Business Shorts Podcast

Henry and Sebastian discuss why blue collar businesses may be one of the biggest overlooked opportunities in the entrepreneurship space.

What is private lending? How do you lend money privately to real estate investors or business owners? It may actually be easier than you think. Henry and Sebastian discuss their experience as private lenders, both as lenders and borrowers. We also touch on lending platforms such as Kabbage, Lending Club, and Prosper.

What would you do if you lost your job tomorrow?  Our guest, Bobby Walker, was faced with this decision, and he answered that question by going into the window washing business.  Bobby is a humble and down to earth guy, who decided he was going to rise above his critics and grind his way to a successful window washing business.  Known as the "window washing guy" on the entrepreneur subreddit on Reddit, he has been able to help and motivate others start their own service business, but not without fair warnings about the entrepreneur life.  Bobby is a great example of someone who fixed their mind on a goal, and has run right through walls to achieve it.

In this episode, you will learn about:

• Why Bobby started with window cleaning only, and how it evolved into pressure washing (now the majority of the revenue!)

References talked about:

Journey of a New Entrepreneur

Profit First book

Entrepreneur Subreddit

Start With Why - TED talk by Simon Sinek

Ready to follow in Bobby's footsteps? Get a sense for Bobby's window washing business here.

What would you do if you lost your job tomorrow?  Our guest, Bobby Walker, was faced with this decision, and he answered that question by going into the window washing business.  Bobby is a humble and down to earth guy, who decided he was going to rise above his critics and grind his way to a successful window washing business.  Known as the "window washing guy" on the entrepreneur subreddit on Reddit, he has been able to help and motivate others start their own service business, but not without fair warnings about the entrepreneur life.  Bobby is a great example of someone who fixed their mind on a goal, and has run right through walls to achieve it.

In this episode, you will learn about:

• Why Bobby started with window cleaning only, and how it evolved into pressure washing (now the majority of the revenue!)

References talked about:

Journey of a New Entrepreneur

Profit First book

Entrepreneur Subreddit

Start With Why - TED talk by Simon Sinek

Ready to follow in Bobby's footsteps? Get a sense for Bobby's window washing business here.

Have you ever wondered what it's like to own a gym? For all the fitness gurus, and people passionate about helping others improve their fitness, owning a gym or a fitness studio could actually be a good fit.  Our guest, Jim Thomas, tells us what it takes to open up your own gym.  Jim has been in the fitness industry for many years and now helps others start their gym business.  While competing with household gyms such as 24 Hour Fitness, LA Fitness, Lifetime Fitness, etc. may not be an easy battle to fight, there is still plenty of opportunity to go around by niching down.

In this episode, you will learn about:

• The three biggest costs to a launching gym business

Learn more about Jim and his gym consulting business on his website

What does someone with a large property do when they want to invite a ton of people? Rent a backyard tent of course! Backyard tents are important when keeping your guests out of the sun or the rain in order to successfully host outdoor events.  They have a wide variety of applications - from parties to graduations to weddings to retirements.  Jim Mariano is a fantastic resource for entrepreneurs as he started from the bottom, and has now grown his backyard tent rental into a serious business in the Boston area.

In this episode, you will learn about:

• Why it is so important to niche down in the tent rental business

Feel like buying your first tent? Check out Jim's website.

What does someone with a large property do when they want to invite a ton of people? Rent a backyard tent of course! Backyard tents are important when keeping your guests out of the sun or the rain in order to successfully host outdoor events.  They have a wide variety of applications - from parties to graduations to weddings to retirements.  Jim Mariano is a fantastic resource for entrepreneurs as he started from the bottom, and has now grown his backyard tent rental into a serious business in the Boston area.

In this episode, you will learn about:

• Why it is so important to niche down in the tent rental business

Feel like buying your first tent? Check out Jim's website.

Have you ever been appalled at ATM fees and wonder whose pocket they go into?  Today we have an ATM "mogul", with a popular online following, who has spend most of his career dealing with ATMs.  Noah talks to us about how an ATM business can start small, and can be very profitable if you pick the right locations and manage risks accordingly.  You'll see a lot of similarities with the vending machine business, which fortunately allows you to start small, then scale from there.  Instead of snacks, however, your main assets are quite literally $20 bills!  In a world of PayPal, Venmo, credit cards and more, there will always be a role for cash to play.  So yes, cash is still king!

In this episode, you will learn about:

• Overview of Noah's ATM business

Think you know a good spot for an ATM? Start Start by checking out Noah's website.

Have you ever been appalled at ATM fees and wonder whose pocket they go into?  Today we have an ATM "mogul", with a popular online following, who has spend most of his career dealing with ATMs.  Noah talks to us about how an ATM business can start small, and can be very profitable if you pick the right locations and manage risks accordingly.  You'll see a lot of similarities with the vending machine business, which fortunately allows you to start small, then scale from there.  Instead of snacks, however, your main assets are quite literally $20 bills!  In a world of PayPal, Venmo, credit cards and more, there will always be a role for cash to play.  So yes, cash is still king!

In this episode, you will learn about:

• Overview of Noah's ATM business

Think you know a good spot for an ATM? Start Start by checking out Noah's website.

If you are big into gardening, you may have heard the name Mike McGroarty - a charismatic guy who seems to know everything about plants.  Well the man (the legend!) himself joined us on this episode as our very special guest.  Mike has been working with plants for pretty much his entire career, and he has created an online community for people that are interested in selling plants for profit.  Mike is convinced that you don't have to have a "green thumb" to learn how to grow plants and he says there is still hope even if you are unable to even keep a plastic plant alive.  Margins on plants are actually pretty good, and it takes practically nothing to get started.

In this episode, you will learn about:

• Types of plants that sell well and what time of year to sell them

Interested in trying to plant a few plants? Check out Mike's website.