15 "Boring" Businesses That Can Get You to 1 Million Dollars

The less you innovate, the better are your chances of making money instead of losing it. 70% of startups fail within the first 10 years, so if you thought the easiest road to $1 million was just about creativity and disruption, you'd be wrong, my friend. Stale, old, weak, and simple businesses known as SS can help you reach that one million with less risk and a lot more stability. You work in the background with little recognition. This job is repetitive, and there's no cutting-edge technology or trends that are at the forefront of it. But you know what? You'll have lots of customers and low competition.

You can also decide if you want to be a one-man or one-woman show, or if you want to scale. You don't need a whole lot of other people. These businesses are easy enough to keep it easy, keep it small, and work by yourself for yourself. Here are 15 boring businesses that can get you to $1 million.

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Number one: Lease event supplies. If you want to be sure of always being in demand, well, you need to tap into the market that never stops—unless there's a pandemic, of course. Weddings, corporate events, birthday parties, and festivals are your money makers. You're not going to be praised at the event, but you're not looking for praise; you're looking for profit. Event infrastructure has high markups and continuous demand. You can rent out your equipment so your investments can all be working at the same time, even when you're not physically there. Your assets in the business, like tables, chairs, photo booths, and bouncy houses won't depreciate as fast as assets in other industries if you maintain them well. Then the wear, tear, and costs of repair will be minimal.

It's not the type of business that's going to get you featured in a luxury magazine, but you won't care about that once the business starts rolling in.

Number two: Flooring for multifamily residential buildings. Specific knowledge can make or break you. It can limit your options, or it can put you in high demand. Multifamily residential buildings like apartments, condos, and townhouses have constant turnover and high traffic, which means they need to replace their floors regularly. So they're looking for people who are good at this. Property managers and landlords want reliable, cost-effective flooring that can last them for years. If you do the job well once, well, you've got a customer for life, and they've got lots of units. Repeat business is almost guaranteed, and word of mouth travels strong and fast in this industry.

These businesses are simple: nail down a niche that targets repeat customers. And here's how you do that: first, you dig deeper than the surface-level desires. Ask yourself, what recurring problem does my ideal customer face? This might not be what they say they need, but what they truly struggle with regularly. Look for pain points that keep coming back. Second, think about services or products that people depend on. Customers are more likely to come back to you if they feel like they'll be losing out by not having your product in their life. And third, every conversation and interaction you have with your customer should leave them excited about the next thing you can offer them. They should make using your services a habit because they trust you to deliver value.

Number three: Rent out self-storage units. The best way to make money is if you can deliver something and get paid without even being there. You just manage the space and give access to it. The actual day-to-day management is pretty minimal. You're profiting from space, not a product. And with around 10% of the population in the US renting a storage unit, there's plenty of profit to be made here. The great thing about this is that your initial investment can be as low or as high as you're able to afford. You can start off with less than $60k, or go up to $1 to $2 million where you can buy the land and build the facility all yourself. The average profit margin is 41%, and the more units you can rent out, the more money you'll make.

With an average unit size of 50,000 square ft, you can expect to make $184,000 a year. Your profits depend on what you put into it, though. It's a location game: find the right place, and you'll be able to target college students, business parks, or military personnel. Once the facilities are built, it can basically run itself. You'll have to step in sometimes to oversee things and keep maintenance in check, but since it's one of the most profitable commercial real estate options out there, that minimal time investment is totally worth it.

Number four: Asphalt and seal coating companies. Imagine starting a business and making back your initial investment in just a few jobs! Well, asphalt and paving flies under the radar—literally like gum under your shoe that you only think about when it inconveniences you. And if you've never thought about doing this before, much less seeing it as a business opportunity, hear us out, okay? Because here's what it is: asphalt is a mixture of sand, gravel, and crushed stone that's bound together and used to construct roads, parking lots, and driveways. Seal coating is when you apply a protective layer to the surface to make it more durable.

And here's why it's going to be profitable for you: you charge about $125 a pop. Most driveways take about 3 to 5 hours to do completely, from paving to sealing. People know that to increase the value of their property, they need to have their driveways, patios, walkways, and parking spaces looking beautiful and well-kept. You need to have some curb appeal here. So you'll have to buy some tools; it's going to set you back around $1,000 for basic equipment or up to $10,000 for more advanced machinery. Your overall startup costs, including legal fees, insurance, and marketing, can range from $5,000 to $220,000.

Some businesses have made $80,000 within the first few months of operation. The average starting profit is between $50,000 to $100,000 a year, so you can launch with just a few thousand and benefit from average profit margins of around 70%.

Number five: Buy and sell art. If there's one surefire way to profit from a boring business, it's to focus on aesthetics and status. People will pay for things that look good and make them look good. But this isn't like trading stocks, where the pace is quick and results are immediate. Art investment needs patience and a lot of due diligence. It's a long-term hold, which is a part of what makes it so stable. But choosing the right pieces is also key, with segments of the high-end art market outpacing traditional investments like the S&P 500.

But if you're buying art outright, you'll need substantial capital—anywhere from $10,000 to millions of dollars, depending on the artist and the piece. So you need an ace up your sleeve that's going to get you in the door without it costing you millions of dollars, and that's where our long-term collaborators and sponsor of today's video, Masterworks, comes in. Instead of buying an entire Picasso or Banksy painting, you can invest in shares of it with Masterworks. And if the offering is sold, any profits are distributed amongst the shareholders. It's a great way for smaller investors to enter this market.

Masterworks has sold pieces by established artists like Basquiat, Banksy, and Monet. In fact, even with the recent market downturn, they sold an $8 million Basquiat. To date, they've distributed back a total of $60 million in investor proceeds across their 23 exits. Investors have realized annual net returns like 17.6%, 17.8%, and 21.5% from assets held for one year.

Now, Masterworks usually has a waitlist to control demand, but we're going to give you some special passes that will help you skip all of that. So scan the QR code on screen now or click the link in the description to sign up. The great thing about this is you can do it as a side hustle to make some extra income, or you can throw yourself into it fully and make buying and selling art your main thing, but you need to know the market first, and Masterworks will help with that.

Number six: Senior care. The global population is aging, which means the need for long-term care facilities is skyrocketing. The Baby Boomers are now getting to the point where they need full-time care, so the market will open up even more. You'll get a steady stream of income from their families, and you'll get funding from government programs too. The starting costs for some of these facilities are around $4,000 per resident per month. The operational costs can be high, but so can the potential revenue.

This isn't for the faint-hearted, though; it's highly regulated, administrative, and not always the most exciting from a business perspective. But if you can nail it, if you can hit the right small town that has a growing need, if you can target a place where people are wealthy enough to pay whatever they need for good care, well, in that case, you would have hit the jackpot, my friend.

Number seven: Landscaping services. You need to be able to see opportunities where other people see barren land, and landscaping is that ace up your sleeve. The job might seem small to everyone else, but the volume and consistency add up big time. You'll always be needed by your customers, no matter how good a job you do; it's just something that always has to get done. If you can get contracts with homeowners' associations, business parks, or municipalities, well, you've got yourself a lifetime of profitable business. You get predictable cash flow and the ability to scale as far as you want to go.

Landscaping is one of those jobs that if you're out there doing it, you have to love it. It can be physically demanding and tedious, and you'll hate your work if you don't actually like being outdoors. You're not just mowing lawns here, okay? Your customers can pay anyone for that. Your job is to transform their outdoor spaces. The path to profitability is securing those long-term contracts that will give you a consistent income.

Number eight: Plumbing businesses. If there's one thing you need to do to start making money quickly in a new business, it's to make sure you offer expertise in something that is always in demand. It's not glamorous, but skilled labor like plumbing requires training, certification, and knowledge. The average Joe off the street is not going to plum your house. Plumbing is an essential service, and you're always going to be called out in an emergency, which means you can offer premium rates for that. Once you've got your tools, transportation, and insurance, you're all set. The overhead costs aren't as high as other industries, and you'll also have regular work because, well, people always need maintenance. Keep your customers happy, and they'll do all of your marketing for you.

Number nine: Tree trimming. Get your foot in an industry that people don't often think about, and you won't even have to worry about having to beat out a lot of competition. Your competition is reduced even further because anyone who doesn't like heights is basically canceled out. There might be low and high seasons for this work, but when the work hits, you will be in demand. People need help cleaning up after storms or natural disasters, so the demand will spike in those cases. And like many other businesses on this list, people are willing to pay a premium fee for urgent work. Plan for the peak times, and you'll be rolling in the business.

Number ten: Window cleaning companies. YouTubers Johnny and Sergio are friends who started a window cleaning business at 19 years old. They had just 150 bucks, and in 4 years, the company was worth $1.3 million. It's estimated that by 2028, the window cleaning industry will grow to $3.5 billion. Do you know how many companies are out there? With just over 12,000 window cleaners in the US, the competition is pretty low, and the revenue is high. It's basically been growing steadily around 2.2% per year, and that's what you want to see in some business: steady growth is predictable, and it gives you time to manage things as you scale.

You want your business to be successful, and to do that, you have to plan for growth. If you can't keep up with it, then you'll lose out and fall further from where you started. A business that can grow without overwhelming you will give you time to steady your feet and perfect your strategy while still moving forward. Not every industry has this benefit; with some of them, as markets shift, you're constantly needing to change your strategy and realign your initial goals. This is a chance for you to hold on to all of those goals, work on them slowly, and still see noticeable growth.

Number eleven: Junk and waste removal. When everyone else turns away from an industry because it doesn't seem exciting, that's when you know you have to move toward it. There's nobody guarding the gates. If you've ever looked and struggled to find a number to call for someone to come and remove your junk and your waste, well, you know there's a gap in your market. You can start off with a small side hustle; all you need is a pickup truck, and you can grow it to join the earning ranks of the average junk removal business—that's a cool $1.4 million a year. Like window cleaning, there's been a steady growth of this around 2.3% per year.

As more people move to cities, the population grows, and there is a move towards sustainability, you can be sure that if you enter this industry, you'll always have customers. You can specialize in specific kinds of removals too; you could specialize in specific types of removal, or you could be a jack of all trades and offer your services for old cars, furniture, appliances, yard waste, and even electronics. And if you're especially keen, you could sort through the junk and find things that you might be able to sell for profit too.

Number twelve: Trucking companies. Michael Sa founded his trucking company, Sa Lines, at 19 years old. Within the first 6 months, he'd made nearly $160,000. He specialized in refrigerated freight to tap into a market that has consistent demand and big profit margins. It was a great idea because trucking businesses aren't as low on competition than some of the other industries on this list. It can also be more volatile, but you'll still be in demand. Nearly every major industry relies on the trucking industry to maintain its supply chain.

Owner-operator drivers—even if it's just you and your one truck—earn up to 10 times more than salaried truck drivers. But you can see the downside here, which is that if there's a supply chain issue, or the market demand goes down, your business will be affected. Or you can see the upside too: that every dip will come with growth over time. There are 3.5 million truckers in the US, and 1.7 million of them are owner-operators. When you see trucks on the road, it's easy to think that they're all owned by some large transportation company. But you know most of them are pretty small. More than 95% of trucking carriers have fleets with 10 or fewer trucks. You don't need hundreds of trucks to reach that $1 million. You can have a small fleet and still see some strong profit.

Number thirteen: Rent heavy equipment and tools. Now, there are some things that people need, but they are too expensive to justify buying for a once-off project. You generate income from the same assets over and over. Your customers are also a broad market, from construction firms to DIY homeowners. So regardless of the economy, you'll always have a consistent revenue stream because you know even construction firms will choose to rent instead of buying during an economic downturn.

Number fourteen: Moving companies. People in businesses are always moving around. They're upgrading to bigger homes, they're downsizing, relocating for a job, or moving offices. So demand for moving services never dries up. Moving is stressful, and most people are happy to pay someone else to take that stress off their hands. This creates a consistent stream of work that is immune to many of the economic ups and downs that affect other industries.

Moving companies can adjust their pricing based on the scope of the job; is it local, long-distance? Is it an apartment or a home? This gives you flexible profit margins. If you plan your strategy well, you can generate higher profits without increasing your overhead. Trucks, fuel, and labor are the primary costs. Once you've got this and your moving equipment sorted out, you're set. You can start off with as low as $8,500. The average moving company can make as much as $12 million a year—a nearly 25% profit margin.

Number fifteen: Electrical repair businesses. Electrical systems are the backbone of every building, and when they fail, they need someone to fix it immediately. People will pay a higher price for urgency. You're not just solving a problem; you're also keeping people safe. Electrical work is skilled labor, and customers pay a premium for expertise, especially in emergency situations. There's always a demand, and once you build a reputation for reliability and safety, word of mouth will keep your phone always ringing.

And that's it from us today, my friend. In a chaotic world, a boring business might just be the stability you need. It might not sound glamorous, but you'll still be living the high life. So tell us, which business would you go into from this list, and why? We'll see you in the comments section. Until next time, my friend, take care.