Hook
The government will pay you to run seven “boring” businesses, and all seven already exist in your city.
The people you serve never pay you. The government does, and it budgeted that money before you ever opened.
I've bought businesses with my own money, and one of them almost cost me $526,000. Since then I've walked hundreds of people through buying one of their own, and the ones the government pays for keep the same customer coming back week after week.
So today I'm going through all seven, where the money comes from, and what it takes to get approved.
Talking Point #1
1.Sub-Hook
•The first business pays you every time you drive somebody to a medical appointment, and the person in the back seat never hands you a dollar.
1.Immediately dive into an insane story, a psychological study, a compelling thought experiment, a banger quote from a famous person, etc.
•Dan shares how the government only ever plays four roles in this entire video: it buys the service directly, it reimburses an approved service, it helps your customer afford the service, or it helps a bank finance the purchase of the business. Driving patients sits in the reimbursement lane, where four separate entities can be the one paying depending on the state: the Medicaid agency itself, a Medicaid managed care organization, a contracted transportation broker, or a local human services agency.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains how the posted rate is only the beginning of the math, because payment gets split across a base trip rate, loaded mileage, unloaded mileage, ambulatory versus wheelchair service, wait time, no-show rules, multi-rider policies and rural adjustments. Government funded does not mean automatically paid, since claims still get delayed, denied, audited and recouped, and one missing authorization turns a completed trip into an unpaid one.
1.Tell the viewer EXACTLY how they can use this information in their real life OR EXACTLY why this information is so important for them to know
•Dan highlights that the order of operations is what separates the operators from the people who lose money. Pull the state's provider manual and rate schedule, confirm the network is even accepting new providers, price commercial insurance, and model one vehicle against real local trip lengths and empty return miles before buying anything. Most people buy the van first and then discover the local broker stopped adding providers two years ago.
Transition
But a van and a driver is the cheapest way into any of this. The next one has the biggest revenue number in the entire video, and it's the number most likely to talk you into buying something you shouldn't.
Talking Point #2
1.Sub-Hook
•The second business did $17 million in revenue for the average owner last year, and almost none of it was theirs to keep.
1.Immediately dive into an insane story, a psychological study, a compelling thought experiment, a banger quote from a famous person, etc.
•Dan shares how Vital Care's 2025 disclosures cover 107 franchised home infusion and specialty pharmacy businesses, averaging $17,182,066 in gross revenue with a median of $9,140,391, a low of $322,227, and one single location at $132,412,191. The model is a closed door infusion pharmacy with a clean room and treatment suites, delivering prescribed infusion drugs, biologics and nursing.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains how those figures are dominated by drug acquisition and reimbursement passing straight through the business, so a $17 million top line can be almost entirely medicine moving from a supplier to a patient. The barrier underneath it is real: pharmacy licensing, a pharmacist in charge, clean room standards, accreditation, payer enrollment, prior authorization systems, and enough working capital to buy high cost drugs months before anyone reimburses you.
1.Tell the viewer EXACTLY how they can use this information in their real life OR EXACTLY why this information is so important for them to know
•Dan highlights that you buy the margin line, never the revenue line, and this is the test case for every business in this video. Ask what the owner keeps after the drugs, the labor, the denials and the payment lag, because reimbursement passing through your bank account is not income.
Transition
Now that one sits at the most regulated end of this whole list, so let's go straight to the other end. The next business needs no medical anything, you already understand the work it does, and the only thing standing between you and it is one piece of paper.
Talking Point #3
1.Sub-Hook
•The third business is already happening in your county, because somebody is getting paid to clean and paint every building it owns.
1.Immediately dive into an insane story, a psychological study, a compelling thought experiment, a banger quote from a famous person, etc.
•Dan shares how enormous the buyer list actually is: federal agencies, state agencies, counties, cities, school districts, public universities, airports, transit authorities, public hospitals, housing authorities and military installations, all buying janitorial work, floor care, window washing, painting, graffiti removal, pest control, plumbing and sewer work, portable storage and temporary containment walls. City Wide serves commercial and government office buildings, and Painter Bros franchisees serve government agencies alongside their commercial work.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains how the contract value is not the number you keep. City Wide's disclosures show 99 franchises averaging $9,821,794 in gross billings with a median of $5,518,501, while roughly 62% to 66% of that passes straight through to subcontractors and about a third is gross margin before overhead. Painter Bros shows the smaller end honestly: 12 full time outlets with median gross sales of $788,392 and a low of $235,191, and nine part time outlets with a median of $227,283.
1.Tell the viewer EXACTLY how they can use this information in their real life OR EXACTLY why this information is so important for them to know
•Dan highlights that registration is not revenue and certification is not a customer. The path is reading recently awarded contracts to learn the real pricing and who currently holds the work, building a one page capability statement, starting on small purchase orders or as a subcontractor under an established prime to earn past performance, and carrying enough cash to run payroll from mobilization until the invoice gets approved.
Transition
And that same money moves inside people's houses, not just public buildings. The next business needs no license at all to get started, and the owners who do get in still run out of one thing that has nothing to do with the government.
Talking Point #4
1.Sub-Hook
•The fourth business pays you to help somebody stay in their own house, and you don't need a single medical license to do it.
1.Immediately dive into an insane story, a psychological study, a compelling thought experiment, a banger quote from a famous person, etc.
•Dan shares how ComForCare's 2025 systemwide numbers show where this money actually comes from: 44% private pay, 23% Medicaid and state programs, 13% veterans, 10% insurance and 10% miscellaneous. A public payer is a slice of the mix rather than the whole business, and the services are companionship, personal care, help with daily living, homemaker and chore services and respite care.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains how the same disclosure covers 220 territories with average gross sales of $1,295,843 and a median of $849,804, a high of $20,382,999 and a low of $13,813, on a verified investment range of $102,475 to $163,925. That average is pulled upward by one enormous outlier and an old formerly company owned store, which makes the median the honest center of the business.
1.Tell the viewer EXACTLY how they can use this information in their real life OR EXACTLY why this information is so important for them to know
•Dan highlights that caregiver labor is excluded from those gross sales figures entirely, the franchisee or an approved manager has to work in the business full time, and payroll goes out on schedule whether or not the claim has cleared. Being legally open and being credentialed to bill a public payer are two separate milestones, electronic visit verification is unforgiving, and recruiting caregivers is harder than finding clients.
Transition
But every business so far has been about caring for adults. The next one is about kids, and instead of signing up customers one family at a time, a single signature puts you in front of hundreds of them at once.
Talking Point #5
1.Sub-Hook
•The fifth business is printed in your city's own catalog every season, and somebody gets paid to run every program in it.
1.Immediately dive into an insane story, a psychological study, a compelling thought experiment, a banger quote from a famous person, etc.
•Dan shares how Skyhawks and SuperTots runs camps, classes, clinics, leagues and after school programs through school districts, community centers, parks and recreation departments, housing developments, military bases, libraries, museums, daycares and preschools, with a Government Venue model built specifically for public sites.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains how the money arrives in several different shapes here, because a district or parks department can pay you under contract, parents can pay registration through the city's own system, or you and the venue can split the enrollment revenue. Skyhawks' disclosed locations run from $32,675 for one affiliate territory up to $1,902,926 for an eight territory location, and those two numbers are not comparable to each other.
1.Tell the viewer EXACTLY how they can use this information in their real life OR EXACTLY why this information is so important for them to know
•Dan highlights that the calendar decides whether you get in, since public program schedules are set months ahead of the season. The work is registering as a vendor, reading the current catalog, finding the age group or sport that is missing from it, and pitching a defined program with a price, a schedule, background checked coaches and insurance in hand before procurement opens.
Transition
Now if you want the business on this list with the highest ceiling, it's the next one. But the approval to get paid takes months before you earn a dollar, and there's a warning attached to whoever tries to sell it to you.
Talking Point #6
1.Sub-Hook
•The sixth business pays for every nurse visit inside somebody's house, but getting approved to send one is a bigger job than running the agency.
1.Immediately dive into an insane story, a psychological study, a compelling thought experiment, a banger quote from a famous person, etc.
•Dan shares how a skilled home health agency delivers doctor ordered care in the home, including skilled nursing, home health aides, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and medical social work. Boost Home Healthcare's disclosures require state licensure, third party accreditation, Medicare certification, a full time Home Health Administrator and a Director of Patient Care Services before the doors open.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains how the payer mix runs all the way down into the fee structure, since Boost charges a 5% royalty on Medicare, commercial insurance and private pay revenue and 3.5% on Medicaid, on top of a 2% national marketing fee, 1% local marketing spend, and fixed software, billing and coding costs. The disclosed investment is $162,650 to $458,275, and the FDD makes no financial performance representation at all, so there is no average, no median, and no unit revenue figure to check any of it against.
1.Tell the viewer EXACTLY how they can use this information in their real life OR EXACTLY why this information is so important for them to know
•Dan highlights that a system with no disclosed numbers is a signal to slow down and validate the operating base yourself. Boost went from six open locations to three during 2025 while carrying 88 signed agreements that had not opened, and that describes how well the franchise sells, not how well the locations perform.
Transition
So every business I've shown you needs the government to become your customer in some way. The last one doesn't, and it's the reason I almost lost half a million dollars.
Talking Point #7
1.Sub-Hook
•The seventh business gets a bank to hand you the money to buy it, and the government never becomes your customer at all.
1.Immediately dive into an insane story, a psychological study, a compelling thought experiment, a banger quote from a famous person, etc.
•Dan shares how an SBA backed loan can cover a franchise fee, equipment, buildout, furniture and fixtures, opening inventory, working capital or the acquisition of an existing business, commonly with 10% to 15% down and terms of ten years or longer. The lender makes the loan and the SBA guarantees a portion of the lender's risk, so nobody is handing the buyer free money.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains how that guaranty protects the bank and not you, using his own second franchise investment, where he discovered $321,000 in costs that had been left out of the disclosure document. He was left with two options: pay $321,000 he did not have, or lose $526,000 and default on the SBA loan.
1.Tell the viewer EXACTLY how they can use this information in their real life OR EXACTLY why this information is so important for them to know
•Dan highlights that debt multiplies whatever you buy, so financing gives you leverage on a good business and helps you make a much larger mistake on a bad one. The sequence is building a full project budget instead of just the franchise fee, reconciling Item 7 against a real local budget, adding working capital and post close reserves, modeling debt service against a conservative revenue case, and talking to an experienced franchise lender before signing a lease or anything nonrefundable. Every one of these seven still comes back to his four pillars: capital, capability, clarity of outcome, and territory availability.
Outro
•Dan CTAs to a related video on the channel
CTA
