What Is the Best Business to Start In 2021?

July 28, 2021

The pandemic hit the global economy hard, and the US economy was no exception. Many people lost their jobs as countless businesses were forced to scale down operations or outright close. Some businesses survived the pandemic by adapting their business model. A couple such adaptations included implementing home office space and strengthening marketing efforts through digital channels.


Businesses that managed to adapt their business model successfully will continue to thrive as many workers are finding the new home-office modality to be preferable. This new business modality benefits workers and the companies they work for — the latter gets to reduce office space and, therefore, costs, and the former gets to keep working comfortably from home. Businesses that can be managed from home and online business opportunities are among the best business options if you want to start a business this year. Another timeless good bet is a recession-proof business opportunity.

What Businesses Are Recession-Proof?

We cannot answer this question with a comprehensive and fail-proof list of businesses that are guaranteed to be recession-proof. However, there is a key element that will take you almost ¾ of the way to a full recession-proof business, and that is the nature of the products and services your business or potential business will offer.


In times of economic recession, people will most likely scale down and be more reluctant to spend their hard-earned money on things they want instead of things they need. Businesses that offer services or products that are staples are considered recession-proof businesses. To illustrate the matter further, industries like hospitality, travel, luxury, and automotive industries can suffer and did suffer during the recession brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, healthcare, education, restoration, and food industries didn't suffer as much.

A very important distinction needs to be made about the food industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Restaurants and grocery stores are classic examples of businesses that had to adapt their business model. Maybe not all of them had delivery and pick-up as their go-to business model before the pandemic. Still, to survive, they had to implement it along with all the dynamics necessary to make sure they could cover a growing demand for this modality of service. So, these types of businesses might provide a product that is a staple, but still, they needed to adapt to survive the economic crisis and recession caused by COVID-19.


Albert Einstein said, "in the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity." Since the pandemic started, many businesses have found success, where others only found failure. The phrase "riding the COVID wave" was often used to describe the fantastic success of businesses in industries like:

• Disinfection and sanitization.
• Manufacturing — specialized in making masks, gloves, face shields, and other PPE items.
• Software providers — especially software to facilitate remote work or home office.
• Delivery.
• Entertainment — especially Netflix, Disney+, HBO, HULU, etc.

As we move forward, many of these businesses that have been riding the COVID-19 wave would probably need to adapt their business model to survive a world that is overcoming the circumstances that brought about their success.

A CNBC article titled "The Economy Is On the Cusp of a Major Boom and Economists Believe It Could Last" quotes Tom Gimbel, founder and CEO of LaSalle Network, saying, "This economy isn't coming back. It is back," referring to a very optimistic outlook for the US economy caused by a boom period where economists predict a second-quarter economic growth of over 10%. This article reports that this is just starting, and economists are very optimistic.

So, what a better time to start your own business? Still, starting any business involves expenses, so a piece of good advice would be to take advantage of this new remote work or home-office trend and start an online business.

Online Business Opportunities

Some great ideas for online business opportunities are:

• Drop shipping: set up an online store and partner with suppliers to handle storing, packaging, and shipping.
• Website flipping: buy a not-so-good website, improve it, and sell it for a profit.
• Online tutoring services.
• Niche staffing agency.
• Online consulting.
• Translation and transcription services.
• Digital Marketing.

Online business opportunities are trending, and all trends in business mean there's fierce competition. Since starting an online business means you don't have to rent out office space, you might have a little extra money in your pocket. Investing in analysts to help you scout out your competition will give you and your business the upper hand.


Peak Innovation is here to help your business succeed. We provide competitive intelligence engagements, along with marketing data analytics, product and service innovation, and M&A pipeline development services. All you need to make sure you are making the right decisions to make your business succeed is one phone call away. Contact us at (844) 300-7325 or fill out the form on this website for questions about our services or to schedule a time to speak.