50 Small Businesses to Start in a Shipping Container – Seriously!

Due to high construction costs and new innovations in architecture, more and more companies are turning to non-traditional facilities to house their business operations. Shipping containers in particular can be very utilitarian and cost effective.

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Shipping Container Business Ideas

Here are some ideas for businesses that can work well in this type of space.

Clothing Retailer

Shipping containers can provide the space you need to run any kind of small retail business, like a clothing boutique. If you need more space, you can even stack them, like AETHER in San Francisco as seen above.

Gift Shop

Another type of small retail business, a gift shop can also be a perfect idea for a shipping container business, since the format could serve as an interesting attention getter for tourists.

Antique Sales

You could also open up a small antique store or refinishing space where you sell anything from furniture to collectibles.

Pop-up Shop

Perhaps you want to simply allow other businesses to use your space for special sales, holidays, or events. You could open up a pop-up location in a shipping container.

Shopping Mall

You might even consider setting up multiple shipping containers in a single area and working with multiple shops and other businesses to rent out the space.

Workshop Space

If you have a creative skill or thing to teach a small group of people, use a shipping container to serve as your workshop space.

Art Gallery

You could even use it as a gallery space to display your own artwork or those from others in the community. Photoville is an event in Brooklyn that has made use of shipping containers for this purpose.

Book Shop

Bookshops are popular with tourists and event participants. And since books don’t take up too much space, this is another retail concept that can work in a shipping container.

Ecommerce Business

You can also simply use your shipping container as an office and storage facility to run an online shop.

Florist

Use your shipping container as a small space to create flower arrangements, and set up somewhere where you can grow flowers or other plants right outside.

Farmers Market

Farmers markets are often held outdoors. But you could set up a series of shipping containers to provide a bit of extra shade and protection from the elements.

Equipment Rentals

You could also use it as a space to store and arrange the rental of equipment, ranging from tools for nearby homeowners to surf gear if you’re set up near a coast.

Restaurant

Smoky Park Supper Club in North Carolina has actually built around its initial shipping container model and become a destination in the area.

Meal Prep Service

Another type of food business, you could use the small space you have to create prepared meals that you can sell directly to consumers.

Event Venue

You might also use the space as an area that customers can rent out for small dinners or parties.

Bakery

Or you could set up a small shop full of baked goods that people can purchase or enjoy at some small tables.

Coffee Shop

The space could also be used as a coffee shop or cafe where you serve a variety of beverage options.

Tasting Room

For a more events focused business, you could use the space as a tasting room and bring in different local beer, wine, or other drink options.

Bar

With a bar, a shipping container concept gives you the opportunity to build a small and intimate setting indoors and a more open outdoor area as well. The Gulf in Alabama is one example of this.

Distillery

You could even distill your own drinks in the space to create a more unique feel and menu.

Visitor’s Center

If you want to create a business that attracts tourists in your area, you could set up a shipping container as a small space that people can visit to find information.

Tour Guide Company

Or you could use it as the home base for a tour guide company, where your guides and visitors can leave from to view different parts of the area.

Campground

For a more outdoorsy vibe, you could use it as the office of a campground.

Resort

Or you could set up multiple containers that people can actually stay in when they travel.

Tiny Home Community

Similarly, you could make each container into an actual home space and then rent them out to long-term tenants.

Hair Salon

Simple, one-on-one service businesses can also work in shipping containers. You could use the space to set up a small hair salon.

Nail Salon

Or you could choose a similar focus, like offering manicures and pedicures.

Spa

You could even offer a more well rounded group of services by opening up a spa in a shipping container, similar to what SOAK did in San Francisco.

Massage Therapy Service

Massage therapy is another type of service that can work well in a small space like a shipping container.

Soap Maker

A storage container can also serve as a place where you can make small products to sell, like bath and body products.

Candle Maker

Similarly, you can use it to make candles or other small home goods.

Ceramics Shop

Or you could set up a shop where you make ceramic dishes and other products out of clay.