5 small entrepreneurial ideas: Replace your 9-to-5 full-time job within a year

Shen Translation is a translation team under 36Kr, focusing on sectors including technology, business, workplace and life, with a focus on introducing new technologies, new perspectives and new trends from overseas.

Editor's note: These small projects have the opportunity to quickly grow into your full-time career. This article is translated from foreign content, and we hope it will be inspiring for you.

Not all startup projects are suitable for full-time investment from the very beginning. In fact, many entrepreneurs will keep their 9-to-5 regular jobs even after finding their ideal small business direction. Multiple successful entrepreneurs including Daymond John, the guest of *Shark Tank*, recommend starting a business while staying employed, which can ensure a steady stream of income and avoid interruptions to social security and medical insurance. But for most entrepreneurs, the ultimate goal is to quit their regular job and devote themselves fully to the new business.

The time required to achieve this goal varies from person to person. Some projects take several years to generate revenue equivalent to that of a full-time job and complete a smooth transition. However, some small businesses have considerable growth potential, and you can complete the career transition within one year or even less.

Below are several directions worth considering.

Mobile Auto Detailing and Beauty Service

Auto detailing is a small business with low entry barriers, strong market demand, flexible schedule and low operating costs. You can accumulate customers in your spare time and gradually develop it into a full-time career.

This track has considerable profit margins. Future Market Insights predicts that by 2035, the global mobile car wash service market will reach nearly 2830 billion US dollars, more than doubling from the market expectation of 1260 billion US dollars last year.

Many people think it is difficult for mobile car wash services to attract capital attention, but Spiffy, a mobile auto maintenance enterprise based in North Carolina, completed a $30 million Series C financing in 2023.

Scott Wingo, co-founder and CEO of the company, said in a statement at the time: "Spiffy is expanding faster than any other company I have founded before."

Junk Removal and Disposal Service

Nowadays, many enterprises outsource part of their junk cleaning work; more and more ordinary families also need services for handling large items and full-house cleaning and waste removal. Data from World Market Reports shows that more than 63% of households generate large waste at least twice a year, and 58% of small and micro enterprises have demand for junk removal services.

This brings a large number of customer acquisition channels. You can not only connect with enterprise customers for long-term cooperation, but also launch monthly subscription home cleaning services. Junk removal may not be a glamorous business, but the industry size is expected to reach 1.2 billion US dollars this year, and will grow to 3.4 billion US dollars by 2034.

Home Decoration Painting Company

Almost everyone can pick up a brush to paint walls, but the effect produced by professional workers and amateurs is very different. For this reason, the home decoration painting industry is expanding steadily, with the market size expected to reach 51.2 billion US dollars by the end of this year, up from 47.8 billion US dollars in 2025.

At present, the cost of full-house wall painting for ordinary households generally ranges from 3,800 to 16,500 US dollars; new real estate projects also need a large number of painting workers. This means you have multiple revenue paths, you can gradually accumulate customers and referral resources from connections, and start this business full-time when conditions are mature. You can do the work yourself in the early stage, but after the business expands, you will most likely need to hire employees. At the initial stage of starting a business, you can choose to rent scaffolding and aerial ladders to control costs, but in the long run, purchasing them yourself is more cost-effective.

Executive Coach

If you have ever served as an executive or a core management position in an enterprise, the industry experience you have accumulated is very valuable for growing entrepreneurs and enterprise managers. Coupled with the current intergenerational replacement in the industry, there are succession gaps in a large number of positions, and the market demand for customized executive coaching based on real business data continues to rise.

It will most likely take a whole year for the income from this career to replace the salary of a 9-to-5 job. This job focuses on the final output, instead of being billed by the hour.

Executive coach John Mattone wrote: "The credibility of an executive coach comes from past management responsibilities, mature work experience, and in-depth participation in major corporate decision-making. This kind of credibility cannot be established by sheer enthusiasm, brand packaging, or the ambition when you are new to the industry."

You can first tap customers from your social circle, expand your network on LinkedIn, or join platforms such as the Executive Coach Alliance to connect with enterprise managers and professional consultant resources.

Cybersecurity Service Enterprise

Hackers are increasingly using ransomware and other cyberattacks to harass various enterprises. According to the latest report from NordStella, the number of ransomware attacks in the first half of this year increased by 20% year on year, with a total of 5275 recorded attack cases, including 2581 cases in the second quarter alone.

Third-party cybersecurity service providers can not only help enterprises build a solid security line of defense, but also run a highly profitable business themselves. The market size of the cybersecurity industry is expected to grow from 2190 billion US dollars last year to more than 2480 billion US dollars in 2026. If you want to quickly expand the business to a full-time scale, do not only take scattered one-time orders, but focus on securing long-term contracts, providing services such as risk assessment, penetration testing, and data recovery when necessary, so as to obtain stable income.

At present, there is a large gap of professional talents in the industry, and the market demand is strong. If you have a solid IT foundation, you can get started quickly, and obtaining relevant industry certificates will also add points to your business.

Market research institution Fortune Business Insights pointed out: "Cybersecurity threats continue to increase, and the market demand for advanced security solutions is rising exponentially. The shortage of professional talents in the field of security solution R&D and iteration is the main factor restricting the development of the industry."

Translator: Teresa