Small Business Ideas In Egypt
Egypt, being the place of the start of world civilization, is actually one of the best countries to invest your money in in Africa.
Egypt is currently the fastest growing African nation in terms of economy, development, and infrastructure, according to the most recent economic report.
This is due to the lots of foreign and local businesses scattered throughout the country.
Egypt currently has a population of over 90 million people, making it one of the top 4 most populated countries in Africa.
This is a plus for you as an entrepreneur if you are planning on venturing into a new business, as there’s a big market waiting to patronize you as long as you offer what they want.
As long as you are not the lazy type, you can start any business in Egypt and succeed beyond your own imagination.
Egypt is also a top destination for tourism in Africa.
This has been one of the country’s major sources of revenue, amounting to over $10 billion annually.
-Benefits of Doing Business in Egypt
Egypt is currently regarded as the fastest developing nation in the Middle East and Africa at large. Egypt’s economy has been booming in recent years, and many foreign investors are flocking to the country to invest.
The country is currently rated as the best African country to do business in.
With a population of over 90 million people, Egypt stands as one of the biggest markets in Africa, even bigger than any European country. So you can invest and grow any business in Egypt.
The Egyptian economy has also witnessed massive developments under the new administration. It experienced 3.3% economic growth in 2020, and 3.1% at the end of 2021, and is expected to reach a growth rate of up to 5% by the end of 2022.
In addition, there are lots of developments currently going on in Egypt. New cities are being developed; massive road infrastructure is being built, and foreign businesses are springing up each day. Egypt has also recorded tremendous growth in the power sector through the generation of 1250 MW from solar power, which is currently the 4th biggest solar project in the world, and many other additions to the power sector.
All these developments have placed Egypt on the map of world countries witnessing the biggest growth in their economies.
Plus, there’s a lot of ease when it comes to doing business in Egypt. That’s why it’s now regarded as the best African country to do business in as of 2022. The new government is also supporting startups with grants, loans, reduced taxes, and building a quality environment for businesses to thrive.
-Challenges Associated With Doing Business In Egypt
Despite the economic growth Egypt is witnessing today, there are still some major setbacks that truncate or affect the Egyptian economy.
Some of these are the high poverty rate, fiscal deficits, poor education, weak government policy, bureaucracy, religion, and security problems.
All these and others are setbacks that affect business in Egypt. Another issue is the high cost of things, especially in major cities.
Overpopulation is also a problem, especially in Cairo where many citizens are poor. This is affecting the purchasing power of the country.
Anything other than those mentioned here is not a setback. Nonetheless, Egypt remains the best business destination in Africa.
We decided to share with you some of the best start-up business ideas in Egypt in 2022. What makes them more appealing is that you can start any of these businesses with very low capital.
Top 50 Small Business Ideas In Egypt
1. Real Estate Agency
Real estate is currently one of the fastest growing industries in Egypt today. You can take advantage of this, especially with the massive infrastructural development currently taking place in the country.
Worried about the cost of starting a real estate agency? Of course, you should be. Actually, you don’t need to own millions before you can become a real estate agent.
You can work as a middleman and earn your money. All you do is connect property sellers to buyers and, via a-vis, earn a commission on each sale. It’s something you can do both online and offline.
For offline, you will just need small office space, while for online, I advise you to get a website and build a social media audience.
2. Catering Business
Catering is a very good business due to its high demand.
Lots of people are always in search of caterers to help them cook delicacies for their birthday, wedding, or Salah.
Many Egyptian communities often host different events regularly too.
As long as you can cook different kinds of foods very well, you will surely make it through catering.
However, catering is not for everyone as it requires some special cooking skills for different dishes.
So you need to get trained as a caterer in a catering school or learn as an apprentice from a good caterer before you kick-start your own catering business.
3. Groceries Retailing
This is a retail business that involves selling food items and ingredients.
It’s something you can start within your area with just a small shop and a little capital.
Food is a highly demanded commodity that everyone eats, so with so many strategies and proper management, your business can grow very easily.
Endeavor to pick a strategic spot where you know demand is high.
By doing so, your grocery store becomes a one-stop shop for your customers’ food item needs.
4. Fish Farming/Fisheries
This is a business I love so much due to the ease involved in it.
Plus, it won’t cost you much to set up. Fish farming is a very lucrative branch of agriculture that deals with the rearing and production of fish of different varieties.
With consistency, you can easily grow a fish farm from 500 fish to 50,000 in just a couple of months.
This is because fish birth hundreds at once, so their expansion is fast.
Apart from being patronized by retailers and consumers, you can also export them to different neighboring African countries where fish production is relatively low.
Fish is also a raw material for different food industries.
5. Production of Crops
Agricultural products are Africa’s biggest export.
This is because food is a very essential need for all, and most Africans were naturally farmers before the advent of colonialism.
Many often undermine agriculture due to the institution of white-collar jobs.
But still, farmers are among the wealthiest in most nations.
Moreover, starting a business in crop production is actually the easiest and cheapest business anywhere in the world.
You don’t actually need to do everything crudely.
Employing the services of a farm machine can help you cultivate faster and bigger.
There are cash crops you can plant to earn more money, which includes coffee, rubber trees, iroko trees, etc.
6. Roadside Food Canteen
This is a very popular business, especially in Africa.
Starting this in a fast-developing country like Egypt is a brilliant business idea.
Though there are a lot of people already doing the business even in the capital city of Cairo, that shouldn’t worry you at all.
As long as you have good cooking skills and can cook the best of Egyptian foods very well, you can beat any competitor.
Food is even a very important thing, so I don’t think you need to worry much about customers as long as you cook delicious meals and advertise your business in the right way.
They are definitely going to start trooping in.
7. Cybercafé
With everything becoming digitalized and rapid Internet growth.
Everyone wants access to an active computer system.
You, as an entrepreneur, can make that a business by establishing a cyber cafe around you.
They pay you to have access to these computer gadgets for a specific time.
You can also help people carry out other computer services like typesetting, photocopying, lamination, book publication, etc.
8. Event Planning
Lots of people today have no time for planning their events themselves.
That’s why they pay event planners to help them plan their weddings, marriages, birthdays, matriculation, convocation, naming ceremonies, and so on.
They sought your service to help them plan everything as regards food, decoration, location, and order of events.
So you’ll be doing everything yourself and being compensated fairly for your efforts.
9. Laundry/dry Cleaning Services
This is a very lucrative business you can start, especially in Cairo, Alexandria, and other big Egyptian cities.
Nowadays, work has taken up so many people’s time to the extent that they barely even have time to do their laundry and clean their surroundings themselves.
That’s exactly where you step in as a dry cleaner.
Most importantly, you can start this business with very low capital.
10. Snail Farming
You can become very rich from this business if you take it seriously. Snails are a very scarce species of aqua-terrestrial animals and are widely consumed in Egypt.
Starting a snail farming business can be very lucrative.
First, you don’t have to worry much about food for your snails as you can get this with little or no money.
And then, starting a snail farm is relatively cheap when compared to other agricultural businesses.
11. Boutique Business
The boutique business is the business of selling already made clothes, clothing items, and even jewelry.
Everyone is becoming fashionistas, especially the youth, plus clothes are needed by all.
Starting a boutique is one of the best small business ideas you can take up.
All you need to do is pay attention to the needs of your customers and make sure you have a variety of different fashion outfits.
During celebrations like Sallah, Christmas, and other festivities, clothes become highly in demand, so that are definitely going to be large sales.
Even when there’s no festivity, people still buy and wear new clothes every day.
12. Office Supply
Oftentimes, people who work in the office get tired and barely have time to go shopping due to the long work hours.
Walk up to different local offices around you and tell them you want to be their official supplier.
Things you can supply them with include: food items, office equipment, fashion wear, books, etc.
You need to be very honest as regards your pricing if you want them to keep patronizing you.
Remember, the goal is to keep them coming and make a steady profit.
13. Pig farming/piggery
Many people in Egypt, especially Muslims, don’t eat pork meat as it is termed “forbidden”.
However, there are still a lot of Christians that eat pork meat as well.
Raising pigs is considered one of the most lucrative farm animal businesses.
Apart from selling your proceeds in Egypt, you can export them to different neighboring countries that have a Christian majority that eat pork.
Honestly, pig farmers are usually very rich because expansion is very easy as pigs give birth to a multitude of offspring.
Plus, the product (pork) is expensive and still in high demand.
14. Barber’s Salon
This is another small business that can fetch you a steady and passive income in Egypt.
Almost every man wants to get their hair barbed at least once every 2 weeks. Barbers are the ones on the winning side of this.
Opening your own barbing salon is an excellent business idea, especially if you possess great barbing skills.
If you don’t have the skills but find barbing salons nice and lucrative, you can set up one and employ professional barbers to work for you.
At the end of each month, you pay them from the proceeds from the shop.
15. Home Tutoring
If you are good at teaching school students different subjects, I suggest you opt for this.
You can also do this as a part-time job if you are already a school teacher.
First, you have to let people know that you can help home tutor their kids.
It could be online or offline, but just tell people what you do.
As long as you are good, you will surely get hired by different people who want you to teach their kids extramural lessons.
They pay you based on the agreement. It might be daily, weekly, or monthly. Whichever way it is, you will surely get paid.
16. Cosmetics Business
The cosmetics market is booming right now everywhere in the world as everyone, both male and female, just wants to look nice.
To profit from this big industry, consider selling cosmetic products.
The items you can sell are many. Some of these include perfumes, body creams, lotions, artificial nails, hair creams, eyelashes, roll-on, human hair, and so on.
Learning make-up artistry can also be a plus for your business.
Almost every woman has become obsessed with make-up.
17. Photography
Photography is one skill-based business that can earn you a passive income.
As a photographer, you can make money by taking people’s passport photographs, photographs, editing photos, and creating amazing images.
You can be called to events like weddings, birthdays, movie shootings, convocations, matriculations, and political events to take different photographs.
A photographer can also possess knowledge of videography, as this is an advanced part of it.
Videographers cover videos of different events and movie shootings, and their income is high.
18. Supply and retail of Palm oil
Palm oil is a widely used cooking and industrial commodity in Egypt.
It’s very easy to make huge profits from retail, especially for a product like a palm oil.
You can buy a lot of jerrycans of oil at a low price and keep them until the price skyrockets, as you can make a lot of money selling them.
The most important things to know in this business are where to buy them, how much they cost, and how to safely store them.
19. Mini Importation
“Mini importation,” as it implies, is the importation of small products from overseas.
This is a business you can do from anywhere in Egypt.
Products you can import include: fashion items, jewelry, phone accessories, fairly used phones and gadgets, skin care products, etc.
You can make use of AliExpress for mini importations from China.
20. Fashion Designing
The fashion design industry is growing tremendously in Egypt due to the different varieties of fashion being initiated everywhere in the world.
As a fashion designer, your job is to tailor different clothes and initiate different designs and fashions.
Fashion design is not just something you start.
First, you need to learn from someone already in that field before you start yours.
21. Bread Bakery
Bread baking has become one of the most popular businesses in the country.
There are many bakeries and bakers due to the high demand for bread by everyone, as both rich and poor eat bread.
As a matter of fact, it has been instituted to be taken with many Egyptian foods.
You don’t need to panic because of the saturation of the industry.
Provided that, your baking skills are very good, you will make your own gains as supply is even below demand.
22. Pastries and Cakes Making
Cake making is also another profitable baking practice.
If you can make good cakes for people, demand is high. Weddings, birthdays, and other ceremonies often involve cakes.
This makes cake-making a lucrative venture.
Other pastries you can make to earn money include meat pies, egg rolls, sausage rolls, doughnuts, hot dogs, chin chin, cupcakes, toast bread, etc.
You can learn how to make all of these things in just a few weeks from a professional.
23. Become A Make-Up Artist
Make-up artistry is a very much wanted skill set.
Women now use make-up to make themselves more beautiful. People pay as much as possible just to look good.
This is to your own benefit as a make-up artist.
The duty of a make-up artist is to beautify people with different cosmetic products.
24. Pet Stores
Selling pets is one classic business idea. Puppies, cats, and other domestic animals can be sold at a pet shop. Everyone likes to own a pet in our world today.
All you need is to know where to buy these pets, how to raise them, and also their medications.
You need to possess some veterinary knowledge to do this business.
It’s a very lucrative business that you can do in any city in Egypt.
25. Car Rentals
If you have a car or two, you can start renting them out to make money.
Instead of your car being a liability as a result of the chunk of money you spend on buying fuel, oil, and servicing the car, why not let it out for people for hire and get paid? This idea is common in every part of the world, including Egypt.
So starting it is not a new idea, though you may be wondering if people will come to hire it, I bet you it’s a brilliant idea as long as your car is in good condition.
26. Food Processing
Food processing is a key industry in Egypt.
As long as you have the knowledge of processing different foods, you can really make lots of money from it.
Things you can process include: fruits, vegetables, tubers, beverages, fish, grains, and meat can all be processed into new products.
The export ability for these products is relatively high, and you can choose any of those to make a passive income.
27. Beauty Salon
People can spend their last card just to look nice.
You can make your share of money off of their desire to look good as a hairstylist.
However, you have to learn to make different styles.
What matters is how good your service is, not how little you start with; with time, you will grow.
28. Child/Day Care
If you are a housewife or currently unemployed, you can consider setting up a daycare in your apartment.
Career people are often too busy caring for their babies during working hours, so they often seek to register them in a daycare center, and then in the evening, when they are back from work, they come to fetch their babies.
This is more of a hospitality business as you not only teach them basic things but also care for them.
29. Spa Shop
A spa provides body care, acne and pimple treatment, make-up, hair removal, massage, and other luxurious body treats.
Starting your own spa can be a very lucrative venture if you are very good at helping people relax and massage their bodies.
As a matter of fact, many people globally book at least one day in their working week to go to the spa.
What you need to do is find a strategic and nice spot.
30. Waste Management
Waste disposal is a serious concern in Egypt as the government is putting measures in place to see to the proper disposal of waste in the country.
By helping the government control some of this waste disposal, you can make your own money by creating a waste management agency.
Your agency’s duty will be to collect household waste in different neighborhoods and help them dispose of them in government-approved refuse dumps.
This is not just a community development initiative as you charge them a little fee for these.
31. Shoe Making
Joining the shoe-making industry in Egypt is also an ideal business for you. Shoes are a highly demanded commodity in Egypt.
You can learn shoe making so that you can start making shoes of different types and designs.
If you can make fine shoes, you will surely make fine profits.
Apart from being an important commodity, shoes are one of the biggest exports to Africa.
You can contribute to breaching the gap by producing locally made shoes.
32. Website design
As a young person, you can pursue a career in web design. Lots of agencies, companies, and organizations need a website.
Thus, making it an ideal business to start.
Once you’ve learned how to design websites of all types, you can start it professionally with little or no income.
All you have to do is advertise what you do both offline and online so that people can reach out to you.
33. Graphic Design
With the current global need for digitally skilled individuals, Graphic design is one of the most popular digital skill sets to learn.
The good side of this is that it’s very soft work that involves only you and your gadget. You design posters, banners, cards, letterheads, 3D images, ad banners, logos, and thumbnails for people and businesses.
What makes graphic designers better than other professions is that they’re stress-free and can be practiced by anyone who possesses the skill.
34. Affiliate marketing
This business model is one that involves recommending products or services and earning a commission on every successful sale.
There are lots of online affiliate programs you can become a member of.
Affiliate marketing is risk-free as you don’t have to worry about capital or good storage.
All you do is promote other business products and earn commission from each sale made through you.
The products or services you promote can be physical goods, digital goods, property, or membership.
35. Blogging
Blogging can be referred to as a digital profession of solving problems online.
There’s a popular saying that bloggers are problem solvers, as anytime you are short of knowledge about things, you quickly grab your device and browse on Google to find answers.
Those Google solutions were all posted by bloggers.
Hence, making it truly an online problem-solving profession.
You can become a blogger in a niche that you are very familiar with.
Bloggers earn money through AdSense and other ads displayed on their sites.
36. Vlogging
Vlogging is simply video blogging. Most of the information you can find on
YouTube was uploaded by vloggers.
Vlogging is a very popular profession and there are lots of well-known video blogs on YouTube and social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can earn lots of money from being a vlogger in Egypt.
37. Freelancing
Freelancing is a digital practice that many people can earn an income. It is an act of working for pay online.
Freelancing platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer.com, and LinkedIn are where you can get hired as a freelancer.
Some of the popular freelancing jobs include content writing, graphics design, copywriting, proofreading, language translation, web design, programming, etc.
38. Photo/Video Editing
Photo and video editing is one lucrative digital skill set that’s been underrated a lot. Whereas, it is actually very lucrative, especially with current digital advancements.
Photoshop and video editing services are highly in demand in Egypt and even globally. You can also do freelancing with these skills.
Plus, the skill is highly demanded by different people and agencies.
39. Sell Fairly Used Items
Would you not want to buy things at a cheaper price? Many Egyptians are willing to spend their last dime on second-hand goods that are still in good condition.
And in fact, this business is booming every year.
The middle class and the poor don’t have enough means to buy new and fancy things, so they often go for fairly used things.
You can sell anything as a fairly used merchant: electronics, computers, phones, clothes, kitchen utensils, and so on.
40. Online Marketing
If you are very good at advertising a product. Consider going professional in the digital marketing space.
Companies and brands are often in search of people with a vast knowledge of online marketing to help them advertise their products online.
The advantage of being an online marketer is huge because you can be hired by many companies or agencies at once, so you can really maximize your profit with online/digital marketing.
41. Coffee Shop
Opening a coffee shop in one of the Egyptian cities can be termed a great initiative, though there are lots of them around.
However, you can still make a huge profit from it, notwithstanding the level of competition.
Especially in the winter season and during the early morning and late night when the weather is cool, people will storm your coffee shop to have a taste of hot coffee.
Just offer nice services to them and they will keep coming.
42. Sporting Viewing Center
With Egypt’s large number of sports fans, particularly football fans.
Lots of new football viewing centers are springing up.
You can also make money from setting up your own viewing center.
All you have to do is look for places where there are limited centers and rent a spot to start your business.
Show different football matches and charge people who come to watch these matches a specific amount for each match they intend to watch.
43. Poultry farming
Poultry farming is a lucrative farming business in Egypt.
This is due to its lucrative nature as it contributes highly to the agricultural sector.
One reason you should start a poultry farm is that it’s very lucrative.
You receive proceeds in two forms: eggs and meat, both of which can earn you a good living.
44. Water Supply
You can make money by supplying people with water, especially at construction sites and places where water is relatively scarce.
But this might cost you a bit of cash to set up because you have to get a vehicle you will be using for the supply.
Any other than that comes at a low cost, so it’s not too expensive to start.
Profit is very high in this business niche, plus the competition is minimal.
45. Dropshipping
This is an eCommerce business that’s a bit similar to mini-importation, but the difference is that everything as regards dropshipping is online.
Dropshipping involves you advertising products, getting orders, then ordering them, and getting them shipped to your customers.
This model of business is unique in the sense that you don’t have to worry about transportation or warehouse space to keep the goods you ordered.
The manufacturer handles everything. You just pay for the products.
You can start dropshipping from Alibaba, AliExpress, or eBay, where products are very cheap, and have them shipped to your customers who have already paid for them.
46. Stationery and Bookshop
With a huge number of students in most Egyptian communities, opening a book and stationery shop did prove a nice venture.
You can score well if you strategize well and choose a nice location.
As a result, it is recommended that you choose a location where the majority of residents or commuters are students, such as on a university campus, or locate your shop near a school or office.
You can even set up a library in town if you have the funds, and there are people who can pay to read or borrow books.
47. E-Commerce Business
The world economy is expanding every day as people have now started to buy things online, especially with the advent of COVID-19, which forced many to stay indoors.
Today, you can order almost anything online, from food, clothes, shoes, and books, and even buy a house or car online.
Yes, this is where we are currently. By simply starting your own e-commerce business, you can now have your own fair share of the “internet money”.
First, you need to choose what to sell and learn how to sell it online.
Then you build your online presence on social media and create your e-commerce website where people can shop for your products online.
48. Telecommunication Accessories
About 62% of the country’s population uses mobile phones, so you can tap into this big market by selling phone accessories.
Phone accessories such as pouches, phone cases, earpieces, earbuds, headphones, chargers, sim cards, recharge cards, and even mobile phones and I.T gadgets are products you can sell in the telecom niche.
The benefit of this business is that you can maximize profit because gains are high on each accessory.
Plus, there’s no stable price; you can sell at any price that is profitable to you.
49. Transportation
You can start a transportation business if you own a car or know how to drive.
Transportation is an important industry in Egypt, and the current government is attempting to make transportation more convenient for transporters by constructing a massive road network throughout the country.
Therefore, considering the number of inter-city travelers in Egypt, starting a career in the transport business is good business.
Not necessarily you drive these cars yourself, as you can even employ a driver who will account for the day’s work and you pay him based on the agreed standard.
Owning 2 to 3 cars or buses will be fairer and more profitable, and with time you can grow into a full transport company.
50. Car wash
Starting a car wash is one of the most profitable small businesses you can set up in Egypt because it requires less start-up capital and expenditure.
In addition, there’s no need to possess an extra special skill to start this.
You can wash a car without learning how to.
The only major expenses here are a pumping machine and a water tank, which you will be using.
Plus, there’s a need for you to open it in a good spot, specifically one nearer to the main road where car owners and commercial vehicle drivers can easily find you.
It’s really a sweet venture for anyone who’s willing to work.
Also, remember that good service keeps them coming.
Bottom Line
Businesses are witnessing massive growth in Egypt; the country is developing rapidly, and the economy is growing.
You can do almost any business in Egypt today. In fact, it remains one of the best destinations for tourism and foreign investment in the Middle East and Africa as a whole.
So if you are thinking of a small business to start in Egypt, we believe this post has enlightened you on the various small business opportunities you can take up to earn passive and tangible income. Take up any of those today and grow them to a limitless size.
We wish you luck in your prospective business in Egypt
