If you’re having trouble coming up with a business idea, it might help to know that there are lots of strange and unique business opportunities that actually make money. Savvy entrepreneurs have figured out how to sell potatoes with messages on them, carved wheels of cheese, blankets with holes in them, and more.
So to prove to you that there is a business out there for everyone, here are seven extremely strange businesses that appear to be genuinely profitable. Who knows — they might even help you spark your own unique business idea!
Cheese Carving
Sarah the “Cheese Lady” makes money creating artful sculptures from blocks of cheese. She has been freelance cheese sculpting since 1996 and carves mostly in big blocks of cheddar.
Sara holds the world’s record for the World’s Largest Cheese Carving.” The 925-pound block of cheese was carved at the 2011 Wisconson in 39 hours!
You can check out her gallery to feast your eyes on some of her cheesy masterpieces.
Mobile Marriage
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Er, unless it comes with a legally-binding marriage certificate. Las Vegas is full of unique opportunities from weddings by Elvis to tying the knot in a helicopter or on a pirate ship. But the Wedding Wagon will bring the wedding to you.
How it works: You book (and pay for) your wedding online, you show up to meet the Wedding Wagon on your special day and five days after you get hitched they send you your wedding photos. Talk about a no hassle deal…
You can see some of their previous weddings in their gallery.
Message in a Potato
Yes, there is a business in which you can send a message for a special someone written on a potato. It’s called Potato Parcel.
Not only will they write a message on the potato for you, but they will also add logos, photos, and faces on your potato messages to really confuse your audience… And Potato Parcel got an investment from Shark Tank (I kid you not).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmOqJ5DQC_s
Virtual Dating Assistant
If you are itching to find yourself a special someone in a modern way (online) but you have no idea what to say, how to build a winning profile or seal the deal (and by “deal” I mean getting a dinner date) then perhaps a virtual dating assistant might be the solution for you.
VIDA Select is a service geared towards men who are interested in getting “high-quality dates” with the women they want. They assist clients set up their profiles, send messages and essentially help you get the girl. Apparently even Tim Ferris has used the service… or generally outsourced his dating experience, they’re advertising is a little confusing.
Rotten Flowers
Here’s a little something for you Grinch’s in the crowd, get your special someone Dirty Rotten Flowers. Yes, you read that correctly. For roughly $30 you can get your special someone (or not so special someone) a bouquet of genuinely rotten flowers. It even looks like some of them come pre-broken!
Technically it doesn’t look like the website is fully-functioning right now so it might be the case that it was a rotten business plan (get it).
Rent a Chicken
No seriously, you can rent a chicken. If you find yourself interested in urban farming but don’t necessarily want to go purchase yourself a chicken (or a couple of chickens) you can simply rent one!
Chickens are a pretty big commitment so The Urban Chicks will give you the supplies to raise a gaggle of chickens for the summer so you can get yourself fresh eggs, then take them away in the winter. While The Urban Chicks is Canadian, similar businesses to this are popping up everywhere!
Reserve a Spot in Heaven
Worried that the time you get to heaven all of the good spots will be taken? Well, worry no more because you can now Reserve a Spot in Heaven.
Their packages come with a reservation certificate, identification card and “a navigational guide to help you navigate your way.” The even have a money-back guarantee if your reservation isn’t accepted. Not 100% sure who exactly you check this with but at least you’re not throwing your money away.
Invent a Weird Product Like the Face Blanket
Lots of unconventional products have become popular, from Snuggies to toilet golf. But the strangest one yet may just be the Face Blanket. It’s a small felt blanket with a nose hole that’s supposed to go over your face while you sleep.
The product’s hilarious infomercial claims that it will keep your face warm and help you avoid people you don’t want to see at parties. Check it out below.
This wacky product goes to show that you can make money selling just about anything. So the next time you come up with a strange new product, don’t dismiss it — it could be your million dollar idea!
Become a Professional Cuddler
Although people probably won’t want to snuggle with you until after the pandemic is over, you can make a lot of money as a professional cuddler. Samantha Varnerin earns $4,200 per month just from cuddling hug-starved clients, and even sells courses teaching others how to start their own snuggling businesses.
If you don’t mind having people in your personal space, this could be a pretty lucrative side hustle post-pandemic.
Start a Poop Scooping Business
Most people probably won’t want to start this strange and unique business opportunity because it’s a little gross. But if you’re willing to get your hands dirty, cleaning up dog poop could be a lucrative side hustle.
You can charge each client about $45 per month for waste removal. If you market your business well and get enough repeat customers, you could earn $50,000 to $60,000 per year, or more if you scale and hire employees.
Sell Pixels
One of the most strange and unique business opportunities is selling pixels. Alex Tew actually made $1 million back in 2005 by selling pixels on a website he called The Million Dollar Homepage. Many advertisers bought space on the website to promote their businesses and made Tew a millionaire at just 21 years old.
He tried to recreate his success with a website called Pixelotto, but it never caught on the same way. Who knows, though – maybe the third time’s the charm and you’ll strike it rich by trying out this strange business idea!
Draw Cats Poorly
You may think that you need to be a super talented artist to make money selling portraits. But Steve Gadlin, founder of I Want to Draw a Cat for You, has made lots of money from drawing cats poorly.
His drawings aren’t much better than stick figures, but they appear to make a lot of money. Gadlin was featured on Shark Tank and even secured an investment from Mark Cuban. So even if you’re not very good at drawing, you may still be able to turn your love of art into a strange and unique business opportunity.
Write Personalized Romance Novels for Strangers
Did you know that you could make money writing romance novels for strangers? U Star Novels will put you and your partner’s name in a pre-written novel for about $40. But you could take this idea even further and make more money by writing the novel from scratch.
However, it may be a little awkward to hear about other people’s romantic fantasies, let alone flesh them out into a short story or novel. So you might want to leave this strange business opportunity on the shelf.
Resell Rings from Broken Engagements
If you have any friends who recently broke off an engagement, you could see if you can buy their rings from them at a discount. That’s the business model behind I Do Now I Don’t. It’s an online marketplace where people can offload their unwanted wedding bands and engagement rings.
Most people are eager to get rid of this jewelry because it has bad memories attached, so you could make a pretty penny by reselling it.
Do you know of any strange and unique business opportunities that I didn’t find? Share them with me in the comments below!
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Tae started out as a journalist before following the money into the corporate world. But it turns out that the grass isn’t always greener and now you can find her spending most of her time writing about all the things she loves. Namely, money, travel and business with a hefty dose of self-deprecating humor. She is a podcast fanatic, blogging aficionado and loves to find new ways to turn passions into cold hard cash!