Nowadays every business could go digital or at least benefit immensely by being present in the virtual world.
Take for example teachers who might be working in person in a high school, college, or kindergarten but also offer online lessons to students who need tutoring.
The glory of the Internet comes from the fact that it connects people from all over the world and allows them to exchange services or goods without being tied down to a physical space.
People oftentimes struggle with tasks that should be easy to complete but for some reason aren’t. And that’s how the idea to create a marketplace or a platform usually pops up in someone’s head.
For instance, Airbnb is an example of a P2P marketplace platform that was created because the founders saw an opportunity in the hotel room shortage during a conference in their town and offered strangers to stay in their loft.
But apart from the accommodation business, there are many other niche marketplace ideas that you could venture into.
What are some examples of service marketplaces?
The marketplace start-up ideas that we’ll discuss in this article offer services in the fields of tutoring, coaching, consulting, accounting, home trade, and entertainment.
You can also pick a more general niche and create a freelance marketplace that connects independent professionals working within the same or similar departments with customers.
For instance, the field of consulting could offer guidance in terms of marketing, business strategy, finance, HR, PR, law, IT, sales, and many more. You could either focus on just one or combine a few under the same marketplace umbrella.
Of course, different marketplace business ideas would require different business models.
Let’s say consulting is indeed your niche, the above-mentioned services would result in you launching a B2B marketplace as the clients would typically be business owners.
However, if you choose to focus on career development consulting your service providers would most likely assist individuals to grow professionally.
To better understand how different marketplace start-up ideas differentiate, let’s look at each one on its own.
Tutoring marketplace
Tutoring is one of the most booming niches among online marketplaces as it could be done by professional educators as well as people with hobbies and talents that would like to pass down their skills to someone else.
Especially during the pandemic, it was a very common approach among students preparing for exams and people who’d like to enrich their knowledge for fun.
Tutoring could vary between a professional service marketplace for online teaching and a more diverse place for crafts, hobbies, and fun practices such as learning how to play the guitar or how to sculpt.
It all depends on your knowledge about the niche and your research on the supply and demand dynamic.
Coaching marketplace
Coaching on the other hand is usually pretty straightforward. It could be wellness and health-oriented, it could be fitness and nutrition based, or it could be about lifestyle.
Hence, to become a coach you need to possess certain qualifications and accreditations, otherwise, clients wouldn’t trust you for such delicate matters.
As the owner of a marketplace of such nature, you’d have to know the niche very well to attract professionals willing to list their services on your website. And you’d have to assure customers that they’d get top-tier attendance.
Even so, it’s a very promising niche as one of its key benefits is that it offers convenience. Clients can access coaching services from the comfort of their home or workspace, eliminating the need to travel to a coach’s office.
Also, online coaching could be more affordable as coaches don’t have to pay for commuting, office rent, utilities, or overhead costs.
Consulting marketplace
As we already highlighted, good consulting usually does wonders for businesses. And there are various sub-departments on which you could base your niche marketplace.
No matter the area of work, consultants usually assess the needs of the clients, conduct research and data analysis as well as develop strategies and solutions.
The more specialized your consulting marketplace is, the greater attention to detail your consultants would be able to pay.
Therefore, our advice is to dive deep into one of the many consulting options and offer the best solutions to other entrepreneurs, managers, and workers.
This way you’ll manage to keep a loyal clientele and recruit the best talents. When it comes to a freelance marketplace, quality is more highly valued than quantity.
Accounting marketplace
Accounting consultants may specialize in financial analysis, tax planning and compliance, budgeting, bookkeeping, audit and assurance services, and other financial reports or issues.
Their role is to provide advice on improving internal controls, financial systems and processes, and other strategic financial management initiatives.
Accounting consultants can be particularly useful for businesses that lack the resources or expertise to manage complex financial matters on their own.
By hiring an accounting consultant, a business can gain access to specialized knowledge and skills that can improve its financial performance, reduce costs, and manage risks.
It’s a niche that never stops being in demand as it helps businesses stay afloat and perform better.
Home trade marketplace
Home trade marketplaces serve as a middleman between homeowners and tradespeople.
Whenever people are looking for contractors, garden specialists, builders, electricians, or other help around the house, home trade marketplaces offer the perfect solution.
Usually, this sector is quite precarious as constructors might not be that experienced, and customers are left dissatisfied.
Marketplaces offer a certain level of trust and accountability as they require tradespeople to undergo background checks, and skills tests, and require proof of insurance and licensing as well as a certain level of customer satisfaction.
Entertainment marketplace
A talent booking platform could be an example of an entertainment marketplace.
The goal is to connect event organizers with performers such as musicians, comedians, and speakers.
These platforms offer a convenient way for event organizers to discover and book talent for their events, while also offering performers a centralized platform to promote their services.
Some marketplaces of this sort specialize in helping event organizers find local talents to perform at small events such as weddings, corporate parties, and other private events.
Other talent booking platforms focus on connecting performers with larger events, such as festivals and concerts.
These platforms may offer a wider range of performers, including headline acts and established entertainers. They may also offer additional services such as event production and marketing support to help event organizers plan and execute successful events.
How do you create a service marketplace?
The most common misconception is that marketplaces cost a fortune to be built, up, and running. However, there are many ways to save money on app development by using a no-code solution.
Some service marketplace ideas remain in one’s imagination because people are scared that building a platform or a marketplace requires not only substantial funds but also advanced tech skills.
💡 Pro tip
3veta is a no-code service marketplace builder that can help any entrepreneur carry out their service marketplace idea with zero programming skills, a small budget, and without having to wait months.
You may be worried that your specific idea might require more elaborate features, but our team has compiled a list of marketplace features, also known as modules, that cover every essential aspect.
For instance, on top of all UX – related features, we ensure that you enjoy excellent video conferencing and scheduling features. We do so because every no-code service marketplace needs seamless communication between clients and service providers.
Another fear you may have is that all of this would come at the cost of your marketplace branding. Well, we would hate to take your identity away by putting our logo everywhere.
Hence, you’ll also make use of our white-label solution that will allow you to personalize your marketplace and use your logo and colors everywhere!
Interested? We’d love to get in touch.
Final thoughts
There may be various service marketplace ideas but essentially, all of them work on the same basis.
Ensuring that you’re employing the right tools according to the niche you’re interested in is the first step on your marketplace journey.
Not sure where to start? Check our guide on how to launch your marketplace in 5 easy steps.