Service Business Ideas No One Is Doing (But Should Be)

This week on The Low Bar, we dove deep into the frustrating world of services that should exist but somehow don’t.

From professional flossing (yes, we’re serious) to renting chickens for your backyard, we explored business ideas that solve real problems people actually have.

If you’ve ever thought “starting a business is too hard” or “all the good ideas are taken,” this episode is your wake-up call.

These aren’t unicorn startups requiring millions in funding. They’re practical, boots-on-the-ground businesses you could literally start this weekend.

The “I’d Pay Someone to Do This” Category

Grill Cleaning Services

Ben kicked things off with a simple observation: end-of-season grill cleaning sucks. It’s greasy, it’s time-consuming, and most people would gladly pay to avoid it.

The beauty? This could be a weekend side hustle that generates serious cash.

The opportunity: Line up 10 grills on a Saturday at $200 each. That’s $2,000 for a day’s work.

Do it in spring and fall when people are either preparing or winterizing their grills.

Low startup costs, high demand, and you can scale by hiring help as you grow.

Professional Flossing

This might sound crazy, but hear us out. Every time you get your teeth cleaned, the best part is when they floss you at the end.

Why isn’t this a standalone service?

The pitch: Drive-by flossing. Quick, in-and-out service. Maybe even mobile, where someone hops in your backseat while you lean back.

Or set up in corporate offices like those traveling masseuses.

The health benefits are real, and people would absolutely pay for the convenience.

The biggest hurdle? Health codes and hygiene requirements. But if you’re a dental hygienist looking for a side gig, or a dental office with empty chair time, this could be a goldmine.

Companies could even offer it as an employee perk.

Garden Management Services

You love the idea of fresh vegetables. You hate the maintenance. Sound familiar?

The concept: A garden manager who plans, plants, maintains, and harvests your vegetable garden.

They’d come weekly during growing season, handle the weeding, manage the plants, and ensure you actually get to eat what you grow instead of wasting 90% of it.

Pricing: $20-50 per hour, once a week, for about 20 weeks. If you serviced 30-40 houses in a wealthy suburb (where people want fresh food but lack time), you’re looking at serious income.

Bonus services could include jarring, making salsa, or even buying excess produce to resell at farmers markets.

Target affluent suburbs where people value quality food but are too busy to maintain gardens themselves.

Hell, you could even help them set up the gardens in the first place for a setup fee.

The “Get This Shit Off My Plate” Services

Garage Sale Management

Running a garage sale is exhausting. Pricing everything, sitting outside all weekend, haggling with people, then dealing with leftover junk. What if someone else handled all of that?

The service: You show up, price items (ideally with some expertise), set up tables, run the sale all weekend, take a percentage of sales, and donate or dispose of whatever doesn’t sell.

The homeowner gets a check and never has to think about it.

The key is having some hustle and sales skills. If you can actually get better prices for items, you’re incentivized through your commission structure.

Target garage sale season in your area and research which neighborhoods have the best stuff.

Waiting for Service Providers

This one hits hard. Every repair person says “we’ll be there Tuesday between 8 AM and 1 PM” and then maybe shows up, maybe doesn’t. You’re stuck at home all day waiting.

The solution: Hire someone to sit on your porch, play video games, read a book, whatever.

They call you when the service person arrives, you come home, problem solved.

This is perfect for teenagers or college kids. Pay them to literally sit there and wait.

You don’t miss work, they make easy money. It’s absurdly simple and would get immediate customers.

“Rent a Dad” – Complete Home Maintenance

Remember that friend’s grandpa who maintained his house perfectly?

Documentation for everything, maintenance schedules, everything spotless? Yeah, most of us aren’t that person.

The vision: A monthly service ($500/month seems right) where someone handles all the little homeowner tasks you should be doing but don’t.

Pressure washing, cleaning gutters, winterizing faucets, cleaning dryer vents, changing HVAC filters.

Not a handyman for repairs, not a house cleaner for surfaces, but everything in between.

When you sell your home, it could even come with a “Rent a Dad Certified” seal showing it’s been properly maintained.

The domain rentadad.com is for sale for $10k if anyone wants to jump on this.

The “Rent Everything” Model

Rent the Chicken

This is real and it’s genius. For about $500, you get a coop, two hens, feed, supplies, delivery and pickup for 26 weeks.

You experience raising chickens, get fresh eggs, and when you’re done (or the kids lose interest), they take everything away.

Why it works:

• Kids love it for a few months, then lose interest
• No long-term commitment
• Fresh eggs are legitimately better than store-bought
• Great for testing if you actually want chickens before buying your own
• Could expand to schools, summer camps, and corporate settings

Someone in Pittsburgh is doing 70-80 coops per summer. They’ve also created a turnkey package for $1,550 that ships anywhere – essentially franchising the concept without calling it a franchise.

Other “Rent” Opportunities

The chicken model works for tons of things:

Goats for land clearing: Already exists in some areas. Goats eat anything and can clear overgrown properties. If you have farm space, you could run a mobile goat service.

Bees/Beehives: Combine the “save the bees” movement with fresh honey and an educational experience. Urban beekeeping is trendy, and people would pay for the experience without the commitment.

Dogs/Rabbits/Ponies: Perfect for testing if your kids will actually take care of a pet before committing. Birthday party rentals for ponies are already a thing.

RVs: Jon actually ran this business. He bought RVs, rented them through a platform (Camplify which is similar to Turo for cars), and sold them years later for more than he paid. About 30% of renters were testing before buying. 20% annual returns with proper insurance and management.

Hot Tubs and Pools: Rent for summer only. Someone sets up an above-ground pool, maintains it with chemicals and cleaning, takes it down in fall.

Pools cost $400-600 to buy, so startup costs are low. Could easily service 20-30 homes per summer.

Boats and Slips: Rent a boat slip with boat included for the season. Skip all the maintenance, winterization, and “bring another thousand” headaches that come with boat ownership.

The key insight: lots of people own expensive things (RVs, boats, etc.) that sit unused most of the year. You could offer to manage and rent them out, taking a cut while the owner makes money on an otherwise depreciating asset.

The Seasonal Decoration Service

This one’s already proven in pieces, but nobody’s putting it all together.

The full package:

• Christmas lights (already exists in many areas)
• Fall porch decorations (proven by multiple entrepreneurs)
• Easter decorations
• Summer flowers and porch setups
• Halloween displays
• Mums in fall (huge in the Midwest)

You store everything, set it up, take it down, and handle it all year-round. This becomes a quarterly or even monthly recurring revenue business.

The marketing angle: Pure status. “Want the best-looking house on your street?” One amazing installation gets neighbors asking questions, and suddenly you’ve got the whole block.

HOA Facebook groups are your best friend here. Get one respected neighbor to use your service and watch the domino effect.

The Bottom Line

If you think starting a business is too hard or you need some revolutionary idea, you’re wrong.

People will pay for convenience, they’ll pay to skip hassle, and they’ll pay for experiences without commitment.

Most of these ideas require minimal startup capital. Some need just your time and hustle.

The real barrier isn’t money or even skill – it’s just actually doing it.

Pick a wealthy suburb, solve one annoying problem really well, and let word of mouth do the heavy lifting.

These aren’t sexy tech startups, but they’re real businesses that could generate real income.

So what are you waiting for? Go rent some chickens or something.