Why Local Businesses Are Low-Hanging Fruit for Entrepreneurs

Written by Ricky Nave in Business Ideas, Opportunities, and Risks

Local businesses are easier to launch but tougher to scale past a few million dollars in annual revenue.

By “local” I mean a business which is physically constrained so that consumers have to buy from a business that is somewhat near them.

Examples of local businesses:

  1. Roofers
  2. Plumbers
  3. Electricians
  4. Pool cleaners
  5. Pressure washing companies
  6. Painters
  7. HVAC contractors
  8. Handymen
  9. Cleaners
  10. Concrete contractors
  11. Landscapers
  12. Cabinet installers
  13. Gyms
  14. Climbing gyms
  15. Dentists
  16. Orthodontists
  17. Med spa
  18. Massage therapist
  19. Daycare
  20. Dog groomer
  21. Doggy daycare
  22. Veterinarian
  23. Landfills
  24. Window washers
  25. Auto repair shops
  26. Bars
  27. Dog trainers
  28. Paintball arenas
  29. Laser tag arenas
  30. Escape rooms
  31. Indoor skydiving
  32. Sky diving
  33. Scuba lessons
  34. Sailing lessons
  35. Appliance repair companies
  36. Funeral homes
  37. Unique location tour companies
  38. Heavy equipment rental companies
  39. Coworking spaces & executive suites
  40. IT managed service providers (MSPs)
  41. Assisted living facilities
  42. Nursing homes
  43. Pharmacies
  44. Laundromats

Examples of semi-local businesses:

  1. Tutors
  2. Moving companies
  3. Property management companies
  4. General contractors
  5. Financial advisors
  6. Estate planners
  7. Management consultants
  8. Business intelligence consultants
  9. Photographers
  10. Business brokers
  11. Car dealerships
  12. Boat dealerships

Examples of non-local businesses:

  1. Bookkeepers
  2. SEO agencies
  3. Social media marketing agencies
  4. Website developers
  5. E-commerce businesses
  6. Blogs
  7. Marketing consultants
  8. Media buying agencies
  9. SaaS companies

Local businesses are easier to launch because you can run geographically-constrained Facebook ads with very little competition. That’s especially true if you don’t live in a big city.

On the flip side, local businesses are harder to grow because they are either asset-heavy or labor-intensive.

Nevertheless, if you are an entrepreneur just starting out, it will be easier and cheaper to get your first 10 customers if you start a local business rather than a non-local business.

Examples of Local White Collar Businesses

  1. Architects
  2. Attorneys (especially family law, divorce, and personal injury attorneys)
  3. CPAs
  4. Dentists
  5. Doctors
  6. Cost seg firms
  7. Engineering firms (especially civil engineering firms)
  8. IT managed service providers (MSPs)

Ricky Nave

In college, Ricky studied physics & math, won a prestigious research competition hosted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, started several small businesses including an energy chewing gum business and a computer repair business, and graduated with a thesis in algebraic topology. After graduating, Ricky attended grad school at Duke University in the mathematics PhD program where he worked on quantum algorithms & non-Euclidean geometry models for flexible proteins. He also worked in cybersecurity at Los Alamos during this time before eventually dropping out of grad school to join a startup working on formal semantic modeling for legal documents. Finally, he left that startup to start his own in the finance & crypto space. Now, he helps entrepreneurs pay less capital gains tax.

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