Seen Any Interesting Small Businesses, Lately?

[Coffee]

Hi, Guys:

Because y'all have such sharp minds, I'm going to be posing this question every so often-- although I may rephrase it, slightly ...

Besides carpet cleaning (~zing) ... Have you seen any interesting small businesses, lately?  I'm looking for something I can start up as a sideline business, that won't be back breaking or incredibly boring.

My main gig generates a lot of revenue, but it's "here today, gone tomorrow" (even though it's been "here today" for over 12 years, now).  Anyway-- I'm on the look-out for a sideline gig that can provide more stability.

Anybody come across anything interesting, lately?

- Adam

[MediumTex]

How much money do you want to make?

How much money do you want to invest?

How much time do you want to devote to it?

[Coffee]

1.  How much money do you want to make?

2.  How much money do you want to invest?

3.  How much time do you want to devote to it?

Hi, Tex:

1. Ideally, something that I can scale up or scale down, depending on how much I want to make.  But if I had to give you a ballpark, I'd say anything between $1k-$2k a month -- but could be cranked up to $5k+.

2. I'm flexible on this, but probably <$10k.  

3.  10-20 hours a week.  

I could start up another dog training business, but I'm bored with that.  As a business model, it's got a lot going for it... all you really need is: Your marketing materials, merchant account and less than $300 in leashes and equipment.  But I don't want to work with dog owners anymore.  

[Edit: I should add: I'm looking for something I can do, myself.  I don't want employees. ]

[LifestyleFreedom]

Build a passive income stream by creating and marketing intellectual property:

• Write a book on a timeless subject you know and love (e.g., a suggestion for your case:  How to Train Your Dog).
• Self-publish your book on Amazon (e.g., http://www.newselfpublishing.com/blog/). Amazon fills the orders and collects the payments (which you get eventually, less Amazon's cut, of course).
• Have all sorts of fun writing blog posts on your subject and build a fan base.  Any Google advertising revenue from your blog sites is extra income.  Any speaker fees you earn because you are now a recognized expert on the subject is also extra income.

If your book bombs (as most do, including the one I tried [which shall remain nameless]), then spend as little money as possible writing the book so that you can hopefully recover your out-of-pocket creation expense (which my bombed book did recover -- I made a couple hundred dollars of net profit [not counting the cost of my time to write the book -- I can rationalize my failure as a labor of love]).

I will try this again someday (as one of my "profitable hobbies"), but not just yet.  I did learn a lot, though, that I will use when I write my next book.  I will choose a better topic that will more likely become a timeless steady seller (ideally).

Books formatted for e-readers (e.g., Amazon Kindle, which hadn't been invented yet when I did my book) are becoming popular.  If you know how to use an authoring tool (such as Microsoft Word) and run application software (such as the compiler program that turns a Word document into the Kindle format), then all that's left to do is write a book on a subject you love and know a lot about.  Enough other people also need to love the same subject and be willing to pay money for more information about it.

[Gumby]

1.  How much money do you want to make?

2.  How much money do you want to invest?

3.  How much time do you want to devote to it?

Hi, Tex:

1. Ideally, something that I can scale up or scale down, depending on how much I want to make.  But if I had to give you a ballpark, I'd say anything between $1k-$2k a month -- but could be cranked up to $5k+.

2. I'm flexible on this, but probably <$10k.  

3.  10-20 hours a week.  

I could start up another dog training business, but I'm bored with that.  As a business model, it's got a lot going for it... all you really need is: Your marketing materials, merchant account and less than $300 in leashes and equipment.  But I don't want to work with dog owners anymore.  

[Edit: I should add: I'm looking for something I can do, myself.  I don't want employees. ]

Since you already have the necessary skills....

Puppy day care. In your back yard.

I know someone who started a puppy day care business. The yard was puppy-proofed and fitted with lots of puppy toys, puppy pools and puppy forts. The pups are dropped off by 8:30am, in time for class. They spend the day romping, playing, learning social skills and good manners from their "pack leader." The puppies are dying to play with each other each morning. They love it. All pups come home dead tired — which the owners love. It's honestly the cutest thing you've ever seen, and a lot of fun.

The pack leader (you), a professional trainer, keeps the pack in line throughout the day and makes sure the puppies play well together — use a spray bottle filled with water to squirt the pups if they misbehave. Every pup gets one serving of high quality dog food as lunch/treats (for simplicity, owners cannot provide their own dog food). After lunch, the puppies crash and take a nap — it just happens naturally. During nap time the pack leader sends photos and a daily group report, or blog post, on what's happened during the day. Who played with whom, who dug a hole, who needs to work on manners, and so on. Take daily photos and post them to a blog or website. Puppies may be picked up at 5pm with late fees beginning at 6pm. Puppies are brought inside, into a cordoned off playroom, when the weather requires it.

Tiny pups and small dogs start in one class (Day 1) and graduate to the larger pup class (Day 2). All puppies "graduate" when they reach 40 Lbs or 1 year of age — whichever comes first. Well behaved small dogs over 1 year can qualify for small adult days (as you ramp up).

The puppies learn vital social skills all day, and go home exhausted from all of the playing. Owners love it because their hyper and energetic puppies are much calmer and happier for a 24/48 hour period after classes. These pups would otherwise be locked up all day and likely grow up without the social skills they need to become well-balanced adult dogs. It is a wonderful and rewarding service for the puppies.

Each puppy class is $35 per puppy. It's totally worth it, and each client is really only paying for one day (class) per week. Owners can purchase 10 classes for a small discount. Puppy supplies are sold in the mud room. If a puppy is absent, without canceling in advance, clients are still required to pay for the class.

Target the average class size from 7 to 15 puppies — don't do more than 15 spots per class. Roughly $500 to $1,000 per week if you do 2 classes per week. Ramp up to 3 or 4 classes per week as popularity grows — roughly $1,000 to $2,000/week. Expenses are relatively low, but be sure to insure for liabilities.

Make a deal with a local pet-supply store to hold a FREE Saturday or Sunday morning 1-hour puppy play hour — every weekend or even once a month will do. It gets you new clients and they learn about your service. The store enjoys the event because it gets people into the store. Start selling additional gear, toys, services, special training classes to your clients and your alumni. Get commissions for some referrals to local businesses. etc. etc.

What do you do for work? You get to play with puppies all day

It's exhausting, but a lot of fun.

[Coffee]

Thanks, guys.

Lifestyle: Without sounding like I'm tooting my own horn... I'm already an expert-level internet marketer.  I own DogProblems.com -- one of the category killers in the dog training niche, as well as several other top-tier dog related domain names.  But Google is a fickle mistress that can't be depended on.  And I'm really looking for something to do locally-- that gets me away from the computer... and the dogs.

Regarding Kindles: I just released (yesterday) my latest book for the Kindle marketplace, but non-fiction books for the Kindle are at best a lead generation tool:

Dogs of Our Fathers


Gumby: No more dogs stuff for me, please.  I need to branch out from this niche.  But I appreciate the ideas.  Keep 'em coming!!

I want something similar to MT's carpet cleaning gig.  (Just not carpet cleaning.  I don't have the muscles for it. LOL.)

- Adam

[MediumTex]

Regarding Kindles: I just released (yesterday) my latest book for the Kindle marketplace, but non-fiction books for the Kindle are at best a lead generation tool:

Dogs of Our Fathers

- Adam

Okay, I just purchased a copy of your book.  I'm sure it will be a well-spent 99 cents.

I will post a review when I finish it.

[Coffee]

Go easy on me, Tex.

[MediumTex]

Go easy on me, Tex.

Even if you know your subject well, writing books is hard.

I applaud the effort. 

I look forward to learning more about the history of dog training.  Regardless of the topic, spending  some time with writing styles of past eras is always entertaining.  You could pick up a 1900 newspaper from any city in the U.S. and have a ball with the many layers of irony you will normally see.

[Coffee]

Agreed.

All of the content for this book (with the exception of a brief introduction) was taken from pre-1923 texts in the public domain.

... which I thought would make the task of creating a book like this easy. It wasn't. I think I could have written a book from scratch in the same amount of time it took to find, select and edit and organize this project.

I selected and put together this book, three separate times before finding the right works to use. Definitely a learning process. The next one I do, I'm likely going to either write 100%, or else repulish ONE old title, rather than an amalgam of several.  

By the way-- I had the cover designed for $5 at Fiverr.com.

[LifestyleFreedom]

I could never be successful at this myself (which means less competition for everyone else), but have you considered stand-up comedy?  Apparently, the performing arts can be a good do-over for some people.  Getting involved late in life means having plenty of material to draw on.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 73244.html

[Coffee]

Lifestyle: That would be a dream job, if I had it to "do over" again. 

This is more along the lines of what I was thinking, when I started the thread.  I like the recession-proof aspect to it, a lot:

http://www.oregonlive.com/lake-oswego/i ... esses.html

[LifestyleFreedom]

I agree that repair businesses are not only recession proof businesses, but also recession growth businesses.  My parents and grandparents lived through the Great Depression and World War II.  They always chose to fix something when it broke (if possible) rather than throw it out and buy something new.  This included shoes, clothing, appliances, cars, electronics (radios), furniture, and so forth.

Over the years, I've gotten lazy.  It's always been easier for me within reason to throw something out and buy a new replacement (I keep fixing my cars until the ongoing repair costs exceed a third of what a new car would cost when financed, but I don't darn my socks or sew my clothes).  With the slow economy and high unemployment projected to last for the next several years (assuming the prognosticators are right), a repair business might be the way to go if you have a knack for repairing things.

Many products are not that easy to repair anymore.  Consumer electronics are often easier to replace than fix (e.g., cell phones); in other cases, you might swap out a circuit module rather than replace any components on that module (e.g., desktop PCs).  I understand that cars are so complex these days (due to the fancy features and mileage/smog requirements) that even independent garages can't fix them anymore because the cost of diagnostic equipment is very high.

One trend that is underway (assuming the prognosticators are right) is wireless home networks.  These networks are a challenge for consumers and small business owners to set up (generally).  If you have a knack for connecting a device to a secured wireless network, you may have a market.  I've noticed that many stores selling these electronics are willing for a fee to come to your home and help you get your computer equipment working, so that kind of need may be an opportunity if you seek employment or competition if you seek your own business.

[Coffee]

I was just looking into the cell phone repair business model.  Seems like if you break the screen on a $400 iPhone, you're more likely to spend the $50-$100 to get the screen repaired.

[AdamA]

Lifestyle: That would be a dream job, if I had it to "do over" again. 

This is more along the lines of what I was thinking, when I started the thread.  I like the recession-proof aspect to it, a lot:

http://www.oregonlive.com/lake-oswego/i ... esses.html

A good friend of mine is a stand up comedian...it's a tough job.  But, it would probably be a little bit easier if you have acheived a bit of financial independence already..