5 Entrepreneurship Ideas To Capitalize on Consumer Trends

There is no shortage of ideas for aspiring entrepreneurs interested in starting their own small business. In 2026, the most promising business ideas often come from creating specialized products or services for a specific target audience rather than trying to appeal to everyone. 

Shopify data shows that nearly 55% of all sales across the ecommerce platform now come from product categories outside the top 100. Those categories are also growing faster than the mainstream, illustrating the opportunities for entrepreneurs with focused ideas.

This article explores entrepreneurship ideas anchored in consumer trends, along with lessons from small business owners who have successfully turned their concepts into thriving companies. 

5 entrepreneurship ideas

• AI consulting
• Performance apparel
• Secondhand apparel resale
• Non-alcoholic adult beverages
• Better-for-you comfort snacks

There is no one perfect business idea: The best or most profitable small business ideas fuse your unique skills and interests with a target market that’s willing to pay for it. Here are five opportunities entrepreneurs may want to explore. 

AI consulting

If you have a strong understanding of artificial intelligence (AI), now could be a good time to start an AI consulting business. Startup costs are relatively low because your product is your expertise, and businesses across industries are still figuring out how to integrate AI into their operations. One way to stand out is to specialize in an industry such as ecommerce, health care, or real estate.

Many organizations are already experimenting with the technology. According to McKinsey’s 2025 State of AI survey, 88% of respondents report using AI for at least one business function. However, the survey also shows that about two-thirds of businesses haven’t yet begun to expand AI use beyond limited applications. That gap creates opportunities for consultants who offer workflow audits, recommendations, AI training, prompt-writing support, and other services. 

Performance apparel 

If you have a passion for athletics, performance apparel is another idea for your own business. The global market for high-performance apparel is projected to grow nearly 10% each year through 2035, according to Market Growth Reports, amid fabric innovation (such as materials that respond to body temperature or minimizes odor) and the increasing popularity of organized fitness activities.

However, competition in this category is intense, and one way brands can differentiate themselves is by focusing on a specific audience or activity rather than trying to appeal to everyone. The rise of pickleball, for example, has created demand for apparel designed around the needs and culture of one rapidly growing sport. 

Secondhand apparel resale 

Starting a secondhand resale business can be a relatively low-cost way to enter online apparel ecommerce. Rather than developing new products, entrepreneurs source existing items from local businesses, estate sales, consignment shops, liquidation lots, or individuals and resell them via an online store. Differentiate your business by specializing in niche markets—such as children’s clothes, luxury handbags, or sneakers and shoes.

Demand for secondhand apparel continues to grow as consumers look for ways to save money, shop more sustainably, and access premium brands at lower prices. ThredUp’s 2025 Resale Report projects US online business resale sales to nearly double to about $40 billion by 2029, reflecting double-digit annual growth. Resale is also expected to outpace growth in the broader retail clothing market by a wide margin by 2029. 

Non-alcoholic adult beverages

Consumers are increasingly looking for alternatives to traditional alcoholic drinks. According to Nielsen IQ, sales of non-alcoholic beer, wine, and spirits across the retail channels it tracks grew 31% year over year, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs to build brands around alcohol-free adult beverages. 

Anyone looking to start a non-alcoholic beverage business will need to develop a recipe that can be produced consistently at scale, often with the help of a commercial beverage formulator or food scientist. 

Better-for-you comfort snacks

Better-for-you snacks are reimagined familiar favorites with updated ingredients and nutritional profiles. Instead of asking consumers to abandon the foods they love, brands can offer versions with more protein and fiber, less sugar, or cleaner ingredient lists. Examples include protein-infused chips, low-sugar candies, and upgraded nut butters.

Consumers increasingly look to snacks for comfort and familiarity. The 2026 State of Snacking report from Mintel and Mondelez International found that more than a third of US consumers associate snacking with comfort, while more than half of salty-snack consumers prefer nostalgic branding or packaging. At the same time, about 40% of snackers actively seek healthier options at least some of the time. Together, these trends create opportunities to sell food products that put a modern spin on classic treats without sacrificing taste.

How to come up with an entrepreneurship idea

• Solve a problem
• Anchor your brand in shared values
• Work backward from your business goals
• Stay open and curious

There are several ways to uncover promising entrepreneurship ideas. The following approaches—supported with insights from entrepreneurs who have used them—can help you identify opportunities, evaluate their potential, and refine them into business ventures worth pursuing. 

Solve a problem

A successful business can begin with a problem worth solving, especially one you’ve experienced firsthand. 

Tower 28 founder and CEO Amy Liu built her company around a challenge she’d faced for years—eczema. Despite working in the beauty industry, she struggled to find products that met her needs. 

“I wanted products that were clean and safe for sensitive skin, but I also didn’t want them to be boring and clinical or excessively priced,” she says on Shopify Masters. So, she started a beauty business that develops products for sensitive skin, working with dermatologists, allergists, and other experts to validate the safety and effectiveness of its formulas. 

The problem doesn’t always have to be one that affects millions of people. Stratus, which sells anti-fog merino wool balaclavas and face masks for skiers and snowboarders, found success by fixing a small problem with big implications: goggle fog. 

“Niche is really great in the smaller stages of your business,” owner and CEO Ricky Jones says on Shopify Masters. “Going after these small categories means there might be a gap to really solve a problem that consumers have. You can always expand your product line to have a broader offering.”

The niche approach is becoming even more relevant as AI changes how shoppers discover products. Shopify found that 71% of AI-attributed orders in 2025 came from specialized product categories, a reminder that “niche no longer means limited,” says Nell Thomas, Shopify’s VP of data science.

Anchor your brand in shared values

Consumers often make purchasing decisions based on their beliefs. According to Statista, nearly 70% of respondents in a 2025 survey said that they are more likely to support brands that align with their personal values. 

Lanny Smith, founder of Actively Black, found success by making a mark on an industry that lacked Black ownership. “I come from the athletic world, where I saw firsthand how brands profited billions of dollars off Black talent, Black consumerism, Black culture,” he says on Shopify Masters. “Serving this audience that had never seen ownership in athleisure was something that resonated deeply with [our target audience].” 

Rather than competing solely on product features, Actively Black gave customers an opportunity to support a mission that reflected their values.

“Ask yourself how your brand will emotionally connect with your audience and make them feel like they need to be part of it,” Lanny says.

Work backward from your business goals

For some entrepreneurs, business ventures begin with what they want from a business, and they work backward from there. 

Consultant and serial entrepreneur Andrew Faris of AJF Growth approaches entrepreneurship this way. Rather than brainstorming products first, he says on Shopify Masters, he identifies the financial characteristics he wants and then looks for products or services that support those goals. 

You could choose to prioritize low startup costs, flexible hours, or minimal inventory requirements and find an offering that fits those constraints. From there, validate the idea by conducting market research to understand customer demand, competition, and industry trends. 

Working backward from your business goals can uncover opportunities you might not have found through product brainstorming alone. 

Stay open and curious

Sometimes opportunities reveal themselves as you explore your interests, participate in communities, or seek out new experiences. The key is to remain curious and pay attention to the ideas you encounter along the way.

Participating in communities you’re genuinely interested in (if you enjoy running, for example, hit the trails) gives you firsthand exposure to how people think, behave, and spend their time. This makes it easier to identify habits or pain points that could inspire a great business idea.

New experiences can have a similar effect. Peter Dering, founder and CEO of travel and accessories brand Peak Design, took a four-month break from his construction career to travel through Southeast Asia and India. Travel exposed him to new ideas and possibilities while also highlighting everyday frustrations. One of them—his camera banging against his chest while hiking and sightseeing—would inspire one of Peak Design’s earliest products.

“[The trip] just spawned an incredible breadth of things I wanted to do in this world,” Peter says on Shopify Masters.