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- New business ideas: $2.9M/yr selling dogs, $40K/yr local postcards, $1.4K/mo 70% passive 🤑
New business ideas: $2.9M/yr selling dogs, $40K/yr local postcards, $1.4K/mo 70% passive 🤑
$100 to start. $4K profit per postcard.
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eBiz Insider
Business Ideas Newsletter
Hey, it's Niall 👋
Some of you know this already – outside of this newsletter I run a marketing agency for local businesses.
And a big part of the work is client calls.
On every one of those calls, I'm trying to learn as much as possible about their business – and pull out details that'll shape months of work down the line.
On any call that really matters – client calls, team meetings, sales calls – you've got two choices:
Be fully present in the conversation.
Or be a good note-taker.
Never both.
So I built my own custom fix using AI + a transcription setup 🤖
It works, but it's clunky and slow – too many steps, lots of duct tape.
Today's sponsor cracked it – you stay fully present, jot only what matters.
Afterward, it fills in the rest from the transcript, built around your notes. Not a generic recap – try it free below 👇
Then keep scrolling for my latest batch of fresh business ideas.
Niall Doherty
eBiz Insider
TOGETHER WITH GRANOLA
The AI notepad for back-to-back meetings
Most AI note-takers just record your call and send a summary after.
Granola is different. It’s an AI notepad. You jot down what matters during the meeting, and Granola transcribes everything in the background.
When the call ends, it combines your notes with the full transcript to create summaries, action items, and next steps, all from your point of view.
Then the powerful part: chat with your notes. Write follow-up emails, pull out decisions, or prep for your next call, in seconds.
Think of it as a super-smart notes app that actually understands your meetings.
👆📞
BORING BUSINESS
$1,450/Month Profit From 3 Vending Machines
📝 Puzzleheaded_Ad_4478 shared 20 hard lessons from running a vending machine business on the side…
Right now, I'm making about $1,450 a month (in profits) on average, with 3 machines and a good system in place to make it passive.
That's about $483/month per machine. But the "passive" part comes with a big asterisk.
Vending is NOT fully passive income.
I'd call it semi passive, like 70% passive.
From time to time, you clean, fix bill acceptors, deal with jammed candy, haul heavy change, drive between locations, and get calls at 7PM because a machine ate someone's dollar…
A few of the sharpest tips 👇
Always pair snacks with drinks. People want a drink with their chips.
Card readers are mandatory. Without one, you'll make half what you could.
Avoid Costco-brand snacks. No one pays premium for a brand they buy in bulk.
Stick to a minimum location size. Small offices take the same drive time for way less revenue.
💰 A combo snack-and-drink machine runs $2,500 to $5,000, plus a few hundred for a card reader and initial stock.
Starter move: one used machine in a 20+ person workplace (gym, factory, auto shop), with a small commission to the owner 😎
DIRECT MAIL
$40K/Year Selling Ad Space on Local Postcards
📝 Josh, a 25-year-old in Utah, sells ad spots on shared postcards to local businesses – one plumber, one landscaper, one bakery, etc.
He ships the cards to 1000s of local homes via USPS's Every Door Direct Mail tool – no mailing list needed.
Unit economics on a 10K-home card 👇
$2,500 postage (25¢/home)
$2,300 printing
$9,000 to $10,000 in ad sales (16 spots, $350 to $1,000 each)
$4,000 to $5,000 profit per card
He fills the spots by posting weekly in local Facebook business groups...
I probably close 95% of my deals over messenger or text.
His first-ever sale was a plumber paying $1,100 for a premium spot after just 5 DMs.
Year one: ~$40K revenue. Started under $100, no website, no LLC for the first two cards, no employees.
You could start this for free if you really wanted to.
Worth a swing in any US town with a post office and a Facebook group 😎
TOGETHER WITH BELAY
83 Ways to Stay in Control
When margins tighten, every move matters.
BELAY’s Small Business Survival Guide gives you 83 practical ways to cut costs, improve cash flow, and keep operations running smoothly without overextending your team.
👆💸
ANIMAL BUSINESS
$2.9M/Year Selling Protection Dogs for $175K Each
Kim Greene breeds and trains protection dogs for wealthy families.
Every dog costs $175,000 🤯
She explains…
This is not a product that's for everybody. It just isn't. In fact, usually I'm trying to talk people out of it to see how much they really want it.
Each dog goes through 2 years of training – protection, obedience, socialization, ~20 commands – then gets hand-delivered to the buyer's home 🐶
Kim started the business in Kenya back in 2005. She'd been living in Nairobi, got pregnant, and didn't want a firearm or bodyguard for safety – so she got a Dutch Shepherd instead.
She now runs a 170-acre ranch in Montana with ~13 trainers on staff.
In 2024, the business brought in $2.97 million in revenue 🤑
You don't need to become an expert dog trainer to take advantage here.
Lots of dog trainers already have the skills required but struggle with the marketing side – that's where you could help 😎
FINAL THOUGHT
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