Hello there, loyal reader. I know you read this not-so-little newsletter every single week and I just wanted to say that on this Thanksgiving Day, we’re thankful for YOU. Now go get your gobble on, spend time with the fam, and let’s get into today’s story.
Today in 10 minutes or less, you’ll get:
- How one Zillennial is making $20k+ each month just by painting lines on the pavement
- How commercial services could be your ideal weekend side hustle
- Why tech + boring biz’s = THOUSANDS in your pocket if you help them innovate
- How to leverage a start-up budget and why brand new equipment isn’t always necessary
TO STRIPE OR NOT TO STRIPE
So, I met this kid on the internet
He may be a Zillennial but don’t let his age fool you. Jacob is bringing in a solid $20k+ a month from a side hustle that’s turned into his full-time gig.
By doing what you ask? Painting lines on the pavement. Look at that sh*t-eating grin.
Okay, okay. There’s more to it than that.
Have you ever stopped to wonder how you know where to park (and also how you know when that car next to you is being an a-hole)?
It’s thanks to blue-collar people like Jacob. He works mostly in partnership with local commercial spaces as a paint striper.
Also, no. You didn’t read that wrong. If you’re looking for strippers, please consult Craigslist and get your Contrarian mind out of the gutter. Sheesh.
If you’re unfamiliar with this industry, join the club (we have snacks). Here’s how it works:
- A commercial space gets built from the ground up
- Asphalt and concrete are poured
- An empty parking lot is born, but chaos, anarchy, and a little road rage commence until…
- Someone draws some lines that tell you where to park
This job was created by the powers-that-be who are responsible for constructing a new building or strip mall. They must have the lines drawn on the parking lot, but they don’t want to worry about such a small job. So, they subcontract out to smaller service providers. Big fish problems.
What you get is a big pond that’s naturally created for smaller fish, aka a highly profitable biz or side hustle that’s ideal for a one-person show or a small team that doesn’t take a lot of bells and whistles to do well.
(P.S. I call that boring-ly profitable.)
LET’S BREAK IT DOWN
So, let’s do some simple math here
Jacob is making $700 an hour doing a job that you don’t need a college degree for. He started this as a side hustle (it’s now his full-time gig), and so far, his numbers have looked like this:
Two or more jobs a week depending on the season. Let’s call it:
~$3.5k in revenue a pop (2x a week)
~$500-750 for expenses (since he does the job himself, it’s largely gas and paint)
~$15-25k+ a month or more in your pocket
Average monthly salary is about $6k/month so I’m loving those numbers.
If it were us, we’d turn this into a business and employ others, but you do you.
Oh, and another thing? Jacob started this biz from scratch. $0. No equipment
Instead of spending a ton of capital upfront on things like a brand new fancy paint striper or a bunch of other tools he didn’t know he’d need, he started small.
Like free.99 small.
He had some friends in the parking lot maintenance industry and got their professional opinions on what equipment worked well.
Then he did what any bootstrapping GenZer would do and hit up Facebook Marketplace.
That’s when he found The King™, aka a striping machine that’d been through hell and back. Paint clogged the pipes, and it barely worked. Key word: barely.
The previous owner listed the price as “free if willing to repair” (understatement of the year—this b*tch needed some major TLC), but Jacob had a vision.
He said “no thanks” to the $10k price tag of a new machine and went secondhand.
He sent the owner a message and a few hours later, the machine was his. After spending many (!!!) hours repairing this in his dad’s garage, it was good as new.
If you’re not the handiest when it comes to machine repair or you can’t find a reliable reseller, you can also stick to the basics. All you need for this side hustle is a couple of paint rollers, an extension pole, and some painter’s tape.
This side hustle—with a 77%+ profit margin and under $50 in start-up costs—could be yours after a quick trip to Home Depot for a few supplies.
Other reasons I love this business model
- Boomers R Us — most of the current market is owned by people who are in their late 60s, early 70s, aka prime retirement age. Once these owners prep to exit, they’ll be ready to sell to the next generation.
- Tech glow up = 1,000 steps ahead — ever walked into a small mom-and-pop business like this? You’ll probably notice that their ENTIRE ops department is run on ~ record scratch ~ a whiteboard. As in “hope you didn’t lean over and rub off our list of routes and jobs and who still owes us money this week”. There’s a lot of upleveling that could happen in this industry just by bringing them into the 21st century with a little tech (or even a Google doc).
- Saved by the CRM — similar to above, but most of these businesses aren’t using a CRM tool. When it’s time to follow up with that job from two years ago to see if they’re ready for a fresh coat of paint? Yeah, you guessed it. They’ve written the date into their paper calendar.
HOW I’D PLAY IT
If this were me, here are a few things I’d keep an eye on
- Rain and weather delays make this business model highly seasonal. For example, Jacob lives in Southern California and considers his biz “offline” during winter. Not the end of the world, just make sure you have a cash flow plan for the slower months and ramp your team up during the busy season to line your pockets.
- Get your leads to 50%+ retention or referral by setting up a subscription option or referral program. Chances are that your customers are builders with LOADS of contacts who need exactly what you do. Give your future self the gift of MRR and an easy customer acquisition process.
- Request full payment or a deposit upfront, especially if this becomes your full-time job or you want a little insurance for if/when you’re faced with a weather delay. No sense in feeling your purse strings tighten up just because it rained that day.
It’s not the sexiest (again… STRIPER not stripper, geez) but it’s profitable.
What do you think? Should I make a trip out to SoCal and try paint striping for myself? Never used a paint striper before, but it’s oddly therapeutic.
Codie
Written by Kendall Cherry and Codie Sanchez, Edited by Rananda Rich and the Contrarian Team
*Spoiler: There apparently is paint STRIPPING. Not what I expected.
CONTRARIAN FINDS
Contrarian Finds – F mainstream media, read this instead:
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CONTRARIAN EXTRAS
The Not So Boring Section:
How ‘bout some give-before-take this Black Friday: Buffer has ideas on how to do good and support good.
Is Twitter about to fly into the big blue: Or can it become financially viable with all the right ticks?
Don’t eat yourself into oblivion this Thanksgiving: No such thing as a free lunch says Elon.
