Video summary

10 Simple Businesses You Can Start This Weekend

Main summary

Key takeaways

Business

Overview

The video lists 10 simple local service businesses you can start immediately (e.g., “this weekend”), emphasizing:

  • Low startup cost
  • Minimal skills
  • Local, grassroots marketing to get customers fast—primarily door flyers, local Facebook community posts, and direct outreach

Marketing & growth playbook (repeated across ideas)

  • Use highly visible local distribution

    • Hand out doorstep flyers and place flyers where your target already is (e.g., doggy daycares, vets, libraries, recycling drop-off centers).
    • Post offers in local Facebook community pages.

  • Personalization converts

    • Flyers include your face, service list, and especially an exact or starting price.
    • Add a clear call-to-action like:
      • “Text me”
      • “I can do it this weekend”
      • “Call me to return”

  • Shortcut to credibility

    • Provide a “seen in the environment” quote (e.g., inspect the fence/gutters/stump and write the price on the flyer).

  • Recurring / subscription where possible

    • Prefer services that can become weekly / biweekly / monthly contracts to increase cashflow predictability and reduce constant customer acquisition.

1) Dog poop pickup (subscription service)

What it is: Weekly or every-other-week dog waste removal.

Concrete example: Erica Krupin (Krupin’s Poopin Scoopin) → reached $100,000 within her first year.

Marketing tactics to get customers quickly:

  • Dropped off a box of donuts at doggy daycares and veterinarian centers with stacked flyers at the counter.
  • Also recommends doorstep flyers and local Facebook community posts.

KPIs / targets mentioned:

  • $100,000 in the first year
  • Subscription cadence: weekly or biweekly

2) Fence painting & fence staining (high-ticket local service)

Pricing approach: Write a specific price based on fence size after walking neighborhoods and inspecting fences.

Door flyer tactic:

  • Your face + simple logo
  • Service list (e.g., restain, seal, deck, pergola)
  • Blank lines to fill with an exact offer, such as:
    • “Restain for $500”
    • “Seal for $500”
  • CTA: “Text me and I can do it this weekend.”

Concrete example pattern:

  • For stump grinding, a provider used a photo and offered removal for an exact price (e.g., $200), then the customer booked for next day.

KPIs / targets mentioned:

  • Typical ticket example: ~$800+ for an average-size fence

3) Photo organizing service (turning word-of-mouth into full-time)

What it is: Organize client phone photo libraries (albums, ordering, memories).

Concrete example: A mom in Chicago → $20,000/month by starting with her own photos, then friends, then local Facebook community posting; she raised prices once demand exceeded capacity.

Scaling logic:

  • Post locally → demand builds → increase pricing to manage workload.

KPIs / targets mentioned:

  • $20,000/month

4) Garage organizing & cleaning

Concrete example: A guy (after being unhappy with his job) → $60,000 in 3 months.

Pricing example: ~$600 per garage (mostly labor-driven profit).

Go-to-market:

  • Flyers + local Facebook community posting
  • Word of mouth grows
  • Minimal early infrastructure (no heavy website needs; limited listings)

KPIs / targets mentioned:

  • $60,000 in 3 months
  • ~$600 per garage

5) Senior companion care (ongoing contracts; scalable local brand)

What it is: Non-medical companionship—conversation, games, errands, sorting mail, trips.

Positioning: Families with elderly parents are “desperate” and want trustworthy support.

Scalability:

  • Start solo, then add companions to build a local brand.

Customer acquisition:

  • Local Facebook community pages
  • Posters/flyers at libraries and places where adult children of seniors might see them
  • Market to the kids of aging parents

Example company cited: companionsforseniors.com (Chicago area) Includes services like 24-hour care, Alzheimer’s/dementia, rehab, driving.

KPIs / earning ranges mentioned:

  • Side: “a few thousand dollars”
  • Full-time solo: “over $10,000/month”
  • High-level note: demand rising as the elderly population grows

6) Graffiti removal (recurring B2B)

What it is: Pressure washer + chemicals; often a recurring need.

Go-to-market (street-level B2B):

  • Focus graffiti on commercial buildings
  • Walk in and propose a same-day clean with a quoted price (example: $200)
  • Offer ongoing service: “If it comes back, call me—I’ll come back.”

Alternate market: Cities/government buildings

  • Call and offer recurring cleanup.

KPIs / targets mentioned:

  • Example job price: ~$200

7) Cardboard recycling service (subscription route model)

Problem framing: Online shopping creates cardboard; many don’t break it down, so it doesn’t fit bins and piles up.

Business model:

  • Monthly subscription with a route
  • Pricing options:
    • Cardboard already broken down → lower price
    • If you break it down → higher price
  • Weekly pickup style (recurring)

Cost structure highlight:

  • Cardboard disposal can be free
  • Main costs: gas + time

Customer acquisition:

  • Flyers + local Facebook community page
  • Flyers at recycling center / cardboard drop-off points

KPIs / targets mentioned:

  • No numeric revenue targets given
  • Emphasis on recurring revenue reducing customer volume pressure

8) Gutter cleaning (high-ticket + visual quoting)

Concrete example reference: Mentions YouTube channel “Mike Check” claiming six figures in gutter cleaning (no specific numbers provided in subtitles).

Go-to-market tactic:

  • Flyers with your face + service + pricing lines
  • Walk/inspect gutters and write an exact offer (example: $300)
  • CTA: “Text me and I’ll come by tomorrow.”

Why it works: Personalized inspection-based quoting increases conversion.

KPIs / targets mentioned:

  • Example quote: ~$300
  • “Six figures” referenced at a high level (no exact figure stated)

9) Mattress & couch cleaning (low competition; keyword-based long-term)

Demand logic: People search for these services; competition is framed as low.

Equipment:

  • Start with a mattress/couch cleaning machine, or rent a carpet cleaning machine
    • Cost: a “couple hundred dollars”

Short-term acquisition:

  • Doorstep flyers with your face + exact pricing + text number
  • Target local service keywords over time

Long-term acquisition:

  • Build a website and rank for terms like:
    • “couch cleaning”
    • “sofa cleaning”

KPIs / targets mentioned:

  • No exact revenue figure given
  • Notes high purchase frequency potential: cleaning “a couple mattresses and a couple couches” can be “hundreds”

10) Parking lot cleaning (recurring B2B contracts; “numbers game”)

Concrete example: A provider “Brian” makes $650,000 profit per year with what he calls the “simplest business in America.”

Target customer: Medium-sized strip malls with ~5 to 10 businesses.

Operations logic:

  • Clean after hours
  • Remove trash, debris, weeds
  • Recurring contracts (“needs to be done constantly”)

Sales motion:

  • “Calling on as many as you can” = numbers game
  • Offer service directly to commercial property owners

KPIs / targets mentioned:

  • $650,000 profit/year
  • Strip malls with 5–10 businesses

Frameworks / playbooks used (common patterns)

  • Subscription-first mindset

    • Choose businesses naturally repeating weekly/biweekly/monthly.

  • Door-to-door / local community GTM

    • Flyers + local Facebook communities + targeted placements (e.g., doggy daycare, library, recycling center).

  • Inspection-based quoting

    • Visually assess quickly, then write an exact price on the flyer.

  • Conversion-focused collateral

    • Flyers with face + service list + exact offer + CTA (text/phone).

  • Demand-to-pricing scaling

    • Validate locally, then raise prices if you get overwhelmed (photo organizing example).

  • Route-based recurring service economics

    • Build a “route” of recurring customers (cardboard recycling).

Concrete actionable recommendations (summarized)

  • Start with a single local channel (e.g., Facebook community page + door flyers) and keep it hyper-local.
  • For quick-inspection services, quote by writing an exact price after a brief look.
  • Include your picture and a text-first CTA on flyers.
  • Prefer services that can become recurring to stabilize revenue (weekly/biweekly/monthly).
  • If demand exceeds capacity, raise prices before hiring (use the photo-organizing approach as the model).

Presenters / sources

  • Presenter: The main narrator (unnamed) of the YouTube video.
  • Examples mentioned as case studies:
    • Erica Krupin — Krupin’s Poopin Scoopin (dog poop pickup)
    • A mom in Chicago — photo organizing case
    • CompanionsForSeniors.com — senior companion example company
    • “Mike Check on YouTube” — gutter cleaning referenced at a high level
    • “Brian” — parking lot cleaning case ($650,000 profit/year)
  • Video tool/database referenced: The presenter’s “idea book” database (no external link provided)

Original video