5 Businesses I Wouldn’t Start in 2027 — and 5 Models I’d Look at Instead

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Search “best businesses to start” and you’ll see the same ideas on repeat: dropshipping, influencing, a generic marketing agency, something on Amazon. Technically, they can all still work. But “can work” and “where I’d put my time and money today” are two very different things.

After nearly a decade in ecommerce and online business, I’ve learned that the business model matters almost as much as the entrepreneur. A great operator can fight through a difficult model, but why choose one that demands enormous time, has razor-thin margins or depends on constantly finding your next customer?

Heading into 2027, I’m drawn to three things: leverage, recurring revenue and systems. Here are five businesses I’d think twice about starting from scratch, and what I’d consider instead.

A few years ago, the playbook was simple: land a few local clients at $1,000 or $2,000 a month, outsource the work and scale. But everyone got the memo. Generalist agencies now compete with freelancers, offshore teams, in-house hires and increasingly capable AI tools.

Solve one expensive problem for one type of business. Help dental practices follow up with leads who never scheduled. Build AI customer-service workflows for ecommerce brands. Automate reminders and customer reactivation for home-service companies.