I took a quick picture after I stuck our bakery business card in the middle of this bulletin board in a coffee shop in Bar Harbor, Maine. I ran across it today and marveled at the diverse people and businesses. See if you can spot them all.
A “horror artist”
Professional cellist
Old-time fiddle lessons
“The Broth Alchemist”
A “death midwife”
Flight instruction
Body piercer
Level 3 Reiki master practitioner
Chiropractor
A wellness lounge
Tattoo artist
DJ
Chainsaw art
Watercolor artist
Life coach
Masonry contractor
Golf professional
Various writers
Peer support specialist
Custom cookie bakery (lol)
Graphic arts
I really want to contact some of these people and request, “Tell me about your business and your trip to Maine.”
I spent last weekend exploring Nashville, Indiana. It’s a small town filled with great little restaurants and shops. As I wandered through boutiques, bookshops, and toy stores, I couldn’t help but wonder, “How do these places stay in business?”
Each was a large store with a huge inventory of merchandise. The overhead for such a storefront would have been expensive. These businesses would have to sell a lot to stay in business.
I did a little research to find out how these little shops stayed in business. Here’s what I learned.
Many of these businesses are just expensive hobbies. They lose money every year, but the owners enjoy interacting with the customers.
Some businesses exist on a few large sales or a busy tourist season to survive. The rest of the year, they sell virtually nothing.
Other businesses have strong online sales that pays for a physical presence in a small town.
A few people own the whole building and rent out most of it. This makes up for their unprofitable business.
Some of my reading suggested that these businesses are covers for illegal activity. I guess that’s possible, but I have my doubts.
One bike shop owner explained that he made most of his money making repairs, not selling bikes. Makes sense.
I still don’t understand the business model for most of these small stores. Without many customers or sales, how do they stay in business?
The problem with crazy business ideas is that many of them already exist.
As I walk by a shop in Saint Augustine that sells nothing but olive oil, I think, “That’s crazy. Can you sell enough olive oil to pay the rent?”
The person ahead of me in line at the convenience store is buying a candy bar to deliver to an Instacart customer. That’s crazy. Someone will pay to have a single candy bar delivered to their home.
Some people make a living frequenting thrift stores in search of items they resell online. The amount of money to be made in resales is crazy.
A Jamaican guy with a truck, a few friends, and a twenty-four foot extension ladder drives through our neighborhood every once in a while, offering to trip palm trees. We’ve hired him a few times, and as one guy scrambles up the ladder with a running chain saw attached to his belt, we say, “That’s crazy!”
The last time I purchased a thirty dollar electric toothbrush, the self-serve checkout screen asked me if I wanted to purchase the extended warranty. Yes, that’s crazy, but I’ll bet some people buy the purchase protection.
And yet, as soon as I start to think, “There’s nothing new under the sun,” another crazy business idea pops up in a strip mall, online, or knocking at my door. Some are legit. Some are scams. Some are profitable. Some aren’t.
So I should be able to come up with something crazy.
I’ll come by your house once a week to make sure you have extra rolls of TP in all your bathrooms. You’ll never get caught short and have to yell across the house again.
I’ll come and declutter a room (or rooms) for you. I’ve gotten pretty good at this. I’ll get rid of all the stuff I know you don’t use or need. You won’t even know it’s gone.
I’ll write a poem you can insert into a card for a birthday, anniversary, Valentine’s Day, or other special occasion. You can sign it like it came from you. (I’ve gotten pretty good at this, too.)
I’ll get in touch with your children and remind them to call you on your birthday, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. It’ll be completely confidential. If they get offended, there’s no connection to you and it’s no skin off my nose.
The craziest business of all may have been Crazy Eddie’s consumer electronics chain that was known for entertaining commercials and massive fraud. Family Auto Mart out of Orlando was pretty crazy, too.
Waite for it... 