Making money doesn’t have to mean you tread a well-used path and do what others are doing.
If you can corner a niche, do something different, and offer something valuable. You can get as weird as you like!
Let’s take a leaf out of the left-field book and see how others have created truly unique businesses that broke the mold, while still bringing in the coins.
“We soon discovered the best way to know where your produce is coming from is to buy directly from the farmer,” says Jake Wolki, pictured. “Know their name, how they operate, and what they stand for. It’s the only way to source honest food that you can confidently put on the dinner table, knowing it was raised in a manner that was good for the animal, the land, and our families.”
3) The staff-less butcher that never closes
Don’t feel like physically manning your store? Can’t be bothered hiring anyone? Want your store to be open 24/7?
Here’s hope from Jake Wolki, who owns Wolki Farm in southwest NSW.
A couple of years ago Jake decide he wanted to sell his farm’s meat but didn’t want the hassle of staffing or closing up a store. So, he didn’t.
Instead, he opened a storefront, Wolki Butchery, with high-quality meat in industrial freezers, accessible with a pin code lock, and secured by video cameras. All payments are handled by a smart phone application.
“Customers get their unique pin code once they sign up to be a member. Once they enter their code, they gain access to the storefront,” Jake explained.
“This is open 24/7, 365 days, and all of this meat we grow on our regenerative farm 10-kilometres up the road.”
The result? A money earner that works around the clock, which is yet to have any issues with theft or shrinkage. Not bad!
“Goat rental is an easy, safe and effective way to remove fire hazards and get rid of weeds and other unwanted vegetation on your land, and our grazing service will do all the work for you.” Photo from Herds for Hire’s website.
2) Goat rental
If you’ve got a rural property that suffers from a constant need for mowing and weeding, you could hire expensive and ongoing mowing services, or… just hire some goats!
The unique eco-conscious business idea has propagated of late and ‘Herds-for-Hire’ are at the top of the game in southern NSW.
So, what’s the deal? As their tagline will tell you,
“Goat herd rental for safe and effective weed control, fire hazard reduction and vegetation management.”
If you have a field or patch of vegetation or weeds that needs clearing, just drop them a line, pay a fee, and they’ll send out a herd of 15-30 goats. The goats clear land without the need for fuel, chemicals, or other pollutants and will naturally cleanse the area of undergrowth for fire hazard reduction and other purposes.
Not a bad hands-off business idea for someone with a truck and a bunch of goats…
Based in Adelaide, Minifig is an internet business specialising in Lego-compatible products, ranging from modern military weapons, equipment, gear and accessories. Photo from Minifig World’s Facebook.
3) Custom Lego figures
How about tapping into the not-so-niche markets of Lego nerds and enthusiasts out there?
Creating customised products for highly motivated enthusiasts is a smart way to charge a premium for tailor-made products, then you can promote them online for global appeal and excellent sales potential.
That’s exactly what Mark Boehm thought when he launched Minifig World (an Australian business that creates and sells customised Lego figurines and accessories) after losing his job.
As Mark puts it,
“I decided I wanted a change and to do something that didn’t seem like work but still made enough money to pay the bills. When I came across a manufacturer of Lego minifig-compatible accessories on the internet I decided to try importing these accessories and began building and selling my own custom minifigures from a website I designed myself.”
By simply buying tailor-made accessories and standard bodies, Mark recreates characters from popular culture as Lego figurines then charges a premium for what seems to be a very healthy market!
Not a bad gig.
Are you weirdly…inspired now?
The learnings here are clear – you can get infinitely creative when it comes to your own business idea. So long as you pinpoint:
- A niche large enough to bring in sales to keep you profitable.
- An idea that’s quirky but incredibly useful to the right people.
- You market yourself offering and brand effectively.
- Your idea perpetuates your own expertise and interests, harnessing enough passion to keep you going.
So go get weird people! It might just make you pretty wealthy….
