New, VERY profitible business model for any of you to try! Let's make it better

That sounds very lucrative once all the kinks are worked out, and pretty soon you'd be able to outsource guys and been running a nice little money maker from the basement...I'm going to get someone to try this out myself

A couple of days ago, our refrigerator started to give out. The guy that came by and fixed it said it was likely caused by us having never cleaned out the vent on the back and around the compressor itself.

Maybe this is going the wrong way, but what about up selling with some other quick services?

Agree with above - pair this with other services like changing out batteries on the smoke detector, cleaning out the vent filter on the range hood, cleaning out dryer vents, etc. Simple stuff that people like me should do but don't.

Changing out a quick filter isn't going to get you $15, but I could be wrong. However, adding on other services could definitely provide value and make for an easier sell. Unless you have an established, reputable company, you may face a bit of reluctance with some folks with regard to letting some stranger in to their home.

I used to go door-to-door and mow yards/shovel driveways, when I was younger - but I had to work my butt off for $10-$20 - and it took a lot longer than 5 minutes to complete. Things are a bit different now, but then again, they aren't.

Not saying that it can't be done, but, at such a low price point, it's going to be difficult finding something to do that will both: be something that people will be willing to pay you for (and) be worth your time and effort.

You could add on mowing their lawn and cleaning their gutters.

Take out the trash and paint their fence while you are at it.

Jeremy. Come back. You're totally offline. You want to help offline business owners get more customers/clients by using your online knowledge. You gotta write down a plan and go for it.

- Think of one thing you know well about using the internet
- Go to Superpages and select your area
- Superpages lists most business categories you can think of
- Choose one business category that could use that one thing you know about online stuff
- Market to that category in your area

You've got the right idea, you just need to move from totally offline thinking to online.

Your filter idea is good but hard to scale. You can scale online a lot easier and establish yourself as an expert in your field. You've got the right attitude. You'll come up with something.

You may have more luck going to a local Chamber of Commerce meeting and talking to owners than handing out flyers. But everything is worth a test.

I'd say that some of them probably think that having done it only three times in the year has saved them money rather than given them guilt for not having done it more often. But I'm sure that there'd be some people willing to use your service.

Lead with something simple and cross sell other services after you prove your trustworthiness.

I don't see how you could make changing filters lucrative. You'd have to get everyone on the same block to agree and that would be impossible imo.

Otherwise you're going to spend $15 in gas just to drive out to each house.
So coupling it with other easy to do chores would be neccessary if you're trying to actually make money.

Problem is, I don't honestly see what else you can do. Change batteries? No one in their right mind would pay to have that done imo. Well possibly a couple of people. Still I'm just not feeling this idea.

You'd be much better off opening up a fish tank cleaning business, target wealthy neighborhoods, train some kids off craigslist to drive out and clean them. Charge $70 an hour. Would be easier to make money I think. You could find leads at petstores and flyer homes too.

Something like that though would require you to actually know how to deal with fish. I know a ton about fishtanks, thats why I mentioned it. Pick something you know a lot about, or learn something. You can even energy proof a home and get paid a few gs rather than spend your whole day driving house to house changing filters and what not.

All I'm saying is if you're that desperate for money, theres other much better things you can do.

-Red

Not a fan of this. Will it really only take 5 minutes? No, you might have to do multiple trips if no one is home when it's time to change the filter.

No way you would be able to get 50 out of 100 homes in a neighborhood. I would also say many "rich" people are notoriously cheap and I don't see many wanting to pay for a simple service...

Having said that... I think you are onto something... how about selling a subscription to get the filters delivered to their doorstep every 2-3 months. Automatic CC billing. I know it's a hassle for me to remember and a hassle to drive out and get them. Having them automatically delivered would serve as a reminder to change them. Google dollar shave club. Model it after them and offer the $10 filter club or something like that. Offer 3 different class of filters. Maybe you can even have them auto shipped from amazon. Or maybe you build a brand and eventually go nationwide.

Make some $$$ and franchise it. Or partner with HVAC companies and have them buy the service from you and send filters with their company sales info etc. Might be a great marketing tool for them.

Hmm or maybe have a telemarketer call homeowners saying they would like to send the homeowner a free filter. They would be able to capture valuable information. Use that to "sell" the customer to local companies that service that equipment. Lots of angles to this.

Make an online store with air-conditioning accessories and drive traffic to it. One of the products could be a filter which can be shipped to the buyer's address with free shipping. Source your filters from a cheap source but ensure that it has good quality.

This reminds me of all the bad ideas I see on Shark Tank and Dragons Den

Someone thinks of an idea and is hell bent on doing it and doesnt realize
1. There are far easier ways to make money
2. There is no market for this service. Yes you may sell a few but its totally not going to be profitable and will be a hassle. This is not a business model.
3. These people are not going to let you sign them up to an autobill by check for an air filter service.

In the words of Kevin o Leary "Stop the madness! Are you out of your mind?"

But just ignore me and do it for the heck of it, it will be a GREAT learning experience. Although this is one time I do not suggest the old "take action" mantra

How about setting up an SMS service that every week throughout the year you send out home maintenance reminders, tips, etc. Inside the text message could be a paid sponsor message: sponsored by Joe's HVAC co. You could even set it up to where subscribers could text back needs like: need furnace serviced this Monday, or AC needs to be fixed ASAP, or whatever. Those reply SMS messages could then be relayed to the sponsor(s) as paid leads, or part of their monthly fee.

I am looking into dog walking.