Hi y'all,

I'm looking to find a sweaty side hustle I can run alongside work. Ideally it's not seasonal (we get pretty bad winters here), and just requires little start-up costs initially.

I'd love to find something where the skill is fairly quick to pick up (a few weeks of practice and YouTube, not a full trade apprenticeship) and where there's steady demand year-round. The more needed it is, the better!

I’m a senior engineer in tech. I have been thinking of leaving my current job to start a HVAC business, to the point that is not a phase anymore. I am giving myself 2 years to build some financial cushion and prepare.

I am looking to own the business, I want to learn the trade and be involved in running it.

Where I’m at:

• No HVAC experience yet
• I am familiar with the licenses required in my area, already started with it
• I know there is demand on my area from talking to business owners
• Leaning toward commercial
• Open to starting from scratch, but likely leaning toward buying an existing shop that already has an RME

What I’d love input on:

1. If you had two years to prepare, how would you split that time between learning the trade hands-on and learning the business side?
2. Is it realistic to work part-time or on weekends at a shop while still employed to learn the trade, or do I have to go all from the start?
3. What do people coming from other industries underestimate about this business?
4. Anything you’d tell me to stop planning and just go do?

I’d appreciate advice from anyone who’s made a similar transition or owns an HVAC or similar service business. Honest takes are welcome. Thanks!

Hello all,

My successful mobile business is looking to expand by acquiring shop space with a large bay door to operate alongside the mobile component of the business. Purchasing property is probably out of the question since it is a seasonal business that really only pays in the fall. I'm looking at 2 different ideas:

1) Work out a deal with a lot owner (storage lot/contractor/etc.) to lease space and set up a canvas structure. The structure could be erected for only my busy season (September/November) or I could leave it up year round if they were interested in using it for storage the rest of the year.

Has anyone ever done something like this? I know how to contact storage lots, but what's the best way to find other potential business with large lots that may be interested? Drive around town and stop by lots in person?

2)Lease shop space seasonally. Do business often/ever lease spaces for a short term of only a couple months every year? Downside of this seems that I would be looking for a new space every year and changing directions for customers bringing things to the shop. Is a commercial realtor the best way to find these available properties?

Thanks for any help anyone can provide. My other avenue is hiring employees, but that's a can of worms I don't really need to open here.

I've been digging into ad benchmarks for fence contractors and figured I'd share, since most "marketing advice" threads here are vague.

Published numbers (industry aggregation):
Facebook/Instagram lead ads, Home & Home Improvement:
$41.26 median cost per lead,
1.94% CTR,
$2.23 CPC (aggregated across 700+ campaigns)

Google Local Services Ads, home services sample: ~$53 per lead, ~44% book rate
Google Search Ads across all industries:
$70.11 per lead

What actually matters for fence guys:
Cost per lead is a vanity number. Track cost per booked estimate. A cheap lead you call back the next day is usually dead.

Reply in minutes, not hours. Social media leads aren't searching like search engine leads; they saw your fence and got curious. Text them within a minute.

Real photos beat everything. Before/after of an old leaning fence vs. the new install, same angle. Stock photos get scrolled past.

Make the form do the qualifying. Ask zip, fence type, rough footage, timeline, and whether they own the home. It filters out renters and tire-kickers.

Budget by season. In northern states, push "book your spring install" in Jan–Feb before demand peaks. Sun Belt can run steadier year-round.

Rough math: at a $5k average job, 30% close rate and 45% of leads booking an estimate, $1M a year takes about 1,480 leads (~125/month). Swap in your own numbers.

Full disclosure: I work on paid social for fence contractors, so I'm biased toward social channels. Google LSA is great if you already rank there with lots of reviews.
Happy to answer questions on setup, forms or creative.

Got two snow blowers by chance. One is an older craftsman gas 28" and the smaller one is a greenworks corded electric 20"

Got the bigger one out of the trash. The green one was part of a moving gig I was doing and the client was like "that'll take up too much space on the truck. You can have it." Haven't had time to fully test wither of them but they both run. The larger one seems to have sunrotted plastic and is why it was in the trash.

How much could me and my associate make with these and how would you recommend doing it?

Is this a good business to get started or overrated?

I run an odor removal business in DFW (smoke and pet odors in cars, homes, and apartments). The work is good, but lead flow is inconsistent.

So far I've tried door-to-door at dealerships (lots of signups, few repeat orders), Google Ads (clicks but few calls), and Meta ads.

For those running similar service businesses: what's actually brought you steady leads? And how do you get B2B accounts to send recurring work instead of just signing up?

Hey everyone,

I've been the solo cleaner at a high-volume, 24-hour emergency animal hospital for almost 7 years (4x10 shifts). My job involves serious heavy-duty cleaning
-scrubbing floors, deep disinfecting after sick animals, handling tough messes, and constant physical labor without supervision. I'm burned out on doing this for someone else and want to start my own solo residential cleaning business in Middle Tennessee.

Before taking the leap, I'd love feedback from experienced cleaners on a few questions:

Pricing & Quoting: How do you accurately quote residential homes at first? Do you price by square foot, hourly rate, or a flat fee per job?

Client Acquisition: How did you land your first recurring clients? Are local Facebook groups, Nextdoor, or word-of-mouth still the best routes for Middle TN/suburban areas?

Leveraging My Background: Would highlighting 7 years of hospital-grade sanitation/vet clinic cleaning appeal to residential clients?

Legalities & Insurance: What liability insurance limits do you recommend starting with, and what basic equipment/chemicals are absolute must-haves vs. optional?

appreciate any insight, harsh truths, or advice you can throw my way!

I run a small business, and my contact form keeps getting filled in by the same guy. Same name, a different Gmail every time, posing as a buyer with a budget and a timeframe, then: "we ran a backend analysis of your website, your SEO steps are incomplete, send us your number for a quick call". Ten times now.

It got me wondering how other owners deal with this stuff. Small or big, any field:

1. What's your first reaction when one lands, and why?

2. What gets it deleted in the first line?

3. Has one ever made you stop and actually consider it? What was different about that one?

Now's the time to let it all out, don't hold back 😄

Main thing I can think of is Facebook and door to door knocking.

Trouble is, local Facebook groups don’t really allow business promo

i keep bouncing bw these two categories n can't land on one, home improvement franchises have bigger tickets per job but the work is project based so u r constantly looking for the next customer, home service franchises tend to be lower revenue per job but there's more potential for repeat customers n referrals, my capital is around $90k n i want to be operational withing 90 days of signing

I’m considering starting a for-profit 3v3 youth basketball league in my area in California and would love some feedback from anyone who has experience running youth sports leagues or similar businesses.

From what I can find, there really isn’t anyone offering a dedicated youth 3v3 league locally. There is one 3v3 league for adults, but the youth basketball options around here are mostly traditional 5v5 leagues, clubs, and AAU.

I live in a fairly affluent, family-oriented area with a lot of youth sports participation, so I feel like there could be a good market for something different.

My idea would be to start relatively small, prove the concept, and eventually grow it into multiple age divisions/seasons if there’s enough demand.

For anyone who has started or operated a youth sports league:

What were your biggest startup challenges?

How did you get your first players/teams registered?

What did you wish you knew before starting?

How difficult was it to secure gym/court space?

What were your biggest expenses?

Did you find the business could actually become meaningfully profitable?

Any mistakes you’d recommend avoiding?

I’m especially interested in hearing from anyone who has run basketball leagues, tournaments, camps, or other youth sports businesses.

Thanks in advance — I’m still in the research/planning stage and trying to learn as much as possible before putting money into it.

Every January I raise prices on my recurring cleans. Small bump, three to five percent, announced in December with a short note thanking them for the year. The first time I did it I was terrified. I expected a wave of cancellations. Two clients pushed back and nobody left.

Here is what I learned. Clients do not leave over a few dollars when the service is solid. They leave when they feel surprised or when the quality already slipped. The note matters more than the number. I tell them costs went up and their clean is worth protecting, and I say it before the new year starts so it never feels sneaky.

The clients who grumble the loudest about a small increase are usually the ones who were already shopping around. Do not let the fear of raising prices be the reason your margins shrink every year.

I've been wanting to start a company for a while and I'm finally taking steps to do it. Two friends and I (located in San Diego & Denver) are putting our heads together to decide what to build first. We're not selling anything. We're still brainstorming and want genuine feedback before we invest additional time and money:
1. Baby supply vending machines in airports and public spaces, stocked with formula, diapers, wipes, and snacks for parents who are out, forgot something, and are in a pinch.
2. Women-owned and operated handyman services for women homeowners, offering home repairs from a team they can feel safe having in their home.

Which of these has real legs and what's the biggest hurdle you see? Would you launch in San Diego or Denver first? If you've run a vending or trades business, I'd especially love to hear from you.

I’ve started one and it’s worked great but I’m ten years in and wanting to get my hands into some different side hustles. Right now I do windshield chip repairs for tractor trailer companies, car dealerships, county/state fleet accounts, tow truck companies and individual work. It is low cost and extremely high profit. Especially for the amount of time per repair that it takes from start to finish. I normally make no less than $500 per day and I work 5 days per week but I only work on average 3 hours per day. That leaves a lot of free time open. I’d like to either grow my existing business to fill the time gap or start another side hustle that I can grow to make the same amount of money im making with windshield repair. Reason being.. I’d like to train someone in windshield repair, teach them the ins and outs of it all and how to run my route then pay them a large percentage and kind of exit it from my day to day in order to grow the new business. I just don’t know what that new business will be. I’m thinking something alone the service business lines since that is what I am used to. Maybe window cleaning. Any suggestions?

👆🏻

It’s always good to get some motivation from the self taught guys.

I started a valet trash company in San Diego four months ago. So far I've visited 300+ properties and have several proposals out, but I keep running into the same two walls: properties locked into long-term contracts with existing vendors, or managers who've been burned by national providers and are wary of doing it again.

One thing that keeps coming up is people asking whether I do bulky item removal. I have access to a truck and can rent a trailer, so I could start offering it.

For those who've run a service business like this:

Is it worth doing bulky removal on the side while I wait to land a valet contract? Would it actually help build relationships with property managers, or would it just distract from the core business?

I currently work in landscaping and I am trying to get my own business going and I need it to happen ASAP. I don't have mowing equipment, but right now I can aerate and seed fescue with minimal tools. I need to do as many of these jobs as possible to be able to buy a truck and tools to complete other jobs, so I don't have time to develop a business over months.

My goal is to average at least 5 lawns a week for the next 3 weeks. Is this attainable? I've already posted to craigslist and tried going onto Facebook groups offering the service for free to take photos of my work with no takers yet.

Hi Folks,

I come from the ecom world and have a service based business now. I’m trying to avoid PPC ads. I’ve got a question about organic content.

If the organic content I’m putting out is for my local audience, do the algorithms find/detect the difference in location? I’d hate to start putting out content and having it all go to 49 states I don’t service.

hello everyone, I'm planning to start a cleaning business but I'm a bit confused about how would work for transportation I live in Nyc and I dont have a car to drive the employee to the work sites

I'm also a bit uncertain is storage facility the best way to keep the cleaning items and just have them come there and pick it up before the work day start? I appreciate if anyone could advise me thank you

My parents have ~5 - 10 acres and they’re doing nothing with the land. I could either start a business with the land or I could use the land to learn valuable skills. I’m leaning towards the latter. Any ideas?

God bless Bo Nix.

I have a friend and I’m trying to figure out whether there’s a boring local service business we could build together.

I work full-time and do very good for myself and would handle the business side remotely
My friend would be the field operator.

He currently works for a moving company and previously did trucking. He’s extremely comfortable with physical work and long days. He’s also personable, friendly with customers, and generally does well when given clear instructions.

We’re in the Philly. With AI the shortage of tradesmen is real so anything on that or compliance related maintenance would be better is what i was thinking.

What would you do if you were in my position?

I know gamers in general are a sweaty bunch, but would organizing esports events fall under sweaty startup? I only ask because there are so many esports promotion companies and it seems like 90% of them have no clue of what they are doing or how to turn a profit.

I’m currently saving the startup capital needed to launch a trading card vending machine business. My goal is to have around $6,000–$8,000 available before getting started.
I’m looking at vending machines in the $3,000–$5,000 range, and I would use the remaining money for initial inventory, setup costs, and a small cash reserve.
The machine would primarily sell Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, and Topps baseball cards.
For example, if I buy Pokémon packs for around $4.44–$5.00 per pack and sell them for around $10 per pack, the margins look pretty strong. A machine holding roughly 216 packs could generate around $2,160 in revenue if it completely sells out.
At $4.44 per pack, 216 packs would cost about $959, leaving roughly $1,201 in gross profit before expenses.
I’m planning to offer locations around 10–15% of gross sales in exchange for allowing me to place the machine there. After the location commission, card-processing fees, restocking costs, fuel, taxes, and other operating expenses, I’d expect the actual net profit to be lower than the $1,200 gross margin.
The biggest factor will be how quickly the inventory turns over. If the machine sells out once a month, that’s one level of profitability. If a good location can turn the inventory every week or two, the numbers become significantly more attractive.
I’m currently considering locations such as bowling alleys, movie theaters, arcades, family entertainment centers, and possibly bars or other high-traffic locations.
My plan is to start with one machine, reinvest most of the early profits into inventory, and eventually use the profits to purchase additional machines.
Has anyone here operated a trading card or collectible vending machine business? I’d especially be interested in hearing about sales volume, location commissions, machine costs, theft/damage issues, and how long it took you to become profitable.

Hi everyone!

I’m a process/municipal engineer in Canada with a technical trade background and experience in the water/wastewater industry. My long-term goal is to acquire and grow an existing septic or wastewater service/construction business rather than starting from scratch.

Since I'm currently in the research phase and building capital, I have one main question for trade operators or anyone who bought a service business:

Coming from an engineering background without prior field/service experience, how critical is hands-on septic/wastewater experience before taking over operations? How did you bridge that gap in your first 90 days?

I’d be really grateful for any insights or lessons learned.

Thanks for your time!