirror technology is becoming the talk of the town. Smart mirrors have an electronic display in place and viewers can see various information on the screen. They can learn about the date, time, weather, news, etc. Since many companies are developing this product, you can stand out by adding more features. Your product can have features like detecting issues related to skin, eyes, teeth, or hair. With this business inspiration, you might as well become a market disruptor if you can build a robust product with unique features.

According to research, the market size of smart mirror technology has been estimated to be USD 4.35 billion in 2024. This is expected to expand to USD 7.47 billion by 2029.

Popular Smart Mirror Companies:

• Ficosa (Panasonic)
• Magna International Inc.
• Japan Display Inc.
• Murakami Corporation
• Dension Ltd.

10. Social Media Platform for the Elderly

As per AARP survey, 71% of the adults in the age group of 50+ are using Facebook. The younger generation started losing interest in this platform but the baby boomers’ loyalty is quite intact (have a look at the graph). However, the downsides related to Facebook privacy crop up every now and then.

Although most people in their 50s feel that they stay connected and entertained while using it, it indicates a huge responsibility to build an alternative at our end. This is where you can disrupt the market. Introduce a social media platform that not only gives the elderly the similar gratification they derive from Facebook but also ensures privacy. Before laying out a plan for this business, make sure you have a 360-degree view of the aspects associated with starting an online business.

Popular Social Media Platforms for the Elderly:

• ThirdAge
• Buzz50

11. Virtual Reality for Real Estate Tour

VR in real estate is one of the cool business ideas. If you are already into real estate or have a comprehensive industry knowledge, you can scale with this advancement. You can build a VR platform to help people reduce the cost and time of visiting sites. With VR headsets, you can enable your potential clients to get a realistic walkthrough, allowing them to decide as per their needs. This is one of those creative and new business ideas that will help you stay ahead in the real estate market.

Popular VR Companies for Real Estate:

• Atlas Bay VR
• iStaging
• VPiX
• Appello Software
• VR Tigers

12. Lesson Planning App

Whether looking for creative small business ideas for a side hustle or desire to build a big business, a lesson planning app can do well in both scenarios. This app can streamline pedagogy in an educational setting, benefiting teachers and institutions. However, with multiple lesson planning apps in the market, it can be hard to beat the competition. You can solve this issue by partnering with the best app development companies to add exclusive features. For instance, you can incorporate customization options to cater to the users globally. Moreover, you can also invest in your startup branding for higher visibility in the market.

Popular Lesson Planning Apps:

• Edmodo
• Planboard
• Trello
• Google Classroom

13. AI-Driven Vending Machines

As per a survey shared by Global Industry Analytics, Inc., by 2027, the vending machine market will see growth of 31 billion dollars. While this is already a booming industry, improving its operations using artificial intelligence will be one of the great business ideas. Leveraging the power of AI in retail can also act as a great marketing gimmick for the products being sold. This way, you can partner with some of the best leaders in the FMCG industry and help them level up their marketing game.

Popular AI-Enabled Vending Machines:

• VICKI
• Coca-Cola AI Vending Machine
• Byte Foods
• Xenon Smart Vending

14. AI Fashion Designer

When it comes to the fashion industry, you will find a never-ending flow of creative ideas. This product will help the designers as well as brands in their conceptual journeys, saving their time and effort. By leveraging this, the designers no longer depend on manual designs. An AI fashion designing tool will empower brands to make efficient decisions. Styling agents can reap its benefits as well. With a quality fashion designing tool, this might as well be one of your most successful business ideas.

Popular AI Fashion Designing Tools:

• Resleeve
• ZMO
• Stitch Fix Algorithm

15. AI Local Travel Guide

Since AI is penetrating the market deeply, the traveling industry is not bereft of its advantages either. Millions of people travel worldwide every year, and tapping that market will be one of the best startup ideas. This AI functionality will sync with travelers’ Google maps and act as a local guide, helping them visit places where locals of a particular city would go.

Travelers can type in their preferences and enjoy a place as they would want to. This is one of the fun business ideas that you can consider.

Popular AI Travel Guides:

• Local Guide AI
• Summer AI
• Autoura

Starting a Startup: Bringing Innovative Business Ideas into Fruition

After cracking one of the most difficult stages of a startup, that is, the ideation stage, it is now time for you to lay out a business strategy. Here are some crucial tips you should be mindful of:

1. Business Plan

Creative ideas for business can be taken to the next stage with a strong business plan. This should be the first step after you have finalized your business idea. Your business plan must include the pivotal details like:

• Finances
• Product and service description
• Industry-related information
• Operations that will be involved 
• Analysis of your market

A well-drafted business plan also helps you in financial planning.

2. Funding

You need to figure out a source to fund your startup. You can either get in touch with seasoned venture capitalists and angel investors. You can also take a bank loan or get help from your friends and family.

[Also Read: Financing Your Dream Startup: Some Best Sources of Funding for Businesses]

3. Advisory

If you want to make the most of your new business opportunities, then you must surround yourself with capable and resourceful advisors. To ensure a smooth commencement and sustainability, you must consult certified accountants, insurance personnel, legal advocates, and bankers. Moreover, it is also important for you to select and form a team of diligent people like co-founders, early joiners, contractors, etc. You can also contact one of the best startup consulting firms to get professional guidance on your operations.

If you are working towards your product business ideas, you need a team of product managers with deep industrial knowledge. During an interview with Mobile App Daily, Adrienne Tan, the co-founder and CEO of Brainmates, talked about the traits of product leaders. She said, “great product leaders know how to engage their organization” and “align various teams”. This way, your entrepreneur product ideas can come to fruition.

4. Location

After you have identified and set up your team, the next step is to find the right location for your business. Before setting out for location hunting, ascertain whether you want to buy a property or lease it. Leasing a property may also allow your business to be placed in a prime area.

Whether you have creative business ideas from home or not, you must have a prominent online presence. This is because the customer base has mostly moved online. There’s a huge possibility that your potential customers will check Google reviews during their research phase.

5. Marketing Strategy

To make a mark in the industry, you need to reach out to your potential customers, which can only happen if you have a strong marketing strategy. This strategy will work for large, medium, and small creative business ideas.

If you plan to set up a large business, you must recruit a talented marketing team to build GTM strategies and run successful campaigns. They can publish content on your website, create landing pages, and handle SEO and SMO activities. On the other hand, in the case of marketing for small business and medium business, you can show your presence on social media, newspapers, radio, television, etc.

6. Customer Base

Forming a customer base is extremely important for you to ensure the long-term growth of your startup. With the help of loyal customers, it will be easy for you to position yourself in the market. However, you must have a good reason to acquire and retain potential and existing customers, respectively. To make your creative entrepreneur ideas work, having a strong customer base is quite pivotal.

Lingopie, a subscribable VOD platform, has won the customer retention game. They did it by leveraging the data and feedback of their customers to initiate updates in their system. Therefore, apart from giving value through their product, they also keep evolving to meet the needs of their customers.

Wrapping Up

Owning a business is an uphill battle. One of the most difficult phases of starting a startup is the research and ideation phase. Finding creative business ideas and choosing the one that suits you best can be quite rigorous. The 15 ideas above can help you shorten this journey by reducing your research efforts. However, you must build a robust business plan, analyze your funding opportunities, consult the right set of people, form marketing strategy, and create a customer base. With these steps, you will not only go from inception to fruition but will also be able to scale.