Scotland is one of the major countries in the United Kingdom and is named as the Industrial and Commercial Powerhouse of Europe. According to the Financial Times Foreign Direct Investment Magazine, Scotland is the ‘European Region of the Future’. With a population of over 5 million people and a labor force of over 2 million people, it is not difficult to see why a business would thrive in Scotland.
A lot of companies like USA, Netherlands, France and Germany import items from Scotland and the most popular export businesses in Scotland are Food and beverages, Chemicals, Electrical instrumentation, Business and Engineering Services. If you are considering small business opportunities in Scotland, here are a few for you-:
Top 10 Small Business Investment Opportunities in Scotland
1. Retirement Services
Scotland has a very workforce and it is expected that there would be quite a number of retirees. A lot of people become broke few years after retirement and then develop health issues as a result of the emotional and psychological distress they go through.
This is as a result of poor management of their retirement benefits. Retirees need people who can help them manage their resources after retirement so that it can last for a life time and they can even have enough to leave to their heirs. Some of the services you would offer as a retirement services consultant include:
- Financial management-: You would help them plan their finances, make budgets and handle their investments.
- Health services-: You would also provide them with adequate health care and health insurance to keep them in good shape at all times. For those who are not strong enough to make it to the hospitals, you would arrange for home healthcare services for them.
- Travel and relaxation-: Boredom may lead to depression and health issues so, you would organize regular vacations, spa relaxations and massage and other services that would keep them happy and satisfied.
There are a lot of other services you can provide. You just need to think of ways to help senior citizens improve the quality of their lives after retirement.
2. Delivery Services
If you have enough capital to invest, you can start a courier services company but if you are starting your business on a budget, then you should consider starting a delivery services company instead. Some of the services you would offer include-:
- Grocery Pickup and Delivery-: You can help people who are too busy to do their own grocery to do their shopping and deliver it to their doorsteps. You can also consider having a mobile Grocery Store; what you would do is to load some groceries in your vehicle and drive through neighborhoods, selling your wares.
- Kid School Pick up-: You can help busy parents take their kids to and from school.
- You can also deliver random items for people like flowers, laundry and so on.
3. Petting Zoo
If you want to start a business in the tourism industry in Scotland, you can start your own petting Zoo. Petting Zoos are good relaxation spots for adults and a good fun spot for kids. You can also consider starting an animal farm with domestic animals like pigs, goat, sheep, cows, chickens. Apart from the money you would make from selling entrance tickets, you would also make money from selling drinks, snacks and exhibition items.
4. Mortgage Consulting
Another idea is to start a mortgage consulting business to serve people who want to buy houses on mortgage. You can help them find financing with good interest rates.
5. Moving Services
All you need is a very big truck, a driver with valid driving license to drive intra and interstate and solid marketing skills. Your business would involve providing services to people who wish to move from one apartment to another or from one state to another. You can also provide haulage services to corporate organizations in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and all other industrial cities in Scotland.
6. Specialty Café
Unlike general cafes, specialty cafes are exclusive in the services they offer. For instance there are wine cafes that sell wines exclusively. There are also dessert cafes where you can find different types of desserts. There are also coffee and tea cafes. Just study your local community to determine what is in high demand and what is not currently being offered then start offering it.
7. Home Remodeling
Another business you can start is home remodeling. You can make money from helping people recreate their homes to be more attractive and better looking. Some of the services you would offer include house repainting, kitchen remodeling, bathroom remodeling, space management, lawn maintenance to mention few.
8. Laundry Services
You can also start a laundry service. You may choose to start a self-service laundry, a coin-operated laundry or a traditional laundry. For the self-service laundry, you just need to provide the equipment and the space and your clients would handle their own laundry themselves.
The coin operated laundry on the other hand involves placing your equipment in strategic places where people can do their laundries after inserting the required payment into the machine.
You can also choose to start a traditional laundry where people can drop their laundry while you wash, iron and deliver to them. There are lots of Laundromats in Scotland but you can still start yours and stand out. You can come up with programs that offer your customers flexibility and comfort. For instance, you can charge a flat rate for family laundry monthly.
9. Teaching
You can also start a teaching service. There are no limits to what you can teach. You can teach people how to cook, you can organize dancing and singing classes, arts and crafts ad a whole lot of other skills that people are willing to pay to learn.
10. Catering
Lastly, you can start a catering company. You can start a mobile catering service and offer food to people who are too busy to visit restaurants. You can also consider starting a party catering service for people who want to hold events like birthdays, weddings and so on.