I went undercover on Nextdoor and found the next big business idea

GM. This is Work "After" Work, bringing you side hustles so hot we have to deliver them with oven mitts.

Happy Friday Eve! Here’s the docket for today:

• 🥷  Going undercover on Nextdoor

• 😂 Meme of the day

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GOING UNDERCOVER ON NEXTDOOR

4 days ago I went undercover on Nextdoor.

What was my alias? My friend’s mom 😂😂

Ik Ik… but if people know it’s me I can’t get reliable results 🤷 

Besides Nextdoor being a cheat code to marketing, I think I just found your next business.

I blurred out names so I don’t dox these folks but this is what I posted.. check it:

67% were interested - pretty good from this little poll.

These were the comments:

All were supportive or interested except for one. And it was a valid question. “Don’t you need a license for this?”

The answer: it depends on what state you live in.

I did some digging and found that this business (the cottage food business under law) does come with some regulations in certain states.

If you’re in the following 15 states you face very little regulations. Meaning you could probably start this tomorrow.

1. Wyoming

2. North Dakota

3. Montana

4. Idaho

5. Kansas

6. Nebraska

7. Arkansas

8. Oklahoma

9. Kentucky

10. Mississippi

11. Alabama

12. South Dakota

13. Utah

14. Alaska

15. Maine

If you live in these states you’re going to face A LOT more regulations (like capping how much you can make per year and only being able to sell non-refrigerated items.. dumb 🙄)

1. New Jersey

2. Maryland

3. Nevada

4. California

5. New York

6. Texas

7. Michigan

8. Massachusetts

9. Georgia

10. Virginia

11. Connecticut

12. Illinois

13. Florida

14. Ohio

15. Tennessee

Wyoming is the least restrictive state. You don’t need a permit, there’s no cap on your revenue and no inspection of your home kitchen.

If your state isn’t on either list that means you have moderate laws. There will be some legal hoops to jump through but it should be doable.

And for my Canadian readers, it goes by your province.

These are the least regulated provinces:

1. Saskatchewan

2. Manitoba

3. British Columbia

4. Alberta

5. Newfoundland and Labrador

Now onto the fun part. How can you go about this to start making money?

#1 Get Customers

Just like I did on Nextdoor, make a poll to gauge interest. This way before you spin up an LLC and buy any containers or labels you know if your community wants this.

Chances are they will be. Loads of parents need fast meals for dinner but don’t want to buy their kids fast food. This is your target audience.

#2 Live in a less regulated state

Kidding but not kidding.

This side hustle won’t work if you’re in a highly regulated state.

For example, in Illinois where I live, you’re capped at $25k and they don’t let you sell any food items that need to be refrigerated… that’s basically 100% of meals so it eliminates me from running this “cottage food business”.

#3 Create a great menu and cater to your audience

Is your audience extremely healthy wanting only greens and vegetarian meals? Or are they more of the meat and mashed potatoes crowd like me?

These are things you’ll want to ask in the comments or run another poll for after you gauge interest.

#4 Gather materials

No matter what state you live in you’ll need plastic containers to store all of your meals in.

Amazon has great bulk deals on plastic containers - 50 for $20.

Other than that I’d create stickers with your brand logo so you can attach one to every meal. Or at the very least cute ones that leave people happy.

Like this:

Some states will require you to put food labels on all meals you sell. This is where regulations come in again. The basic formula is fewer regulations = less money spent and hoops to jump through.

#4 Provide a great service

Lastly, you need good meals. If you’re a good cook this should be no biggie. If not, take some courses/watch some videos and learn!

Admittedly, I’m not the best cook either so I’d have to take some courses before I started.

The Math

Aim for a 25-30% margin and work backwards.

So if you had 10 customers and they were all paying you $100 per week ($400/mo minus the grocery costs) that’s $4,000 a month.

That means you can’t spend over $3,000/mo on supplies (packaging/food labels) or gas (delivering the meals and using your stove/oven) to get a 25% margin.

Will people pay $100 a week to have freshly cooked meals for their kids on weeknights when they’re tired coming home from work or a sporting event for their kids? Seems likely to me but it will depend on your area.

And that’s all I had for you today! If you have any questions about this business let me know.

It’s a great one where you can get up and going quickly and start making money (assuming you don’t live in a highly regulated state like me 🤐 )

Happy hustling! 💪 

🧠 Test Your Money Knowledge (Part 6)
Here's this week's 7 question quiz to see how smart you are about money... Remember the first to get all 7 correct gets $10 😁 (hurryyy)

MEME OF THE DAY

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.