Stories
Above image provided courtesy of Everpress.
Home services
Why now?
The home services market – which includes repairs, maintenance, improvements and interior design – is expected to grow 19% between 2019 and 2026, according to Verified Market Research. The number of self-employed people offering decluttering and home-organisation services is also increasing. Since it started in 1983, the US' National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals has grown into a network of nearly 4,000 members in 22 countries.
Starting and scaling
There’s barely any cost required to get off the ground. As a service provider working in other people’s homes – with other people’s stuff – there aren’t a lot of upfront costs, apart from marketing and website maintenance. The wider your portfolio of services, the better.
Barriers to entry
It’s such a new industry that most people still don’t really know professional decluttering services exist.
What can you make?
Melissa Keyser, who trained in the KonMari Method of organising under Marie Kondo in 2019, has started offering group workshops and an ‘all-inclusive’ home transformation package alongside her usual tidying and decluttering services. A single, three-hour tidying lesson costs $250, while a package of 12 hours costs $900. Some professional tidiers such as Tanya Lewis, the Eco Organiser, also work on passive income streams like ebooks, courses or sponsored content.
Vending machines
Why now?
According to IBISWorld, the US vending machine industry draws in $7.4 billion in annual revenue, with more than 67% of machines operated by small, independent businesses. And as vending machines are getting smarter, turning into connected devices for everything from freshly cooked food to flowers, more and more people have been entering the industry.
Starting and scaling
The price of a vending machine depends on how hi-tech you want to go: ones with touchscreens and conveyor belts could set you back between $10,000 and $15,000. It can take years to get a few machines running and a consistent crowd purchasing from them, but it’s a pretty lucrative business once up and running.
Barriers to entry
You can’t put vending machines just anywhere and will likely need to pay a fee to a local authority to get a street trading or business licence. This can be a pretty slow process.
What can you make?
A lot. For example, vending machines by Le Casier Français are mainly used for selling fruit, vegetables and eggs. They cost around £45,000, but reportedly bring in around £15,000 of revenue every month.
Mobile laundry
Why now?
It’s pretty unglamorous, sure. But outsourcing household chores is a trend that started in the US and is now spreading quickly around the world. Grand View Research, a business consulting firm, reckons that the global dry-cleaning and laundry services market will be worth nearly $80 billion by 2027.
Starting and scaling
Big washers cost between $3,500 and $20,000, while a delivery van could set you back $1,500 to $10,000. After these, it’s easy to scale up at a local level. BLANC, a natural cleaner in London, opened four locations in a few years.
Barriers to entry
Scaling up on a national and international level is hard. Large startup costs in physical infrastructure might also be unattainable.
What can you make?
Symbolic of the money being pumped into the industry, Laundryheap, a UK on-demand laundry service, recently closed a $3.5 million funding round.
Exotic fruit
Why now?
The European import market for exotic fruit increased by 40% between 2014 and 2019, according to Eurostat, but industry experts say it has been growing even faster since the pandemic. Lots of new brands, such as Sabji Box and Jungle Fruits, have been entering this space.
Starting and scaling
To give you just one example: based in Sydney, Australia, Zona Tan-Sheppard started selling 20kg worth of durians in November 2018. Three months later, she’d launched The Thorny Fruit Company and needed 400kg to satisfy demand.
Barriers to entry
Nearly 60% of the world’s exotic fruit comes from Asia, 25% from Latin America and 15% from Africa, according to a report from the Food and Agriculture Organization. Building relationships with suppliers in these regions is critical.
What can you make?
The majority of businesses selling exotic fruits are family-owned and operated – but demand is steadily rising. Tropical Fruit Box launched in 2019 in Florida, sourcing from Central and South America. In two years, it was selling more than 80 varieties of exotic produce. Meanwhile, Sabji Box, started by two sisters in early 2021, started with delivery to only eight areas of London. In just three months, it has expanded to an additional 16 areas.
White-labelling
Why now?
White-labelling is when a brand sells a product under its own name that has been manufactured by a different company. A lot of new businesses won’t have money to invest in their own production facilities, so white-labelling is on the up. On Thomasnet, an advertising platform for manufacturers, demand for private-label producers grew 45% in 2020.
Starting and scaling
There’s a pretty large initial investment to account for: you’ll need machinery, a factory and warehouse or storage space. You’ll also need to establish a minimum order quantity (MOQ) to make sure you’re able to meet your costs as a manufacturer. Some newer white-label manufacturers prefer not to have a MOQ, to appeal to smaller brands. Bali Swim, for example, has been producing private-label swimwear and activewear for more than 25 years without one.
Barriers to entry
Depending on the industry you choose to manufacture for, you’ll have to be up to date with the relevant regulations. Vitelle, for instance, is a North American private-label manufacturer that makes natural and clinical skincare and haircare products. It also has a specific service to manufacture goods that are compliant with EU regulations.
What can you make?
White-labelling has to work at scale from the get-go to make sure the profit margin on each unit you sell is relatively low. Some of the most successful companies in this space turn over millions, despite the fact they are relatively new.
Printing on demand
Why now?
The huge rise in online shopping and digital-only businesses over the past year has helped to fuel the rise of print-on-demand services. These services print a brand’s custom designs onto unbranded goods, often also shipping them out to customers.
Starting and scaling
It’s all about economies of scale in the print-on-demand business. If you plan on doing all the printing in-house, you’ll need to invest in a heat press, a cutter and inks, which will cost a minimum of $1,000. Then there’s the cost of the unbranded items themselves, which are usually cheaper when ordered in larger quantities. That’s why a lot of print-on-demand businesses prefer to work at scale. Printify, for instance, doesn’t handle the printing itself – instead it connects manufacturers to businesses looking for printed goods. Having launched in 2015, it raised $3 million in funding in 2019 and today ships globally.
Barriers to entry
It’s a pretty crowded market so, as well as printing, some manufacturers offer additional high-value services, such as embroidery.
What can you make?
Given that the startup cost is pretty low, print-on-demand providers can expect to turn a profit pretty quickly. Printful, headquartered in North Carolina, saw an 80% increase in orders in 2020. Look to Gooten and Everpress for other successful case studies in this space.
Trading + bartering
Why now?
The International Reciprocal Trade Association says that the bartering economy equates to between $12 billion and $14 billion worth of trade worldwide every year. And this is set to increase because trading and bartering has become a big trend on social media – TikTok in particular. And when we say bartering, we mean a cashless transaction between two parties, swapping one item for another. The big difference now is that the people involved are attracting huge followings on social media by documenting their trades.
Starting and scaling
Strictly speaking, you don’t need any money to start.
Barriers to entry
There isn’t a large-scale system to formalise transactions: BizX manages bartering on the West Coast of the US and Dubai, while Economy of Hours focuses on skill sharing in the UK.
What can you make?
Demi Skipper is currently documenting her upwards trading journey on TikTok (@trademeproject). She started with a bobby pin and, after six months, has traded up to a tiny cabin. Her goal is to trade until she gets a house. Ivanka Siolkowsky is also trading upwards from a miniature clothes hanger and has secured a custom art piece by Toronto-based artist Sarah Phelps.
This article was first published in Courier issue 41, June/July 2021. To purchase the issue or become a subscriber, head to our webshop.
