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Anyone who's spent a day at the beach knows how much of a schlep it can be. Chairs, umbrellas, tents, towels, coolers, snacks, sunscreen, boogie boards. There's a lot of stuff you might need to set yourself up comfortably in the sun all day!

Now if you live at the beach like I do, you'll probably own a lot of this gear. Given the amount of time I spend there, it makes sense for me to have a lot of things that make the day more comfortable and fun, including a beach wagon to lug it all around!

But if you only go a few times a summer, you're coming on public transit, or you're hosting an event that calls for more gear than you own, the schlep stops making sense.

Over the last few years, savvy entrepreneurs have started taking note, and developing done-for-you solutions that take care of all the lugging, setup, and teardown for beach and beyond.

• In Rockaway Beach, a company called Cabana Boy will set up a tent, chairs, a cooler full of cold drinks, and even beach games like Spikeball before you arrive.

• In Montauk, Bontauk will build you a legal beach bonfire and return at the end of the night to make sure it’s safely put out and properly cleaned up.

• In NYC, Perfect Picnic’s signature Central Park picnic runs $2,800 for two, and the crew will have the linens, real glassware, fresh flowers, and a custom menu styled on the grass waiting for you.

• In Scottsdale, Valley Christmas Lights will deck out your whole house for the holidays, then come back in January to take every strand back down.

In every example, the customer is buying the same two things: access to the equipment, and the behind-the-scenes logistics. A cabana appears as if a fairy godmother arranged it, and by midnight it's gone. I call it the setup-and-teardown economy.

What Is the Setup-and-Teardown Economy?

The setup-and-teardown economy is the growing category of service businesses that deliver a fully built physical experience, then remove every trace of it once the customer is done. Operators handle the hauling, the assembly, the local permits, and the cleanup for beach days, bonfires, luxury picnics, sleepover tent parties, holiday light displays, and more.

Setup-and-teardown operators are part of the broader party rental industry, which is projected to more than double, from $19.2 billion in 2025 to $50.6 billion by 2034.

On paper, the category sounds like equipment rental, but spend a few minutes on any of these companies' booking pages, and the difference becomes obvious. A rental company rents you gear and leaves the rest to you. Setup-and-teardown companies sell the whole done-for-you experience.

Samuel Ancona ran enterprise sales at IBM before founding Santa Monica Picnic Co in 2020. As he puts it, "Getting stuff down to the beach sucks. You lose half the fun before you even start."

Why Is the Setup-and-Teardown Economy Booming Now?

Setup-and-teardown businesses are part of a bigger shift I wrote about earlier this year. Screen fatigue has hit a breaking point and people are reclaiming their time and attention through intentional offline experiences. While people crave physical experiences like a birthday party at the beach, or a game day in the park, they don’t crave all the setup and logistics required to make those days special. Paying someone to remove the friction is the fastest way to be offline and fully present.

The COVID-19 pandemic was the catalyst for this shift. In many places, outdoor gatherings were the only kind allowed in 2020, and the operators who already existed got swamped. One San Diego picnic company grew more than tenfold in a few months.

When doing this research, I expected to see this trend deflate once life went back to normal but the search data says otherwise. Take the keyword "luxury picnic." It averaged 113 US searches a month before 2020 and peaked at 5,808 in May 2021, a 50x spike. But that spike never fully receded, and the term has since settled between 1,450 and 2,700 monthly searches, which is 15–20x its old baseline!1

This category is also quite AI-proof because an LLM can’t carry a cooler across hot sand or dig a legal fire pit. The work that makes these businesses valuable happens in the physical world.

Who Pays for Setup-and-Teardown Services?

88% of consumers say they prioritize experiences over material things,2 but millennials and Gen Z are the likeliest customers for setup-and-teardown services because they spend the most on those experiences and post about the ones they attend. 79% of 18-to-35-year-olds plan to attend more live events this year,3 and 74% say in-person experiences matter more than digital ones. Millennials rent much of what previous generations owned,4 from apartments to handbags, and Gen Z leans hardest into experiences, with 86% admitting they overspend on live events, often because of FOMO.5 For customers who plan to post on social media, the setup is a crucial part of the experience. A professionally styled picnic photographs a lot better than a beach towel and a bag of chips, and unless you’re particularly talented, neighbors are much more likely to photograph a professional Christmas light display than your DIY lights.

How Big Is the Setup-and-Teardown Business Opportunity?

Santa Monica Picnic Co. has staged more than 1,500 picnics since 2020, runs a summer team of seven or eight, and is planning beach clubs ahead of the 2028 Olympics.6

One market research firm now sizes the luxury picnic segment alone at $1.8 billion in 2025, headed to $4.1 billion by 2034, with average spend per event rising from $350 to $620 between 2021 and 2025.7

The same report puts corporate bookings at 3.2x the value of consumer ones. "Company picnic planner" gets 500 searches a month at zero keyword difficulty,8 so corporate customers are also looking for this service and almost no one is competing for them.

Picnics are only one example. “Christmas light installation” gets 21K US monthly searches. Its November 2025 volume hit an all-time high, and summer 2025 volume was 4–5X that of previous summers.

How Much Money Do Setup-and-Teardown Businesses Make? (With Real Examples)

Setup-and-teardown businesses scale from seasonal side gig to full company: One Christmas light installer on Reddit reported earning $16K profit in a single two-month season,9 while the biggest light installation company I found grosses more than $800K per season.10 The difference between those two results is scale, since the biggest operators run multiple crews and fit far more jobs into the same season.

• Luxury picnics: Up to $15K a month for top founders,11 on events billing $20012 to $2,800.13

• Bonfires: $18914 to $1,30015 per fire depending on the market and package.

• Beach setups: $70–750 per booking.16

• Sleepover parties and backyard movies: $250–72517 and $449+18 per party.

• Holiday lights: $35K in one company’s first season, growing to $800K+ per season within three years.19

And believe it or not, startup costs don’t need to be high. One picnic founder started with just $300.20

Let’s let at each one in more detail before I share my step-by-step guide to starting a setup-and-teardown business.

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There are several reasons why I love mobile app businesses:

1. The mobile app market is huge.

• There were 149 billion app downloads in 2025. That’s 284,000 apps downloaded per minute.1

• Users spend an average of 3.6 hours per day on mobile apps. That’s 13 minutes out of every hour—almost 25% of the day.2

2. Mobile app revenue is soaring.

• IAP revenue grew more than 10% in 2025, reaching $167 biliion. That’s $318,000 spent per minute in 2025.3

• Consumers spent more in mobile apps than in mobile games for the first time ever in 2025.4

3. It’s never been easier to make a mobile app.

• The barrier to entry has vanished. You no longer need to be a professional developer or have a computer science degree to build a functional app. Between AI-powered coding assistants and intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces, the technical gatekeeping of the past is gone.

• No-code and low-code tools are more powerful than ever. Platforms like FlutterFlow or Glide allow you to build and launch an MVP (minimum viable product) in a fraction of the time it used to take. These tools handle the complex backend infrastructure, letting you focus entirely on solving the user’s problem and generating revenue.

On top of that, smartphone usage is only expected to keep growing,5 so mobile app usage will continue to grow, too. And the mobile app stores are a huge traffic source that only mobile apps can tap into.

Intrigued by this opportunity? Keep reading to find out if a mobile app business is a good fit for you and exactly how to get started.

How to Come Up With a Profitable App Idea

If you’ve made it this far, you must be at least a little bit interested in creating a mobile app business. Now you need an idea! The rest of this article will walk you through my step-by-step process for developing profitable app ideas.

Even if you already have an idea, I recommend reading on to validate it and ensure it has a good chance of success before you start.

The rest of the article is broken down into five parts:

1. Brainstorming Mobile App Ideas

2. What Good Opportunities Look Like

3. Identifying Demand for Your Idea

4. Validating Your App Idea

5. Bonus: Tips for Lifestyle Businesses

1. Brainstorming Mobile App Ideas

Unless you already have a mobile app idea, the first step to a mobile app business is to start brainstorming. As you’re going through this process, jot down anything you think of and don’t worry about if it’s a good idea or not. You don’t want to stifle your creativity, and there will be plenty of time to choose the best idea later. Plus, sometimes a bad idea can lead to a good one.

There are lots of different ways to stimulate ideas:

• Think about the apps you use.

• Look at the top apps in different categories.

• Think about what communities you’re a part of.

• Think about your daily routines at home and at work.

• Look for product ideas outside of the app store, eg. on Product Hunt or Reddit.

• Look at general trends in the world or in specific industries.

Keep reading for examples of how each tactic can be used to develop an app idea.

Think about the apps you use.

I have a Level app on my phone that I use when I want to hang something. As someone who isn’t very handy but tries to do basic home tasks myself, it would be nice to have an app that guides me through them.

🔎 Insight: People who don’t own a physical level for hanging pictures often use an app that turns their phone into a level instead.

💡 App Idea: An info app that provides little playbooks that people without experience can follow to do basic handy tasks at home by themselves.

Look at the top apps in different categories.

When looking at the top Health & Fitness apps in the Google Play Store, I saw an app called BP Tracker that logs blood pressure over time. I thought about how I track my blood pressure in a spreadsheet, along with a few other health metrics. This gave me the idea to create an app that can track blood pressure alongside other important health metrics.

• 🔎 Insight: A blood pressure tracking app has a lot of downloads.

• 💡 App Idea: An app that expands functionality by tracking blood pressure alongside other important health metrics.

Think about what communities you’re a part of.

As a surfer, I spend a lot of time checking the buoy swell readings on the NOAA website. It would be nice to have an app where I could save my favorite buoys and check them more easily.

• 🔎 Insight: Surfers spend a lot of time checking buoy readings on the NOAA website.

• 💡 App Idea: A buoy app where you can save specific buoys to easily compare their readings with one click.

Think about your daily routines at home and at work.

I created a Google Doc to help me remember everything I planted on my balcony last summer, along with the care instructions. It would be nice if I could pull this together with a few clicks using an app instead.

• 🔎 Insight: It’s a lot of work to research the care needs of all your plants and remember what you planted.

• 💡 App Idea: An app that would mostly automate compiling care info and tracking what’s in your garden.

Look for product ideas outside the app store, like on Product Hunt or Reddit.

I recently came across SimplyFit on Product Hunt, which is positioned as a fitness mentor, and started thinking about other industries where an app-based mentor would be useful.

• 🔎 Insight: There’s a fitness app positioned as a digital mentor.

• 💡 App Idea: A digital mentor could be useful for other activities like specific sports, learning a new skill, or nutrition.

Look at general trends in the world or in specific industries.

I recently saw on The Hustle that psychedelic retreats are going mainstream. This implies that the usage of psychedelics is growing, and people are looking for support in exploring them. Maybe there is an opportunity for a psychedelics mentor app (a digital shaman of sorts) to help people have safe and positive experiences exploring psychedelics.

• 🔎 Insight: Psychedelic usage is growing, and people want support exploring them

• 💡App Idea: A digital shaman app that provides information to guide new psychedelic users through safe and positive experiences.

2. What Good Opportunities Look Like

For your app to succeed, it needs to stand out. As you’re brainstorming, look for opportunities to do the following:

Solve an unsolved problem.

This is arguably the hardest option, but sometimes you might find an opportunity to solve a problem that hasn’t been solved yet. Someone always has to be first, and if you’re lucky, it might be you!

Improve on an existing solution.

There are lots of ways to enter competitive markets by improving on existing solutions:

• Offer a better user interface.

• Add missing features.

• Simplify the experience by cutting back to only the features that matter.

For example, I noticed many negative reviews of the BP Tracker app I found earlier. There’s clearly an opportunity to provide a better user experience. Using apps and reading reviews is a great way to find areas for improvement.

Niche down a broad solution.

Another way to improve on existing apps is to tailor them to a narrower audience that could be better served.

For example, I have a couple of meditation apps on my phone. As an athlete, I have frequently looked for meditations on dealing with injury or, in the case of surfing, fear. Unfortunately, I haven’t found much in these industry-leading apps, and I'd love to see an app that focuses on meditation and mindset for athletes in general, or surfers specifically.

Copy a solution from one industry to another.

Sometimes, rather than tailoring an app to a narrower audience, you can take an app idea from one industry and transplant it into another where it might not yet exist.

For example, coming from a background in marketing and business analysis, I’m very familiar with user testing to validate a hypothesis before moving forward. This got me thinking that maybe we should have user testing for dating profiles. People could user test their profiles (photos, text) and get anonymous feedback that will help them present themselves more attractively, or at least make sure they’re attracting the people they want to attract.

3. Confirming Demand for Your Idea

Once you have an app idea you’re excited about, it’s time to try to validate demand for your idea. You want to build confidence that enough people out there will want to use your app to make it a viable income stream.

Here are a few tactics for validating your idea:

Check app store searches.

Checking App Store search volume is the most direct way to see demand for your idea. If people are typing keywords related to your idea into the app stores, you know there are potential customers out there.

I use App Radar for app store keyword research.

Check other searches

Not everyone searches directly in the app store. We often start with a Google or YouTube search to try to find a solution. If you see strong searches elsewhere online, it’s a reassurance that people are out there looking for your idea, even if they haven’t searched the app store.

Amazon searches are also sometimes a useful indicator of demand, particularly if you’re digitizing a product that already exists in a tangible form. It’s good to see people are willing to spend money on a product related to what you’re doing. For example, maybe people aren’t searching for an app that provides dating profile feedback, but they are searching for books with advice on how to optimize their dating profile.

I use Ahrefs for keyword research on Google, YouTube, and Amazon.

Look for strong competitors.

Even if you don’t see a lot of searches related to your idea, you can feel good about the potential demand for your app if there are strong competitors. Look for similar apps with a lot of users and, ideally, solid revenue, too.

I use Sensor Tower to estimate revenue.

Find your audience.

Not every good idea will have strong demand visible in the form of searches or strong competitors. Especially nascent app ideas that may not yet exist. In this case you want to try and validate your idea a different way. Look for online communities where your potential users spend time so you can confirm their interest and be sure you know how to find them online.

For example, maybe you’re in a Facebook group where a lot of people complain about the problem you want to solve. You at least know your audience is out there and how to start reaching them, even if they aren’t searching the app store.

4. Validating Your App Idea

Once you are confident that there are people who might want your app, you can move on to validating your solution.

Collect user feedback.

Collecting user feedback before you create your app will help ensure you’re developing a solution people actually want to use. There are many ways to do this.

• Surveys: You can survey the audience you want to reach to gather a lot of input quickly.

• Interviews: You can interview potential users directly to get more granular insights.

• Digital prototypes: You can show potential users digital prototypes, which could be as simple as mockups of how the app would look, to get their feedback on the user experience before you start to build it.

Start with a minimum viable product (MVP).

It’s important to adequately scope the first version of your app. You want to create the minimum viable product: a good-enough solution that people can use without being overly complex. You want to minimize the time and money you spend on your app until you have real-world users to confirm you’re on the right track. You can continue to add features and content as you go.

5. Bonus: Tips for Lifestyle Businesses

My focus is on sustainable businesses that support a lifestyle, not on startups seeking hockey-stick growth at any cost. If you’re looking for a mobile app idea to create a solid income stream, keep these tips in mind.

• Avoid social networks and marketplaces because they’re too complex.

  • Mobile app businesses like Uber (marketplace) and Instagram (social network) are extremely difficult to get off the ground. For every business that finds success, many more will fail along the way—typically after heavy investment. These are not good options for lifestyle businesses.

• Look for something people will use regularly.

  • You’ll likely be monetizing your app through in-app purchases (including subscriptions) or ad revenue. Both of these require people to keep using your app for you to keep making money.

  • If you’re selling a one-time purchase, single-use apps can work as long as you know you’ll have a continuous stream of new users. For example, GuideAlong apps are usually single-purchase and single-use, but they continue to make money because new tourists keep visiting the destinations they support every day.

If a mobile app business is something you’re interested in, start brainstorming your first idea right now. There’s no way you won’t find a good idea if you follow my process. Plus, you’ll learn a lot about the mobile app industry while you’re at it!

Or if you’re really stuck, check out some mobile app ideas I developed using this process!

To endless possibilities,

Casandra

Every room is simple, with big windows overlooking a beautiful meadow, and a supply of firewood for the many firepits around the large property. There’s a creek with just enough water for a dip in the summer, a wooden barn full of books to curl up with, plus a small bar that serves local beer and cocktails in the evenings, and Pop-Tarts and coffee (with an optional flask) in the mornings.

A short walk away, there are hiking trails that wind up in the surrounding mountains, and an excellent craft brewery with genuinely great beer and a real community vibe.

But there’s one more thing that, in my opinion, gives Spruceton Inn its je ne sais quoi.

This special little nook of Upstate NY happens to be five miles down a seven-mile dead-end road with no cell reception. ✨

There is limited wifi available, so if you really need to connect to the outside world, you can. But for the most part, you’re totally off the communications grid, and it’s incredible. It’s the only time I’ve had this kind of disconnection outside of a full-blown backcountry trip.

I’ve craved that feeling since long before smartphones. There’s nothing I love more than being offline and doing something in the real world, without interruption. But recently, I’ve noticed that this desire, once niche, is becoming increasingly common.

Screen Fatigue Has Hit a Breaking Point

What used to feel like a personal preference now looks more like a collective correction.

Screens didn’t suddenly become bad, but they have become overwhelming for a lot of people. Digital fatigue shows up across every generation, with a majority of U.S. adults saying they wish they could disconnect more easily.

What varies is the intensity. The younger someone is, the more likely they are to feel it. More than four in five Gen Z adults report this frustration, compared to roughly half of baby boomers, suggesting that those most immersed in digital life are also the most eager for relief.1

At the same time, people are looking for ways to step away. Searches for “screen fatigue” have climbed dramatically in 2025, up 255% in the past year.

Similarly, searches for “digital detox” (a potential solution to screen fatigue) saw a 58% jump in the past year.

Then generative AI arrived and poured gasoline on the fire.

Algorithms today are optimized to maximize engagement and scale, often by feeding users ever-more personalized streams of content that reward speed and novelty over depth and nuance. That’s exactly the dynamic many researchers warn can lead to cognitive overload and algorithmic fatigue, where users are constantly processing information without resolution, increasing mental strain and lowering satisfaction.

Studies conceptualizing AI fatigue show that repeated interactions with generative, personalized content loops can deplete cognitive resources and contribute to emotional exhaustion.2

At the same time, the sheer scale of algorithmically curated content can make judgments harder rather than easier. Research on digital wellbeing and intelligent systems links increasingly AI-mediated environments with technostress and diminished user agency, particularly when feedback loops are opaque and relentless.3

This describes many online experiences these days: feeds that refresh endlessly without adding value, search results that all look alike, and news or social platforms optimized for clickbait over substance. In this context, screens start to feel like something you have to manage, not something that helps you.

The common advice is to “curate better feeds” or “use technology more intentionally,” but that assumes the burden should stay on the user. In reality, the environments themselves have changed. When content is infinite, repetitive, and increasingly synthetic, attention becomes a scarce resource people feel compelled to protect.

It’s no wonder that after more than a decade of growth, daily time spent on social media has finally started to decline.4

More and more people are finding that the best response isn’t to optimize harder inside digital spaces; it’s to step outside them completely. Offline experiences aren’t gaining appeal because people are anti-technology. They’re gaining appeal because they solve a problem the internet increasingly doesn’t.

Offline Is the New Online

In a world flooded with content, human presence becomes a major differentiator, and offline becomes a shortcut to quality.

Offline experiences are finite, and someone put real effort into them. You know when you’ve arrived, what you’re doing, and when it’s over, without having to constantly decide if something is worth your attention.

The shift from digital fatigue to real-world engagement shows up not just in surveys but in actual travel, event, and club data.

Travel Is Being Reframed Around Disconnection and Presence

Travel is one of the clearest places this shift shows up. Wellness-oriented travel (which includes retreats, nature-based stays, and trips designed around restoration rather than stimulation) has become one of the fastest-growing segments of the global travel industry.

The global wellness tourism market was valued at roughly $850 billion in 2021 and is projected to more than double to $2.1 trillion by 2030, making it one of the fastest-growing segments of global travel.5

Within that, digital-detox and off-grid travel has emerged as a distinct subcategory. Market analyses estimate the digital detox tourism market at $1.42 billion in 2024, which is expected to double by 2033 as more travelers seek trips that explicitly limit connectivity.6

These aren’t fringe offers, they’re emerging responses to growing consumer demand for slower, more intentional trips. A study by Hilton even found that travellers are spending less time looking at the news and using social media while on vacation than in the past.7

In-Person Events Are Growing Again

After years of disruption following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person events are not only back, they’re expanding as a category. The global events industry, which includes festivals, concerts, gatherings, conferences, and live experiences, is sizable and projected to grow substantially over the coming decade. One report estimated the market size at around $1.23 trillion in 2024 and projected it to grow to roughly $1.9 trillion by 2029.8

Event industry data reflects this shift as a broader trend rather than an isolated quirk. Over half of event organizers report increased attendance at in-person events in 2025 compared to prior years, signaling that demand for concerts, classes, social gatherings, and group activities is expanding.9

What’s important is why this growth is happening. In-person events offer something digital formats increasingly struggle to deliver: shared presence, finite time windows, and social energy that can’t be paused, replayed, or algorithmically optimized. As digital environments become noisier and more repetitive, live experiences have the upper hand.

Clubs and Community Groups Are Becoming Social Anchors

Offline engagement isn’t limited to structured events; it’s becoming a lifestyle through the rise of fourth spaces. While traditional third spaces like cafes or libraries remain important, Gen Z and Millennials are actively bridging their digital lives with physical social worlds by forming niche community anchors.10 From hobby groups to run clubs and sober-curious meetups, these gatherings are forming close friendships rather than one-off interactions.11

Even outside formal reports, broader behavioral signals support this. For example, attendance at dating and singles events increased by 42 % from 2022 to 2023 as younger adults grow weary of digital swiping and seek authentic, in-person connection.12

The Rise of Unshittification: Reclaiming the Real World

This data all points to a clear behavioral shift: people are allocating more attention and energy to real-world social experiences that digital spaces have struggled to deliver.

This aligns with a broader pattern I outlined in my 2026 marketing forecast: as AI accelerates content production and digital environments become more synthetic, value increasingly bifurcates toward experiences designed for humans first (physical, intentional, and difficult to automate).

Marketing in 2026 must align with unshittification: the demand for experiences that are less noisy and more intentional. The unshittification trend (a play on the online enshittification phenomenon) is a growing movement in which people are actively reclaiming their time, attention, and sanity by stepping away from cluttered, algorithm-heavy digital platforms.

In 2026, this has evolved from a niche preference into a major cultural shift toward intentional offline experiences.

For entrepreneurs and builders, this shift creates a clear opportunity to design products and experiences that leverage this move offline.

8 Offline Business Ideas Built Around Real-World Connection

Each of the business ideas below leverages the same underlying trend: attention is moving offline, and people are actively seeking real-world connections.

Many of these ideas don’t require you to sit behind a screen all day. They’re built around organizing, hosting, facilitating, or enabling offline experiences, with technology playing a supporting role rather than demanding constant attention.

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This is the fastest way to start an online pet business…and you’re gonna love it.

All you need is a laptop and a PayPal account.

Table of Contents

• Why Pet Merch Is a Huge Opportunity

• Who Should Start a Pet Merch Business?

• How to Start a Pet Merch Business (Detailed Guide)

Why Pet Merch Is a Huge Opportunity

Pet ownership is on the rise. 66% of U.S. households (86.9 million homes) own a pet, up from 56% three decades ago.1 That’s an 18% increase!

In fact, these days, there are more households with pets than there are households with children. In 2022, only 40% of American households had a child under 18 compared with 48% in 2002.2

Let me repeat that: There are 65% more households with pets than there are households with children. Do you see the big opportunity pet businesses present?

We love to spend money on our pets.

A growing body of evidence finds that many of us see our pets as extensions of ourselves, and when we do, we’re more likely to spend on them.3 One study even found that spending on pets can be greater than what is spent collectively on babies.4

Check this out.

“Since pets have been regarded as a part of the pet owner’s self, the literature shows that extended self-relating to pets entails the following pairs: personal and social, symbolic and functional as well as attachment and control. Pets when considered as extended selves by their owners have demonstrated strong purchase behaviour, for instance, consumers have reported that they attempt to feed, care, spend on them, groom them, and protect them even going to the extent of mourning their death. The evidence of Pet spending on clothing such as fancy collars, clothing and bedding and other services such as dog holiday care, day-care, and pet-walking have shown an increased growth over the years. When pets are seen as an extended self, they are also believed to reflect a lot about their owner. Thereby when consumers perceive a strong connection between their extended self and pets, this relationship can positively affect their probabilities of purchase. In other areas, scholars have found a positive influence of the sense of extended self on the probabilities of purchase toward customized apparel products.” 5

We’re not just talking about pet food and vet bills. The relationship between our pets and our extended sense of self causes us to spend more on “nice to haves,” like fancy collars and pet clothing. These purchases benefit us more than our pets.

This doesn’t just apply to pets, by the way. Another study found “that consumers’ perception of customization and the sense of extended-self were positively associated with purchase intention of customized apparel products.”6

When we combine pets as an extension of ourselves with customized pet merch, we have a huge business opportunity.

Customized pet merchandise has never been easier to make and sell.

These days, it’s incredibly easy to create customized product lines like t-shirts and dog bowls without spending any money up front. Instead of paying for a big run of inventory and then shipping it out yourself, you can upload your designs to a print-on-demand company (I like Printful), and they will do everything for you.

Here’s how it works. (Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything in more detail later in this article).

• Upload your customized product designs to Printful for free.

• Connect Printful to a sales channel (e.g., an Etsy shop).

• When someone places an order, you collect the retail price for the purchase.

• Printful gets to work making the product and deducts the wholesale cost.

• When the product is ready, Printful ships the product to your customer.

Once the system is set up, order and fulfillment are totally automated. Anyone can do this, and no special skills are needed.

More importantly, when you don’t need to invest in big product runs and hold inventory, creating niche products for all kinds of different facets of our identities becomes very easy. You can continuously test new products and go as narrow as you want, since the cost of creating them is so low.

Who Should Start a Pet Merch Business?

• Someone who loves animals.

  • There are many merch businesses you could start, but if you love animals, this one will be the most fun. You’ll develop product designs and marketing campaigns based on your experience as an animal lover.

• Someone who wants to create tangible products.

  • Physical products you can hold in your hands are satisfying in a way that digital products never will be. Seeing your product out in the world and being able to wrap it up and give it as a gift is uniquely special. If you’ve always wanted to have a physical product, this is one of the easiest ways to get started.

• Someone who is good at design.

  • You don’t need to be a graphic designer to pursue this opportunity, but it’s a huge advantage if you are. The more skilled you are as a graphic designer, the more equipped you’ll be to create product designs that stand out.

• Someone who is good at driving traffic.

  • All online businesses require traffic to succeed, but lower-cost products like t-shirts and dog leashes require a continuous stream of new traffic to keep bringing in orders. If you’re already good at driving website traffic in any form, you have a huge advantage.

• Someone who wants a business they can run from anywhere.

  • Since you don’t need to personally run a warehouse or retail shop to sell your print-on-demand products, this business can really be run from anywhere. As long as you have a laptop, you’re good to go.

How to Start a Pet Merch Business (Detailed Guide)

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In a stagnant or shrinking industry, you have to fight tooth and nail to gain customers from competitors. Often, it becomes a race to the bottom as the cost of acquiring customers becomes more and more expensive..

But, in a growing industry, new potential customers are created daily. And when you enter a growing industry early, you can acquire these customers for a low cost before everyone else gets wise to the opportunity.

If you’re looking for a growing industry with plenty of opportunities, I have a huge one for you today.

Table of Contents

• The Health & Wellness Opportunity

• Who Should Jump on the Health and Wellness Opportunity?

• 8 Health & Wellness Trends That Are In for 2026

• 3 Health & Wellness Trends That Are Out for 2026

The Health & Wellness Opportunity

Health and wellness is a major trend right now. Search interest has been rising for years as it becomes increasingly important to the average person.

Not surprisingly, the health and wellness industry is already huge. A recent study by McKinsey found that 82% of people in the US, 73% in the UK, and 87% in China consider wellness a top or important priority in their everyday lives.1

Not only is it huge, it’s still growing. In the US alone, this $480 billion market is growing at 5-10% a year.2

Millennial consumers are driving this spending, with Gen Z close behind. I suspect this industry will continue growing for a long time as Generation Alpha is taught to value health and wellness by their millennial parents.

This industry undoubtedly presents a huge business opportunity; many are already cashing in. But it’s also vast, and there are many different subindustries to explore.

Today, I’m highlighting 8 top health and wellness trends that are driving growth for 2026—plus 2 previously huge trends that are on their way out.

Who Should Jump on the Health and Wellness Opportunity?

• Someone who is a health expert.

  • If you’re an expert in health and wellness, these opportunities are great for you. You’ll be able to use your specialized expertise to bring credibility to your business and ensure you deliver value.

• Someone who has direct experience with one of these trends.

  • If you have direct experience with one of these trends, even if you’re not a health expert, you’ll likely be well-positioned to start a business around it. Whether it’s sharing your personal experience, interviewing experts, or a different strategy, you’ll have a good idea of what the market wants.

• Someone who wants to create a highly scalable business.

  • Since health and wellness is such a high-growth industry, and these specific health and wellness trends are growing, too, there is plenty of opportunity for highly scalable businesses that go beyond just one employee, should you want to.

8 Health & Wellness Trends That Are In for 2026

Each trend represents a big opportunity for many different types of businesses. Some are obvious, like creating a version of a trending product. Others may be less obvious, like creating a community around a specific trend or sharing advice for people dealing with a specific health challenge. If you have an interest or expertise in one of these trends, be sure to research the gaps in the market so you can find a profitable way to jump in.

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But not all supplements are hocus pocus. And the supplement industry is experiencing unprecedented growth, driven by a global shift towards wellness and preventative health.

Read on to learn more about this trend, including which supplements are in for 2026 and which are out. Backed by data, as always.

The Supplements Opportunity

The health and wellness industry is huge. 82% of people in the US, 73% in the UK, and 87% in China consider wellness a top or important priority in their everyday lives.2

Not only is it huge, it’s still growing. In the US, this $480 billion market is growing at 5-10% a year.3

Many believe supplements, which are products meant to enhance or fill nutritional gaps in our diets, can help achieve better health.

Search interest in supplements has been growing consistently over the last five years. At the start of each year, there’s a spike in searches, which then stabilizes and becomes the new normal. At the end of 2025, we saw the biggest jump yet.

Many of these searches are turning into purchases. The US supplements market is expected to reach $70 billion by 2031, up from an estimated $45.1 billion in 2023.4

But not all supplements are seeing increased interest. If you want to capitalize on this demand, it’s crucial to understand which products are driving it.

Who Should Pursue the Supplements Opportunity

• Someone who has expertise in the health industry.

  • If you already work in the health industry in some capacity and know about these topics, you’re the best person to turn a growing interest in supplements into a revenue stream without misleading people.

• Someone who has an audience in the wellness space.

  • If you have an audience in the wellness space, whether it’s fitness clients, dietician clients, or even a wellness-focused Substack publication or Instagram theme page, you’re in a great position to resell or recommend (using affiliate links) nutritional supplements you stand by.

• Someone who has experience in the food and beverage industry.

  • Creating ingestible products like protein bars involves unique challenges related to freshness, safety and liability, and other legal requirements. If you already have experience in this space, it would be much easier to create a new product that leverages one of these trends.

• Someone who wants a highly scalable business.

  • Although creating a new supplement product like an electrolyte powder is a big undertaking, consumable product businesses like these are highly scalable—especially if your product is shelf-stable. For example, OLIPOP, which launched in 2018, is on track to pass $500 million in revenue with its prebiotic sodas this year.5

8 Trending Supplements That Are In for 2026

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As the name suggests, this publication is all about sharing really good business ideas. Ideas for businesses someone should start. Ideas for how to grow those businesses. Ideas for how those businesses can become more profitable.

However, unlike a lot of content in the business space, Really Good Business Ideas will be backed by solid research and analysis designed to help you make better decisions. Insights over opinions. Action over contemplation.

Since this publication is a business that lives on Substack, I’m sharing my research on this exact business opportunity today.

The Opportunity 💰

The best time to start a Substack is right now.

Substack launched in 2017, and like most startups, it got off to a slow start. Luckily for Substack, COVID-19 happened. Search interest in Substack (a decent proxy for brand awareness) started to take off in April 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Luckily for all of us, it has continued on a strong trajectory since then.

Many companies that capitalized on COVID-19 to accelerate their growth cannot say the same. Zoom and Clubhouse, for example. Both benefited greatly from the transition to people spending more time at home on their devices, but both have also seen interest in their products decline greatly from their pandemic peaks.

Of course, strong search interest growth for Substack isn’t enough on its own to make this an exciting opportunity. That upward trajectory is important for future growth, but we also need to know that readers are actually using Substack—and writers are actually earning an income.

It turns out, monthly active subscriptions and the number of writers earning money on Substack have both grown significantly since 2020 and appear to be on a path of continued growth.

As of March 2025, there are more than 5 million paid subscriptions on Substack.1 Four months ago, there were only 4 million paid subscriptions.2 This kind of growth is extremely rare!

Plus more 50K writers earn money from Substack, with the top 10 publishers collectively earning more than $40 million a year.3 That’s up almost 200% from two years ago when only 17K writers earned money from Substack subscriptions, with the top 10 publishers collectively earning more than $25 million.4

You can see how this breaks down with my analysis of the top-earning publications.

So Substack is officially mainstream, and publishers on the platform are primed to benefit significantly from its continued growth for one key reason: network effects.

What Are Network Effects?

Network effects describe the phenomenon where a business’s value increases as more people use its products or services. These effects are great for business because growth becomes increasingly efficient over time.

Here’s an example of network effects in action.

1. Each person who uses Dropbox shares a folder with an average of five others.

2. On average, two of those five people have never used Dropbox before.

3. So, each new customer who starts using Dropbox is worth three new customers: the first plus the two more they refer.

4. The more customers Dropbox acquires, the more customers they get.

Eventually, businesses reach a saturation point where the network effects plateau, but they’re incredibly good for growth up until that point.

Network Effects and Marketplaces (Like Substack)

Dropbox is a one-sided business: customers buy storage space from Dropbox. However, two-sided businesses, known as marketplaces, can benefit from network effects, too. In a marketplace, users can be buyers or suppliers. For example, Etsy has users who sell products and users who buy products. Both types of users are necessary for the business to work.

In marketplaces, network effects can benefit the business (e.g., Etsy) and the supply-side users. Substack is one such example. The more subscribers Substack acquires, the better for Substack and its publishers.

This works in a couple of ways.

1. Substack publications can be promoted across the platform through several features. The more users on the platform, the more people can be exposed to your Publication.

2. After someone buys their first paid subscription to a Substack publication, it’s much easier for them to purchase additional paid subscriptions. Once their credit card is in the system, buying additional subscriptions becomes a one-click checkout. This means that as the Substack platform grows, the number of easily converted subscribers for your publication grows, too.

So you’re getting exposure to an ever-growing population of Substack users, and that population has less friction to subscribing than other populations coming to Substack for the first time.

But don’t just take my word for it.

In a June 2022 blog post, Substack explained that it now generates 1 in 3 new subscriptions for Publications on the platform through features like recommendations, leaderboards, and Publication embeds.

Lenny Rachitsky, the author of the top business Publication on Substack, Lenny’s Letter, confirmed this claim and more when he tweeted that 70% of his new subscribers come from Substack.

Bigger publications undoubtedly benefit disproportionately from these network effects. Just like Dropbox, the more subscribers they have, the more subscribers they get. They have more subscribers to recommend their publication, and the Substack platform has more reason to promote their publications to new readers because they’re already so popular.

So, while the average might be 30%, top publications like Lenny’s Newsletter might be getting upwards of 70% of new subscribers from network effects, and conversely, smaller publishers might only get 10% at first.

But there’s a great opportunity for new publishers to tap into this growing network as they grow their own audiences. As new publications grow, they’ll be able to tap into the network more and more.

Note that this is a very brief overview of network effects. I’ll explain network effects and how you can leverage them in your business more in a future article, so be sure to subscribe if you don’t want to miss it.

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Starting an online publication isn’t for everyone. Let’s talk about who would benefit most from this business opportunity.

Who Is This Opportunity Good For? 🎯

There are many ways to earn a living, and I’ll cover many of them over the coming months. Specifically starting a Substack publication is going to be a good choice for the following people:

• Someone who likes to write

  • If you love to write or create content, a publication business like a Substack is a great choice. Using the Substack platform, you can easily monetize your writing—or even a podcast—through paid subscriptions.

• Someone who isn’t tech-savvy

  • If you’ve wanted to create a blog but the thought of building a website fills you with dread, Substack is a great choice. They make it extremely easy to create a professional-looking site to host your content, and key features like payments are already built in.

• Someone with a strong reputation in their industry

  • Audience building takes time. If you already have a strong reputation in your industry as an expert or insider with a unique perspective, you probably already have a network you can leverage to start building your audience.

• Someone with specialized expertise or a unique perspective

  • Even if you’re not well-known within your industry, if you have specialized expertise or a unique perspective that most people don’t have access to, you may be able to build an audience faster because of the distinct value you can provide.

• Someone who doesn’t have a lot of startup capital

  • If you don’t have a lot of startup capital, a newsletter is a great option for starting a business. The most important resource will be your time spent creating content. With a platform like Substack, you don’t really need to invest in web design and development or setting up email automation software. It’s completely free to sign up and start publishing on Substack. Once you start earning revenue, Substack will take a 10% cut.

• Someone who is looking to start something on the side

  • Not everyone wants to quit their job to start a business. Fortunately, you don’t have to. A Substack newsletter is a great option if you’re looking to start building a new income stream on the side of your current job or commitments. You can scale your publishing schedule to fit your life and even use a newsletter to help build your personal brand without quitting your job.

• Someone who doesn’t want to hire employees

  • If you don’t want to worry about hiring, managing, and paying employees, a Substack publication is a great option. In most cases, you can create and manage it independently, hiring occasional contractors when you need help.

PS. If you’re ready to start a Substack, I have six research-backed ideas ready to go!

How To Monetize a Substack Publication

There are more ways to monetize a Substack publication than you might think. Considering a broader set of monetization options might help more people understand how a publication can fit into their portfolio of projects.

Subscription Fees

The first and most obvious way is to charge a subscription fee. Substack is really good at this, and if you’re choosing to start a publication on Substack, their paid subscription feature is probably why.

Speaking of paid subscriptions…

Ads or Sponsored Content

Substack Publications can be monetized with ads and other sponsored content like any newsletter. While I’m not aware of an easy way to connect a Substack publication to an ad network, native ads where the promotion is naturally integrated into the content are still easy to do.

In a recent article on ByteByteGo, this ad is a great example of how they can be organically incorporated into content without ad platforms. Since the article is all about passkeys, including an ad for a passkey product will be relevant. No additional audience targeting is needed.

If you want to monetize with ad placements, you’ll need a way to inform potential advertisers. Here’s a great example of a sponsorships page on . It succinctly explains who the audience is, what sponsorship looks like, how much it costs, and how to book.

Affiliate Links

Affiliate links are another great way to monetize content. If your Substack will be referencing products, you can sign up for the affiliate programs for those products and get a commission for any sales your publication refers.

For example, this gift guide includes Amazon affiliate links for products the author recommends. If readers buy those products—or any other products—after following the affiliate link, the author will receive a commission on the sale. Notably, this post is not behind a paywall, so they can use it to monetize free subscribers.

Lead Generation

Lastly, if you sell your own products, you can use your Substack publication as a funnel for your book, consulting package, course, or whatever product or service you want to generate leads for.

A great example of this is JP Castlin, author of my favorite Substack on strategy, using his publication to promote his speaking services.

Coming Up Next Week 📩

By now, you should have a pretty good idea of how much opportunity there is with Substack and whether you want to explore it more. Over the next few weeks, we’ll explore the data behind current Substack publications to extract insights and develop a playbook for succeeding on Substack.

Join me next week for an analysis of the highest-priced Substack publications.

To endless possibilities,

Casandra

Imagine turning that passion for learning into a flexible business you can run from your laptop, anywhere in the world.

• No clients.

• No pitching.

• No inventory.

• Just pure knowledge leverage.

And unlike starting a coaching or content business, you don’t need a big following or a personal brand to make this work. You don’t even need to be an expert; you just need to love learning and know how to organize what you discover.

Once it’s up and running, this model has the potential to generate consistent, high-margin income with very little overhead.

It’s scalable, repeatable, and works across nearly every industry—from tech to marketing to design.

Premium subscribers get the full breakdown inside:

• 📊 A detailed overview of how this business works (and why it’s so profitable).

• 💻 The exact steps to build and automate it.

• 💰 Monetization options and pricing benchmarks.

• 📈 Realistic growth projections and marketing strategies.

• 🔍 A real example that you can study and replicate.

This research is only for Premium subscribers, so you won’t have to worry about competition from casual readers.

I came up with this idea when I started noticing a pattern: every time there’s a major industry event, interest surges online but almost no one capitalizes on it. With this model, you can grab this wide open opportunity, and at the perfect time: AI tools make it easier than ever to scale this business.

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Imagine turning your passion into a profitable career, all from the comfort of your couch. With Instagram theme pages, you can do just that.

Instagram theme pages provide the perfect platform to showcase your creativity, engage with a passionate audience, and generate a sustainable income stream.

Read on to learn just how big this opportunity is and how other successful Instagram theme pages do it.

Table of Contents

• Why Instagram Theme Pages are an Amazing Opportunity

• Who is the Instagram Theme Page Opportunity Good For?

• How to Monetize Instagram Theme Pages (With Examples)

• How Much Money Can You Make From an Instagram Theme Page?

• How to Choose a Niche for Your Theme Page

• Scaling Your Instagram Theme Page Business

• FAQ About Instagram Theme Pages

Why Instagram Theme Pages are an Amazing Opportunity

Instagram presents a huge business opportunity:

• Over 2 billion monthly active users.

• Users spend an average of 33 minutes on the platform every day

• The second most downloaded app worldwide last year.

Where there is attention, there is the ability to make money. And a lot of our daily attention goes to Instagram. Instagram theme pages are one of the most exciting ways to monetize this attention.

Instagram theme pages have so much potential that Warner Music Group bought a theme page company, IMGM, for $85 million. At the time, IMGM had 14 different theme pages across social platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, meaning each page averaged over $6 million in the acquisition.

What Are Instagram Theme Pages?

Instagram theme pages are curated Instagram accounts that post niche-specific content (like travel photos, memes, or fashion inspiration) to grow a following and monetize through promotions, affiliate links, or digital products.

Most individuals and businesses have an Instagram page. For example, I have a personal Instagram page where I post about my day-to-day life for my friends to see. Meanwhile, the company that I used to work for, Shopify, also has an Instagram account it uses to promote its brand through content about commerce and entrepreneurship.

Instagram theme pages are something in between personal and business pages.

People follow theme pages for consistent, high-quality content on a topic they like—whether it’s funny, inspiring, educational, or thought-provoking. This content can either be curated or created.

• Curated: Content reposted from other creators, often with permission or credit, like viral tweets, beautiful travel photos, or inspirational quotes.

• Created: Original content made by the page owner, such as custom graphics, memes, videos, or photo edits tailored to the theme.

You’re likely familiar with some of the bigger theme pages, including wealth (over 11 million followers) and fuckjerry (over 16 million followers).

But theme pages don’t need millions of followers to be profitable. For every massive theme page like these, there are thousands of smaller theme pages you would only know about if they focus on a topic you’re interested in.

💡 Remember: where there’s an audience, there’s a way to monetize.

Once an Instagram theme page has enough followers (at least 1,000 engaged followers), there are many ways to turn that attention into revenue.

Sound interesting? Keep reading.

Who is the Instagram Theme Page Opportunity Good For?

An Instagram theme page business is perfect for…

• Someone who loves to use Instagram!

  • If you’re already an Instagram junky, this opportunity is perfect for you because it’s going to involve spending a lot of time on Instagram. Conversely, if you don’t enjoy using Instagram, it might be better to skip this one.

• Someone who is great at content creation or curation.

  • Are you the person who is always sending your friends silly memes, funny tweets, or fascinating videos? If so, this opportunity would be great for you, too. The better you are at creating and curating great content, the easier it will be for you to keep the Instagram algorithm happy and succeed.

• Someone who has a hobby they’re really passionate about.

  • If you have an interest that you truly love and wish you could monetize, theme pages are a great option. Especially if you’re not an expert. For example, I love to surf and spend a lot of my free time surfing, but I’m not experienced enough to teach others how to surf. I could curate awesome surf content, though—especially if it was focused on beginners like me.

• Someone who is looking to start a side hustle.

  • Instagram theme pages usually take a while to build up, but they don’t require a lot of your time to manage. This is perfect for someone who has a full-time job and wants to create an additional income stream. You could quit your job in the future when your page is big enough, or you could just keep running your page on the side.

• Someone who doesn’t have a lot of money to start a business.

  • Theme pages don’t require a lot of money unless you’re trying to accelerate your growth massively. Creating content using your smartphone doesn't cost anything. There are tools that can save you time, but they’re merely a nice-to-have.

• Someone who wants to remain anonymous or behind the scenes.

  • Maybe your day job won’t let you have a side gig, or maybe you’re just really shy. Whatever the reason, Instagram theme pages can be run completely anonymously.

How to Monetize Instagram Theme Pages (With Examples)

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If you want to start an Instagram theme page, today is the day!

I’ve put together starter packs for eight unique theme page ideas. Each one has everything you need to get started. All you need to do is pick a name and create your new Instagram account.

Today, we’re wrapping up our Instagram series. If you’re just joining in, check out the rest of the articles. They’re packed with information to help you successfully start and grow an Instagram theme page business.

Like any business, getting traction and hitting escape velocity will take time, so the sooner you start, the better. This is also why it’s important that you actually like the topic you choose.

If none of today's ideas speak to you, you can revisit the first article in the series for help choosing a theme page topic.

8 Instagram Theme Page Ideas

I’ve included a variety of theme page ideas to match different interests. If you see one you’re interested in, go for it! As always, only paid subscribers can access these ideas so you won’t have to worry about competition.

Each theme page starter pack includes the following:

• Background: An explanation of the theme page idea and why now is a good time to grow it. Spoiler: They all have increasing demand, so there’s a lot of opportunity for new entrants.

• Example Content: The types of content that would work well with the idea and actual examples from other Instagram pages.

• Monetization Strategy: The easiest ways to monetize the theme page idea once you’ve built an audience.

• Accounts to Follow: A list of 20 accounts and hashtags the theme page account should follow, including smaller accounts to interact and partner with and larger accounts to get inspiration and ideas from. Remember, finding similar accounts that are already successful is a good thing because it means there is demand for that type of content.

• Hashtags to Use: The 75+ best hashtags to use in content for various topics related to the theme page, emphasizing lower competition hashtags. If you copy and paste these hashtags into a hashtag research tool, you can easily sort them by competition and potential reach.

If you have any questions about the information, leave a comment below or book an office hours appointment!

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AI tools are opening the door for a new kind of visual creator.

AI image generation tools are changing the game, lowering the barrier to entry for creators, entrepreneurs, and anyone with a good idea and an internet connection. What used to take hours of design work or expensive photography can now be done in minutes, with the right prompt and a bit of taste.

But here’s what most people don’t realize: those images can be turned into real income.

Whether you’re experimenting with side hustles or looking for new ways to monetize your creative energy, this article covers five practical business ideas that use AI-generated images as their foundation. From stock photos to digital downloads, theme pages to client work, these aren’t get-rich-quick schemes but real opportunities.

Let’s explore what’s possible.

5 Business Ideas That Leverage AI-Generated Images

There’s no shortage of ways to turn AI-generated images into income. Below are five business ideas that are beginner-friendly, low-overhead, and surprisingly scalable.

1. Sell AI-Generated Images on Stock Photo Websites

AI image generation tools have made it easier than ever to create stunning visuals, but can you actually make money from them? It turns out the answer is yes! This opportunity isn’t well-suited for a full-time business, but it may be the perfect side hustle for you if you want to get better at generating images.

This guide explores the growing world of AI stock photography and breaks down which platforms accept AI-generated content, what sells, and how much creators earn. If you’re experimenting with AI images and wondering where to start selling, this article is for you.

2. Create an Instagram or Facebook Theme Page Using AI-Generated Images

If you're good at content creation, Instagram theme pages are one of the simplest ways to build an audience-based business. But that doesn’t mean creating enough relevant content to post consistently is easy. With AI-generated images, you can create visuals for your niche (like travel, home design, or fitness) faster than ever. Some niches, like fantasy and sci-fi, are even better served by AI than traditional visual content.

This article will help you learn how to choose a niche, create compelling content, grow your audience, and monetize your Instagram theme page.

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Customers love it. Coffee shops get new faces in the door.

And the person who created the passport? They’re making money while feeling good about contributing positively to their community.

Welcome to the world of community passports: a surprisingly untapped business model that blends commerce, curation, and community to create a business opportunity unlike anything else, all in a single physical (or digital) product.

Why Community Passports Are a Great Business Opportunity

Community passports are such a fun business model that anyone can start, and they can have a hugely positive impact on their entire community. It’s totally manageable as a side hustle, but with plenty of potential to scale up to a full-time business.

The business model benefits everyone involved.

With community passports, you can create a business in a niche you’re passionate about that benefits both consumers and local businesses.

• You curate a themed passport for your community filled with special offers from local businesses you love.

• Consumers get to explore recommended spots and take advantage of their special offers.

• Local businesses attract new customers who are primed to have a great experience that will make them want to return.

It’s highly monetizable and scalable.

Community passports are easy to monetize because your partner businesses provide the product through rewards and incentives, while you curate it and package it into something you can sell. The more value you can include in the passport from participating businesses and the perks they offer, the more you can charge for it.

At $25 a pop, you only need to sell 1,000 passports yearly to earn a nice side income of $25K in revenue. But if you choose a high-demand niche or increase the value of your passport, you can scale your revenue even higher. Plus, the more passports you print, the lower your printing costs.

Additional Monetization

This business isn’t restricted to only passport sales. You can scale your revenue in several other ways, even within a smaller niche.

• Sponsored placement: Some businesses will pay to be featured in a premium spot (like the back cover or a highlighted page) or for marketing opportunities on your social media accounts

• Upsells: You can offer premium passport packages that include merch or prizes after completion.

• Affiliate deals: Digital passports can include affiliate links for relevant platforms and offers.

Future Expansion

Your business will grow naturally as your community grows and you dial in your marketing strategy and sales funnel.

But you can scale it even further by turning your themed passport into a playbook for launching passports in new locations and on different themes.

How to Start a Community Passport Business

1. Choose Your Theme. Pick your niche + location. Start local. Choose a theme with passion and discoverability.

2. Recruit Local Businesses. Emphasize: no upfront cost, just a small offer to attract new customers.

3. Create Your Passport. Design it for printing in Canva or use a no-code mobile app builder.

4. Launch Your Passport for Sale. Set up an online store and partner with local businesses to sell your passport.

5. Promote Your Passport. Use social media and get featured by local media and related organizations.

Step 1: Choose Your Theme

The first step is to choose a theme for your passport. For example:

• Best of Block Island Restaurants 🍴

• Brooklyn Craft Breweries 🍻

• Hidden Bookstores in San Francisco 📚

• Ice Cream Crawl: LA Edition 🍦

• Nashville Live Music Passport 🎶

A good theme has the following characteristics:

• It’s something you’re passionate about. You’ll be recruiting local participants to participate and marketing the passport to consumers, so you’ll be much more successful if it’s a theme you’re personally interested in.

• It’s geographically restricted. For a passport to work well, it should be limited to a specific geographic area. This could be a city, a neighborhood, or sometimes something broader (like California golf courses or New England ski hills), but it needs a clear delineation.

• There are at least 20 businesses you can include. Your passport doesn’t need to contain exactly 20 businesses, but it’s a good starting point. Make sure that whatever theme you choose has enough potential companies to participate. Remember, they may not all say yes.

• You know how to reach potential customers. This business only works if you can actually sell the passports. Whether in person or online, you need to have a plan for how to reach the people who will be interested in it. For example, if I were creating a passport for NYC running stores, I might partner with local running clubs to promote the passport.

💡 Need help coming up with a theme? I put together 52 theme ideas that can be applied to many locations. It’s in the Bonus section at the end of this article.

Step 2: Recruit Local Businesses

The next step is to recruit your passport members. Reach out to local businesses that you want to feature in your passport and ask them to join. Remind them that they get publicity and new customers just by offering an incentive you can feature, such as:

• A complimentary drink with purchase.

• 10% off.

• A secret menu item.

• A free item, like a tote or sticker.

Generally, passports are valid for a year, and passport customers can use each incentive once. They’ll get a stamp or other mark in their passport to indicate when an incentive has been redeemed.

💡 Need help drafting an email you can use to pitch partner businesses? I put together a template you can modify for your passport. I also put together an FAQ template that covers the most common questions partner businesses will have. Both are in the Bonus section at the end of this article.

Step 3: Create Your Passport

You have three options for creating your passport: physical, digital, or both.

A physical passport will be easier for most people to create and to sell in a variety of locations, such as participating businesses and local gift shops. Plus, holding a physical passport creates the same fun sense of adventure that maps or guidebooks provide.

Creating a Physical Passport

Creating a polished, professional-looking passport doesn’t require expensive software or a design team. With Canva, you can build, brand, and print your own Passport booklet in just a few steps.

• Design a cover with your passport name and logo in your brand font and colors.

• Create an introduction page that explains how to use it and how long it’s valid.

• Add a page for each participating business that includes the business name, address, and the incentives being offered, as well as an area to stamp or check off when redeemed.

Once ready, have it printed on both sides using saddle-stitch binding for a booklet feel.

Creating a Digital Passport

If you want to offer a digital passport instead of or in addition to a physical passport, you can create it using a no-code mobile app builder and sell it directly in the app stores.

Step 4: Launch Your Passport for Sale

Once you’ve created your passport, you’re ready to price it and sell it.

How to Price Your Passport

$1 per participating business is a good starting point for pricing your passport. This means if you have 25 participating businesses, you should charge around $25. Depending on how valuable the included rewards are, you can increase or decrease your price accordingly.

However you price it, make sure your printing costs are not more than 20% of the price. You want to have a lot of funds left over for marketing and profit.

Potential Sales Channels

• Online Store: Set up a Shopify store and sell your passport online.

  • Physical Passports: Customers buy passports using your online store, and you mail physical passports to the customer.

  • Digital Passports: Customers buy an access code for a mobile app version of the passport. They then download the app and use the access code to activate their account.

• Partner Businesses: Ask the participating businesses to sell passports for you. You can sell them to the businesses at a wholesale price, and they will profit from the markup.

• Gift Shops and Tourism Businesses: Sell physical passports through gift shops and businesses that cater to tourists. They can buy them wholesale and make a profit on the markup.

• App Stores: Sell digital passports directly through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Just don’t forget that the Apple App Store will take a 30% commission.

Step 5: Promote Your Passport

Finally, it’s time to promote your passport. Your marketing strategy will vary based on your niche, but you should use all the marketing channels at your disposal to get the word out! Here are a few ideas that everyone should consider:

• Build a social media audience in your niche (especially on Instagram) and use it to promote the passport and participating businesses.

• Create assets (like images and copy they can share on Instagram) that make it easier for participating businesses to promote the passport.

• Engage with community groups in your niche both online and in person.

• Reach out to local media and community organizations for public relations support.

• Place ads in local and niche-specific media or use online advertising platforms like Meta.

• Reach out to influencers and thought leaders in your niche to form a promotional partnership.

💡 PS. You don’t need to wait until your passport is printed to start marketing and selling it. You can run a presale ahead of the launch date to reduce risk, validate demand and start collecting revenue before you go to print. You can repeat this every year when you launch the updated passport.

Create Your Community Passport Business and Make Money Sending People on Micro Adventures

When you start a community passport business, you’re not just making a booklet. You’re creating experiences. You’re helping people discover new places, support small businesses, and get more out of their cities or communities.

Best of all? It scales. This isn’t just a fun side project; it’s a real business with real growth potential.

Start with one location and one theme. Refine the model. Then, roll it out to more niches and areas. Before long, you’ll have a local media brand, a product line, and maybe even a licensing opportunity.

Need help getting started with this opportunity? Remember, Premium subscribers can access Premium Perks like business coaching through office hours appointments and Substack DMs.

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To endless possibilities,

Casandra

PS. If you found this useful, please tap the ❤️ below. It helps me out a lot!

Bonus: Community Passport Starter Kit

Are you interested in this idea? I’ve created a starter kit to help you pick a theme, recruit partners, and get them on board.

• 52 Community Passport Theme Ideas

• Partner Business Pitch Email Template

• FAQ Template for Partner Business Questions

Read more

• The quality of images has improved with more texture and detail, and fewer artifacts that don’t belong, even for realistic-looking images.

• The ability for AI image generation tools to interpret prompts has improved, with less specificity needed for great results.

• Top AI image generation tools are still shockingly affordable, with top tools starting at $10–$20 a month, while many others are totally free.

This got me wondering if there’s a business opportunity here. Photographers have long been able to contribute to stock image websites and make a commission on sales. Is it possible to sell AI-generated images?

The answer is yes. You can sell AI-generated images!

Many websites that sell stock photos accept contributions, including AI-generated photos. The contributor gets a commission whenever someone buys a license for an image they submitted.

After analyzing the revenue potential, I’m convinced this opportunity should only be considered for a side hustle, not a full-time business.

But it is a compelling side hustle for a few reasons:

• 💻 It’s very easy to do. You only need to generate images and submit them to the relevant sites.

• 🤖 It's a great way to practice if you’re trying to improve at prompting images. You’ll have a reason to keep practicing regularly by continuing to submit more and better images.

• 📈 You can influence your earnings by being strategic about which images you create.

Table of Contents

• How Much Can You Make Submitting AI-Generated Images to Stock Photo Websites?

• Which Stock Photo Websites Accept AI Image Contributions?

• How to Be Successful Selling AI-Generated Images on Stock Photo Websites

How Much Can You Make Submitting AI-Generated Images to Stock Photo Websites?

Read more

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If you’re a surfer looking for a business idea, I have the perfect one for you.

Imagine a business you can run from anywhere; all you need is a laptop and wifi. You can work on your own schedule, which also means you can surf on your own schedule.

And unlike starting a surf school or becoming a surf influencer, you don’t need to be an advanced-level surfer to be successful with this business idea. (You don’t need to reveal secret surf spots either.)

Once it's up and running, this business has the potential to generate millions of pageviews each year with simple monetization methods, which could easily earn you $10–20K per month.

And there’s a lot of additional revenue potential if you expand into new monetization strategies.

I’ve included everything you need to get started:

• 📊 A detailed breakdown of my traffic and revenue estimates.

• 🔍 A massive list of 2000+ keywords to target.

• 💻 The exact steps you need to take to build this product.

• 💰 The best monetization strategies for this product.

• 🎨 A starter brand with a business name, logo icon, and domain name suggestion.

• 📈 Marketing campaign ideas to help you kickstart growth for free.

• 🌎 Potential opportunities for future expansion.

This research is only for Premium subscribers, so you don’t have to worry about competitors. Plus, Premium subscribers can book office hours with me so I’ll be available to help when you get stuck.

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I’ve been sitting on this idea for a year because I wanted to create it myself, but I already have too much on the go. I’d rather see someone in the Really Good Business Ideas community take advantage of this opportunity than have it go to waste.

Now is the perfect time because AI coding has improved so much in the past few months, but there are still many unfilled gaps for web products like this one.

Read more

Take a second and consider how many friends you have that own dogs. Probably a lot, right?

Dogs are the most owned pet in the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and China.1 In the US, an estimated 65.1 million households own at least one dog.2

But most of us wouldn’t consider starting a dog walking business because it seems too good to be true. Is it really possible to earn a living from hanging out with dogs? (Spoiler alert: The answer is yes).

Dog Walking Businesses Have High Demand

If you’ve ever owned a dog, you know how much of a commitment it is. Dogs typically need a lot of training when you first get them, and a lot of attention, including two walks a day, forever after that.

If you don’t work from home, ensuring your dog gets the daily walks they need can be very challenging, especially if you have a long commute or want to make plans after work.

This is why dog walkers are critical! 97% of pet owners consider their pets to be a part of their family3 and most of us will do anything for our family. If our dogs need someone to walk them daily, we’ll gladly pay for it. If our dogs really like their dog walker and we feel very safe trusting them with our dogs, we’ll pay even more!

Dog walking is a great business opportunity for anyone who loves dogs and wants to move around outdoors rather than sit inside hunched over a laptop all day.

Dog Walking Businesses Have Strong Earning Potential

The average dog walking business in the US earns $236K a year.4 That’s a solid income, especially considering that most dog walkers take several dogs at once so they typically only have to work a few hours a day.

For example, the average cost for a 30 minute dog walk in the US is $30.5 Let’s say you walked five dogs at a time and did four slots daily (20 clients total). Each slot would earn you $150 ($30 X 5) and all four slots would earn you $600 ($150 x 4).

That’s $3000 a week or $156K a year with only 4-5 hours of work each weekday including travel time.

You could easily scale that by increasing the number of dogs you walk and offering overnight boarding when your clients travel. You could even hire other dog walkers to work for you to increase your client list further.

Today I’ll walk you through exactly how to start a profitable dog walking business, including how to get your first customers.

Table of Contents

• How to Build A Strong Brand for Your Dog Walking Business

  • Dog Walking Business Names

  • Designing a Logo for Your Dog Walking Business

  • Creating Dog Walking Business Cards

  • Establishing Your Dog Walking Business Online

• How to Turn Your Dog Walking Brand Into a Reputable Business That People Trust

  • Dog Walking Business Insurance

  • Incorporate Your Dog Walking Business

  • Get Certified As a Dog Walker

• How to Acquire Your First Customers (Even If You’re Brand New)

  • Post In Community Groups (Free)

  • Post Flyers In Your Neighbourhood (Free)

  • Run Ads In Local Media (Low Cost)

  • Create a Profile on Rover (Low Cost)

How to Build A Strong Brand for Your Dog Walking Business

Building a strong brand for your dog walking business is essential because so much of your business will rely on word of mouth. It should be easy for existing customers to share your brand name and for new potential customers to look you up online.

Dog Walking Business Names

Creating the perfect name for your dog walking business can be a fun and creative process.

Start by defining your brand’s unique selling proposition. Consider what will differentiate your dog-walking business from competitors. 

• Will you be focused on a specific region?

• Will you specialize in dogs with special needs or behavior issues?

• Will you be available at the last minute when others require more notice?

• Will you cater to designer dogs and the high expectations of their owners?

• Will you provide a mobile app where owners can book walks and you can share photos from the walks? (It’s easier than you think with vibe coding.)

As you think through how your service will stand out, write down any words that come to mind related to your offer.

Next, think about what would resonate with your target audience. For example:

• If you specialize in dogs with special needs, you’ll want to focus on building trust with potential customers. Your brand should make them feel like their dog will be well cared for despite the challenges.

• If you’re going to cater to owners of designer dogs who are likely wealthy, you’ll want to position your brand as high-end, using colors and words that convey a cool or classy vibe rather than, for example, cute and quirky.

• If you want to focus on a specific geographic location, consider what words and images are associated with that community so customers will think of you as their neighbor and know you’re conveniently nearby.

Next start brainstorming dog walking business name ideas. Put your notes from your unique selling proposition and your target audience together, and consider potential names incorporating these ideas. Write down as many as possible before moving on to the next step.

Filter your list and identify your top choices. Go through your list and rule out names that won’t work. Check for the following:

• Does it make sense with my unique selling proposition?

• Will it resonate with my target audience?

• Is it short and memorable? (This is very important!)

• Is the top-level domain for your region (like .ca for Canada or .com for the US) available? (I use Namecheap for this).

Get feedback from your target audience. If, after going through this whole process, you still have more than one name to choose from, share them with people who would make great customers for your dog walking business and ask for their feedback. Then choose the most popular one!

Example Dog Walking Business Names

Here are some sample names to give you an idea of how your name can communicate what your brand is all about.

Trail Hound Adventures. This would work great for a dog walking business specializing in big dogs that need a lot of activity. This name would signal to potential customers that you will take their dogs to spacious outdoor areas where they can run around, explore, and have fun, using up a lot of energy before coming home.

The Bushwick Bark Brigade. This name would be perfect for a dog walking business in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Dog owners in Brooklyn would know that it’s a local, convenient option and the “bark brigade” part of the name conveys the idea that dogs will walk together in groups where they can make friends and play with each other.

The Canine Concierge. This name would work for a dog walking business focused on providing a very high level of service that can be customized to the unique needs of each dog and their owners.

Generative AI Prompt for Dog Walking Business Names

Finally, if you’re struggling with name ideas, try using generative AI, like Google’s Gemini, to help brainstorm more ideas for free. Here’s a prompt you can use to get started.

I'm starting a dog walking business that will specialize in [describe your unique selling proposition] for [describe your target audience]. Can you help me brainstorm some ideas? I want it to convey [describe the brand attributes that are important] and it should be short and memorable. 

Here’s a specific example.

I'm starting a dog walking business that will specialize in dogs with behavior issues and other special needs for busy dog owners who would rather be able to walk their dogs themselves but cannot and need to find someone they can trust to care for their dog like their own. Can you help me brainstorm some ideas. I want it to convey trust and integrity as well as how special all dogs are and it should be short and memorable. 

Based on this prompt, Gemini gave me 23 possible names including:

• Unique Leash: Celebrates the individuality of each dog.

• Gentle Gait: Emphasizes a compassionate approach.

• Tender Trails: Highlights the delicate care provided.

• The Nurtured Walk: Focuses on the caring aspect.

• Special Strides: Directly addresses special needs.

• Adaptive Paws: Focuses on your ability to adapt to the dogs needs.

• Heartfelt Hounds: Conveys both care and affection.

If you want even more ideas, tell Gemini which ones you liked best and ask for more similar ideas.

Designing a Logo for Your Dog Walking Business

Once you have your dog walking business name, it’s time to create a logo! Many people think logos must be expensive, but you can easily create a professional-looking logo for free using Canva.

Remember, your logo doesn’t need to be perfect when starting out; you can always upgrade it later.

As you design your logo, consider your unique selling proposition and target audience. Then, choose colors and imagery that resonate with them.

For example, if I was designing a logo for Trail Hound Adventures, I might use an icon of a big dog that’s happy or running, and I might incorporate trees or colors of the forest like green and brown.

But if I were designing a logo for Canine Concierge, I might create a more minimalist logo with just a dog outline that uses classic colors like navy blue to signal a more upscale service.

Dog Walking Business Cards

Business cards are handy for growing a dog walking business. You should always have them on you so you can hand one out anytime you meet someone who might need a dog walker.

You can design business cards directly in Canva and then have them printed and shipped to your door. This is the easiest option if you’ve already designed your logo in Canva and their prices are competitive.

Magnetic business cards are great for giving to anyone you’ve just done a dog walk for because you can keep your brand on their fridge where they’ll see it every day. This will keep your brand top of mind so they’ll think of you the next time they need a dog walker. When they have guests over, their guests may notice it too!

Just like business cards, you can design magnets directly in Canva and have them printed and shipped to your door.

Establishing Your Dog Walking Business Online

It’s crucial to have an online presence for your dog walking business. At minimum you should have a website and an Instagram page.

Dog Walking Business Website

It’s important to have a website for several reasons:

• This is where you’ll share important information about your services and how potential customers can hire you.

• A website is available anytime, so you don’t need to be awake or available for potential customers to get questions answered.

• A website signifies that you run a real business that dog owners can trust.

• A website helps you appear in search engine results when potential customers search for a dog walker.

Dog Walking Business Instagram Page

Having a Facebook and Instagram page for your dog walking business is also a good idea. Instagram and Facebook are the best social media networks for a dog walking business to focus on for several reasons:

• They are widely used. Facebook has the most users out of any social network and Instagram has the third most users (YouTube is second).6

• They cover a broad demographic. Facebook can help you reach an older audience while Instagram can help you reach a younger audience.7

• You can publish the same content to both. If you post using Meta’s Business Suite,8 it’s very easy to publish to both networks with the same amount of work as one.

• They lend themselves well to visual content. You can post cute photos of dogs and share tips and advice that dog owners would appreciate.

By building an audience on social media, you are extending your sales funnel so that potential customers can learn about your brand before they need to hire a dog walker. Once they do, they may immediately visit your website rather than going to Google.

How to Turn Your Dog Walking Brand Into a Reputable Business That People Trust

Starting a dog walking business can be as simple as posting a flyer in your neighborhood and getting paid in cash. But if you want to build it into a sustainable long-term business, rather than just a side gig that earns you a little bit of cash in the short-term, there are several steps you can take to enahce your brand’s reputation.

Dog Walking Business Insurance

One of the smartest things you can do as a dog walking business owner is get pet care insurance. Pet care insurance signals to customers that your business is legitimate and they be protected if things go wrong.

But even more importantly, pet care insurance helps protect you if things go wrong. Despite the best intentions, things sometimes do go wrong, unfortunately, and you need to be prepared and protected.

Pet care insurance typically provides some combination of the following:

• Animal Bailee Coverage. Coverage for your business if you are found legally liable for injuries pets sustain while in your care, custody, or control.

• General Liability. Coverage for damage pets cause to you or others while under your care.

• Veterinary Care. Coverage for unexpected vet bills you incur while pets are under your care (usually up to a certain dollar amount).

• Equipment Coverage. Coverage for damage to equipment caused by pets under your care.

There are several options on the market including:

• Pet Care Insurance (Most common)

• Travelers Insurance for Pet and Animal Businesses

• Aligned Insurance for Pet Care Professionals

If you already have a relationship with an insurance company, you may want to ask your broker what options they can provide for pet care insurance.

Incorporate Your Dog Walking Business

Consider incorporating it if you want to make your business even more reputable and sustainable. Incorporating has several benefits:

• It helps signal that your business is reliable and trustworthy (and less likely to disappear overnight).

• It helps reduce your liability risk by separating your personal and business assets.

• It gives you access to more favorable tax structures, so you can keep more of what you make.

I typically recommend that most people validate their business and make some initial sales before incorporating, but every business owner should make their own assessment based on their unique circumstances.

Get Certified as a Dog Walker

These certifications can demonstrate your skills and experience and build credibility in the pet care industry. There are quite a few options for getting certified as a dog walker.

• National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAPPS) Certification

  • NAPPS certification provides a comprehensive understanding of pet care. This certification is highly regarded in the pet care industry and it covers pet health, nutrition, behavior, and business management.

• Pet Professional Guild's Dog Walking Academy

  • This program focuses on professional dog walking practices, including handling challenging behaviors and ensuring safety. It aims to equip dog walkers with the knowledge and skills to handle various situations and provides a DN-CPDW (DogNostics – Certificate in Professional Dog Walking) designation.

• Red Cross Pet First Aid Certifications

  • The American Red Cross offers a dog first aid certification. The course will equip you with the skills needed to handle medical emergencies and even help you learn to notice when something is “off” with a dog under your care.

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How to Acquire Your First Customers (Even If You’re Brand New)

Getting your first customers in a new business is always the hardest. Try to remember that everyone starts from zero; getting your first customers just takes some hustle. Once you get a few, you’ll start building momentum and acquiring your next customers will be easier.

First, you should try to build as much credibility as possible.

• Mention any steps you’ve taken to build your brand’s reputation.

  • Have you done any training or gotten any certifications?

  • Have you incorporated your business?

  • Do you have pet care insurance?

• Highlight your experience working with dogs (even if not professionally).

  • Do you have any dogs yourself? Have you owned any in the past?

  • Have you ever fostered dogs or volunteered at a shelter?

  • Have you gained experience with your friends’ dogs?

• Ask friends with dogs who know and trust you to write testimonials for your business.

  • Post them on your website.

  • Feature them on your social media accounts.

  • Ask your friends to post them as reviews on Google and other review platforms.

• Post photos of you with dogs, whether they’re your own or your friends.

Once you’ve established your credibility, it’s time to go out and find your first clients. No matter which tactics you try, remember to focus on your unique selling proposition and highlight your credibility.

Post In Community Groups (Free)

Find relevant community groups on Facebook, Reddit, Nextdoor, or any other platforms you know of. For example, look for neighborhood groups on Facebook, local dog owner groups on Meetup, and city groups on Reddit.

Wherever it’s allowed, share your service with a link to your website and any relevant details.

Post Flyers In Your Neighbourhood (Basically Free)

If you can access a printer, you can post your ads around the neighbourhoods you’re targeting for free. Create a flyer about your dog walking service and include your website URL, email address, and phone number. Once again, you can design your flyer for free using Canva. If you don’t have a printer you can use at home or at work, public libraries often provide free printing.

Post your flyers on poles, community boards, and in local businesses that allow it.

Run Ads in Local Media (Low Cost)

Many communities (towns, neighborhoods, etc.) have local newspapers that charge minimal advertising fees. Since they are hyperlocal and only read by people in the community, they can convert quite well and have a great return on investment. Once you get size requirements for your ad, you can design your ad for free in Canva.

Share similar information to your flyers and make sure to include all your contact information.

Create a Profile on Rover (Low Cost)

Finally, you can also try to get your first customers from a pet sitting marketplace like Rover. For a quick hack to get started, create a profile with all your credibility signals and then ask your friends to “book” your services and leave you a review (you can give them the money back later).

Creating a profile on Rover costs $49 and they will take a 20% cut of any pet sitting fees you make, but they offer a great way to get your services in front of many potential customers who might not find you otherwise.

Each time you dog walk from a Rover booking, leave your client a business card and let them know they can book directly through you in the future.

You also don’t need to limit yourself to Rover. There are other pet sitter marketplaces you can join, including Wag!, Care.com and Bark.com, just to name a few.

Start Your Dog Walking Business Today

Building a real and sustainable dog walking business takes more than just passion and love for dogs. You need to build a credible brand, develop an online presence, and hustle to get your first clients. But by putting in the work and blending your passion with professionalism, you'll be well on your way to your own thriving dog walking business!

If you’re new here, I share really good business ideas to help anyone start and grow a profitable business. Subscribe to get new ideas and resources delivered to your inbox every week.

Premium subscribers also get access to perks like one-on-one support from me, Casandra.

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To endless possibilities,

Casandra

Can you do me a favor? If you found this helpful, can you tap the ❤️ below? It helps me out a lot!

Imports from Canada and Mexico are now subject to 25% tariffs while imports from China are subject to 20% tariffs.1

On top of that, changes to the de minimis exemption, which allows shipments under $800 to enter the US duty-free, are causing significant disruptions for small businesses that ship packages between the US and Canada,2 Mexico,3 and China.4

The exemption, which was recently eliminated for packages from Canada, Mexico, and China, before being temporarily reinstated, is expected to be permanently eliminated soon.56

Small businesses are vulnerable to tariffs in several ways.

• Increased costs of goods: Tariffs are essentially taxes on imported goods, making them more expensive for businesses to purchase.

• Reduced competitiveness: Businesses that rely on imported materials may have to raise prices to cover the increased costs, making their products less competitive than those made with domestic materials.

• Supply chain disruptions: Tariffs can lead to delays and shortages in imported goods as suppliers adjust to the new rules and regulations.

• Cash flow challenges: The increased costs and supply chain disruptions can strain cash flow, making it difficult for small businesses to meet their financial obligations.

Small businesses are trying to adapt to these challenges in various ways. Some are looking for alternative suppliers domestically and in countries unaffected by the tariffs. Others are trying to absorb the increased costs or find ways to cut other expenses. Some are also advocating for policies that would ease the burden of the tariffs.

It’s still too early to know how things will ultimately play out. Fortunately, however, the tariffs discussed only affect physical products; services and digital products are not affected.

7 Web Businesses Not Affected By Tariffs

If you’re looking to start an online business—or incorporate a new revenue stream into an existing business—here are seven business opportunities that are not subject to tariffs because no physical goods are being exchanged.

There are options for many different skills and interests (you should only start a business you’re actually excited about), but each of these can be operated entirely from a laptop.

1. Substack Publications

2. Pet Travel Business

3. Mobile Apps

4. Instagram Theme Pages

5. Celebrity Theme Pages

6. Job Board Businesses

7. Digital Dropshipping

Keep reading for details about each business, links to playbooks and specific opportunities to help you keep started.

As always, Premium subscribers can get direct help from me for any of these business ideas during office hours and through Substack DM support.

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1. Substack Publication

I joined Substack a little over a year ago, and I couldn’t be happier with my decision to start a Substack publication.

The rising popularity of Substack, a platform experiencing sustained growth in users and revenue, presents a compelling business opportunity for aspiring publishers. This platform benefits from network effects, meaning its value increases as more users join, which facilitates audience growth and monetization through subscriptions.

Substack is a perfect opportunity for anyone who enjoys writing or teaching, possesses industry expertise or unique perspectives, and seeks a low-capital, potentially part-time business with minimal technical hurdles and staffing needs.

2. Pet Travel Business

The strong bond between pets and their owners (97% of owners see their pets as family members)7 is driving a significant increase in pet travel. Currently, 53% of global pet owners travel with their pets, a rise from 37% ten years ago. This trend is set to continue, with the U.S. pet travel services market expected to hit $3.7 billion by 2030.8

However, traveling with a pet is still challenging, and many pet owners seek help planning pet-friendly trips and navigating rules and policies.

A pet travel business can address this demand in several ways, including publishing guides and providing online education about traveling with a pet, selling pet travel consultation services, and even operating a traditional travel agency that specializes in pet travel.

3. Mobile App

With mobile app usage at an all-time high and consumer spending resilient,9 mobile app businesses present a lucrative avenue for entrepreneurs seeking recurring revenue and a flexible lifestyle.

App creators can tap into the vast mobile app market by focusing on solving specific problems, improving existing solutions, or catering to niche audiences.

Whether through subscriptions, in-app purchases, or ad placements, monetizing the attention of millions of daily users is achievable, particularly for those comfortable with the tech landscape and willing to validate their ideas through user feedback and market research.

4. Instagram Theme Pages

With over 2 billion monthly users10 and high daily engagement on the platform,11 curating niche-specific content and building engaged audiences through Instagram theme pages presents a substantial business opportunity.

These pages, which can be monetized through sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, product sales, subscriptions, or even page sales, provide a flexible income stream for enthusiasts passionate about their chosen topics.

Success hinges on selecting a niche that balances personal interest with monetization potential and then effectively curating or creating content that resonates with the target audience.

5. Celebrity Theme Page

The rise of celebrity worship,12 fueled by social media, presents a lucrative business opportunity through celebrity fan pages.

While some might dismiss these pages as mere obsessions, they can effectively monetize intense fan interest by providing exclusive content, detailed information, and engaging discussions that celebrities themselves don't directly offer.

This fills a market gap, allowing creators to generate income by catering to fans' desire for deeper connections with their favorite stars. Pages that provide everything from celebrity product information to mailing addresses do this while leveraging ad revenue.

6. Job Board Businesse

The persistent gap between available job openings and filled positions, exemplified by millions of unfilled roles in the US, highlights a significant opportunity for job board businesses.

These platforms bridge the divide between employers seeking specific talent and job seekers exploring diverse opportunities, especially since traditional recruitment methods often fall short.

Ideal for those with web business aspirations, industry networks, or existing audiences, a job board offers a flexible online venture that can effectively connect qualified candidates with companies, monetizing the ongoing demand for efficient recruitment solutions.

7. Digital Dropshipping

Amid the shifting landscape of traditional dropshipping due to US tariffs and import regulations, digital dropshipping has emerged as a compelling, tariff-proof alternative.

Entrepreneurs can avoid physical inventory and shipping costs by selling digital products such as ebooks, software, and templates, achieving greater scalability and profit margins.

This model offers automated order fulfillment, instant customer delivery, and global market reach, making it an attractive, low-risk venture for those seeking to capitalize on the digital economy.

Tariffs are shaking up businesses that deal with physical products, but there's good news: online businesses focused on digital goods and services are safe. These kinds of businesses skip the whole shipping and import mess, letting you focus on growing your income without worrying about trade wars.

I share research-backed business opportunities and growth tactics every week. Become a Premium subscriber to access 79+ business ideas and Premium perks.

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To endless possibilities,

Casandra

PS. If you found this useful, please tap the ❤️ below. It helps me out a lot!

Become a Premium subscriber to access the full Substack archive and Premium perks like my direct support.

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US-imposed tariffs are causing a massive shakeup in the dropshipping world. Today, I’ll tell you how you can run a dropshipping business that avoids tariffs completely.

Dropshipping is a powerful business model that can empower new entrepreneurs. It’s low-cost, low-risk, and enables rapid iteration, so business owners can test different ideas and determine what works before scaling up.

Although dropshipping sometimes has a bad reputation due to some bad actors, many large, reputable businesses got started through dropshipping, including Gymshark,1 whose revenue reached $709 million in 2023.2

However, recent changes to US import regulations and customs duties are wreaking havoc on dropshipping. These changes, particularly affecting goods from China, are forcing dropshippers to rethink their strategies.

A major factor is the elimination of the de minimis exemption, which allows shipments under $800 to enter the US duty-free. The exemption, which was recently eliminated for packages from Canada,3 Mexico,4 and China5 before being temporarily reinstated, is expected to be permanently eliminated soon.67

Dropshippers are adapting to this uncertainty in several ways, including:

• Looking for local suppliers to partner with or suppliers from markets not targeted with tariffs. The downside is that many products are unavailable locally, or the costs may be too high for many consumers.

• Focusing on selling higher-ticket products with better profit margins and lower order volumes to minimize the burden of new import requirements.8

But there’s one type of dropshipping that is still tariff-proof and doesn’t require any adaptation: digital dropshipping.

What Is Digital Dropshipping?

Digital dropshipping is a business model where you sell digital products (think ebooks, software, audio files, courses, templates, etc.) created by other people. Like traditional dropshipping, you don't handle any physical inventory or shipping. Instead, you partner with creators or companies that provide digital products that you can sell and fulfill automatically.

How Digital Dropshipping Works

Once a digital dropshipping business is set up, the order and fulfillment process is completely automated. Retailers find digital products available for resale and set up an online store to sell those products. When a customer buys something, their order is fulfilled instantly and automatically. Customers receive their digital products through email or download links, and the retailer gets their cut.

Digital Vs Traditional Dropshipping

Digital dropshipping differs from traditional dropshipping in several ways:

• Delivery and Logistics: Traditional dropshipping products need physical shipping and handling, but digital products reach customers electronically without storage or transportation issues.

• Cost Structure: Digital dropshipping cuts out inventory management, warehousing, and shipping costs. Digital products can be copied endless times with almost no extra cost.

• Market Reach: Shipping limits create geographical barriers in traditional dropshipping. Digital dropshipping reaches anyone with internet access.

Digital dropshipping gives you better scalability and profit margins. You only need a computer and Internet connection to run your business from anywhere. Customers get instant access to their purchases, which makes them happy.

How to Start Digital Dropshipping in Four Steps

Starting a digital dropshipping business comes down to four key steps.

1. Select a Niche

2. Choose Your Products (+ How to Find Products)

3. Set Up Your Store

4. Market Your Products

1. Select a Niche

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Remember when everyone wanted exposed brick and Edison bulbs? Matching furniture sets? Inspirational quotes like “Live, Laugh, Love?”

Home decor trends have a way of capturing the zeitgeist, and for savvy entrepreneurs, they represent a well of opportunity.

The global home decor market, valued at $960 billion, is growing and expected to reach $1.6 trillion by 2023.1

More importantly, home decor is something that most of us continue to invest in over the course of our lives as things wear out, technology advances, and cultural values and aesthetic preferences shift. This creates tons of opportunities for new entrants to capitalize on the latest trends.

Six Interior Design Trends (+ Business Opportunities)

Here are six interior design trends that are on the rise. Each discussion includes:

• An explanation of the trend, including details such as what it is and who some of the key players are.

• A specific idea for turning it into a business opportunity (you don’t need to be an interior designer).

• Suggested first steps and resources to help you get started.

As always, articles like this one with specific research-backed business ideas are reserved for Premium subscribers. Premium subscribers can also book office hours or reach out via Substack DM for support exploring one of these ideas. Upgrade now to get access.

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In the past, selling products like t-shirts, notebooks, puzzles, greeting cards, or mugs required a lot of startup capital. Manufacturers had minimum order requirements, and business owners had to keep inventory on hand to fulfill customers’ orders.

These days, with print-on-demand services like Printful, and design tools like Canva, selling customized products online has never been easier or more affordable.

You can design your first products today and start selling them tomorrow—no matter your budget. This means that if you get started this week, you can be up and running in time for the Black Friday shopping frenzy.

How to Start a Print-on-Demand Business

Check out my step-by-step guide to print-on-demand that covers everything you need to start selling customized products online, including niche selection and recommended tools.

4 Print-On-Demand Niche Ideas

 If you’re ready to start selling customized products but don’t know what to sell, today's article is for you.

I’m sharing five niche ideas for print-on-demand businesses that someone should start. Each idea includes an explanation of the niche, a suggested domain name, and Printful products that would be perfect for this business.

If one of these ideas interests you, use my guide to get started. As always, specific business ideas are restricted to paid subscribers, so you won’t have to worry about competition—especially if the suggested domain name is already available.

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Interest in women’s sports has never been higher.

In April, the women’s NCAA basketball final was the most-watched basketball game since 2019, beating even the NBA.1 A week later, the WNBA announced they will add four more teams to the league by 2028. 2 Search interest has never been higher.

The Summer Olympics in Paris were the first to achieve gender parity since women first started competing in the Olympics in 1900.3 Female athletes like Simone Biles, Ilona Maher, and Yaylagul Ramazanova dominated the narrative, and search interest in women at the Olympics surpassed that of men.

In September, sports media brand The GIST announced that it had reached one million subscribers by providing equal coverage to men’s and women’s sports.4

Last month, a Women’s Pro Baseball League was announced. It will debut in 2026 with six teams in the northeastern US.5

And just last week, Whoopi Goldberg announced she’s launching a women’s sports channel called AWSN.

There’s no question, 2024 was an incredible year for women’s sports!

The Opportunity 💰

The Overton window is shifting on women's sports. And any time there’s an Overton window shift, the people who notice profit.

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