New Series... Start-Up Idea HEAD to HEAD: Mission Rx3 vs. SkyFit
In this new series, I'll share two crazy business ideas that I've mulled over for the past few years, and you, the reader, need to tell me which one you think is more viable!
Alright folks, welcome to the new series: Start-Up Idea HEAD to HEAD.
The concept is simple: I’ll share a quick blurb about two different start-up ideas that I’ve thought up over the years, with varying degrees of actual diligent analysis, and you, as the reader, can comment and let me know which of them you think would be more successful.
Or, you can tell me they’re both shit.
Or, you can email me with more ideas that stem off of the original.
Or, you can take either idea and try and run with it yourself, I obviously wouldn’t be writing a public blog about either of them if I was safeguarding anything (just cut me in on some equity when you’re a zillionaire).
There’s no rules, baby. They’re just ideas that I think either my bank account, or the world, or a smaller subset of people would benefit from and find useful.
Let the games begin.
Idea #1: Mission Rx3
This is certainly not the sexiest business idea to start this series off with… but it’s the furthest back entry that I wrote about, and junk removal is actually a pretty hot business model in the boring businesses school of entrepreneurship - right up there with laundromats and carwashes.
I may regret starting this supposed-to-be-exciting series off with this idea, but please bear with me and don’t unsubscribe just yet…
Disclaimer for the Mission Rx3 idea - I must have had a lot of coffee that morning in February 2022, because it’s a little rambly. Remember above where I say these ideas come with varying degrees of actual diligent analysis? Mission Rx3 we go pretty deep; The explanation for SkyFit is significantly less thought out. Feel free to skim through Mission Rx3, I won’t take any offense!
Stick with me, loyal subscribers, I promise later ideas in this series get much more exciting!
From 02.28.22
"One man's trash is another man's treasure."
-Probably attributed to dozens of people
Since, as of 02/28/22, I am the only one who this blog has ever been shared with, I suppose that gives me the freedom to use it to write about whatever the hell I want.
As of this day forward, I'm going to use it as an outlet for the ridiculously vast revolving archive of entrepreneurial ideas that exist only in my brain - for now. So, here is idea #1 - "Mission Rx3"... (Rx3 = Removal, Refurbish, Reuse).
I had the epiphany driving to work today that what I'm really craving and missing most in my career after leaving the army is a MISSION. Sure, I tell myself, as anyone in medical sales does, that the products I'm selling are helping patients. Of course they are, but all I am is the merchant that helps make this happen.
I'm not the dog in the fight, the difference maker, the catalyst - and that is the feeling of significance that I miss. Whether that makes me narcissistic or honorable, who knows. All I know is that I want to feel like what I’m doing is important.
I need a mission.
That being said, the harsh reality of our world is that many of these mission-driven career choices are either time-consuming or poorly paid. The first kind of jobs like this that come to mind are first responders.
All the power and respect to them, but I just don't want to spend 10-12 hours a day (or more) away from my home and family for, in most cases, modest pay. And, many of the bureaucracies and rank structure that I loathed in the military tend to also exist in these types of careers. The bureaucracy issue is the biggest factor pointing me toward entrepreneurship.
Since becoming a homeowner in August '21, and an Airbnb host in December '21, I've learned a few more things about myself. I really love fixing things, home improvement, bartering and negotiating in a marketplace (i.e. Facebook), and finding (or creating) great deals. If only there were other ways to monetize this than our one basement Airbnb (don't get me wrong, this has been a huge blessing in itself to supplement our massive monthly mortgage payment that comes with being a CO homeowner in 2022).
For some more context, I was on a flight from Dallas, TX, to Albuquerque, NM, for work and had a really interesting conversation with a high-school dropout who started his own junk removal business that he eventually scaled to the point where he brings in $15k-$20k monthly now.
He said he gets paid ~$800 per full truck load that he hauls off, and that he does 3-4 truck loads a day. When I think about this heavy manual labor job, I become a little envious -and I miss the feeling of a physically taxing, hard day's work. I also immediately recognized so many opportunities to scale his business, and bushels and bushels of low hanging fruit that he was missing out on.
How much of the "junk" he hauled away still had life in it?
We bought a bookshelf from a woman a few months back who, during the pandemic, began buying old furniture for very cheap on Facebook Marketplace, doing some light sanding and painting, and re-selling the furniture for 3x the price she paid for it.
I thought this was brilliant!
Sure, it’s a bit more labor-intensive, but brilliant nonetheless. Now, imagine if it was not just the occasional Facebook Marketplace furniture find... but an entire estate's worth of hidden gems with life remaining? My brain churned more as I listened to the guy on the flight explain his business model.
What if, say, 50% of a "junk" load could be repaired for a few pennies worth of maintenance (paint, small parts, hole patching, cleaning)? What if you then sold the renovated furniture, electronics, etc. at a discount online, or to thrift stores, or even opened up a storefront? You would be taking something that you got for $0, and selling it for a profit. What other businesses have margins like that?
Okay Reid, but where does the "mission" come in? The mission would come in in that we would pledge to donate a %, say, 20% of all repurposed items - which cost us ZERO DOLLARS - to Veteran causes, schools, families in need, etc., for FREE.
We would be able to be impactful, without losing any money, so-to-speak. Empathetic, purposeful, and still profitable. This would also strongly build our brand equity, and in theory churn out even more business.
In the consumer age, the industry is stable - there will always be materialist gluttony - out with the old (which we will collect), and in with the new (which we will replicate at a discount). I also envision an option on our website where schools, needy families, churches, etc. could request items they're looking for and we could then honor these requests for free.
To start (which I'm sure Hannah would hate), I could pick up a few small loads in my truck and keep just a handful of easy projects from each of these loads - and bring the rest to the dump. I would repurpose and renovate what I kept, and re-sell on Facebook Marketplace to earn some starting capital. After a few loads, I could hire someone at a cost-per-load basis (Pay them 20% of the price per load paid out), and offer them a commission (20% of whatever the renovated items sold for, i.e. sell a dresser for $100, salesperson keeps $20).
With some savvy fiscal responsibility, we could eventually earn enough to purchase a truck and some kind of renovation workspace (like a warehouse). From there, we could continue to scale with more junk collectors, renovators, and re-sellers. Once we were rolling, we could hire a partnership coordinator to find organizations in need of repurposed furniture and electronics. The only costs would be gas for the junk removal truck, vehicles (eventually), the workspace building rental, and repurposing materials - sandpaper, paint, electronic parts, etc.
This would take quite a bit of time and effort to really scale into a business on the front end, and it may be easier to acquire a junk removal business and scale from there. Another consideration is to look into the legal side of profiting off of stuff that someone else paid you to get rid of...
Oh well. A lot to digest here. Who knows if this will ever get acted on or revisited, but it has me very excited to type about!
Idea #2: SkyFit
From 4/22/2024
The concept for SkyFit is short and simple: A chain of gyms in Airports. It’s one of those ideas where I’m like, “why hasn’t anybody thought of this?”
In my current job, I spend a ton of time in airports. I kind of have air travel down to a science at this point, and most of the places I’m traveling to are direct flights… but, in the past, I have dealt with my fair share of layovers. One that comes to mind was coming back from our honeymoon, where we had something like four hours to kill in the Boston Logan International Airport before our last leg from there to Denver. I spent that time answering a handful of work emails, then I think I watched a movie, then just killed time doomscrolling on Instagram before it was finally time to board.
How awesome would it be to have spent an hour - without leaving the airport - getting a quick pump in, or a few miles on a treadmill? That time between flights would no longer feel like such wasted time. Then you could shower up, put on new clothes, and head to your gate feeling refreshed and productive.
In my head, I could see SkyFit either being a standalone chain, or I think there could be a good partnership opportunity here with existing airport lounges. I have an American Express credit card that gets me into their Centurion Lounges, and it’s awesome. Free food, free drinks, a bunch of comfy lounge furniture, fast Wi-Fi, and yes, even showers. How hard would it be to build a little gym into these lounges? Not everyone wants to have a cocktail in the middle of the day while traveling… I think plenty of people would just as much like to move their body a little between long, cramped periods of sitting on a plane.
That’s about as far as this idea has gotten, forgive me for the novel on Mission Rx3!
That’s all she wrote folks. Once again, I PROMISE that many of the future entrepreneurial ideas in this series will be more exciting than a junk removal business and airport gyms… bear with me!
So, without further ado…
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Thanks for reading - until next time,
-Reid