30 Business Ideas For Pakistani Market with Incredible ROI

Well if you are thinking about starting a small business with low investment (in Pakistan) but you are unsure about the right business idea in Pakistani context, market situation, that can give you some really healthy return on investment (ROI) in reasonable span of time, with reasonable effort then you have come to the right page.

In case you want to launch products/services from home, from your garage or dorm room like late Steve Jobs from Apple Inc or like Mark Zuckerberg Co-founder of Facebook then you must read the following, well thought out, easy to grasp article!

Learn: How to launch Small Products from your Home/Garage/Dorm!

In this article I am going to not only give you a solid list of business ideas (in two tables below) with essential info for each idea, like:

1.      Initial Investment Needed,
2.      Human Resource Requirements,
3.      Return On Investment (ROI) Per Pakistani Rupee,
4.      Business Model Type,
5.      Total Monthly Cost For Given Business,
6.      Minimum Required Sales Per Month To Attain Healthy Net Profit

But will also provide a brief but complete overview of each idea to explain things like why given initial investment or ROI per Rupee, Monthly cost is different, higher, lower for each idea and which idea is the most easy to work with and which one is the hard to work with, which one can yield results in lesser time and which one can yield better results but will take much longer etc.

Note: I am using ROI or Return On Investment in kind of loose way, when I mention ROI, I mean net income for each rupee of total sales. For instance if I say such and such business has ROI between 40-60% then that would mean net income of 0.40 Pkr to 0.60 Pkr for each rupee of total sales in that particular business.

Note: Present 16 August 2016 One gram gold value equals to 4000 Pakistani rupees, since gold value remains stable while currency value fluctuate thus we see hike/dip in gold price, therefore I will provide estimate of each business idea in gold too, which will make estimates of this article valid even 100 years from now.

You may like: What do I need to start a Business ? (Answered)

Plus I will also explain important aspects pertaining to each idea that one being an Investor, Entrepreneur needs to consider while investing in a given business idea.

So without further ado let’s get to it! 😉

30 Business Ideas for Pakistan

Consider the content of these tables carefully and then read a brief description, important aspects etc of each business idea down below the tables.

Note: if for any reason you don't see the tables or don't see them clearly (more likely due to viewing on smart phone) then check this page in desktop version.

Table 1

Table 2

Here is 3rd table with gold rates.

Let's start with the first one!

Business Idea 1: Medicine, Pharmacy Retail

There is an immense demand for medicine in Pakistan thanks to poor conditions of health, food adulteration, malnutrition. It is perhaps the single industry that provides huge returns on investments, being in the industry myself I have seen retailers earning almost 100% return on investment (ROI) that means when you invest 100 rupees in medicine in Pakistan you get 100 rupees profit plus your invested amount.

Normal ROI ranges from 35% to 60% per rupee invested, though there are brands that offer over 100% too, people in medicines are not just “Lakhpathee’s” rather a sizeable majority is “Carorpathee’s”.

So if you have money and you want to launch your own business, I would recommend to go for medicine business.

In medicine retail you need to do counter sale, where you may need 2-4 sales guys along with you being the Supervisor or Manager of the store or hiring another one to look after your business while you keep your job.

6-10 thousand should be the salary you should be paying to your counter sales guys initially, though there are regions in Pakistan where people won’t like to stand on your counter for that much amount so then you have to adjust accordingly.

If you are managing your business and you have hired for instance two guys to help you with counter sales or just one guy, then the rent of the store/shop plus utility bills, food, salary etc will result in monthly total cost of around 20 thousand rupees and since the minimum return on investment is 35%, then you have to make sales of at least 1 lac rupees to compensate for the monthly cost plus earning a healthy profit.

1 lac monthly sales target should be your initial target and you should aim for increasing it, remember counter sales guys experience, character, your shop location, brands you have, credit policy of your suppliers, overall health position in your region, illness ratio by demographics will play a vital role in success and increase in net profits of your business.

One more thing, medicine business, be it retail, wholesale, distribution have some legal requirements that you will need to fulfill for that check this link

Business Idea 2 : Medicine Wholesale

When it comes to wholesale, although profit margin is less than that of retail but still its way better than retail because of sheer sales volume, sales at wholesale level makes the difference.

Just like Medicine retail, you can use the same number of human resource to manage counter sales but if you want deeper penetration, you may need to hire couple of sales guys who work on building relationships with other retailers, hospitals, clinics out there in the market.

You can start with modest amount of 2 lac plus around 6-10 lac on credit, given that those (pharma brands) who are giving you stock on credit; provides you time until you start getting healthy returns.

The more stock you have from heavy weights of medicine, pharma industry the more you will make in sales, the good thing is your monthly costs will remain almost similar to that of retail but unlike retailers your sales volume will be huge.

It takes from 6 to 18 months to see healthy ROI in wholesale, the same is true for retail or any other business too.

So make sure you have enough financial backup to carry you, your business through those 6-18 months.

Business Idea 3 : Medicine Distribution

Well go for distribution only when you have extensive experience in handling distribution because even though distribution offers a healthy ROI it also carries pressure and responsibility from the company.

If you don’t know how to handle regional sales, to develop route plans, to develop relationships with wholesalers, retailers; set your credit policy with your clients then it is more likely that you will fail or barely survive in such business.

Though you can still avoid failure even though you don’t have experience, know-how, let me tell you how, you can fix that, simple, spend time with experienced individuals from the industry (the niche you want to invest in), who have years of experience under their belts, know not only tricks of the trade but the whole trade itself, once you spend some time with such people and learn things from them or ask them to help you out with your business whenever you need, you will easily achieve success!

Business Idea 4 : Medicine Manufacturing

Although you can’t start allopathic medicine manufacturing with 50 Lac but you can start herbal, homeopathic (other alternatives) medicine company with that much amount, remember your IQ level really matters when it comes to launching a company, some guys may launch company with 25 Lac and others may not be able to launch even with 1 caror.

Therefore you will need to really immerse yourself in the business model type where you are planning to invest your hard earned money.

Let me again remind you, it’s good to be in touch, have relationship with experienced people of a given industry where you want to invest; to learn all the do’s and don’t’s by spending some time (at least six months) with them, so that you just don’t waste your money by investing in things that are not essential for your business success, growth, feasibility etc in a nutshell to be successful in a given business you not only need to know not only tricks of the trade but the whole trade itself!

Once you achieve success, then you will know how to move to the mainstream allopathic manufacturing, there are tons of factors, things that you need to learn to make that jump, I wish I could mention all those things but that will be way beyond scope of this article, though I can assure you about one thing, you will learn all of those things with time & experience!

In manufacturing you may initially need at least 4 experienced sales guys along with one accounts/stock/inventory Manager (which can be you) and other 6 to 10 guys at factory to manufacture, pack and supply medicine and take care of the factory.

You can manage your sales guys from the factory, having a side office there or you can start with a separate sales office, though I would suggest to start with factory office if you don’t have strong financial backup!

Again here your credit policy with your raw materials suppliers will matter and contribute extensively to success of your business, though your business success will also depend your marketing & branding and capacity, experience of your sales team.

You may also need to hire experienced Pharmacist, Chemist, QC expert, production manager etc.

Lastly there are legal requirements that you will need to fulfill, for that check DRAP Website.

Business Idea 5 : Website

If you know your profession inside out, know how things work in it, how dots can be connected, can explain all the things that makes your profession a success, then you can sell yourself and the likes of you by publishing content, articles about it.

Just like I am doing right now, giving you practical, actionable suggestions, tips, strategies, approaches to business, marketing and all that these domains entails.

You can earn money by having web traffic coming to your platform and being shown ads, you can earn money by promoting products/services related to your website niche.

People are making really good money in Pakistan with websites and yes it costs in pennies to launch your website not to mention, you alone can handle it unless it becomes really big to handle alone!

Remember, like any other business niche, you need the basic know-how, knowing things like SEO inside out so that you can be successful, check youtube, web for more, make sure you learn the essential basic stuff, it may take anywhere from few weeks to few months to learn.

Don’t forget to learn from the experienced guys in the niche, make it your rule, if you don’t know much about a given business, spends some time with those who have been doing it successfully in that niche, I can’t overemphasize the importance of this point, it is really, really important to follow esp. if you are a novice.

And like any other business niche, it will take time, your hard work, efforts and investment to succeed, so perseverance, patience is key.

The good thing about website type of business model is, you can earn income passively, just make sure you know SEO, without knowing SEO failure will be the only thing you will achieve with web publishing (website) business.

One better thing is, the income from your web publishing business will gradually and constantly increase except for seasonal declines etc.

So just hire couple of guys who can write quality articles in international language aka English, keeping SEO, grammar and other things in mind and soon you will be having some serious money coming in…

SEO, Content marketing has been on the rise in Pakistan for some time now though there isn’t much competition on Pakistan level as market isn’t as saturated as other business niches, so there is an opportunity for you to have first mover advantage, which is something almost all of other business niches in Pakistan doesn’t have any more.

Second thing is, as you will need well educated guys to help you with writing quality articles therefore to keep these guys around you will have to pay handsomely in salaries to them, so keep that in mind.

Business Idea 6 : Software House

As I said above, online niche in Pakistan is its introductory stage, that’s the reason software house businesses are booming in Pakistan.

What you need is to hire couple of software developers who can develop apps, websites etc and then hire couple of more guys who can find clients for your brand.

Software houses are making immense money in Pakistan by not only providing software, web, IT solutions to Pakistani market but also abroad through online market space.

Like any other business you will need to pay rent, utility bills, food, fuel, salary etc and to compensate for these costs plus to earn healthy net profit you will need to set your monthly sales target accordingly.

Like any other business; relationships, market research, constantly looking up for clients (online & offline) locally & internationally and following up on current clients is key to success in this business, so keep that in mind.

And like I said over and over, if you don’t know the niche or you think you are not quite sure about things in it, then spend time, take help from the experienced guys in the niche.

Business Idea 7 : Tea Spot

What is better than earning 5-7 rupees per cup of tea in profit while serving over 300 cups daily, that is  around 40K Pkr (taking 5 rupees profit/cup) at least/month in profit and you need only three guys, one to make tea and the other two to serve it, paying each guy 8000 Pkr and thus getting a net profit of at least 16000.

Imagine you have five tea spots like the one above, at locations like colleges, university, hospitals, bus stands, parks, business centers/plazas etc.

That would mean at least 80000 Pkr in net profit from all these spots.

Now Imagine you have ten spots… haha

A Tea spot doesn’t require much of an investment, all you need to do is to buy some tables, chairs and rent a place in good location and that’s it.

Again if you don’t know, do spend some time with such tea spot owners and you will!

Business Idea 8 : Burger Spot

Well like Tea spots Burger Spots success depends on location and how many of them you own, the more the Burger Spots the more net income.

Keep quality, cleanliness, customer service in mind!

Business Idea 9, 10 : Poultry Wholesale/Retail

Well one of my friend is earning huge in this niche, has a flashy car, huge home and is happy, 30-45% profit is easy in this niche, again if you don’t know much about this niche, spend some time with the gurus of the niche.

Make sure you know about the diseases, vaccinations routines, feed for chickens, sales hotspots etc.

When it comes to poultry retail, you still earn good but it is way lower than wholesale, although just like having many burger points or spots you can have many poultry retail points with having one guy at each spot taking care of those almost sick hens 😆 and also serving consumers.

Business Idea 11 : Telecommunication Retail

Investing in scratch cards, easy load, timepay, easy paisa, SIM’s etc will yield good returns although in the beginning your returns won’t be as satisfactory as much as you wish them to be.

You can start from 15 thousand Pkr plus having like 30-50 thousand on credit, all you need to is to visit your region franchise and ask them for load sims, cards etc and they will gladly help you.

Remember that location, brand (specific telecommunication brand), brand or service demand, market competition matter a lot in success of such business, so before you go for investing your hard earned money, make sure you know if there really is scope for this type of business in your region, market.

Yes, ROI is low but we all know there is huge demand for telecommunication services in Pakistan and so huge sales volumes compensate for small ROI.

Business Idea 12 : Telecommunication Wholesale

Al though at wholesale level you earn less percentage wise compared to retailers but your sales and demand volume is even bigger and so that compensate for lesser ROI.

At this level relationships, credit policy, location, brand demand, wholesale level market competition etc matters a lot for such business model.

So before you go for investing money in this niche, I will repeat, repeat my advise that is to spend some time with the real experts in this niche, learning everything from them.

Business Idea 13 : Telecommunication Franchise

Well, people are making immense profits in telecommunication at franchise level, although ROI is low, still like retail, wholesale, huge demand, sales volume, incentives from the company makes earning big time from telecommunication in Pakistan, way too easy!

All these telecommunication brands in Pakistan have very healthy compensation, commission plans, which not only help them achieve their market goals but also keep franchisee’s happy.

Though handling franchise activities can be a daunting task for even seasoned entrepreneurs due to tough competition and multinational level expectations but that doesn’t mean things are impossible here.

Again brand, location, brand service demand, service quality, packages, value added services etc play a key role in success of such business and I guess I don’t have to repeat my point of spending time with experienced guys in this niche … right?

Business Idea 14 : Telecommunication Company

Well, from what I have seen, heard from Area Sales Managers, Regional Manager, Regional Directors, telecommunication companies in Pakistan rarely go through any losses and ROI is immense.

So if you have like huge money in your bank account like the prime minister of pakistan then you should go for something similar like Nayatel in Islamabad!

Business Idea 15 : Cloth Business Retail

Although market is way too saturated for this niche but still there are people who are raking up huge returns by being in the business for just couple of years.

Again location, supplier’s policies, quality of product, demand of the product, negotiation skills etc matter a lot in such business and if you don’t know then spend some time ….

Business Idea 16 : Massage Furniture

Although niche and market segment that demand such products is small in Pakistan yet ROI in this niche is immense, you can sell a 10 thousand massage item for 25 thousand because your buyers tend to be middle middle class, middle upper class, upper class and elite who don’t care about money but comfort, quality etc.

Here store/outlet location, customer service, product quality, brand name, branding matters a lot.

Remember though, due to nature of your clients, you will have to handle (at times) incredible pressure in case of product failure or fault, so be careful with what you offer and you know, in Pakistan these people often have really big influence at higher levels … so might is right, be careful!

Business Idea 17 : Furniture

Well, everybody gets married, everybody thus buy furniture, though everybody consider his or her financial position while buying furniture…

Not just married guys do it, new offices, schools, universities, hotels, restaurants, new homes etc all of them need furniture, I would boldly say that it is Pakistan one of the most underrated business niche, I will put it second to medicine business.

Here price, quality (depends on your target market), location, design, fashion, product presentation etc matters a lot.

Plus the good thing is, furniture never expires and require very little maintenance!

Business Idea 18 : Cone Ice Cream

The ice cream making machine cost around 70K Pkr and once you buy that, all you need is little of raw material to make ice cream and a good location, you earn around 5-6 rupees in net profit per ice cream priced at 10 pkr.

So if you sell 200 ice Creams a day you make 1000 in net profit per day, that is 30K Pkr per month in net profits now imagine you have 3 more such machines at good locations…

The good thing about cone ice-cream business is, anyone can operate the machine, it only requires a power source and a small spot that won’t cost you much in rent, locations like being near to school, college, university etc will deliver maximum ROI.

So how about you make relationships with few schools, colleges principals, staff and then cash those relationships by cone Ice-cream 😉 I AM SO SMART! RIGHT?!

Lastly, yes it’s a seasonal item, so in winter you will have to do something else in those spots or you can just chill by enjoying with your summer money!

Business Idea 19 : Sachet Packaging

A normal sachet packaging machine costs around 2K-90K Pkr and once you have that machine, all you need is to find third party manufacturers who want to pack their products in sachets of varied sizes and voila! if you earn 2 rupees per sachet and that third party asks you pack around 50,000 thousand sachets a month, you will earn 1 lac in profit from just that single client.

Imagine having four or five such clients, packaging niche is under the rugs in Pakistan as most of the entrepreneurs don’t know or perceive sachet packaging a really daunting task requiring huge investments, complicated knowledge, know-how, but the truth is people are making huge money with third party manufacturing like sachets packaging, bottle filling etc with ease!

Relationships with third party manufacturers, market information, relationships with designers of packaging, quality of your service etc plays a vital role in achieving success in such business and like any other business it too requires time to succeed.

Again if you don’t know much about this niche but you are interested in investing, do watch youtube videos related to small scale, home based sachet packaging machines, their prices and sit with the experienced guys in this niche…

You will need one guy to operate machine, couple to pack and one to manage stock, accounts etc.

Business Idea 20 : Taxi (Part Time)

Pakistani taxi guys are stupid but you aren’t; you can make more out of it by giving rides to people but through proper planning, for instance after your office time you want to do taxi for two hours in a given city.

You should make brochures, add your contact number on it and tell your target audience in there, that you will come to pick them up from home or from any location inside the city with one phone call plus you will get few rides without that and so you will earn 300 pkr at least in net profit, that will be equal to 10K Pkr extra a month for just couple of hours.

You can also do a little search instead of using above approach, by finding a dozen clients that are willing to go with you each day for a fixed amount to their given locations at fixed (preferably after your office hours), all you will need to do is to adjust your taxi route as such that it leaves you with maximum profit at the end of those couple of hours.

There are tons of places like shopping malls, centers, markets from where dealers, businessmen go to their homes in taxis and so you can find such clients easily in you city and thus you can earn some good cash in less time.

Business Idea 21 : Professional Hair Salon

What’s better then having a professional salon (not so professional but you make your customer believe that you are some "cool professional" that knows all the international trends blah blah) right outside a private school, college, university, playground, youth park etc offer in fashion hair cuts at reasonable rates and at even better rates to permanent customers.

Just imagine you charge 120 Pkr per haircut and 250 per a fashion hair cut and you serve 50 customers daily, you will earn in between 6000-12000 Pkr daily, assuming that your monthly cost in terms of utility bills, rent, salaries, material/inventory etc is 70,000 per month still you will be earning at least 85,000 in net profit.

That is huge! 

Now imagine you have four such spots!

In this business niche, location, price, service quality, outlet decoration, branding (learn When and how to brand effectively), professionalism etc matters a lot.

Business Idea 22 : Tutoring Location Based

Well if you can hire few highly educated guys for like 10-15K Pkr per month, which is not something hard to do, considering Pakistan’s economy, sh*tty jobs situation and put these guys in a place for 4 hours daily to tutor kids (total kids are 50), where you charge each kid at least 1300Pkr per month in tuition fee and location rent is around 5K Pkr (by finding cheapest spot to rent).

You will end up earning 20,000 Pkr in net profit, assuming that you hired three guys for 12pkr (monthly salary) each, with location rent of 5K Pkr and 4 thousand in utility bills.

That way you will recover your initial investment (on chairs, tables, fans etc) few months and then healthy net profit will follow.

Lastly you may end up having more than fifty if your location is good, your service quality is great plus you never know what Pakistan population bomb can give you ;).

Business Idea 23 : Chicken Biryani Spot

A single chicken cost around 270 pkr, making it 12 pieces, it costs around 22 rupees per piece, a kg of rice can cost 50-80Pkr, that can make upto 6-8 plates of cooked rice, assuming that you pay 12K pkr to the cook, while your rent is 5K Pkr and your utility bills etc cost 3K Pkr.

Your initial investment is 80K Pkr and you serve 50 clients per day, charging each client 60 rupees for chicken biryani plate, you will end up earning 15000 (approximately) in net profit per month.

You will recover your initial investment in few months if the number of clients remain the same and vice versa.

Lastly increasing Chicken Biryani Spot will increase your net profit.

Business Idea 24 : Two Dish Restaurant

You can do the same, above math for this one too, just make sure you select a dish that has high demand, less preparation time, has good shelf life, think about Savour Foods brand.

Again if you interested in this niche but don’t know much about it then spend some time with the gurus in the field.

Business Idea 25 : Detergent Powder Business

A simple detergent powder, small scale machine will cost around 80K Pkr and a small scale sachet packaging machine will cost the same too, plus making packaging design will cost around 20-25K Pkr for 25-30 kg packages.

Remember, Package designer, Printers don’t take smaller orders, you will have to give them at least 20-25K Pkr order.

And they print packaging's/label's/shrink's not in numbers but in kg’s.

Raw material for making detergent powder will cost around 30K Pkr.

You will need to hire 1 guy to operate both, detergent making machine and sachet packaging machine, at least 2 guys to package the produced products and 3 guys with their own bikes to sale these items in the market and one guy (that can be you) to manage stock, accounts, inventory etc.

That is 7 guys in total!

Again if you don’t know about this niche, then watch some youtube videos on detergent manufacturing with small scale machines at homes and sit with experienced guys in this niche.

Business Idea 26 : Washing Soap

Again follow the above approach, Google soap making videos on small scale machines, soap making machine price, contact machine producers, ask for prices and order a machine that you can afford, make packaging, hire guys to manage production, handle packaging, stock, accounts and sales.

Business Idea 27, 28 : Mineral Water Manufacturing/Wholesale

It is probably the most easy business niche you can enter into and get out in case things doesn’t go as you want them, all you need is water filtration machine (RO Plant costs around 50K-5 Lac Pkr), a pipe that supply fresh water, bottle filling machine (costs around 70-90K Pkr) and loads of bottles with a creative label's/shrink's/packaging's cottons etc.

And hire couple of guys to package the produced items, one to handle RO plant, one to handle stock, accounts, inventory and three guys with their own bikes to do market, to make sales.

Set monthly sales target, make entry with low price and high quality, it will be great if your price is lower than all others out there in the market, this will help you attaining market share rapidly plus high quality will help you gaining customer trust.

Once you achieve that, which will take at least an year and a half, then increase your prices carefully while maintaining the same quality.

For wholesale, the same strategy should be followed, ask your manufacturer to give you best deals, give him solid reasons as to why such deals should be given to you and you will eventually achieve a good portion of the market consequently more sales thus increase in net profits.

Don’t forget to watch youtube videos to gain information on how small scale machines like RO Plants, Liquid Filler Machines are operated etc and like always don’t forget to spend some time with the niche Gurus!

Business Idea 29, 30 : Chips (Potato etc) Business Manufacturing, Wholesale

There is tremendous money in chips, no wonder there are dozens new brands coming in everyday, just check your local retailer and you will find at least a couple of dozen chips brands there lurking for kids!

Google chips manufacturing, watch Youtube videos, see how small scale machines works and for how much can you buy one etc what machines can be used to seal chips sachets, there are machines that can cost around 5 thousand rupees, yes 5 thousand rupees to seal chips sachets but that will require to hire more workers.

So search all these things and also learn from the people who have experience in this industry and then launch your own business.

Utilize the low price penetration and better quality strategy in both manufacturing and wholesale case.

Update: I have recently written a detailed practical howto article on Potato Chips Manufacturing, with all required machines mentioned by name, their functions explained, along with price of each and every machine, so if you want to launch your own potato chips brand like Lays, Oye Hoye, Kurkure etc then check out this article: Total Investment Required for a Small, Medium, Large Scale Potato Chips Factory.

That’s it, if you want a step by step practical approach to starting your business, if you want to eradicate those worries, fears you have when you think about starting your own business then read the following article.

I want to start a business but I have fear of FAILURE!

Over to you guys, sorry for typos in here, it took me a whole week to research and right this one, the ROI mentioned for each niche, I have collected them by personally contacting, visiting people in all these industries, niches.

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