Business Ideas for Women in Kolkata: 8 Profitable Business Ideas

Are you passionate about having your own business? Or is there a skill you possess and want to make money out of it? Whatever the reason, having your start-up is a fascinating idea in itself. It not only boosts your confidence but also makes you stronger in facing the challenges of life. A small business can be started with zero or low investment. It is a great deal in terms of revenue, size, investment, and low-risk factor.

There has never been a better time for you to start your business. If you are looking out for new ideas, here is a list to choose the best business in Kolkata for you to start your entrepreneurial journey:

1. Online coaching/Personal Tutoring business

Coaching classes have always been a good business for ladies sitting at home, especially for those who have some qualification or any skill-based expertise. Ladies who are stuck at home due to some responsibilities can start their online coaching business. Due to the pandemic situation, there is a surge in the online coaching business. This is not restricted to only academics. Hobby classes can also be started. Ladies can start their online singing classes, dance classes, art and craft sessions, cooking classes, aerobics & yoga classes, or classes for playing a musical instrument like guitar, piano, etc. They can also take stress management and mental health-related programs.

Apart from online coaching, personal tutoring is also one of the good business ideas in Kolkata. Sometimes it gets hectic for working parents to take full responsibility for guiding their children with their studies. Some extra help is always useful; hence online coaching and personal tutoring can be a great home business for ladies.

Must Read: How To Open Coaching Institute In India?

2. Homemade cakes and other bakery products

Bengalis are known for their sweet tooth. According to the latest trend, homemade cakes and confectionery are highly in demand. Hence, this is one of the great business ideas in Kolkata for those who want to make some money out of their baking skills.

Few basic preparations are needed, and you will be ready for this business.

Firstly, making a cake from premixes is simple. It includes just three essential ingredients: the premix, oil, and water. All ingredients can be ordered online. Then comes the decoration part, which can be learned by watching YouTube videos. You can take the help of short cooking classes to learn special techniques.
The next step is digital marketing of your service on various platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, or Google Ads using E-brochures and promotional messages.
Then, you can start taking free orders from family and friends. This will help widen your market through word of mouth.
Once you do well with basic cake designs, you can try complex ones.

This is one of the excellent small business ideas for women who are creative and can afford a little investment.

Also Read: How to Start a Home-Based Bakery Business in India?

3. Boutique offering Customised Saree

Women in Kolkata are fond of their traditional attire, the saree. They like to wear a variety of sarees like the traditional Cotton Tant saree, or minutely crafted Jamdani saree, a Baluchari saree, or the Kantha embroidered saree. The colour and texture, the fabric, or the weave are unique in all of them. This idea can be used to start a customised saree boutique, and it is a great business for ladies sitting at home.

Ladies can be offered the sarees of their choice of prints. You can purchase cloth from the cloth market where it is cut from a wholesale Thaan based on fabric choice like cotton, silk, chiffon, etc. It can get printed from places like Baguihati as per the customer’s choice. You can make a product catalogue containing various design options for printing.

The selling of sarees can be done online as well as in brick and mortar stores, and it can prove to be the best business in Kolkata.

Also Read: How to Start a Boutique Business?

4. Domestic help services

The requirement for domestic help is growing in Kolkata due to urbanisation. People are opting for cooking and driving service due to their busy schedules. You can start a domestic help service center. In this, local helpers can get registered, and you can connect them to the clients. People approach these types of centers for trustworthy service, so you will need to do the background check of the helpers.

This is primarily online work and does not need an office or other infrastructural requirements. Hence, it’s a profitable home business for ladies.

This will require good marketing and people skills. Firstly, search through your contacts and get a few helpers registered with you. These helpers may connect you to their friends and other people from their community looking for some work. You can also give an advertisement in the newspaper about your agency asking for helpers to get registered.

Drivers, cooks, cleaners, electricians, gardeners, etc., can also be added to this service. If you can get people with different services offered, you can get more clients. Again, you must do a background check with their skills and licenses. This can also be one of the profitable side business ideas for ladies.

5. Lunchbox/Catering services

Elderly people at several homes need homemade food daily. A working woman also chooses tiffin services over a restaurant. Hence, there are good chances of getting orders for a regular lunchbox or occasional catering services. These services are very convenient during parties and functions at home. Hence, lunchbox/catering services can be the best business in Kolkata.

Firstly, make a list of items you can cook.
Calculate the investment in buying necessary raw materials for that.
Get ready with some packaging ideas.
Plan how you will deliver the food.
Now, share the menu online on various social networks with a catchy marketing slogan.
Start with your locality first and in small quantities so you can do it alone.
Once you start getting good orders, try to get some helping hands.
Offer attractive monthly packages to encourage more sales.

Cooking is also an art; hence this is a creative business idea for women.

Also Read: How to Start a Catering Business?

6. Salon or Grooming Centre

Makeup and personal grooming are flourishing businesses everywhere. Everyone likes to get ready for even the smallest of occasions. Working women wear makeup regularly. Weddings are occasions when many women from the same family are ready to pay heavy money for availing beauty parlour services at home. Massage is also a way of relaxation. Hence, a salon can be the best business in Kolkata for those who possess the skills required in this domain.

If you don’t have any expertise, start with doing some courses in that.
After that, get some experience by practicing under some specialist for a few months.
Once ready, you can start with buying good quality cosmetics and basic grooming equipment like a facial massager, hair spa machines, etc., which could cost around Rs 5,000 to 10,000.
In some more time, you can expand the services by investing in other machinery required to do body spa, body massage, manicure, and pedicure, etc.
Along with these services, you can also sell beauty products in the parlour.

People will continue to avail of grooming service; hence this is one of the most profitable small business ideas for women.

Also Read: How to Open a Women's Beauty Parlour and Salon?

7. Interior designing

People love to maintain aesthetics in their lives and surroundings. These aesthetics have an impact on their mood as well as the way they feel. So, people who are house-owners are opting for interior designing a lot. Also, ladies nowadays want their kitchen to be converted into a modular one.

Hence, interior designing can be one of the good business ideas in Kolkata. This can be profitable if you have some experience and interest in this domain. This service deals with improving the user experience by managing space, designing walls, adding a creative fall ceiling, texture, pattern, improving the lighting, giving better colour effects, furniture, etc., and redesigned as per the interior designer’s idea.

Interior designing can be a combination of digital as well as offline service. You may need to visit their houses, but it’s always worth the effort. The digital medium can initially do marketing, and you can do the first few projects in your friend circle and free of cost. Marketing through word of mouth can help in expanding it further. Through creativity and customised solutions to clients, this could be a great business idea for women.

Also Read: How to Start an Interior Designing Business?

8. Plant nursery

Gardening is a beautiful hobby for many of us. Rooftop balcony or terrace gardening are few options for people who don’t have their own garden space. It has certain utility as well. Getting farm-fresh herbs and veggies enhances the taste of food. Also, harmful pesticides sprayed on vegetables these days have directed people to grow them in their kitchen gardens. This changing trend can be used to start one of the best business ideas in Kolkata while earning a few bucks as well.

Firstly, you can get some seeds and basic tools required for gardening.
Plants from seeds are grown in a potting mix. A 2-3 inches deep container is filled with moist potting mix, and seeds are sown. You can select any container of the appropriate size. You will need to water them regularly and keep them in some light for a few hours daily. You can refer to some books or basic videos of growing seedlings from seeds.
You may start with growing plants of a certain type, say vegetables and do this for a few batches to understand the biology of that plant.
Once you are ready with some seedlings, click a few pictures for marketing. Flowers like a rose with different colours, vegetables like chilly, tomato, turmeric, okra, etc., and herbs like mint and coriander can be a good choice. Decorative plants like bamboo, money plants and aloe vera are also in demand for the kitchen garden.
You will need to make a catalogue of all available plants and then start selling them.

Further Read: How To Start A Plant Nursery In India?

Though it is a very niche product considering the growing pollution in Kolkata, this can be a great business idea for women from a futuristic standpoint. This can also be one of the side business ideas for ladies already working somewhere.

All these businesses listed above can be started with minimum investment. Ladies with some related skills and a small investment can choose to do any of the businesses. Using technology and digital marketing, you can penetrate the market and make a good profit. With dedicated efforts, any one of these can be successfully run as the best business in Kolkata. However, every business needs some time to establish. Hence, patience is the key.

Also Read:

1) What are some business ideas for Women in Maharashtra?
2) What Are Some Business Ideas for Women in Kerala?
3) What Are Some Business Ideas for Women in Uttar Pradesh?
4) OkCredit: All you need to know about OkCredit & how it works.

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FAQs

Q. Can I start a business with zero investment?

Ans. Yes, skill-based businesses, like coaching and interior designing, require no investment. This is a good business idea for women.

Q. How can I become an interior designer?

Ans. You can get a diploma or degree in interior designing. Online courses can also be done to get theoretical understanding and certification. After that, you can study various portals for designing ideas. With free services, you can practice your skills. Once ready, you can quote the price for it.

Q. One’s own business is challenging to manage. How can I make it easy?

Ans. Starting small is the rule. The risk factor involved in a business makes it challenging to manage. If you have less finance at stake and are working hard to execute new ideas, you will slowly learn to handle them.

Q. I don’t have marketing skills. Can my business succeed?

Ans. Yes, marketing means creating awareness among the customers. It is very easy nowadays. You can approach them via social networking sites. Start giving free service to your family and friends and widen your circle. Word-of-mouth is a good way of marketing.

Q. How to start a business in Kolkata with a small investment?

Ans. There can be various possible ways to start a business with a small investment like a Personal grooming centre, Plant nursery, or catering services. The following steps can be used for the same:

Research about the market well.
Check whether you have the required skill or not. If not, opt for some diploma or private course in that.
Get some hands-on experience by working with professionals.
Plan your budget and investment required.
Start small and increase the budget as you get more orders.

Q. What business can I start in Kolkata?

Ans. There can be many ideas for a business starting from saree business, food courts, interior designing, plant nursery, salon or beauty parlours, and domestic helper service, etc., which can be started in Kolkata with minimal investment.