9 ridiculous ideas that became 6-figure businesses

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Updated: September 6th, 2022

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9 ridiculous ideas that became 6-figure businesses

The first rule of a brainstorming session is that “no idea is a bad idea”.

And that’s also true when it comes to business ideas. It’s easy to be blinded by a popular trend and start a business that is cool, and that’s ok! Just be ready to find lots of competitors.

However, when you move to less crowded spaces, you’ll find that the potential target market may be smaller or less sexy, but the profits can be as good, if not better.

These unique business ideas became money-making businesses against all odds:

#1. Meme products (~ $200K/year)

Memes are the most shareable type of content on the internet. Even though creating a product based on a meme seems kinda silly, it’s actually pretty brilliant because it turns out people share it as much as they share the original meme.

These college friends created a real-life meme product that made $200K in sales.

The combination of some previous e-commerce experience and an inherently viral product made this a hit.

#2. Cuddle people (~ $109K/year)

Yes, professionally. Getting paid to snuggle people sounds strange, not going to lie, but this type of service has been in high demand over the last few years. And during COVID people were still hiring them, to do it online.

The truth is that this is a type of therapist. Besides hugging their clients, they listen to their problems, coach them, provide comfort, reduce their stress and they even cook together.

See how this woman makes $109K/year as a professional cuddler.

#3. Axe throwing parties (~ $1M/year)

Want to go to a bar and have a drink? There are thousands of those.

Want to go to a bar to have a drink AND throw some axes? That sounds way cooler and there aren’t many of those around.

This axe-throwing party business makes almost $1M/year.

Being silly, ridiculous,... are also synonyms for being unique. And uniqueness will make you stand out, which is always good.

#4. Hangover remedy (~ $120K/year)

56% of drinkers have experienced a hangover. That's a lot of people dealing with headaches, nausea, and general lethargy. And that people are always trying to find the perfect solution for them.

These brothers capitalized on that need and created a $120K/year hangover remedy using pickle juice.

Your mother told you to drop an egg yolk in the coffee to combat being hungover? Your uncle recommended grapefruit juice with honey? Those can become sellable products!

#5. Knife sharpening service (~$2.4M/year)

Knives, we all have them. And most of the time they need some sharpening. The demand is there.

The best thing about this business is that to get started you just need to drive down the road, knock on some houses and ask if their knives need sharpening.

To take it to the next level this $2.4M/year company gets the knives delivered by mail like Netflix’s early days.

#6. Balloon installations (~ $90K/year)

Another idea that seems it’d never be a good business.

This founder left her corporate job and started a $90K/year balloon installations business. It’s something so unique that it didn’t take long before she was working with Maybelline Cosmetics, Walmart, and celebrities like Paris Hilton.

Balloon installations are not for everybody, and that’s ok. Picking the right niche always makes things easier.

#7. Online coworking (~$36K/year)

Isn’t the whole point of signing up for a coworking to have a desk to work and an internet connection? Well, this is everything but that.

With the rise of remote work, the number of solopreneurs growing, and more people working from home every day; being part of an online community can mean those are the only people you may interact with for days.

That’s why a solo founder was able to bootstrap this ~ $36K/year online coworking.

Online communities are powerful, once you’ve reached a certain number of loyal members you can launch new products and services to increase your revenue.

Extra: This guy launched a $10K/month online community for board game creators. I love how niche this is!

#8. Mobile karaoke (~ $144K/year)

It’s karaoke, but you can bring it anywhere. Zero drawbacks in sight.

The fact that you can take it whenever you want makes this a potential service for many kinds of customers: private parties, corporate celebrations, marketing events, festivals,...

It’s so unique and so appealing that the business quickly surpassed $100K in yearly revenue.

#9. Pet photography (~ $120K/year)

Everybody loves their pets. And pet owners' spending on their furry friends just keeps growing.

A great way to capitalize on this trend is this $120K/year pet photography studio.

After seeing the wedding and baby markets too crowded, this photographer made a smart move and started taking pictures of dogs instead. Brilliant idea.

Quick hitters

(1) This guy added $2K/month extra to his income. This is a great thing about the internet, it gives you the possibility to generate some extra income by putting your knowledge to work. He does this by correcting grammar in blog posts. But there are tons of ways of doing it:

(2) These two teachers started a $1.2M/year business. Teachers are super undervalued by society and often seen as the complete opposite of an entrepreneur. However, just like in any other profession, some of them really know how to hustle, see more examples:

Thanks for reading!

meet the author

David Bustos

Hey there! 👋 I'm David, and if you ever got an email from Starter Story, I probably wrote it. With a background in working with startups and writing, being part of this team is kind of a perfect fit for me.

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