Hook
There are 10 boring businesses I'd put my own money into right now.
I own businesses in some of the most boring industries, and have helped many more.
Every startup cost and revenue number I give you comes out of a real business owner. In one of these companies, one owner did $5.4 million and another did $78,000.
They get better the whole way up, so number 10 is the one I'd actually commit to.
Talking Point #1
1.Sub-Hook
•Number 1, hauling junk, and it pays you twice for the same load.
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 simple it is. One truck, no real building, and you charge by how much of the truck bed the load takes up, a quarter, a half, three quarters, each at a different rate. Busy season hits at the start and the end of summer. People want the garage cleaned out, they just don't want to go to the dump.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains the part nobody advertises. The good operators keep a warehouse and sort what they pick up, because people throw away genuinely nice things. They resell it or donate it and write it off, which means fewer trips to the dump and a smaller bill when they get there, since the dump charges by weight. So you got paid to take the couch, and then you got paid again when you sold it.
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 across the brands he pulled, it costs about $121,000 to $356,000 to open. One established brand reported $551,635 in average sales and $449,606 at the median across 160 full-year franchises, and only 37% of them reached that average. Another brand's number is nearly three times higher, but that's a bigger, older system with moving revenue in it. Read the average and the median together, because the average alone is how first-timers talk themselves into the wrong expectation.
Transition
But number 2 makes most of its real money while the rest of the city is asleep.
Talking Point #2
1.Sub-Hook
•Number 2, cleaning, where most owners accidentally buy themselves a job.
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 house side works. The customers come back on a schedule, so the money is steady, and the hard part is running crews. The better systems handle that with technology, right down to letting the homeowner tip the crew based on how well they did.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains that the money is really on the business side. Bigger buildings, bigger jobs, mostly overnight, and the contracts renew instead of being resold every time.
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 depending on the model, these run roughly $71,000 to $219,000 to open. One residential system reported $487,441 in average sales and $427,425 at the median across 306 qualified franchises. The trap is doing the work yourself. Clean the floors and you bought yourself a job. Run the crews and you bought a business. He also points out that a couple of brands in this space report performance in thirds or per-household ratios instead of one annual dollar figure, which isn't hiding anything, but it does mean you can't compare them side by side without doing the work.
Transition
With number 3, one truck and one guy is the entire startup.
Talking Point #3
1.Sub-Hook
•Number 3, pools, a business that pays you three separate times a year.
1.Immediately dive into an insane story, a psychological study, a compelling thought experiment, a banger quote from a famous person, etc.
•Dan shares the three payments from his own experience of the trade. You open the pool in spring, pull the cover, get it clean and ready. You close it in fall. And in between you're on a weekly or every-other-week schedule all season. All of it off one truck and one technician, no building to rent.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains that the housekeeping staff at a Hilton or a Marriott is not cleaning that pool. They hire somebody like you. Same with hot tubs, spas, and the fountains the city maintains. What buying into a brand actually gets you is the name, the systems, national accounts if they have them, and being bonded and insured, which is professionalism a guy with a truck can't offer. And you decide the ceiling, you can move into installing pools or replacing liners whenever you want.
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 it costs about $89,000 to $213,000 to open. The largest brand here reported $910,643 in average revenue across 127 territories, but the median was $594,460. That gap is the whole lesson: the average is being lifted by the big operators, so underwrite the median, not the headline. What quietly ruins people is buying customers spread all over a metro. You spend the day driving between them and the driving eats what you made.
Transition
And number 4 is work most people write off as unskilled, where one job can pay more than most people make in a year.
Talking Point #4
1.Sub-Hook
•Number 4, painting, and the real money isn't in houses.
1.Immediately dive into an insane story, a psychological study, a compelling thought experiment, a banger quote from a famous person, etc.
•Dan shares that anyone can get into this and everything needs it. Even a bare warehouse has a coat of white paint on it, and homes, gyms, and industrial buildings all come back around every few years.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains where the money actually sits, from his own experience of the trade. A house painter tapes off every window and answers to a homeowner watching for mistakes, on a small job that takes forever. The commercial and warehouse jobs are far bigger tickets, they don't need nearly the same skill, and you knock them out one at a time. There are brands built specifically around those commercial accounts.
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 it runs about $97,000 to $518,000 to open, and that the numbers here vary too much to give one category figure. A large established brand reported $2.1 million average with a $1.29 million median across 291 owners, while a smaller system's 12 full-time locations averaged $614,148. In that small one the median came in higher than the average, at $788,392, which is not a typo, it's what happens when a couple of weak locations drag the average down in a group that small. That is exactly why he reads the number of owners before he reads the number. And what decides whether you make money is your crews, because bad ones wreck the reviews that bring the next job.
Transition
But number 5 is the one the big money has been secretly buying up.
Talking Point #5
1.Sub-Hook
•Number 5, heating and air conditioning, where a cheap deal is usually a bad sign.
1.Immediately dive into an insane story, a psychological study, a compelling thought experiment, a banger quote from a famous person, etc.
•Dan shares why the work never stops. When the air conditioning dies in a Texas summer or the heat goes out up north, nobody shops around or waits, and the maintenance keeps coming back every year after that.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains that investment firms already came through and bought up both the brands and the big independent operators. There's still room if you know where to look, or you can join one of the systems and compete alongside them, and that's the realistic path if you already know this trade and can find and pay good technicians.
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 one filing at about $114,000 to $272,000 to open, with $1.56 million in average sales and a $944,801 median across 172 established businesses. Only a third of those owners reached the average, so the median is the honest anchor. Other brands in this trade post much bigger averages, but those are owners running several territories at once, so it isn't the same business you'd be buying. And here's the trap: the independent shop you can actually afford is usually the one the investment firms already looked at and passed on. In this business, a bargain is a warning.
Transition
So number 6 is the one I personally had to pay for twice in my first three months of owning a home.
Talking Point #6
1.Sub-Hook
•Number 6, drains and sewer lines, and the emergency call is the whole business model.
1.Immediately dive into an insane story, a psychological study, a compelling thought experiment, a banger quote from a famous person, etc.
•Dan shares his own story. He bought a house in 2021, had problems immediately, and had the guy with the high-powered snake out twice in three months to do every line in the place. The inspection turned up weeds growing into his sewer line, and they had to clear it out and drill the pipes back open after years of closing in.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains why he likes it. Restaurants and hotels have to get their grease lines cleaned on a schedule, so there's money coming in every month, and on top of that it's emergency work. Somebody calls, dispatch sends your truck, you get paid when the job is done, you drive to the next one. He also notes, as his own read on the trade and not something in a filing, that a drain and sewer business is a narrower license question than full plumbing, and tells the viewer to check their own state before they assume anything.
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 this is where you have to read carefully, because the two kinds of companies here are not the same business. The specialist drain-only brand runs about $394,000 to $704,000 to open, and its filing only shows five owners who've been open less than a year, reported monthly rather than annually. That is a thin picture, and he'll say so. The big number people quote, $2.09 million average with a $1.26 million median across 193 businesses, belongs to a full-service plumbing brand, and only a third of those owners reached the average. If you buy the drain-only version expecting the plumbing brand's revenue, you bought the wrong number.
Transition
And I only learned number 7 because the owners themselves kept coming to me with the same confession.
Talking Point #7
1.Sub-Hook
•Number 7, water and fire damage, where owners hit a wall they can't break through alone.
1.Immediately dive into an insane story, a psychological study, a compelling thought experiment, a banger quote from a famous person, etc.
•Dan shares what kept happening in his consulting work: people came to him wanting to buy one of these, and when he asked why, it turned out they already owned one. A guy with a truck, maybe two vans, could not get past about $300,000 a year no matter what he did.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains what those owners told him. The big jobs come through the insurance side, and they go to names the carriers already work with, which took those brands years to build. So these owners hand over a cut and join the brand to get on that list, and it works. And the demand is not optional, when a house floods it has to be dealt with, there still aren't enough people doing this, and homeowners are still waiting on somebody to show up.
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 these run roughly $109,000 to $386,000 to open. One large system reported $941,644 average across 393 owners with a median of only $500,496, and just 28% reached that average. Another averaged $1.06 million with a $601,671 median. Those gaps are why he won't give one category number here. And the thing that should stop you cold: one of the biggest names in this entire industry publishes no earnings figures at all. That's legal, and it's also information. What actually kills new owners is thinking they bought a repair company when they bought a billing company, and running out of cash waiting on the paperwork.
Transition
But number 8 is the reason some families spend years getting sick in their own home without knowing why.
Talking Point #8
1.Sub-Hook
•Number 8, mold, and most people have no idea you can own this.
1.Immediately dive into an insane story, a psychological study, a compelling thought experiment, a banger quote from a famous person, etc.
•Dan shares the case studies: people sick for years, doctors unable to find a cause, until somebody finally checks the house and finds mold. Enough of those stories got out that buyers now test for it before they'll close on a home, which is why this one is early and not going anywhere.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains that there are two separate businesses sitting next to each other here, and he keeps them separate on purpose. One removes the mold. The other is on-site testing, which is a different company with its own economics: when a repair crew opens a wall, the rebuild waits on a test result, and the normal lab turnaround runs days. Same story on a job site when somebody hits asbestos or lead in the ground and the whole build stops while rented machines sit there. Speed is the entire product. He flags that the testing side is the pioneer's bet, and he does not have a system's earnings figures to hand you on it.
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 the removal side at about $148,000 to $212,000 to open, and then does the thing he wants the viewer to copy: the filing reports three franchises. Three. They did $231,477, $469,316, and $1,424,442. You can average those and get $708,411, and that number would be technically true and practically useless. Three businesses is a case study, not an expectation. What decides your outcome here isn't the brand, it's whether realtors, plumbers, and repair crews know your name.
Transition
And number 9 is the one my own family is proving out right now.
Talking Point #9
1.Sub-Hook
•Number 9, sprinkler systems, the cheapest business to buy on this entire list.
1.Immediately dive into an insane story, a psychological study, a compelling thought experiment, a banger quote from a famous person, etc.
•Dan shares that his nephews, both in their mid-twenties, own one of these and are crushing it. Neighborhood associations hire them to handle entire developments, 50 homes, 100 homes, 500 homes, shutting the systems down for winter, turning them back on in spring, and maintaining them the rest of the year.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains that nobody owns this market yet. It's split between a thousand small operators, so the national names with a call center and real marketing keep taking more of it every year. His nephews now hold the contracts across their whole area. It's real work, technical and physical, and it isn't landscaping or pest control, but the customers renew every single year, and once you have an area locked up it's yours.
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 can start for about $126,000 to $160,000 out of your house, and then walks the viewer through the single most useful thing he can teach them. The filing's headline says the owners averaged $773,337, median $543,386. But 54 of those 66 owners run more than one territory. Pull out the 12 people running a single territory, which is what a first-time buyer is actually buying, and the average drops to $408,808 with a median of $317,342. Same company, same page, half the number. This is also where that $78,605 to $5.4 million spread from the top of the video comes from, and the $5.4 million belongs to a multi-territory operator, not one guy with one area. Nobody hides this. It's printed. You just have to read past the headline.
Transition
So that leaves number 10, the one I'd put my own money into, and it's the only business here that four different forces are all paying for at the same time.
Talking Point #10
1.Sub-Hook
•Number 10, painting lines on parking lots, and four different forces are all paying for 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 the filter he runs every boring business through: somebody has to be forced to buy it, either by law, by insurance, because it has to look good, or because it has to work. Most businesses get one of those. This one gets all four. Then the look-around exercise: every bank, McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, Costco, and Walmart repaints and resurfaces its lot on a schedule, because faded lines and potholes make people not want to shop there.
1.Reveal a deeper layer, higher stakes, a problem or unanswered question, etc. relating to the framework.
•Dan explains what sits underneath that. Somebody trips in a pothole and the property owner gets sued, so their insurance pushes them to keep it maintained. The law sets how many spaces a lot needs and how many are handicap, EV, or regular, and when those rules change every line gets redrawn. Inside the buildings it's the same story, warehouses and data centers have to mark out forklift lanes and walkways so nobody gets hit. Parks, playgrounds, and sport courts need lines too, and the city only takes care of the roads, they don't touch the bank's lot, and they'll even hire you when they get behind on their own. It's not just paint either, there's pothole repair and sealing. And when a national chain signs with your franchise, you're the one they call in your area.
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 across the brands he looked at it runs about $184,000 to $559,000 to open, though no single company covers that whole span. Only one publishes a clean combined number: $671,949 average with a $570,517 median across 54 established full-time businesses. The other two show you individual owners and no system average, so he'll say plainly that the evidence here is useful but still thin, and that the fees alone run around 9 to 10% before you've paid for a truck, labor, or insurance. He'll also tell the viewer the thing that would have saved him $321,000: this is his conviction pick, not a fact the filings prove, and the same document that shows you the revenue shows you the lawsuits. Read that section too. What sinks people here is thinking they bought equipment, when the business was always going out and winning accounts from property managers, retailers, and the city.
Outro
•Dan wraps up by reminding viewers that these numbers are specific groups of owners in real filings, not promises, that the order is his judgment and not something a document can prove, and that in every single category the gap between the top owner and the bottom one came down to the operator and the territory, so read the documents before you commit a dollar.
•Dan CTAs to “If you liked this video, YouTube recommends you this one next”
