Business Shorts Podcast Silver Aspen Productions

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!)
Difference between residential and commercial work
What percent of revenue Bobby applies towards labor expense
Average ticket price for Bobby's different service lines
What kind of profit margin you can expect for pressure washing and/or window cleaning
How much money you need to start pressure window washing and pressure washing right away
Why the work is there to be had, but lots of people don't succeed
What Bobby's most effective marketing channels are
How many hours Bobby typically works per week (during start up and today)
Best advice: Know your why
Best resource(s):  Keith Kalfas YouTube Channel, The E-Myth by Michael Gerber, The Five Secrets to a Phenomenal Business, Quick Talk Podcast
 
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
Typical operating expenditures (some are even negotiable!)
What to expect to pay on payroll
Biggest risk in the business and how to hedge it
Why you should always be recruiting and developing staff
Why competing with price is a losing proposition
Best advice: Know your why
Best resource: Club Industry, Wayne Dyer books, Think & Grow Rich
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
Typical startup costs and why it's less than you think
What types, sizes, and colors of tents are ideal to start with
Where to find tent equipment
The importance of digital marketing for dominating a niche
Good sub-niches in the tent rental space to go into
Typical gross margins for the tent rental business
The biggest risk that keeps Jim up at night
Best advice: Don't quit your job yet - build a business on the side first.
Best resource: ARA (American Rental Association), Entrepreneur Subreddit
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
Advice for starting an ATM business
Best spots for deploying an ATM
Best way to keep your ATM profitable - it's a relationship business
Biggest risks of the business
Dealing with loading ATM machines (its not as complicated as you think!)
Noah's story about an exploding ATM machine
Best advice: This business is just like real estate, it’s all location, location, location. Just make sure you got the right location.
Best resource: The Amazing Money Machine: How to Make Money and Build a Passive Income Owning and Operating ATM by Noah Wieder
Think you know a good spot for an ATM? Start Start by checking out Noah's website.