Many of us dream about starting next technology unicorn. The reality is that very few are technology savvy or want to move to Silicon Valley. In this blog post I would like to talk about simple but profitable business that Americans start every day. Very few become billionaires by starting a restaurant or a car wash. There are no fast-growing contractors or trucking companies hitting billion-dollar valuations. Most of those companies are self-funded and it usually takes about 10 years when you start taking in millions on annual basis. During my banker days I worked with those business every day. From experience I can tell that for every successful business there were dozens of failed ones. GOAT Businesses to Start List is comprised of business that in my opinion every single one of us could start today and eventually build it into a million-dollar company. There is no specific ranking like 1 through 10 just one business covered per post.
Construction related contractors made the list. Real estate in US represents about 13% of our GDP. Contractors are always in demand. When you drive cross town and see construction sights just think about how many different contraltos are involved in those projects – site cleaning and preparation, framing, masonry, roofing, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, drywall & painting, cleaning, general contractor, concrete, flooring and tile, kitchen cabinet, crown & molding. The barriers of entry are relatively low for contractors. You can start this type of business by yourself and with one pick up truck. You might need to get a license and general liability insurance which will cost you around $1,500. Many successful contractors that I worked with started just like that. Some stayed small with crews of 3 to 10 people because they liked to be nimble and owner loved the fact that he can check everyone’s work. Such size contractor with five years of experience can take home anywhere from $200,000 to $500,000 every year. This business requires a lot of hard work and conditions might be challenging – physical labor, noise, dust, no A/C, working nights and weekends. Although all contractors I met swore they could’t spend a day in 9 to 5 office job sitting in front of computer. So if you value hard work, hate office politics, can’t do sales, can’t sit in front of a computer for 9 hours becoming a contractor might be your best option if you want to be your own boss and build some wealth.