Australia’s economy is ever-changing, and with the change comes many new and unique business ideas that new and aspiring entrepreneurs can start. New technologies, scientific breakthroughs, and changes to international policy all have an effect on the business landscape. With all the new uncertainty and changes, I thought it was necessary to put together a new list of business ideas.
The gaming industry is set for growth in Australia. But it’s not just the games and consoles themselves that have huge potential for profit. The in-game micro-transaction market is growing significantly, and with that growth comes the opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs like you to seize it.
This business would involve creating in-game add-ons for certain games. You would need to work with the developers to make sure they could be released, and the percentage of profit they get for providing such a marketplace.
However, this could be a very profitable company because people currently go to lengths to create accounts, level them up, and then sell them to others. If you have a passion for gaming, this business idea is for you!
Another sector that is growing within the massive e-sports community is sponsorship. Over the next 5 years, the market is set to triple in growth from $2 million in revenue to about $6 million. Although this is not massive growth, if you can capture some of that market share with this business idea, it would be easy to expand overseas to other locations where their markets are much bigger.
This company would work with other companies who want exposure at certain events and areas within the e-sports competitions and shows. You would provide them with logo placement, brand mentions, etc, in exchange for a fee. This idea could be started with very little money in the beginning because you don’t need a lot of technology, just sales skills.
Australians are demanding faster internet, and with the breakthroughs in smart devices, there is always the underlying question about security. Well, with this idea, you would consult with governments, cities, and private businesses on setting up smart device networks and managing the security systems behind them. For example, the city may want to install a smart grid that monitors all the roadways for repairs. This company would help them manage the security behind it all. If you have a passion for networks and smart devices this could be a great area to get involved in.
Solar power is an industry that is growing so much, and with the amount of sun Australia gets, it’s a perfect combination. You could start this company by buying large plots of land in rural areas of the country, and then setup solar panels.
Then routing this power to nearby rural or city areas that need power would be where you will make the money. This is more of a large-scale business idea but it has the potential to be a very sustainable business. It would also make you and the country look good with the production of so much renewable energy. If you are worried about the storage of that power, you could probably buy Tesla battery storage packs for a wholesale price.
Solar power at residential homes is a growing trend as well. Why not power your own home, reducing your own power consumption until you don’t have to worry about another electricity bill. In Australia, it works for a large amount of the population, and although you would be facing some competition, the market is set for growth and there is room for more competitors.
This business idea for Australia would not only involve installation but also maintenance and cleaning. If you like the outdoors and have a passion for renewable energy, this could be a great business to start. To do it for a low cost, try and pre-sell your services to a few people. Once you have enough money from the pre-sales you can buy supplies to complete the work. This would get you started quicker than raising money if you don’t have much.
With the changing political market, businesses are always needing help to navigate the international landscape, especially with how the US market is reacting. This idea could be started with low start-up investment because it is a service-based business, and you would just need knowledge of international trade and distribution.
This company could also expand into helping businesses that want to go international, but don’t know where to start. You’d help them navigate that for a fee or percentage of new revenue from that market.
E-books continue to grow in the Australian market, and they are poised for strong growth in the future. If you have a passion for books, this would be a great business to start. It would involve helping others publish their e-books and your platform would market the e-book to the potential market for sales. You could arrange to have a profit-share plan, where you get a percentage of the revenue of the book since you are also putting some risk on the line with marketing the e-book. However, the profit potential for e-books is way higher than for a traditional book.
Tourism in Australia has always been a large part of the economy. It’s obvious people love to travel there and they will continue to do so. To take it to the next level, you could start a business with no money that creates an augmented reality safari guide. The customer would wear a headset or something similar to Google Glass, and be able to see certain statistics, read important and interesting information, and have a more immersed experience. This would be a great way to charge people higher prices too since it’s new.
Or, it could be an app on the person’s phone that they install before the tour to get cool insights or AR viewing of what the area used to look like on the safari. A lot could be done, but this idea would take quite a bit of investment to get going. However, it has so many applications and it could create a significant unique advantage for a tourism company.
There is a growing demand in Australia to get fiber-optic networks installed, either to people’s houses directly, or to central stations where faster internet can be distributed. This company would work with governments and cities to get these cables installed in the ground. If you are interested in this, there could be potential grants and loans that you can receive from the government for performing such a service.
The fiber-optic installation idea could be started for a low investment if you worked with the cities to get grants before starting the job. As this idea grows, international expansion would be needed for growth.
R&D is a huge priority of the government for companies in Australia. To show this, they supported more research and development with tax breaks and grants for companies who are going to undertake more research. Although this business would not receive grants and tax breaks, these incentives free up money for companies to hire external support to help them manage their R&D process.
If you have knowledge of R&D or want to enter this area, this is the perfect opportunity as the government is supporting you with policy change. And business ideas that come from changes in policy are often not looked at, and thus don’t have significant competition entering the market until later (when people see the profits). Since this is a service-based business (consulting), you could start this idea with little money.
The growth in digital music is putting the physical music distribution businesses to shame, and we could see them almost completely disappear in the next 5-6 years. That is where websites and apps are coming into play and raising billions of dollars supporting the digital distribution of music.
To start this company, you would start a niche website, and license music from that niche to play for users. Customers could get 50 songs for free along with playing ads, and then subscribe as a monthly member for a few dollars to receive unlimited streaming of the niche music genre without ads. If you have a background in music, or programming, this would be a great business idea for you to start.
Smart homes are going to be something we see very soon. With the growing demand for construction in Australia, you could start a unique business idea in this area as a Smart Home Developer. If you have experience or a passion for construction, this would be a great company to start.
The business would involve building houses that have all the newest and necessary sensors, so people have smart homes that interact with them. Imagine, being able to save 30% on your energy bill because your home heats and cools your house more efficiently than you can. Or how about it alerts you when you have a flood when you’re away, so you can call someone to mitigate any future damage to this house? The technology definitely solves problems and would be a cool business to start.
A smart office consultant takes a more business-to-business approach with the use of smart technologies. You would work with companies to help them set up smart offices that make their work and office life more efficient.
For example, this could be setting up sensors for the lights so no one needs to turn them off or on, and also alerts maintenance staff when a light burns out. It could also start coffee pots, turn on computers, and suggest different seating arrangements based on people’s pathways where they walk. If you have a passion for smart devices and networks, there are many applications for this idea, and it will only increase in demand for Australian companies as they grow.
This could be started with a low-investment if you worked with one company at a time, and bought only the amount of supplies you needed for each job.
The gig economy is a growing area of employment and opportunity for people looking for part-time work, especially in Australia. With that growth comes the opportunity to help people find those gig jobs. This business idea for Australia also caters to the tourism industry, as many people who travel there are looking for some sort of work to stay afloat. You could start by creating a website and work with companies that need temporary employment to post their work online. Then, the next part would be getting users to the platform. Although straightforward, it is hard work but it could all be done with little investment as websites are low-cost to create.
Corporate leadership and job training are areas that are massively underserved, which presents the opportunity to start a company and fill that need. By developing customized training and development programs for companies, you can help their employees and talent excel within the organization. A huge problem in the workforce in Australia is the development of employees to be able to take on management and higher-level roles as the baby boomers retire.
This idea fixes that problem by working with the companies to make sure their employees are trained and confident to lead the company. This is another idea that could be started with low investment as you could pre-sell the packages to companies, and then work with them to make sure the training is custom.
Interested in blockchain and providing renewable energy for your community? By setting up a community energy station that is powered by solar power, you could sell and distribute energy to you and your neighbors. And, pairing it with blockchain, it could be done in a very efficient way.
By installing a meter to their power, whenever they access the community grid, it would track their usage and charge them accordingly. For this idea to work, a per kw of electricity could be charged, but it would need to be cheaper than the current electricity rates to entice people to set this up. This business idea is perfect for Australia with the amount of sunlight received and would be very sustainable. It could also expand into providing power for electric car charging stations in the future.
As mentioned previously, e-sports is a massively growing industry and people need a place to play and host their games and competitions. Or maybe, people don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on a home gaming station, so they can come to your store and play. By setting up a bunch of gaming stations with the latest games, you could charge an entrance fee for customers who want to play video games. You could also host competitions and tournaments to make money as well.
If you have a passion for gaming and want to enter an event e-sport business, this idea is perfect for you. Although it would take quite a bit of initial investment to get going, it could be very profitable if you enter the right location.
As the demand for construction rises and the support for training future workers dwindles, there is a large opening to start a business in the trades education area. This could be either a private or public institution that teaches people electricity, plumbing, carpentry, and other trades. If you don’t want to start big, you could begin by offering a single trade course to get started and develop your footprint.
Environmental issues and solutions to those issues is a huge area that Australians and CEOs are concerned about. They realize that climate change can have a major impact on their business results, and thus see it as important to address these issues now.
This business idea in Australia could be started for a low cost as it is knowledge-based (consulting), and you would work with existing companies to help them develop an environmentally sustainable plan. By working with their suppliers, employees, and current operations teams, you could pinpoint areas where they need to improve and make recommendations on how they can recycle more, or change to a sustainable supplier.
The growing elderly demographic is something that Australia, along with many other countries are facing. With a growing elderly population, there needs to be proper facilities and care set up to make sure they are living a good life. Initially, a large investment would need to be made for the land, building, nursing, and doctor staffing, as well as food and medical supplies.
However, if you want to raise money, this would be a very sustainable business that could make a lot of profit. People charge anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 per month for care like this, and if you house over 50 people, that could be a great revenue stream. The baby boomer population is only going to grow more over the next 5 years as well.
Another service to cater to the growing elderly population is a personal service and care company. If you want to help the growing elderly population, you can do it without spending a lot of money on start-up costs. By doing it yourself, you could advertise to local areas where seniors live and offer your services for personal services and care. This could range from a wide array of different services like delivery, companionship, transportation, etc. Setting this business idea up on a subscription would also be very useful for families with elderly parents, so they know they are being taken care of.
As the research points out, women are reporting having a tougher time achieving management positions due to insufficient training programs and resources to get them there. This business idea could be a not-for-profit company that could give women the leadership development they need to be more educated than their peers.
Australia has the perfect environment for this because there are more female executives than many other countries, so support and mentorship is stronger and more widely available. This idea could be started with little money in the beginning.
People want to know where their food is coming from, especially if they are trying to eat local and organic-only foods. But in the end, it comes down to a factor of trust, which some restaurants or grocery stores don’t abide by very well.
To battle this problem, you could set up a blockchain tracking technology that would be scanned through local organic vendors, so restaurants, consumers, and grocery stores can tell where it came from. This would have massive applications internationally as well, but Australia would be a great market to test this out. You could make money by licensing the technology to companies for a monthly or yearly rate, as it would help both the producer and seller establish better relationships with their customers.
Some pieces of art can be highly valued, and they can also be copied easily. This company would stop that corruption by tracking all the fine art through a blockchain tracking system. Certain identifications could be given to specific paintings, and a website or app would be able to verify if it was the original, as only one registered item can belong to the code. Charging a fee per code generated could be a great model for this idea, and it would prevent the corruption and duplication of famous paintings, which artists hate.
Another blockchain business idea that would work very well in Australia, and have growth for international expansion is a land registration blockchain transaction business. This would give people the power to buy, sell, and transfer properties with a simple click of a button online.
For this idea you would create a system that generates a specific code for each property and land title ever created in the area, then people would pay a small fee to be able to access and verify a change of title of the land. This would eliminate a huge part of realtors’ fees and the weeks of time it takes city hall and other places to approve this process. Ultimately, making land deals more efficient would also make housing potentially more affordable, as developers can access land easier.
E-commerce is a huge business that is growing in Australia as access to goods from China is closer than in places like USA and Canada. However, within this business model, there is always the problem of shipping and distribution. If people live on the outskirts of the city or in more rural areas, it can be hard to deliver packages or it takes a long time.
This business idea would be to set up warehouses and distribution centers outside of cities so they could easily deliver goods to those usually hard-to-reach homes. A specialty delivery fee could be charged for the convenience of being able to get your packages so quickly.
This idea was started in the USA and has become really popular, with some investors in Australia looking to start the same thing. The business model would be the same-day or 24-hour delivery of the contraception prescription the women were provided. Allowing them to avoid having to go to the pharmacy or doctor to get it.
Women are more and busier these days as they take lead in the business world, taking on more executive jobs, so they don’t always want to wait around at pharmacies for their contraception. If you have ever wanted to start a unique and new delivery service and app, this would be it. To get started it would not cost a significant amount of money either, as you could partner with other shipping companies to do that and you could focus on the app.
As a mining automation dealer, this company would supply local and near mining companies and operations with the latest and greatest machines for mining automation. The industry is headed into a wave of technological advancements, and as a middleman, there is a spot to help people and make some money too.
By working with local mining companies, you could find out their needs for mining automation equipment, and work with other companies that produce it to supply it in Australia. With the way things are headed with international trade, these types of companies are always looking for ways to reduce costs and automation is a huge part of that. This idea wouldn’t take a lot of money to start, as you could source the machines and buy them with your client’s money before you set up your own retail store to showcase them.
There is always growing concern among people regarding their personal privacy. They forget who they shared their email with, or how much information Facebook is really taking from their profile. To help solve this problem and frustration, you could develop an app that monitors all that activity for someone, so they can see who has access to what type of information, all in one place.
A one-time fee or monthly subscription could be charged to give people peace of mind about what is happening with their data. Australia has somewhat different privacy laws than other countries so it is the perfect market to test this idea out. If you have a passion for app design, this program could be a real hit, especially as digital profiles get bigger and more important.
Since agricultural goods and products are one of the largest pieces of the Australian economy, there is huge money to be made with this business idea. This business idea in Australia would work with farms and other growers to build in automation, so the plants and harvests could be made more efficiently and produce higher quality plants. Using technology like sensors and smart monitoring devices, a whole field or greenhouse can have consistent moisture and sun exposure levels, depending on the type of plant so they grow at the optimal rate and quality.
Farmers and producers would pay huge bucks to get you to set up systems and manage those systems as they would be able to make more money too. Initially, you could start this idea with a low amount of money, by working with one local farm or producer at a time to get started.
There you have it, 30 business ideas for Australia. Now that you potentially have a business idea, here are ways to protect your business idea.
Compare our packages
Our customized packages meet the compliance, filing speed, and support needs of your new business in one place.
starter
Basic
Covers all your required filings with the state, accuracy guaranteed.
+ state fees
Process in 7-10 business days*
pro
Most Popular
Everything to start and protect your LLC and keep it compliant year-round.
Processes in 1 business day*
premium
Best Value
Get additional tools and expert support to start and grow your business online
*Processing times are based on receiving complete information. ZenBusiness processing times do not include Secretary of State processing times, which can vary.
**SPECIAL OFFER – Starter includes one optional free year of Worry-Free Compliance (renews at $199/yr).
Compare our formation plans in detail here.
Disclaimer: The content on this page is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or accounting advice. If you have specific questions about any of these topics, seek the counsel of a licensed professional.
Written by Team ZenBusiness
ZenBusiness has helped people start, run, and grow over 700,000 dream companies. The editorial team at ZenBusiness has over 20 years of collective small business publishing experience and is composed of business formation experts who are dedicated to empowering and educating entrepreneurs about owning a company.
Additional Resources
Ready to Start Your LLC?
Start Your LLC