Just for myself, I can find four, maybe five, names on that list that might qualify as inspirational or a success. The rest are some form of financial opportunists, and at least one a predator in philanthropic clothing. 😐
They sell the contents of storage units only.. or they sell other stuff too?
My cousin has been doing this awhile, not sure of all his sources, my son in law is just getting started, I think the storage unit was just to see how it would go, turns out there was a set pf silver spurs in there by a famous silversmith that went for $2300 on e-bay, plus a bunch of other stuff, of course you never know, it could of been all junk too!
My cousin has been doing this long enough that he knows what he is looking for, cherry picks all kinds of sales and auctions locally and then lists stuff on e-bay, CL. etc.
It seems crazy since he really has no exclusive on the market, BUT he does quite well.
SHG
A few thoughts on this.
First, the best business would be repeatedly selling a product, that is inexpensive to reproduce. Apps are the ultimate example of this, but right now a lot of the best young minds are making apps and inventing a lot of the same ideas.. it's a bad time to be in the app business, too much competition. You basically have to hit the viral-app lottery to make money.. the angry birds guys are millionaires, but there won't be many of those.
Second, a good business would be something everyone needs and they need it fairly often.. food, of course (but running restaurants is a gamble) and housing (rental business has been good to me, but it's not a quick buck). Everyone needs clothes and everyone needs gas.. but I don't see a way to make money on either of those really.
I think from a service industry perspective, the best business would be one that customers need multiple times per year, but pay relatively high costs for each time. The problem with surveying (and house-painting and roofing and many others) is that a given customer only needs the services a handful of times in his life (not enough to go around!)
I can think of only one service that fits the above description.. and maybe I only need it frequently because I own old houses, but it's HVAC repair. Every time I have to call one of those guys I'm stunned at the costs... I know the parts are inexpensive and they're just killing me because I'm ignorant of the repair procedure. Also, you really have the client over the barrel.. it's hot they want cold, and vice versa.
Anything with a "greater fool" involved, especially if it involves greed.
I have a friend here in town who owns a HVAC business, you are right, anytime the temps are at extremes they are busy, off hours costs extra too, so they really make bank when you break and it isn't normal business hours.
Septic pumping might be a good paying gig too, BUT not my first choice!
SHG
> If making lots of money easily was the number one criteria, what would be a good business to get into?
If there were a good business to get into where you could easily make lots of money, it would quickly be saturated to the point where you couldn't make any money at it.
FWIW - When I was being taught how to evaluate companies at Morgan Stanley, the one point they stressed was to evaluate the barriers to entry. The harder it is for competitors to enter the market the easier it is for a company to thrive.
For example, in the early 70's General Electric commissioned an internal study to see if they should enter the jumbo jet market to compete with Boeing. The results were that they believed there was a 50% chance of bankrupting the company before they could get a prototype in flight.
On the other side of the coin, web design (sorry Wendell) was used as an example of the least likely business to succeed, since every laid-off guy/gal with a PC and a how to book is a potential competitor.
>Every time I have to call one of those guys I'm stunned at the costs... I know the parts are inexpensive and they're just killing me because I'm ignorant of the repair procedure.
Oddly enough all the HVAC guys I know say the same thing about surveyors.
> On the other side of the coin, web design (sorry Wendell) was used as an example of the least likely business to succeed, since every laid-off guy/gal with a PC and a how to book is a potential competitor.
Sounds a little like surveying.
There is the actual business of "making" your own money although it is illegal.
> If making lots of money easily was the number one criteria, what would be a good business to get into?
Personally, I couldn't make money at something I wasn't interested in and had a drive to do.
I've recently had the forehead-slap realization that it's all about subscriptions. As others have pointed out, cell phone contracts, TV, etc. Make up your own. Recently a major builder in town has started offering home warranty and handyman service "subscriptions". Keep them on the hook. I especially like the boundary maintenance idea - probably would work quite well in certain areas.
And how can we overlook the most essential item we all use day in and day out: TP!
Build it....
and they will come.
or maybe you could get a 3D printer and go nuts...
[flash width=560 height=315] http://www.youtube.com/v/8aghzpO_UZE?version=3&hl=en_US [/flash]
I'm going to start making 3D, scale models, of the topos I do...
>First, the best business would be repeatedly selling a product, that is inexpensive to reproduce.
Reminds me of the story about the guy who failed a lot of his school classes, especially math, and everybody expected he would be unemployed. At the class reunion, he pulls up in a Lexus, gets out wearing an expensive suit. Everybody is shocked that he seems to be doing well. They asked him the secret of his success. "Well," he replied, "I invented something I could make for a dollar and sell for five dollars. Now, financial people say a four percent return isn't great, but it's amazing how fast it adds up."