Happy Trends Tuesday!

I’m blown away by the survey results, y’all —

• 49% of Trendsters are founders/owners
• 16% have built more than one business
• And yet, 76% are still reading Trends for the actionable ideas! 👊 

If you're building something (or considering it), don’t miss out on two kickass opportunities:

💰 HubSpot’s Million Dollar Pitch Competition opens tomorrow! How does a free trip to Boston and a $1m investment sound?  

📱 RSVP for the free no-code workshop — join 300+ folks in learning how to create your first no-code app, and start making money from it. 

In today's email…

• Opportunities in the sunrise and sunset of businesses
• These industries are great places to launch your first venture, according to entrepreneurs
• What we’re surfin’, from cool water brands to millionaires on the move

Let's get started!

🤖 CHATGPT HACKS FOR STARTUPS

You already know it’s a cheat code. Here are 100+ ChatGPT prompts to increase your productivity across marketing, sales, and customer support.

🚀 WHERE TO BUILD NEXT

How to build for the rise (and fall) of businesses

Starting a business is now considered the best way to build personal wealth.

That could explain why Americans are leaping into entrepreneurship at record rates – between 2021 and 2023, 5.2m business applications were filed. 

Exciting times. 🤘

Source: US Census Bureau

The not-so-exciting part? Many of them won’t make it past the first year. Even buzz-worthy startups that raised major capital (e.g. Ghost Autonomy) have faltered. Startup insolvencies are at record high. 

But there’s a silver lining – with a high volume of business activity, there are opportunities to capitalize on either end of the spectrum.

Some companies are already cashing in...

Last week we told you legal tech is booming. In that category, LLC formation services are doing especially well, using technology to automate the tedious legal processes of starting a business. 

But many of the same processes apply to winding down a business compliantly, and that sector is getting traction, too: 

• Sunset, a dissolution consulting company, 9x’d its revenue from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024
• SimpleClosure, another contender, raised $4m in February and passed $1m in ARR
• Carta launched its own wind-down solution

You don’t need to compete with these one-stop shops to capitalize on these trends. Here are a few ways to unbundle them and make yourself some nice cash: 

1. Help new businesses

New business owners have a million things to do, and need so. much. help. 

By solving for them, you can make a reputation for yourself rather quickly. 

🎁 Custom swag: Help new startups need to build brand culture by designing or manufacturing swag that could drive buzz, customer acquisition, or recruitment. 

🧑‍💻 Virtual assistant: With 80% of small businesses in the US being solo ventures, founders are drowning in admin tasks.You can help them source and train virtual assistants affordably, or become a VA yourself. 

💻 Digital setup guide: Create a self-guided course to help new businesses build a website, create social media accounts, and look professional fast.

✅ License expeditor: Help brick-and-mortar businesses apply for and speed up licensing they need to operate, like alcohol license and health permits.

2.Help failing businesses

Nearly half of startup founders are mentally exhausted, and ready to call it quits. 

Source: Sifted

There's an opportunity to help them get back on their feet. For instance, provide specialized mental health coaching and counseling to help founders chart a new path post-shut down. Help them refine their resume and reframe their “failure.” 

Or, create a bootcamp or podcast for “disillusioned founders.” Invite battle-tested entrepreneurs to speak, do group diagnostics sessions to help each other spot what went wrong, and organize networking events to rejuvenate attendees for their next steps. 

3. Better yet… why not help both? 

Whether you’re starting or sunsetting a company, there are business supplies involved. 

In 2023, business supplies was the fastest growing app category, with a 63% YoY boost in unique users. 

You can build a secondhand marketplace for companies to trade office supplies, from folders to staples to couches. Companies closing their doors can pass the torch, and recoup some losses, by selling their tools to new founders. 

🔎 OUR LATEST OBSESSION

Where to start a business in 2024, according to entrepreneurs

We love research and data here at Trends.

But from time to time, you need to hear from real folks hustlin’ on the ground to get that kick of inspiration.

Meet three entrepreneurs making good dough in fields with lower entry barriers — here’s how they got started, and why their sectors could be the launching pad for your business, too. 

1. E-commerce

Jake Munday, CEO and co-founder of Custom Neon

Custom Neon makes LED neon signs for just about any occasion. It started when Jake and his wife were decorating their baby’s nursery and couldn’t easily find a cool sign online. 

In three years, Jake turned this side hustle into a $16m ARR business. 

With a clear idea and a working knowledge of digital marketing, he says anyone can get their feet wet in e-commerce — the key is to start small, learn quickly, and scale responsibly.

“With resources like drop-shipping, social media marketing, and various ecommerce platforms, entering the online market has never been easier. In this area, creativity, perseverance, and the ability to adapt to changing consumer preferences are highly regarded,” Jake says. 

2. Niche e-commerce

Amanda Waterstone Carthy, founder of QueenMee

QueenMee is a niche e-commerce site for luxury hair accessories, jewelry, and broaches. It scaled to six figures from a mere $62 initial investment. 

That’s a kickass ROI. 

Her formula for a winning niche e-commerce product: 

• High perceived value
• Light and easy to store and ship 

“A niche allows you to create specialist content, develop expertise in a particular area, and become known as the go-to company in your chosen field,” Amanda says. 

Don’t know how to find a niche? Reddit’s a goldmine to discover people’s weird, niche hobbies – many of which could become lucrative businesses. 

3. Niche consulting

Jeffrey Calderon, President of Permits in No Time

You might think you need a degree or tons of experience to become a consultant. 

But Jeffrey – a successful construction consultant – had no college degree, and little prior experience in either construction or consulting. 

He got his start from a toxic beginner job as an expediter, and sniffed out a business niche from it.

Now, his company offers expediting consulting to homeowners and developers in NYC, and helps them acquire construction permits.

“Anyone can apply to an expediting company in an entry-level position and be taught the ropes within six months. Then you can shop around with your new skill set to $60-$70k per year,” Jeffrey says. 

Keep reading to learn how five other entrepreneurs are building cool shit in various sectors, like a UGC educator and a bionic robot pet builder.

🗂️ OPEN TABS

🐴 Growth: 8 tips to up your LinkedIn game in 2024, from LinkedIn's VP

🏴‍☠️ From X: How Liquid Death, a $1.4B brand, made water cool again.

🏆 Watch: An insider ranking of AI marketing power tools

🚁 Exodus: Why more US millionaires are setting up camp elsewhere