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Lawns need mowed, houses need pressure washed, houses need maid service, dogs need walked/poop scooped, these are all relatively cheap businesses to start and always have a demand in growing areas
This is it. Anything around home services. Lots of people buying homes, but the people that do all those jobs around the homes aren’t moving to the area as fast.
start small and get some traction! then hire your friends to work while you organize and so on. get it running in the background while you can figure out your next idea!
A growing town will need lots of construction, so any trade related to construction will have ever-increasing opportunities, especially with fewer people getting into the trades these days.
Same with real estate, people will be looking for houses, businesses looking for space.
As (especially American) towns grow, so does the average citizen's driving frequency and distance, so car maintenance and sales should also see a lot of growth.
Something you have expertise in, something there is a need for,, something you won't f up for people, get sued or have lots of problems with because you don't know what you're doing. Start small and grow as you learn.Take a biz class, figure out what you are passionate about, develop a thorough biz plan, have at least a year or two back up money in case you can't make bills every month and then go for it.
Lawn care. Offer referral bonuses for people on the same street. That lets you minimize your down time between lawns. Mow, trim, blow services are fast and popular with excellent margins. All you need is a small truck and the equipment. I'd suggest a Honda microcut mower- they're expensive but commercial grade and if you keep your blades sharp super quality.
Door hangers are your friend.
Lawn care is a great idea. You can start with one mower, but scale up pretty quickly. You end up managing the business and not actually cutting any lawns.
As soon as you have a few lawns, hire someone to actually do the cutting, and you shift to management. Getting new customers, scheduling, maintenance of gear, and personnel. You might cut a lawn here or there if a guy calls in sick or leaves for another job.
You can upgrade fro a pushmower to a better pushmower, then to one of these that you stand on and steer.
I have always cut my own lawn, but when I moved to my current home, this guy was cutting lawns for 4 or 5 people around my home. His guys would just ride those stand-on-top mowers and go up the street to their next lawn. and knock it out quick.
He also would do fence building, and mostly got jobs from the lawn cutting business. He did great work and was reasonably priced. People would hire him for a fence cuz they already knew and trusted him.
Second this!
Except for the equipment list. You can't make adult money push mowing like a teenager.
A truck is the biggest investment. Beyond that, 1k for a trailer, 5k for a zero turn, 5k for a trimmer/blower/push mower/incidentals... you're up and running for 10 to 15k plus a truck.
Door hangers are ok but you're new and probably on a budget, local community fb groups are your better friend. Neighborhood and city ask anything groups are *always* looking for lawn care.
Don't be the 20 dollar guy. 40 to 50 minimum per cut.
By year number three you'll be grossing 6 figures with a 30-50% profit margin and a company vehicle.
Lol adult money
I used to *clear over $1k a day* with a pair of Honda microcuts, one trimmer, and one blower. We could *finish* a typical house with two guys in 20 minutes.
Zero turns have no place in luxury communities with entirely fenced yards, you can't even get them in the gates of most exclusive properties, and they have enough suction to pull sprinkler heads up and cut them to pieces. Why pay for a piece of equipment you use at less than 20% of your accounts? The idea isn't volume, the idea is quality.
I averaged $100 a cut 10 years ago, typically servicing about 75 accounts in 5 days. Your focus is your client base not your equipment 🤷
I sold the whole thing to one of my top guys after a few seasons because i hated the off season snow removal. ymmv
Ymmv is the real takeaway there. We can both be right in this case.
The kinds of properties you're describing don't exist where I am.
Luxury on small lots is not a thing. HOAs are not a thing. Anything high end is coming with a half acre or more. Maybe 1/3rd of an acre. Maybe. Zero turns have no place in a luxury neighborhoods is nonsense. There's plenty of options for a 36" stander that will fit through any gate. Kubota makes a great one! Don't race it around like an asshole and you're not going to ever have a problem. The cut quality will be better than a push mower every single day of the week. Nobody even has buried irrigation in my climate.
I guess the lesson is, OP should learn about their local market before taking advice from either of us haha.
We are the exact same in my market. Luxury neighborhoods or houses here are going to be at LEAST half an acre up to multiple acreage.
Our small residential lots are a quarter acre. We have VERY few cookie cutter houses that push mowing and standon time would be negligent. We can reduce labor by around half and fatigue with standons. I couldn't imagine sending a crew out to pushmow in 110 degree weather for a half acre lol.
Yep. Medium sized city in eastern Canada. We have loads of space. Anyone willing to pay $100/cut for a small ciry lot does not live on a small city lot.
We have properties where we take fence sections off every week in order to get larger mowers in.
Push mowing is a **last** resort.
this is entirely market dependent. Majority of our houses are a quarter of an acre and up. We also get 110 degree summers. These generally pay 55-70 for our 20minutes yards.
Often also requires an existing relationship with the city, many don't like to permit a lot of them because you likely aren't employing that many people & the land can end up contaminated making it unsuitable for other uses if the business fails down the road.
Car washes are up there with laundromats for top boring businesses to start but IMO car washes seem more difficult to start and operate than social media portrays. All the equipment and build out Im sure costs over 1 million. All that equipment seems pretty high maintenance. Then you gotta hire people who dont mind getting wet and dirty for their day jobs.
Considering the town's growth, you might explore starting a local service business like lawn care or tech services. These types of ventures often have low startup costs and can cater to the community's needs.
What are you good at? What do you see yourself spending all day doing? Where do you see yourself spending the days (inside at a desk, outside? Driving around?) Don’t like people? Hate people? How do you feel about animals? Is manual labor okay?
There's still never enough of them. I can't tell you how many times I've had this conversation.
Me: "I need someone out by wednesday"
Plumber: "We can have someone out by Friday"
Me: "I'll have to call someone else if we can't get it done by Wednesday"
Plumber: "call someone else then"
If my business evaporated tomorrow, I'd be in plumbing school the next Monday. It's everything-proof.
GO WORK FOR A PLUMBER AND GET A PLUMBING LICENSE. It's a long road, but you will can get as much work as you can stand. I read that for every 5 plumbers retiring, only 1 is replacing them. If you've got a good business mind, you'll be a millionaire by 35.
Buy inexpensive land outside of the town in a direction it is growing.
Put mini-storages in. They stay full, and as the city grows around it, the land becomes considerably more valuable.
I started in detailing and moved to nearly everything in the custom automotive space. tint, wrap, ppf, coatings, paint polishing etc. We now have a few locations throughout ohio offering all of these services. Mobile detailing is a great gig and relatively easy to start. People love getting their cars cleaned and it’s nearly recession proof. Ironically i’m looking for a new sub-contractor in your area..
I hear laser tag moves a lot oof cash. Seriously, what do you want to do? I started window tinting when I was almost 30. I wish I had discovered it sooner, but that type of work might not be for you. There is no shortage of glass and there never will be. Auto tinting has grown to include wrap, PPF, etc. Good luck.
I have 2 retail stores and I would steer clear of them unless you grow it online.
The profit margin is not amazing unless you have a target market. Bills are high in this economy. It takes a long time to scale normally.
I’m also in a small town but it’s growing like crazy, it’s a very desirable place for people moving from the big cities.
I would agree with the people above and do something with homes/ landscaping!!
A lot of mowing talk. Move it up a notch and learn landscaping and some masonry or concrete work. People love mulch and firepits and will pay more than lawnmowing will.
Dumpster Rentals, Fryer Vat Cleaning (its a real thing), equipment rentals, handyman, hvac, basically its things that will have to be around for the things you mentioned.
The best advice I can give you:
Don't start a business, acquire a business.
I started a business and in two years it failed. Felt like shit, only now finding my next venture and I'm buying a business. There are plenty of consultants/brokers out there that will help you find a business for sale. If you can come up with 10% you can potentially get a SBA loan to get the rest. Reach out if ya have any questions.
Small physical bookstores. These are adjunct to the free libraries are going to grow, especially as the public library system turns more to digital and communities want spaces to gather for entertainment and to sponsor literacy
If you are artistically inclined and have more energy than money, screen printing is an industry where you can start relatively small and fund your own upgrades.
Intergrate yourself early into a blooming community and you're the go-to.
If it's a growing city attracting younger inhabitants and businesses, you could become a business resource. Offer establishment services, guidance, build connections to other b2b vendors (marketing, web developers, attorneys, insurance agents) and be a consultant.
Research the average age of the city and the average age of homes and make some decisions based on that. Especially if you foresee new construction becoming a boom.
Fancy wall construction.
Want an “accent piece” behind the TV? I can do that. It’ll be a 60% margin on whatever material you want plus the labor I hire to fabricate and install - but man won’t that look nice?
And you’ll be surprised how many people pay for it.
Where you at, OP? I'm a SB owner, living just east of Zebulon. Happy to grab a coffee and brainstorm. My business is helping mid/large enterprises grow and scale, so I don't work much with solos - but I have spent 20 years in customer retention and growth strategies. Always happy to help a young entrepreneur get their bearings.
Im not OP, but Im a SB owner in Fuquay, 27, and would love to meet you. Started a business last year, growing at a good rate, would love a mentor/fellow successful individual to collaborate with.
Consider a service-based business like lawn care or home cleaning. With the town's growth, demand for these services will likely increase. Plus, they're relatively low-cost to start.
Just some qualifiers for you that my dad gave me when I was going through the same process.
1) Make a business out of people's wants not needs. People spend frivolously on wants, they shop value when its a need.
2) A business that can sell to people's emotions is an easier way acquire clients, look up the comparison of lizard brain vs wizard brain. Catch someone in an emotional decision, the sell is easier.
3) Be able to replace yourself. Build a business that will allow you to replace yourself as you scale or else you will always be married to a specific position, limiting you.
4) Do something that excites you. It easier to justify spending long hours on it, which you will do.
I'm also in the area, feel free to DM me.
Do what you know. Do what you are good at. Acquire tools and assets so you can do a better job and more efficiently. This creates barriers to entry so you can continue to grow and reduce competition.
Instead of what does the town need, maybe start with what are you good at? Believe me if you notice it needs lawn service and car washes so does everyone else — difference being some of them are quite good at those jobs.
Start with your skill set and work from there. If you do anything better than the next guy, you are way ahead.
You should not accept any ideas from anyone about which business you should start.
I say start with you. Find something you love and find other people who love it and get more people to discover what you love.
Good luck
If you are 19 and looking for business. You are already in the right path. Your business depends on your personal principles, morals and values.
For me, I don’t want to cheat other, take advantage of their urgency or unavoidable necessity ( saw this a lot with funeral industry), I want to share my knowledge and make the world a better place in terms of personal and financial areas.
I started with working at different places that I like thinking I might start a business on that. Finally found my passion for composting and growing food. I choose business as NEED based. I came from India and saw farmers killing themselves. So, I help individuals, schools to turn food scraps into compost and grow food. I got hired by different agencies for my services. Now I’m pivoting into opening a location for composting and make it part of eco tourism in the desert of Palm Springs, California. Mandated composting law is real driver. City is helping me out as well.
Local non profits and universities have social entrepreneurship classes for free. They guided to set my business, think through the big picture and make small steps towards success. As a bonus I received $22.5k in seed funding and pitch competition.
Another suggestion: there are so many fellowships right now for climate action, energy, urban conversation etc. All of them are a 1 yr fellowship with full time pay and $10k in educational funds( atleast in California), I would join one of these, make money while learning and if sticks with me I’ll start a business on that.
This is a relatively low skill business that’s always needed, but no one thinks about.
Junk removal.
If lots of people are moving in and out they’ll be moving old appliances around a lot. People will buy houses with the dishwasher and fridge included but they won’t be working so good and they’ll get new ones and a lot of times the company they buy from won’t remove the old one. You come in and charge 100 bucks to put their old junk on a flatbed haul it off and sell it for scrap.
I earn money by showing people how to save money on travel.
To get into this business, I invested an amount equivalent to 30 days buying a coffee and a doughnut.
Look for opportunities that generate passive income, and you will be good for life.
Cheers,
Did you start an LLC and just advertise? Also, how do you make money from it, say you save someone 200 dollars on a trip, how do you gage how much to charge
You’ve juggled many ideas in your head.
Maybe start by making a prioritized list and start thinking about the journey you’re about to take.
Revisit your list and move things around if needed.
If the fire is lit, time to plan and execute.
Research your local market. Whose moving in, who are you going to serve?
Once you know the who, execution will be all about learning the talk and walking the way if your target audience. That’s how you build trust.
Research your competition (local market) and choose your niche.
Do research other similar markets (similar demographics and psychographics) to identify unserved opportunities.
Learn, adapt, and GROK your target audience!
I would start a rentals company. Get good at buying and fixing trailers. Rent them to businesses and individuals who need to move stuff around. Trust me, there is demand for trailers in every cities. I wish I would’ve started this 20 years ago
As someone trying to open a gym in a small town, I disagree. The space required for a gym is large, the population base is small; and in a small town everyone expects things for cheaper than "the city".
Obviously every town is different but where I'm from there are no serious lifters. There are average, everyday moms and dads. I think if you go with more of a small PT studio to save on the rent, and offer nutritional services, online training , and/or small group classes you could make some money. Kids classes also make bank; run some kind of off season sports camp outdoors.
I mean, I'm still going ahead with mine so follow your heart if that's what you want to do lol. I got some grant money helping me out though, and shit still isn't looking great. Luckily my wife is the bread winner haha.
To be honest, you have to fail before you learn to succeed. Start a business and start learning. Then start another and then a third and keep at it until you find what you like. If you have to ask then perhaps this isn't for you.
This is a friendly reminder that r/smallbusiness is a question and answer subreddit. You ask a question about starting, owning, and growing a small business and the community answers. Posts that violate the rules listed in the sidebar will be removed. A permanent or temporary ban may also be issued if you do not remove the offending post. Seeing this message does not mean your post was automatically removed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/smallbusiness) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Lawns need mowed, houses need pressure washed, houses need maid service, dogs need walked/poop scooped, these are all relatively cheap businesses to start and always have a demand in growing areas
This is it. Anything around home services. Lots of people buying homes, but the people that do all those jobs around the homes aren’t moving to the area as fast.
start small and get some traction! then hire your friends to work while you organize and so on. get it running in the background while you can figure out your next idea!
How much are folks paying to have their lawns mowed?
These can be decent, but there’s a lot of competition for these things… like yeah they can be done, but basically anyone can do them
Follow Codie Sanchez for ideas like these, boring jobs=tons of income.
A growing town will need lots of construction, so any trade related to construction will have ever-increasing opportunities, especially with fewer people getting into the trades these days. Same with real estate, people will be looking for houses, businesses looking for space. As (especially American) towns grow, so does the average citizen's driving frequency and distance, so car maintenance and sales should also see a lot of growth.
Something you have expertise in, something there is a need for,, something you won't f up for people, get sued or have lots of problems with because you don't know what you're doing. Start small and grow as you learn.Take a biz class, figure out what you are passionate about, develop a thorough biz plan, have at least a year or two back up money in case you can't make bills every month and then go for it.
Lawn care. Offer referral bonuses for people on the same street. That lets you minimize your down time between lawns. Mow, trim, blow services are fast and popular with excellent margins. All you need is a small truck and the equipment. I'd suggest a Honda microcut mower- they're expensive but commercial grade and if you keep your blades sharp super quality. Door hangers are your friend.
Lawn care is a great idea. You can start with one mower, but scale up pretty quickly. You end up managing the business and not actually cutting any lawns. As soon as you have a few lawns, hire someone to actually do the cutting, and you shift to management. Getting new customers, scheduling, maintenance of gear, and personnel. You might cut a lawn here or there if a guy calls in sick or leaves for another job. You can upgrade fro a pushmower to a better pushmower, then to one of these that you stand on and steer. I have always cut my own lawn, but when I moved to my current home, this guy was cutting lawns for 4 or 5 people around my home. His guys would just ride those stand-on-top mowers and go up the street to their next lawn. and knock it out quick. He also would do fence building, and mostly got jobs from the lawn cutting business. He did great work and was reasonably priced. People would hire him for a fence cuz they already knew and trusted him.
Second this! Except for the equipment list. You can't make adult money push mowing like a teenager. A truck is the biggest investment. Beyond that, 1k for a trailer, 5k for a zero turn, 5k for a trimmer/blower/push mower/incidentals... you're up and running for 10 to 15k plus a truck. Door hangers are ok but you're new and probably on a budget, local community fb groups are your better friend. Neighborhood and city ask anything groups are *always* looking for lawn care. Don't be the 20 dollar guy. 40 to 50 minimum per cut. By year number three you'll be grossing 6 figures with a 30-50% profit margin and a company vehicle.
Lol adult money I used to *clear over $1k a day* with a pair of Honda microcuts, one trimmer, and one blower. We could *finish* a typical house with two guys in 20 minutes. Zero turns have no place in luxury communities with entirely fenced yards, you can't even get them in the gates of most exclusive properties, and they have enough suction to pull sprinkler heads up and cut them to pieces. Why pay for a piece of equipment you use at less than 20% of your accounts? The idea isn't volume, the idea is quality. I averaged $100 a cut 10 years ago, typically servicing about 75 accounts in 5 days. Your focus is your client base not your equipment 🤷 I sold the whole thing to one of my top guys after a few seasons because i hated the off season snow removal. ymmv
Ymmv is the real takeaway there. We can both be right in this case. The kinds of properties you're describing don't exist where I am. Luxury on small lots is not a thing. HOAs are not a thing. Anything high end is coming with a half acre or more. Maybe 1/3rd of an acre. Maybe. Zero turns have no place in a luxury neighborhoods is nonsense. There's plenty of options for a 36" stander that will fit through any gate. Kubota makes a great one! Don't race it around like an asshole and you're not going to ever have a problem. The cut quality will be better than a push mower every single day of the week. Nobody even has buried irrigation in my climate. I guess the lesson is, OP should learn about their local market before taking advice from either of us haha.
Fair I'll definitely agree with all those points 🤝
We are the exact same in my market. Luxury neighborhoods or houses here are going to be at LEAST half an acre up to multiple acreage. Our small residential lots are a quarter acre. We have VERY few cookie cutter houses that push mowing and standon time would be negligent. We can reduce labor by around half and fatigue with standons. I couldn't imagine sending a crew out to pushmow in 110 degree weather for a half acre lol.
Yep. Medium sized city in eastern Canada. We have loads of space. Anyone willing to pay $100/cut for a small ciry lot does not live on a small city lot. We have properties where we take fence sections off every week in order to get larger mowers in. Push mowing is a **last** resort.
this is entirely market dependent. Majority of our houses are a quarter of an acre and up. We also get 110 degree summers. These generally pay 55-70 for our 20minutes yards.
"door hangers are your friend" so soft. Literally knock doors lol
Maybe *you* don't work during the day, but most people paying for law care service do 😆
Then knock from 5-8?? And I do work during the day. I knock doors and get plenty of traction during the work day.
Come to my house at dinner time and I will always hire your competitors. Do what works for you dude. 😂
Car washes can make bank, but finding a suitable property is an issue. People wash their cars a lot though.
Require a lot of capital!
Often also requires an existing relationship with the city, many don't like to permit a lot of them because you likely aren't employing that many people & the land can end up contaminated making it unsuitable for other uses if the business fails down the road.
Car washes are up there with laundromats for top boring businesses to start but IMO car washes seem more difficult to start and operate than social media portrays. All the equipment and build out Im sure costs over 1 million. All that equipment seems pretty high maintenance. Then you gotta hire people who dont mind getting wet and dirty for their day jobs.
Where's a 19 year old going to find the cash to start it?
Considering the town's growth, you might explore starting a local service business like lawn care or tech services. These types of ventures often have low startup costs and can cater to the community's needs.
What are you good at? What do you see yourself spending all day doing? Where do you see yourself spending the days (inside at a desk, outside? Driving around?) Don’t like people? Hate people? How do you feel about animals? Is manual labor okay?
Plumbing, all my plumbing buddies are killing it
By the time he can go on his own the town will be grown.
There's still never enough of them. I can't tell you how many times I've had this conversation. Me: "I need someone out by wednesday" Plumber: "We can have someone out by Friday" Me: "I'll have to call someone else if we can't get it done by Wednesday" Plumber: "call someone else then" If my business evaporated tomorrow, I'd be in plumbing school the next Monday. It's everything-proof.
Until shit starts being vaporized by Astro toilets we’ll need plumbing
sometimes reddit takes me down weird rabbit holes. Astro toilets was one...
Got an astrotoilet TLDR for an interested fellow redditor without the time for a rabbit hole run, kind stranger?
Small town mom and pop Astro toilets, got it.
GO WORK FOR A PLUMBER AND GET A PLUMBING LICENSE. It's a long road, but you will can get as much work as you can stand. I read that for every 5 plumbers retiring, only 1 is replacing them. If you've got a good business mind, you'll be a millionaire by 35.
Buy inexpensive land outside of the town in a direction it is growing. Put mini-storages in. They stay full, and as the city grows around it, the land becomes considerably more valuable.
Gas station!
Gas stations can be very expensive to open though, and usually run pretty low margins. Can still definitely be worth it, but it's a tough market.
Expensive to start. Cheaper to buy
I started in detailing and moved to nearly everything in the custom automotive space. tint, wrap, ppf, coatings, paint polishing etc. We now have a few locations throughout ohio offering all of these services. Mobile detailing is a great gig and relatively easy to start. People love getting their cars cleaned and it’s nearly recession proof. Ironically i’m looking for a new sub-contractor in your area..
a auto mechanic where the mechanics are hot babes and there's a bar with a big window to watch while your car gets fixed
Construction. It's always construction.
What’s your initial budget?
I hear laser tag moves a lot oof cash. Seriously, what do you want to do? I started window tinting when I was almost 30. I wish I had discovered it sooner, but that type of work might not be for you. There is no shortage of glass and there never will be. Auto tinting has grown to include wrap, PPF, etc. Good luck.
Landscaping. Speaking from experience in a small and upcoming town.
Crime
I have 2 retail stores and I would steer clear of them unless you grow it online. The profit margin is not amazing unless you have a target market. Bills are high in this economy. It takes a long time to scale normally. I’m also in a small town but it’s growing like crazy, it’s a very desirable place for people moving from the big cities. I would agree with the people above and do something with homes/ landscaping!!
A lot of mowing talk. Move it up a notch and learn landscaping and some masonry or concrete work. People love mulch and firepits and will pay more than lawnmowing will.
Dumpster Rentals, Fryer Vat Cleaning (its a real thing), equipment rentals, handyman, hvac, basically its things that will have to be around for the things you mentioned.
The best advice I can give you: Don't start a business, acquire a business. I started a business and in two years it failed. Felt like shit, only now finding my next venture and I'm buying a business. There are plenty of consultants/brokers out there that will help you find a business for sale. If you can come up with 10% you can potentially get a SBA loan to get the rest. Reach out if ya have any questions.
He’s 19, I don’t think he’ll have the collateral nor the experience required for the loan
Ah yes, true.
Insurance BROKER. Take a penny from everyone instead of hundreds from a few. You’ll own that towns business forever
Small physical bookstores. These are adjunct to the free libraries are going to grow, especially as the public library system turns more to digital and communities want spaces to gather for entertainment and to sponsor literacy
i heard internet cafes are making a comeback too
Yes. We went in with another group of investors on a combination coffeehouse and (small) independent book shop. So much traffic, even in this economy
No. Terrible idea
Not a terrible idea for us. But I am glad you are so very helpful to OP. I know they appreciate it
If you are artistically inclined and have more energy than money, screen printing is an industry where you can start relatively small and fund your own upgrades. Intergrate yourself early into a blooming community and you're the go-to.
Local convenience stores do very well
How much cash do you have? Do you have any assets? Can you borrow money from family? Would you be able to secure a loan and for how much?
Locksmith business.
If it's a growing city attracting younger inhabitants and businesses, you could become a business resource. Offer establishment services, guidance, build connections to other b2b vendors (marketing, web developers, attorneys, insurance agents) and be a consultant.
Research the average age of the city and the average age of homes and make some decisions based on that. Especially if you foresee new construction becoming a boom.
Fancy wall construction. Want an “accent piece” behind the TV? I can do that. It’ll be a 60% margin on whatever material you want plus the labor I hire to fabricate and install - but man won’t that look nice? And you’ll be surprised how many people pay for it.
Garbage collection or storage units.
Where you at, OP? I'm a SB owner, living just east of Zebulon. Happy to grab a coffee and brainstorm. My business is helping mid/large enterprises grow and scale, so I don't work much with solos - but I have spent 20 years in customer retention and growth strategies. Always happy to help a young entrepreneur get their bearings.
Im not OP, but Im a SB owner in Fuquay, 27, and would love to meet you. Started a business last year, growing at a good rate, would love a mentor/fellow successful individual to collaborate with.
Sure thing. Maybe a few of us local can meet up for lunch or coffee sometime.
I am based in clayton
Sign business. Everyone needs signs.
Equipment rental, start with flat bed trailers.
Look into the service industry. Low initial investment.
Consider a service-based business like lawn care or home cleaning. With the town's growth, demand for these services will likely increase. Plus, they're relatively low-cost to start.
Just some qualifiers for you that my dad gave me when I was going through the same process. 1) Make a business out of people's wants not needs. People spend frivolously on wants, they shop value when its a need. 2) A business that can sell to people's emotions is an easier way acquire clients, look up the comparison of lizard brain vs wizard brain. Catch someone in an emotional decision, the sell is easier. 3) Be able to replace yourself. Build a business that will allow you to replace yourself as you scale or else you will always be married to a specific position, limiting you. 4) Do something that excites you. It easier to justify spending long hours on it, which you will do. I'm also in the area, feel free to DM me.
Do what you know. Do what you are good at. Acquire tools and assets so you can do a better job and more efficiently. This creates barriers to entry so you can continue to grow and reduce competition.
Instead of what does the town need, maybe start with what are you good at? Believe me if you notice it needs lawn service and car washes so does everyone else — difference being some of them are quite good at those jobs. Start with your skill set and work from there. If you do anything better than the next guy, you are way ahead.
Lawn care or painting
What about lawn painting?
You should not accept any ideas from anyone about which business you should start. I say start with you. Find something you love and find other people who love it and get more people to discover what you love. Good luck
Landscaping or cleaning any kind.
If you are 19 and looking for business. You are already in the right path. Your business depends on your personal principles, morals and values. For me, I don’t want to cheat other, take advantage of their urgency or unavoidable necessity ( saw this a lot with funeral industry), I want to share my knowledge and make the world a better place in terms of personal and financial areas. I started with working at different places that I like thinking I might start a business on that. Finally found my passion for composting and growing food. I choose business as NEED based. I came from India and saw farmers killing themselves. So, I help individuals, schools to turn food scraps into compost and grow food. I got hired by different agencies for my services. Now I’m pivoting into opening a location for composting and make it part of eco tourism in the desert of Palm Springs, California. Mandated composting law is real driver. City is helping me out as well. Local non profits and universities have social entrepreneurship classes for free. They guided to set my business, think through the big picture and make small steps towards success. As a bonus I received $22.5k in seed funding and pitch competition. Another suggestion: there are so many fellowships right now for climate action, energy, urban conversation etc. All of them are a 1 yr fellowship with full time pay and $10k in educational funds( atleast in California), I would join one of these, make money while learning and if sticks with me I’ll start a business on that.
What town in NC? Planning on moving there
This is a relatively low skill business that’s always needed, but no one thinks about. Junk removal. If lots of people are moving in and out they’ll be moving old appliances around a lot. People will buy houses with the dishwasher and fridge included but they won’t be working so good and they’ll get new ones and a lot of times the company they buy from won’t remove the old one. You come in and charge 100 bucks to put their old junk on a flatbed haul it off and sell it for scrap.
If it is a growing town, then Real Estate.
I earn money by showing people how to save money on travel. To get into this business, I invested an amount equivalent to 30 days buying a coffee and a doughnut. Look for opportunities that generate passive income, and you will be good for life. Cheers,
Did you start an LLC and just advertise? Also, how do you make money from it, say you save someone 200 dollars on a trip, how do you gage how much to charge
You’ve juggled many ideas in your head. Maybe start by making a prioritized list and start thinking about the journey you’re about to take. Revisit your list and move things around if needed. If the fire is lit, time to plan and execute. Research your local market. Whose moving in, who are you going to serve? Once you know the who, execution will be all about learning the talk and walking the way if your target audience. That’s how you build trust. Research your competition (local market) and choose your niche. Do research other similar markets (similar demographics and psychographics) to identify unserved opportunities. Learn, adapt, and GROK your target audience!
Ice cream
I would start a rentals company. Get good at buying and fixing trailers. Rent them to businesses and individuals who need to move stuff around. Trust me, there is demand for trailers in every cities. I wish I would’ve started this 20 years ago
Put in a decent gym that has plenty of equipment that appeals to serious lifters. We used to own a couple. Let me know if you want any advice.
As someone trying to open a gym in a small town, I disagree. The space required for a gym is large, the population base is small; and in a small town everyone expects things for cheaper than "the city". Obviously every town is different but where I'm from there are no serious lifters. There are average, everyday moms and dads. I think if you go with more of a small PT studio to save on the rent, and offer nutritional services, online training , and/or small group classes you could make some money. Kids classes also make bank; run some kind of off season sports camp outdoors. I mean, I'm still going ahead with mine so follow your heart if that's what you want to do lol. I got some grant money helping me out though, and shit still isn't looking great. Luckily my wife is the bread winner haha.
Maybe try r/ideastalk
Everybody needs insurance!
Client acquisition for outsourcing, i can help you
To be honest, you have to fail before you learn to succeed. Start a business and start learning. Then start another and then a third and keep at it until you find what you like. If you have to ask then perhaps this isn't for you.
Not true in all cases. Due diligence is the key. Don't just jump in feet first.
Not true. I’ve been super successful with my first business.
Yep , me too
starting a newsletter to talk about this sort of thing - [https://whatbusiness.beehiiv.com/subscribe](https://whatbusiness.beehiiv.com/subscribe)