6 Business Ideas For You

With my thoughts on how I would start them.

I love talking about veterans and entrepreneurship.

I’m also in the process of building a MVP (Minimally Viable Product) for an idea that I got off a podcast.

So I thought, why not share these ideas with you all?

Since I am talking about sharing, I would love if you shared this newsletter with just one person. Of course, more than one even better.

How To Use This

I have a Google doc which is creatively named “Business Ideas” which is full of, well, a bunch of business ideas I have.

Some of these may have been inspired by someone else or just something I saw myself.

But here they are.

Ideas are a dime a dozen. Execution is what matters.

My hope is that you get inspired and build something cool.

Maybe you ask me for help. Maybe I come on board as an advisor. Maybe I do nothing other than share the idea and root for you from afar.

Whatever happens, I hope you crush it.

Like what I’m doing? I’d appreciate it if you bought me a coffee or left a tip.

Competitor for The Knot

The Pitch:

If you have been married or go to a wedding in the last 10 years, you know about The Knot. It is THE wedding website.

Here is the thing:

Everyone hates it.

When was the last time you used anything that only had 1.7 stars? Only because you HAD to.

The Knot is known for making fake reviews and pressuring people unjustly.

So the idea?

The Knot, but better.

How I would start it:

Start small. Focus on sourcing reviews for wedding vendors in a particular location. I suggest a hotspot for weddings like New Orleans or Charlottesville (hint: I have connections with both of these places).

Keep it real and genuine. Make friends with the wedding vendors there. Get some traffic and charge them to “claim” their page on your site and let them add details to it.

Obsess about the vendors and treat everyone like stars. That’s how you be different.

Then grow from there.

Car Buying Consultant

The Pitch:

Ever had to buy a car?

There are a gazillion options and add-ons…it’s crazy.

So be the person who guides people through it to help them find the right car.

How I would start it:

Start a blog or newsletter talking about different cars and models to establish yourself as a car expert.

Then start marketing your services to consult people on what type of car to buy.

Boom.

On Location Knife-Sharpening

The Pitch:

I’ve thought about this one A LOT.

Like, way too much.

Go to people’s homes and sharpen their kitchen knives. You can also do this for restaurants.

I’ve looked up services like this and they all have garbage websites and it’s a dude in a sketchy white van and you aren’t sure if he is going to sharpen your knives or try and crawl into the gutter and get in a knife fight with a family of raccoons.

A well-dressed, well-spoken, polite person who responds to phone calls and emails and is respectful in someone’s home would CRUSH it doing this.

Like this guy, but with knives.

This could become an easily replicable business with basic systems and would be a great candidate to turn into a franchise.

How I would start it:

Go get a decent knife sharpener.

This one is $250.

Spend a weekend on YouTube learning how to get really good at sharpening knives.

Ask some friends if you can go to their house and sharpen their knives for free to test your skills.

Build a basic website, spend $250 on local ads, and get going.

If you are interested, definitely reach out. I want in.

Air BNB for Land

The Pitch:

Farmers have unused land. You find people who need that land.

You make money.

Imagine someone who has 100 acres but isn’t using it all. Then you have some who wants to raise a few horses, but doesn’t have the land.

You create the market for someone to sublease their land, piecemeal, to others.

I love this because Silicon Valley is notorious for overlooking opportunities in rural America.

How I would start it:

Start by reaching out to landowners and ask them if they have any land they would be willing to sublease AND if they would be willing to pay you to find someone to lease the land.

Then go find that person.

Start as a broker and build the tech side later.

Manuals For Your Home

The Pitch:

Here was my lightbulb moment:

I was living with a friend and saw he had a sprinkler system in his front yard. I asked him how to turn it on.

He had no idea.

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Newer generations live in the digital world. We are used to products coming with nudges that tell us how to use certain features and we are accustomed to onboarding processes.

Except with the largest purchase most people will ever make: their house.

So you create the thing they use.

You create manuals for homeowners that show them all the systems that run their house, what they need to know for how they work, and how to maintain it.

How I would start it:

I would partner with a home inspector. They know houses better than me and already have the lead generation in place. They become my "technical expert”. I spend my time researching all the data on different appliances and home systems (like HVAC) to develop a deliverable that details all the important information for a new homeowner. And I focus on marketing and other partnerships.

Reusable Wedding Party Items

The Pitch:

At my wedding, we wanted to have a dope party (and we did).

So we got a bunch of stuff like this for the reception:

Then we threw it all away.

It kinda ate my soul a bit and I wish we didn’t have to do that. It felt very wasteful.

So create an option for people to rent.

How I would start it:

Look up bulk packages of stuff like this from wholesalers. Copy their pictures to make a basic website showing the packages you offer.

Go to wedding planners and ask them to remember you if their clients want to cut down on waste (a HUGE marketing angle here). Offer them a referral fee if they call you.

If someone reaches out, then go buy the stuff and arrange to drop it off.

I would tell them that you expect to get everything back, but that they can pay a small extra fee if they don’t (because drunk wedding guests are going to lose things).

Ideally, you find products that can be used at least a few times, if not more.

Travel Breast Pumps

The Pitch:

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, my wife and I are new parents.

We recently went on an airplane and packed my wife’s breast-pumping equipment.

It was a whole bag. Just insane. Loose pieces everywhere.

Totally inconvenient.

How I would start it:

This is harder, for sure.

Designing a physical product is difficult work. And making things that are neat and tidy and such is no joke.

But there is a market here and if you like to tinker with stuff, you could design something great.

I happen to know that the Veteran’s Future Lab at NYU is co-located with an engineering shop that could help in the design.

That’s where I would start.

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Before you go I have a HUGE favor to ask (good news is that it takes less than a minute).

Share this post (or any other one, you can find them all here) with one friend.

Right now, this newsletter has 2,207 subscribers. If all of you share it with one person, I would be well on my way to my goal of hitting 5,000 subscribers.

Now, if you really want to be awesome, you could share with more than one person.

That would be dope.

Whatever you do, go crush it.

Mark

P.S.

Like what I’m doing? I’d appreciate it if you bought me a coffee or left a tip.