8 Best Rural Cottage Industry Businesses In The Pandemic

These Cottage Industries Are Prime Candidates For Economic Growth In Rural Areas!

Rural cottage industries are businesses that can be started by individuals in their home and present major tax revenue opportunities for rural governments.

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Many rural homepreneurs may already have a profitable homebased business.

Other small business owners that were shuttered due to the pandemic may be seeking out a new personalized service to offer customers.

Consequently, unemployed rural Americans can harness a competitive advantage over others in the same boat.

Homepreneurs can offer a service rather than manufacture a product.

This is because lower wages abroad enable foreign producers to offer lower prices for products.

Meanwhile, rural homepreneurs can provide services locally that are impossible to replicate by remote service providers.

In particular, federal analysis has found that growing personal care, household and entertainment service providers may harbor the most alluring opportunities for rural economic growth in the next five years.

The following rural cottage industries’ revenue is forecast to grow most quickly through 2025, presenting unique employment opportunities for homepreneurs.

Local rural governments are likely to seek out potential homepreneurs to invest in their operations as a way to foster even faster growth or higher returns.

1. Alternative Healthcare Providers

Healthcare reform prohibits health insurance companies from discriminating against licensed alternative healthcare providers.

Therefore, providers are anticipated to benefit as more people enjoy coverage for industry services. 

Alternative health care providers include meditation, yoga or massage therapists.

2. Psychologists, Social Workers And Marriage Counselors

According to the National Mental Health Association, two-thirds of American adults and one-third of children who need mental health treatment do not receive it.

A reform-mandated increase in insurance coverage for services provided by psychologists is expected to help psychologists address this unmet need and open or expand such businesses in rural areas.

In particular, private practices can be more lucrative for individual operators, so healthcare changes will provide incentive for new businesses to enter.

3. Personal Waxing And Nail Salons

Increasing employment and increased disposable income in rural areas will enable a greater number of consumers to afford nail care and waxing services.

Nails-only salons will likely diversify their offerings to include services such as massages, facials and tanning.

Diversification will mitigate revenue volatility because it will expand the industry’s target market.

4. Psychic Services

Increased citywide regulations will likely be introduced during the next five years, which will result in industry consolidation.

This may boost operator interest in rural cottage industries.

With less price-based competition due to fewer operators, profit margins are expected to increase slightly from 7.0% of revenue by 2025.

5. Maids, Nannies And Gardeners

As the population continues to age, demand for home-care aids will grow.

Furthermore, the unemployment rate of homepreneurs is expected to continue to decrease, yielding more per capita income growth and spurring demand for household staff during the next five years.

As the small businesses in this industry expand, they may demand more help from local governments to subsidize short-term costs like wages, or purchasing inventory like machinery.

6. Online Pet Food And Pet Supply Sales

The number of pets is forecast to grow 2.0% annually on average during the next five years, which will support revenue growth for homepreneurs offering pet-related services.

eCommerce web sites will likely be used for start-up or expansion to offset expensive loans.

This industry’s low barriers to entry and employee skill requirements allow homepreneurs to enter the market without much difficulty.

7. Party And Event Planners

As unemployment decreases in cottage industries and the pandemic wanes, demand for professional event and party planning will grow.

This will set the stage for more industry entrants.

In the next five years, the number of participants is forecast to grow at an average annual rate of 2.5% to 372,228.

Increased revenue will enable party and event planners to hire more employees, and purchase more supplies to cater to a higher volume of events.

8. Performers And Creative Artists

Improved economic conditions in rural areas may spur performers to seek self-promotion such as acting reels or headshots.

Effective marketing resources found on Fiverr can help independent artists develop the necessary fan base they need to launch their career.

In summary, improved economic conditions in rural America are anticipated to provide more avenues for revenue growth during the next five years.

The bottom line is:  These rural cottage industries are mainly composed of regional small businesses that fit into “Main Street” economic activities.

Homepreneurs will be attracted to rural areas’ lower startup fees and operating costs for specialty services, which urban cities are not able to offer. 

Additionally, as demand for such rural cottage industry services escalates, operators in the aforementioned industries will seek an eCommerce web site to expedite their expansion.

During the next five years, small business growth potential makes these industries prime candidates for economic growth in rural areas.

Image by Artistic Operations