50 Best Halal Small Business ideas

Are you an Islamic faithful looking for a business to start; a business that aligns with your faith? If YES, here are 50 best Halal business ideas for 2019.

Halal is an Arabic word which means lawful or permitted. The opposite of halal is haram, which means unlawful or prohibited. Halal and haram are universal terms that apply to all facets of life. Because 'halal' simply means 'permissible' in the Arabic language, it can be alluded to any product or service which does not violate Islamic laws and social norms in any way.

It is generally used in relation to food products, meat products, cosmetics, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, food ingredients, and food contact materials. In reference to food, it is the dietary standard as prescribed in the Quran (the Muslim scripture).

The large population of Muslims in the world today presents a great opportunity for entrepreneurs and manufacturers of halal food, cosmetics, personal care and pharmaceutical products. Global Muslim consumption of the aforementioned product categories is estimated at US$1.26tn a year.

It is estimated that the halal sector will reach as much as $3.7 trillion by the year 2019. With these figures in mind, it is obvious that this is a very good time to start businesses that are focused on the Muslim faith. Here are 50 Halal business ideas;

50 Best Halal Business ideas for 20191. Halal Bed and Breakfast: this business idea is especially good for someone who has spare rooms in city or country that attracts tourist. A Halal bed and breakfast will attract Muslim tourists and travelers. Starting this type of business does not require a lot of capital and it can be operated right from the comfort of your house.

This also gives you the opportunity to meet new people and network! You can find customers by uploading profiles on services such as air-bnb or listing with many Halal Travel agencies.

2. Halal tourism: The Islamic Tourism market is largely untapped and as such, it presents a lot of opportunities for making good money. Halal Tourism provides Muslim tourists with travel destinations and services that are compliant to the Sharia laws and dictates. A lot of Muslim travelers would prefer to be in an environment that is sensitive to their culture such as no alcohol consumption, limits to gender mixing and availability of praying facilities et al.

3. Halal Child Care Service: with the increase in women’s rights in many parts of the Muslim world, many Muslim spouses are both in the working class. This presents a corresponding increase in the demand for child care services. A lot of Muslim parents would prefer their child be to taken care of in a Halal day care.

This type of business does not necessarily require a lot of startup capital and working from home is still a possibility unless you decide to run the service at a different location. With the appropriate marketing strategy, you should not have any difficulty finding new customers. You can also make use of word of mouth referrals.

4. Halal in-home Takeout: it you love cooking, then you can always make money from it. Takeout services is growing fast and these days, a lot of Muslims prefer to go for quality home cooked meal instead of buying from restaurants where they are not sure if the food they are buying are Halal meals or not.

Not to mention that quality halal food is not the easiest to find, with many sacrificing quality in a very competitive market. Running a take out from your home or a small kiosk outside your house is sure to attract your neighbors that do not have the time to cook et al. and with the proper tending, your business will grow.

5. Halal Caterer: if you are a specialist in cooking foods that are permissible under Halal, then you can offer your services as a caterer and cater for events such as birthdays, weddings, anniversary party’s et al.

6. Halal Food truck: these days, the food truck is one of the most profitable food retail businesses in metro cities. The business model has been tested and tried and a lot of startup companies are making huge waves with the business. The business can be likened to a restaurant on wheels, and you are serving the food at customer’s accessible location.

You can cater to the needs of Muslims by starting a food truck that provides food that are permissible under Halal. In addition, you can take advantage of IT and launch a specific app that provides the exact location of your truck in order to attract more customers.

7. Halal Recipe Blogger: a lot of people will like to cook Halal foods for themselves, but they do not know how to prepare it. If you are skilled in various halal recipe you can share it with the world, through your website or blog.

8. Halal bookshop: you can open a bookshop where you can sell the Holy Quran and other religious books on the Muslim religion. There is a large market for the Holy Quran and other religious books especially if you have done your homework before stocking your bookshop with books. Irrespective of what you may think, there are not enough book shops in the United States today.

Even though e-books are taking over, there is still nothing that can totally replace that feeling of curling up on the sofa with a hard copy book. In addition to operating a book store from a physical location, it will also be advantageous to also have an online store from where your customers can easily buy your books.

9. Islamic Marriage Bureau: you can open up an Islamic marriage bureau which will help Muslims complete half their deen (religion). Finding a marriage partner is becoming difficult for many people within Muslim communities. Introducing potential matches to suitors can be an economically beneficial business start-up idea.

10. Halal dating app: Muslim singles at times find it difficult to find partners in the United States who are willing to get married especially when you factor religion into the equation. You can create a dating app to help out with this. As smartphone technology are becoming ever more popular, if you are tech inclined, then you can set up a Halal dating app which is aligning with relationship trends as many people switch to finding life partners online.

11. Halal blogging: a blog is an individual website that is updated on a regular basis. If you love to write, then you can open up a blog where you can discuss a range of issues in the Islamic world such as modest fashion, Halal business news, Halal travel, lifestyle et al. There are many different ways by which a blog can be monetized so you should not stick to just one.

You can make money through blogging by putting up adverts on your blog, selling your own courses and books, affiliate marketing and of course Google AdSense. The more traffic you have, the more money you’ll make. Even if you post to your blog every day but only have ten people looking at it, you won’t make much money.

12. You can set up a store where historical books in the Islamic genre are sold. You can also sell archaeological literary gems to keen collectors and obtain good prices for specialist and rare items.

13. Life coach: you can become a Halal life coach providing advice and guidance for clients in relation to motivating and enhancing life experiences.

14. Halal children story publisher: if you are good in storytelling, then you may choose to become a children’s story publisher, creating material around Islamic stories which are child friendly, full of colors and Islamic teachings and lessons.

15. Private tutoring: people usually look to hire private tutors for themselves or their kids so as to help them improve their written and spoken Arabic. If you are a teacher or you are skilled in Arabic, you could look for people who are willing to hire private tutors and offer your services to such people.

16. Online tutoring: The internet is home to a wide range of tutoring options, where you can teach someone who lives across the world, all from the comfort of your own home. Once you’ve built a free online tutor profile, eager students can connect with you over the web. You can teach Arabic Lessons through Skype or FaceTime, and hourly rates generally hover between 12 dollars to 35 dollars an hour and sometimes you can even charge higher.

If you have a busy schedule, you can set the days and times that you will not be available so that you will not leave your clients stranded. Online tutoring is a very good business that you can use to make some money on the side while still being able to build a relationship with others through a one on one session.

17. Calligraphy: Become a calligraphy teacher and help students learn how to write Arabic in a majestic manner using ancient techniques, helping individuals boost their creativity and developing talent.

18. Halal greeting cards: you can make a business out of Islamic themed greeting cards for special season such as Eid and Ramadan.

19. Nashed artist: Use your voice to become a Nasheed artist and perform at events such as religious gatherings and weddings.

20. Play the duff: the duff is one of the musical instruments that is permissible in Islam. You can learn to play the duff and perform at events such as Eid parties, religious occasions, cultural gatherings and community fun days.

21. Magazine: you can create a digital magazine that is focused on Islam and the Islamic economy and then sell advertising space.

22. Islamic marriage counselor: married life is not always easy for some because there are a lot of challenges along the way. As a marriage counselor, you will be tasked with guiding couples towards a successful union. If you are skilled enough, then you can become an Islamic marriage counsellor dealing with situations affecting couples, though training and accreditation may be required.

23. Clothing store: you can start a Hijab clothing store. You can decide to either take the brick and mortar route by opening a physical store, or you can set up an online store.

24. Sporting clothing: there are sport hijabs that allow Muslim women to participate in sport while reducing the impractical challenges that comes with wearing a hijab. You can create sports Hijabs and sell to Muslim females who train in the gyms, outdoors or want to participate in sport competitions.

25. Painting and art: Become an Islamic artist by painting canvasses, creating art, oil paintings and sketches and sell these to customers. If you are not gifted as a painter, you can buy from artists and then resell to other people at a higher price.

26. Tour guide: if you live in a city with Islamic history, then you can become a tour guide and take tourists around your locality explaining historical events, discussing architecture and showcasing interesting historical facts about the vicinity.

27. Halal travel agency: Set up a Halal travel agency providing holiday packages to places such as the UAE, Turkey, Malaysia and the Maldives. Halal travel is on the rise and is becoming more popular with the emerging Muslim middle class who have more income to spend. With the right marketing, halal travel packages have the potential of becoming a big business.

28. Bridals: you can create a business that is centered on wedding dresses for Muslim brides and sell them to shops and in your locality.

29. Tailor: if you skilled at making, repairing or adjusting ill-fitting clothes, then you can take advantage of this business idea. You will need a sewing machine and cloth materials to get started. You can also extend your services to include shalwar kameez, abayas, garments and other modest clothing.

30. Fashion designer: instead of going into tailoring, you can specialize in modest fashion designing. Muslim apparel reached around $253 billion in sales in the year 2015.

31. Video game: if you have the tech skills, you can create a Halal friendly video game available for download on online platforms.

32. Halal cooking tutorials: cooking is not just a skill that is limited to the kitchen in your house. It can also lead to a successful full time job or a side hustle. If you are a caterer who knows how to prepare Halal dishes, you can extend your services to include tutoring prospective cooks on how to prepare various dishes. Offer cooking classes which create Halal dishes and foods and by doing this, you can help to teach and train people to become better cooks.

33. Candles and incenses: candle and incense are regularly used for worship in this religion. There is money to be made from the sale of these products.

34. Gift basket: Create Halal gift baskets full of goodies which can be given at weddings, as presents and on special occasions and be sold to the public.

35. Halal virtual assistant: virtual assistants are growing in popularity in recent times because they reduce the cost that would have normally been incurred by employing regular staff. A virtual office assistant provides services in the same way that a normal assistant would. He/she sends emails, enters data, manages calendar and helps in the upkeep of the social media account. Most virtual assistant jobs usually pay between $10 to $15 an hour. You can become a virtual assistant for an existing Halal business online.

36. Podcast: a podcast is like a personal radio show where you talk about specific topics. You can create a podcast where you will discuss the Islamic religion. Before you think about monetizing your podcast, you have to make sure that it is filled with rich and engaging content.  You can monetize your podcast through sponsorship, affiliate marketing or even sale of your own product.

37. YouTube channel: this is one of the most versatile ideas that you can easily execute from the comfort of your home. When well-managed, a YouTube channel can be just as or even more profitable than a traditional blog. For starters, you don’t require a domain nor do you need to spend money on hosting your channel. You also have a large audience and a readymade platform for you to work with.

Furthermore, AdSense approval through YouTube is easy and what’s more, you can start earning from the very first day you create your account and make a post. You can just go to YouTube, upload a video and you can get started from there. You can create a YouTube channel that is based on the Islam religion and share your faith with others.

Every day, over 5 billion videos are watched on YouTube and your video can be one of them. You can get paid through by enabling Google AdSense on your channel, through sponsored videos and through sale of your services or the services of others on YouTube.

38. E-book publishing: if you want to publish books nowadays, you don’t have to do it the hard way which involves getting editors, publishing companies and all that. You can just head over to Amazon (the website) where you can become a kindle direct publisher which will enable you to publish e-books on amazon.

Amazon is not only the biggest e-book website but it is also one of the biggest market places in the world. So overall they have a large amount of traffic which you can take advantage of to make a lot of sales. You can write an e-book that is based on the Islam faith, upload e-book and make a lot of money at no cost.

39. Halal wedding planning: if you at skilled at the art of event management and you know how to organize wedding according to the Muslim tradition, then you can take advantage of the many weddings that are happening and offer your service as an event manager. You can do this business as just one individual or you can hire dedicated and experienced people to help you out in your endeavors.

40. Halal cosmetics: Halal cosmetics are body and skin care products which are free from the materials that are forbidden by the Islamic religion. Halal cosmetics are based on the concepts of Halal and non-Halal, Najis and Mutanajis, safety and quality. Halal cosmetic is considered as an innovation to the cosmetic industry as it introduces new external and internal operations that will serve the growing customer needs.

Halal cosmetics are concerned towards halal compliance that are basically applied upon the entire supply chain which ranges from sourcing of raw materials to manufacturing, transportation, freight handling and warehousing. If you know how to produce these cosmetics then you can go ahead to produce and sell it to others.

41. Halal pharmaceutical: halal pharmaceuticals contain ingredients permitted under Sharia and do not contain ingredients or go through any processes that are considered to be haram. You can go into the production or distribution of these drugs and make money from it.