Boring, repetitive, low-glamour businesses can get you to $1 million with less risk, because they serve constant demand with little competition and no need for advanced technology. The less you innovate, the better your chances of making money instead of losing it. The script notes that 70% of startups fail within their first 10 years, so the easiest road to one million is not only about creativity and disruption.
It coins a label for the alternative: SOWS, or stale, old, weak and simple businesses. You work in the background with little recognition and the job is repetitive, but you get plenty of customers and low competition, and you decide whether to stay a one-person operation or scale. The figures below are as the video states them.
Watch the full video here, or skip to the breakdown below.
The 15 businesses at a glance
- Lease event supplies (1:03)
- Flooring for multi-family residential buildings (1:59)
- Rent out self-storage units (3:33)
- Asphalt and sealcoating companies (4:52)
- Buy and sell art (6:26)
- Senior care (8:30)
- Landscaping services (9:26)
- Plumbing businesses (10:29)
- Tree trimming (11:16)
- Window cleaning companies (11:55)
- Junk and waste removal (13:11)
- Trucking companies (14:20)
- Rent heavy equipment and tools (15:45)
- Moving companies (16:17)
- Electrical repair businesses (17:21)
1. Lease event supplies
To be sure of constant demand, tap a market that never stops (a pandemic aside). Weddings, corporate events, birthday parties and festivals are the money-makers. Nobody praises you at the event, but you are after profit, not praise.
Event infrastructure has high markups and continuous demand. Because you rent equipment out, your investments can all work at once, even when you are not there.
Tables, chairs, photo booths and bounce houses depreciate more slowly than assets in other industries. Maintain them well and wear, tear and repair costs stay minimal.
2. Flooring for multi-family residential buildings
Specific knowledge can limit your options or make you high-demand. Apartments, condos and townhouses have constant turnover and heavy foot traffic, so they replace floors regularly and look for people who do it well.
Property managers and landlords want reliable, cost-effective flooring that lasts years. Do the job well once and you have a customer for life, repeat business is almost guaranteed, and word of mouth travels fast in the industry.
The script adds a method for building that kind of loyalty. Dig below surface-level desires to the recurring problem your ideal customer faces. Think about services people depend on, since customers return when they would lose out without you. And leave every interaction with them excited about what you can offer next, so that using your service becomes a habit built on trust.
3. Rent out self-storage units
The best way to make money is to deliver something and get paid without being there. You manage the space and give access to it, so you profit from space, not a product. The script says around 10% of the US population rents a storage unit.
The initial investment can be as low or as high as you can afford: from under $60,000 up to $1 or $2 million if you buy land and build the facility. The video quotes an average profit margin of 41% and says an average facility of 50,000 square feet can bring in over $184,000 a year.
It is a location game. The right spot lets you target college students, business parks or military personnel. Once built, the facility can nearly run itself, with occasional oversight and maintenance, which is a small time cost for one of the most profitable commercial real estate options.
4. Asphalt and sealcoating companies
Asphalt and paving fly under the radar, like the gum under your shoe that you only notice when it bothers you. Asphalt is a mix of sand, gravel and crushed stone bound together to build roads, parking lots and driveways. Sealcoating is a protective layer that makes the surface durable.
You charge around $125 per year and most driveways take three to five hours, according to the script. People know that driveways, patios, walkways and parking spaces that look well kept raise property value.
Basic equipment costs around $1,000, or up to $10,000 for more advanced machinery. Total startup costs, including legal fees, insurance and marketing, can run from $5,000 to $20,000. Some businesses have made $80,000 in the first few months, the average starting profit is quoted at $50,000 to $100,000 a year, and profit margins are around 70%.
5. Buy and sell art
One sure-fire way to profit from a boring business is to focus on aesthetics and status. People pay for things that look good and make them look good.
This is not like trading stocks, where results come fast. Art needs patience and a lot of due diligence, and it is a long-term hold, which is part of why it is stable. Choosing the right pieces matters, and the script says segments of the high-end art market have outpaced traditional investments such as the S&P 500.
Buying outright takes substantial capital, anywhere from $10,000 to millions depending on the artist and piece. You can treat it as a side hustle for extra income or make it your main business, but you need to know the market first.
6. Senior care
The global population is aging, and baby boomers are reaching the point where they need full-time care, so demand for long-term care facilities is climbing. You receive a steady stream of income from residents or their families, with funding from government programmes too.
Some facilities run at around $4,000 per resident per month, by the script’s figure. Operating costs can be high, and so can the potential revenue.
It is not for the faint-hearted: it is highly regulated, administrative and not always exciting. But if you hit the right small town with growing need, or a place where people can pay whatever good care costs, the script says you have hit the jackpot.
7. Landscaping services
You need to see opportunity where others see barren land. Individual jobs may look small, but volume and consistency add up, and the work always has to get done, however good a job you do.
Contracts with homeowners’ associations, business parks or municipalities mean predictable cash flow and the ability to scale as far as you like. The path to profit is securing those long-term contracts.
If you do the work yourself, you have to love it, since it can be physically demanding and tedious and you will hate it if you dislike being outdoors. You are doing more than mowing lawns, which customers can buy anywhere. Your job is to transform their outdoor spaces.
8. Plumbing businesses
To make money quickly in a new business, offer expertise in something always in demand. Plumbing is not glamorous, but it takes training, certification and knowledge, so the average person cannot just do it.
Plumbing is an essential service and you will often be called in an emergency, which means you can charge premium rates. Once you have tools, transportation and insurance you are set, and overhead is lower than in many industries.
Maintenance brings regular work, and happy customers do your marketing for you.
9. Tree trimming
Get into an industry people rarely think about and you will not worry about beating a lot of competition. Anyone who dislikes heights is cancelled out, which cuts it down further.
There may be low and high seasons, but when the work arrives you will be in demand. After storms or natural disasters, demand spikes, and as with many businesses on the list, people pay a premium for urgent work.
Plan for the peak times and the business rolls in.
10. Window cleaning companies
Johnny and Sergio are friends who started a window cleaning business at 19 with $150. In four years the company was worth $1.3 million.
The industry is estimated to reach $3.5 billion by 2028, the script says. With just over 12,000 window cleaners in the US, competition is low and revenue high, and the industry has grown around 2.2% per year.
Steady growth is predictable and gives you time to manage things as you scale. In some industries, shifting markets force constant strategy changes. Here you can hold on to your goals, work on them slowly and still see noticeable growth.
11. Junk and waste removal
When everyone else turns away from an industry because it does not seem exciting, that is when to run towards it. Nobody is guarding the gates. If you have ever struggled to find a number to call for junk removal, you have seen the gap in the market.
You can start as a side hustle with only a pickup truck, and grow towards the average junk removal business, which the script says brings in $1.4 million per year. Like window cleaning, the industry has grown steadily, around 2.3% a year.
As more people move to cities, the population grows and sustainability matters more, customers should keep coming. Specialise, or be a jack-of-all-trades for old cars, furniture, appliances, yard waste and electronics.
12. Trucking companies
Mikael Sant founded his trucking company, Sant Lines, at 19. Within six months he had made nearly $160,000, specialising in refrigerated freight, a market with consistent demand and big margins.
Trucking has more competition than some other industries here and can be more volatile, but nearly every major industry relies on it for its supply chain. Owner-operators, even with a single truck, earn up to 10 times more than salaried drivers, according to the script. The downside is exposure to supply chain issues and market demand. The upside is that every dip comes with growth in time.
There are 3.5 million truckers in the US and 1.7 million of them are owner-operators. More than 95% of carriers run ten or fewer trucks, so you do not need hundreds to reach $1 million.
13. Rent heavy equipment and tools
Some things people need are too expensive to justify buying for a one-off project. Renting lets you earn from the same assets over and over.
Your customers are a broad market, from construction firms to DIY homeowners, so revenue stays consistent whatever the economy does. Even construction firms choose to rent instead of buy in downturns.
14. Moving companies
People and businesses are always moving: to bigger homes, to smaller ones, for a job or to a new office. Moving is stressful and most people gladly pay someone else to take it off their hands, which creates steady work that is immune to many economic ups and downs.
You can adjust pricing to the scope of the job, whether local or long distance, apartment or house. That gives flexible margins and the chance to raise profit without raising overhead. Trucks, fuel and labour are the main costs.
Starting costs can be as low as $8,500, the script says, and the average moving company can make as much as $12 million a year, a nearly 25% profit margin.
15. Electrical repair businesses
Electrical systems are the backbone of every building, and when they fail they need fixing at once. People pay more for urgency, and you are also keeping them safe.
Electrical work is skilled labour, so customers pay a premium for expertise. Demand is constant, and once you build a reputation for reliability and safety, word of mouth keeps the phone ringing.
Boring can be the stable choice
In a chaotic world, a boring business might be the stability you need. It may not sound glamorous, but the script argues you can still live the high life on the proceeds.
Look back through the 15 and pick the one where you already hold a skill or a truck. Then ask what recurring problem its customers face.
FAQ
What are the best boring businesses to start?
The script names event supply rental, multi-family flooring, self-storage, asphalt sealcoating, art dealing, senior care, landscaping, plumbing, tree trimming, window cleaning, junk removal, trucking, equipment rental, moving and electrical repair.
What does SOWS mean in business?
SOWS stands for stale, old, weak and simple businesses. They carry less risk and more stability because they involve repetitive work with little advanced technology.
How much does it cost to start a sealcoating business?
The script puts total startup costs, including legal fees, insurance and marketing, at $5,000 to $20,000, with basic equipment around $1,000.
Can you start a junk removal business with one truck?
Yes. The script says you can start as a side hustle with a pickup truck and grow towards the industry average of $1.4 million per year.
Why do boring businesses have less competition?
Most people chase exciting ideas, so unglamorous industries are left with fewer players. The script says that when everyone else turns away, there is nobody guarding the gates.
Keep reading
- 15 Ways to Make 1 Million Dollars
- 10 Extravagant Ideas How To Spend 1 Million Dollars And Show Only The Receipts
- 15 Businesses You Can Start For Cheap (or even FREE)
