Directory websites can work really well, but often they take a fair amount of setting up and upfront costs before you can make any money off them.

You first need to decide what area you are going to go in to for your directory. For example, are you going to have a directory just for one type of business such as builders or do you want different trades people or businesses to be able to register, so more of a local directory which contains a number of industries?

You need to think carefully about the pricing structure. Are you going to charge people to be listed on to a directory website or are you going to allow them to list for free but then sell advertising space? Some directories charge a flat rate to make a basic listing and then charge extra to allow them to add their email address or reviews / images etc.

When it comes to selling advertising space, you will need to prove that you have a decent amount of traffic coming through to the site first as not money companies will be willing to pay a huge amount to advertise on a site that is not up and running.