A) Low to Medium Investment: Food, Retail, and Services
1. Evening Chai-Snacks Stand 2.0: Place carts near bus stops and colleges, accept UPI, run a WhatsApp catalogue, and list combos on ONDC buyer apps through a seller partner. ONDC stands for Open Network for Digital Commerce.
2. Tiffin and Corporate Lunch Dabba: Centralise prep at home or in a ghost kitchen, deliver with local bikers, collect payments through UPI, and test your reach by posting menus on ONDC.
3. Micro-bakery that takes pre-orders: Bake twice a day, sell through ONDC and local WhatsApp groups, and offer festival hampers as extras.
4. A corner for fresh-cut vegetables and millet: Get seasonal fruits and vegetables and millets from farms near you. Try out weekly subscription boxes.
5. Thrift & Tailoring Studio (Women first): Add textile upcycling workshops and sell tote bags made from clothes that people have given away. Combine alterations with thrift (kids/ethnic). (See rural upcycling pilots for ideas.)
6. Budget Salon for Families: Concentrate on cleanliness, set price cards, and monthly memberships. Work with local schools to hold “back-to-school” grooming drives.
7. Laundry and steam press with pickup at home: Bundle with rental uniforms for schools and coaching centres.
8. Two-Wheeler Care Bay: Quick repairs, flat tires, and cleaning; prepaid “monsoon care” packs.
9. Fixing phones and getting new ones: Set up a kiosk at weekly markets to install screen guards, and work with buyback traders.
10. Print and Stationery Hub: Offer cheap A4/A3 prints, lamination, photos for forms, and help with filling out forms online; try to sell school kits.
11. Kids Activity Studio: After-school art, phonics, and abacus classes; festival camps; UPI autopay for monthly plans.
12. Local Handymen for Home Services: Choose electricians, plumbers, and carpenters; set prices; accept UPI; and take a cut of each job.
13. Services that run errands for seniors: Picking up medicine, paying bills, and taking people to the hospital; families who live far away can sign up for a subscription.
14. Things you need for a wedding: Lights, decorations, dhol/tasha teams, vanity vans (tie-ups), and basic stage sets are all available for rent.
15. Agro-Input Advisory Kiosk: You can sell seeds, organic inputs, soil-testing ties, and micro-workshops for farmers.
B) Digital and IT Services
16. Local Creator Studio: They make short videos for shops, homestays, and tutors. They charge simple monthly fees and add services to ONDC-services pilots as they grow.
17. Setting up WhatsApp Commerce for Stores: Help kiranas, boutiques, and bakeries make catalogues, set up UPI QR codes, and get ONDC set up (through a network partner). ONDC stands for Open Network for Digital Commerce.
18. School fees and test prep Micro-Center: A hybrid model with recorded lessons and doubt rooms, as well as UPI subscriptions.
19. Government Form-Fill and DigiLocker Helpdesk: Updates for PAN and Aadhaar, scholarship and entrance forms; make money by charging per form and printing.
20. Local Jobs and Skills Board (Hyperlocal): Connect job seekers with employers like salons, garages, and stores; charge a fee to list jobs.
C) Travel, Community, and Lifestyle
21. Physical therapy and micro-gym Tie-up: 700–900 square feet with lower rates during off-peak hours; work with a physiotherapist to make rehab packages.
22. Club for Cycling and Adventure: Weekend rides, rentals, a basic repair station, and the sale of merchandise and drinks.
23. Rural Experiences and Homestay Network: Add 5 to 10 family homestays; as tourism pilots on OTAs and ONDC grow, list them there.
24. Event Venue on a Plot: Temporary tensile structure for birthdays and kitties; sell decorations and food on top of that.
D) Green, Round, and Useful
25. Market Waste-to-Compost/CBG Partnership: Work with mandi/APMC on organic waste. Start with compost and work your way up to CBG through PPP as the town grows.
26. ATM for RO Water and Solar Energy: Set up in wards where there are problems with water; prepaid UPI wallets for people who use a lot of it.
27. Drives to collect dry and electronic waste: Monthly drives by ward; sell to recyclers; work with schools to raise awareness.
28. Detergent/Handwash Refill Station: Refills for bring-your-own-bottle; loyalty cards with QR codes.
E) Moving around and the last mile
29. Hyperlocal Delivery Hub (Spoke): Deliver food and medicine within a 2–3 km radius and work with ONDC buyer apps as a delivery partner.
30. Workers can rent EV two-wheelers: Daily or weekly plans; charge by the kilometre; work with workshops to keep things running.
31. Micro-Logistics for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses: Same-day runs for bakeries and boutiques; combine routes between towns on set days.
F) Craft and agriculture-related
32. Cold-pressed Oils and Flour Mill (Atta Chakki): Subscription Packs; sell multi-grain blends through ONDC.
33. Pickles/Papad/Namkeen Collective: Women-led SHG production; brand and label; list assortments online.
34. Bamboo & Cane Craft Studio: Makes things for the home and for tourists to do in workshops.
35. Local Plant Nursery and Landscape Kits: Kits for balconies and kitchen gardens; workshops on the weekends.
Final Words
Small towns aren’t “smaller” markets; they’re tighter markets where people trust each other. You can build a long-lasting, growing business with low costs and strong community loyalty if you solve a common problem, make it easy to find (ONDC), and make it easy to pay (UPI). Add government support like PMEGP to reduce upfront cost, and you’ve got a runway to scale.