Starting and running an evergreen business successfully is a tough task. It’s so different from starting a new job. It’s even harder when you’re low on finance and have only enough to keep your business afloat. This is the basic reason why most businesses go bankrupt within months, or at most, years, after commencing operation. Heck, even the most profitable business in a bad niche can go bankrupt if the market takes a different turn. It’s pretty similar to what happened with civilizations in the past that were located on the bank of a river. The moment the river changed its direction, the entire civilization ended.
Nothing is more painful than seeing your business die a slow death. So, what can you do? Stop doing business? No, that won’t be a favorable decision. Spend more money on marketing? Well, how effective it would be is a matter of question. Then what? Starting an EVERGREEN business. It’s even better if you can start a business in an evergreen industry. When the times are bad, even an entire industry seize to exist. That’s something you wouldn’t want to happen with your business.
That’s exactly what you’ll learn from this post. These are the 10 best evergreen business ideas that will never go broke. Of course, unless you take decision that shake the business’ roots. Please remember one thing though… I have listed these 10 businesses because I personally feel they are evergreen. You are free to add or ignore any business idea in this list.
(1) Gym Club
Well, let’s be real, gym and fitness clubs has been there for centuries. The only difference is that they use modernized equipment. Gyms were present even thousand years ago where the Greek soldier would train for war. As I said, only the equipment have changed, not the business.
Anyway, coming back to today’s world, gyms are one of the best ways to make money. Yes, initially you might have to invest heavily, but once you’re done buying the equipment, it’s pretty much a swift ride after that. Apart from usual repairs and regular maintenance, a gym is pretty much operational on it’s own. Look at Planet Fitness. The fitness company was established nearly 30 years ago, and it’s still going strong. In fact, the company makes $100+ million in profits every year.
Yeah, I get you! Your gym club may not become as big as Planet Fitness, but it sure can become big enough to have a positive cashflow. If your gym is successful, it’ll pay for itself within few years, if not months. So, Gyms are going nowhere. The same old lifting and body-building has existed, and will exist in the coming years. So, if you’re interest, look into how to start a gym and make the big $$$.
(2) Free SAAS
SAAS (Software As A Service) is a common term used for a software that solves complex problems with ease. Take for example, Photoshop. It’s one of the best SAAS you can buy today. And, this single software has made Adobe million of dollars, if not billions. While Photoshop is premium software, there’s another one: Photopea. It’s a Photoshop clone, made and managed by a single guy.
Photopea was created back in 2013, and after a decade it has become quite famous. And, the best part is that it’s still managed by a single person. You might be interested in how much Photopea makes? The free SAAS makes $1+ million every year only from ads. The software has a premium offering too, but the developer claims that he makes most of his money from Google Ads.
I don’t think there’s any better passive and evergreen business ideas I can think of. Of course, he had to work hard for it initially, but the results are insane. So, if you know programming, you can try creating such app. Maybe you won’t be successful in the beginning, but if you keep trying, you’ll surely make good money in few years. The real reason why free software almost never go out of business is because of it’s community. Since it’s a freemium model, millions of people (who can’t pay a premium) use its service. They’ll never want their favorite SAAS app to shutdown.
Remember, it’s all about building a community. The bigger the community, the more evergreen your business becomes. Just for the moment, let’s keep Photopea aside and look at an another software which is even older: Gimp. Gimp was released in 1995, and it’s still going strong. If a free software is still operational after nearly 30 years, you can sure that it’s an evergreen business model.
(3) Handmade Products
Handmade products are always in demand because of how premium it looks and feels. Honestly, handmade products are mostly loved because of their imperfection. People are fed-up of machine-made products that are too perfect. Machine-made products have become generic because everybody can own them and there’s nothing special in each product. On the other hand, two handmade products from the same company/person is always different. Maybe, the colors are same, but the inconsistency is what many people love about handmade products.
Humans are emotional. They don’t want to be associated with others, and they express it by having unique “limited edition” products, most of which are either handmade or exclusive. These people also don’t mind spending $200 extra for a product if it can give them a sense of the so-called uniqueness.
And, as you might have already guessed, there are people who wouldn’t mind paying a premium for handmade product. If you ask me, the best place to sell homemade DIY products is Etsy. In fact, Etsy is the best DIY product-selling platform. Trust me, even Amazon isn’t even close of what Etsy can provide. Etsy has made a small place for itself in this highly-competitive Ecommerce market. But lately I have seen that even Etsy isn’t the same as it used to be years ago. Nowadays it’s plagued with cheap dropshipping products that claim to be handmade.
Here’s what you can do: Start on Etsy, but slowly convert potential buyers or regularly buyers to your own website. That way you’ll not only successfully build a community, but also save yourself a lot of money. Try it yourself and please tell me how it goes… I’ll be waiting…
(4) Personal Finance Consulting
Consulting has always been one of the best evergreen business idea. Everyone needs to consult an expert before taking a decision, or to get guidance for something they don’t know about. Personal finance consulting is an insanely profitable business. I read somewhere: The best ways to make money is to teach people how to make money. Funny, but it’s damn true. The finance industry has some of the richest people in the world. Yeah, they might not be a billionaire, but they sure are millionaire. So, if you have a prior experience in managing money, you’re going to be pretty rich.
And, the best part is that money still works the same way it worked 500 years ago. Once you know how money works, you’ll have no problem recommending people to invest money or anything related to finance. Read The Wealth of the Nations by Adam Smith. The book was published in 1776 just in case you want to know. Yeah, a 200+ year old book is still relevant today, and it recommend by non other than Warren Buffett.
If you want to learn EVERYTHING about finance and money, this is THE book you MUST read. The language is hard so read it with a dictionary. By the time you complete this book, you’ll know more than the so-called finance gurus on YouTube. You’ll actually know how money works, and also how money is always in circulation.
(5) Food Business
Before we move on, I have a simple question. Which is more evergreen and has the least chance to go broke? (1) A 5 start restaurant, or (2) A small Cafe. A 5 star restaurant has higher chance of going broke than a small cafe. Why? It’s the running cost. A luxury restaurant has a higher running cost than a small cafe. Of course, a restaurant also makes more money per customer, but that’s where another problem lies.
Since a luxury restaurant only target high and mighty individuals, they get way lesser customers than a cafe. Even a 5% decrease in customer base can wreck havoc for a 5 star restaurant, which will never be the case with a small cafe. And, since we are talking about evergreen business model, you probably know which one I would recommend. Also, the other reason why a food business is almost always profitable (unless something really goes wrong) is because people choose to eat cheap when it’s on a daily basis. You wouldn’t visit a restaurant everyday, but you would surely visit you nearest McDonald’s, or the hotdog guy.
There are many small food stalls that make more profit than a 5 start restaurant. And what do they sell? Just a regular hotdog or something similar to that. Small food businesses focus more on the quantity. Their service might not be anywhere close to a luxury restaurant, but it gets the job done for a daily office-goer.
Maybe that’s why a food truck is super-profitable. it’s unique, but not intimidating like a 5-start restaurant. People would love to buy from a food truck than sitting in a restaurant. I guess you get the idea…
(6) Detox Center
Isn’t it surprising that even though technology is getting more advanced, people, on the other hand, are getting more depressed by each day? I mean, everything is in our hands today. You can book a cab in seconds and reach your favorite restaurant. You can chat with a stranger and have a loving relationship with them. You can even videocall someone who’s thousands of miles away from you. Everything is closer than before. Yet, we are more depressed than before. Why?
It’s called Oversimulation. You might have heard this: Too much of anything is too bad. There is no sentence that fits more perfectly than this one. We are bombarded with too many simulations at a very short amount of time.
The good thing is that people have become aware of this. They know that oversimulation is killing them. That’s why meditation centers, detox centers and others mental healing centers have become so popular these days. The worldwide events of 2020 initiated this transformation.
You can too jump into this bandwagon and start your own detoxing journey. You can either make an online course on digital detox, or you can rent a place and start a small detox center of your own. It’s actually not hard unless you use some kind of medication. Yoga, for example is a great way to release blocked energy and helps you with stress management. If you’re good at it, people will not only visit your center/course, they’ll also recommend it to others.
(7) Small Retail Store
No matter how rich or poor a person is, they have to buy groceries from somewhere. A small retail store is a sweet business idea. Honestly, I have no experience in operating a retail store, but if you see it that way, Walmart is also just a retail store, only the size of Walmart’s retail stores are ginormous. Well, you may not dream of competing with Walmart, but you sure can replicate the model and start a small retail store.
The secret to a profitable retail store is it’s pace of operation. When competition is high, what matter most is customer satisfaction. If customers return from your store satisfied, you can be almost sure that they’ll return for the next order. The better service you can provide, the bigger your retail store will get. I have seen retail stores operating for years. Even my grandpa used to be from the same store.
So, if you’re good at selling products and want that to be evergreen, a retail store can be a good business option. There’s also one better side to it. It’s a low investment business. So, you won’t have to take a business loan just to start a retail store. Even if you do, it won’t be too much.
(8) Salons (women, assemble)
Men can have a great haircut for, let’s say $20, but it’s not the same with women. That’s why most well-operated salons are so insanely profitable. Most of the time, the cashflow is green. The best part about owning a woman salon is its initial cost. It’s relatively lower than most evergreen business. You can start with a small, bare minimum service, and as you gain more customers, invest more on expanding your business.
Even the smallest salon makes enough money within few years of its initial investment. As for the issues, it’s the labor cost. Every salon is labor intensive. No matter how modern or technologically advanced a salon is, you cannot automate everything. The more skilled workforce you hire, the better your business will perform. Times are changing. Women prefer higher priced products more than cheap products that are harmful. They don’t want to compromise on the quality, which is always a good decision.
Few years ago, I watched a YouTube video of a guy who started a salon business in the Burj Khalifa for $1 Million. That’s pretty ridiculous, but from what I read on the internet, it’s already making more money than it’s initial investment amount. Honestly, I don’t know how a salon can make $1 Million within few years, but the data don’t lie. Women (even men) are spending more on grooming themselves, which is making salon owners rich AF.
(9) Franchise
A franchise is relatively easier to operate than a self-created small business. Your only work would be to operate the franchise and manage its finance. Product creation, delivery and quality is taken care of by the franchise company. If you’re able to setup a profitable franchise, then you’ll probably never have to think about going broke. It’s one of the best evergreen passive business model.
I have seen franchise owners becoming millionaires in few years just because one of their franchise makes more money than others. I don’t know whether you know this, but Germany’s one of the many billionaire is a franchise owner. So, if this person can become a freaking billionaire just by operating a chain of franchise stores, you too can do it. Sure, it will take time, but it’s possible to become wealthy by owning a franchise store.
While owning a franchise is a great way to make money, the only issue with it is the entry barrier. It’s pretty high. Unless you meet the criteria, the franchise company won’t let you own their franchise. But once a company accepts you as a franchise owner, maintaining the outlet is half their problem. And, if the franchise is insanely profitable, you can even get special offers from the company…
(10) Pet Care Services
Pet care services are always in high demand. And, trust me, their popularity is only going to grow from here. Why? Because more people are owning pets than before. There are two reason behind this: (1) High disposable income, and, (2) Loneliness. These modern times have made people sad and lonely, and the rising cost of everything have convinced people to adopt a pet than to have a kid. It’s a sad reality, but various surveys have proved that new generation people don’t want to have kids.
Anyway, talking about why pet care services are highly profitable and evergreen: Now that people are focusing more on having pets rather than kids, they treat their pets as their kid. So, these pets get all the special treatment. That’s where pet care services come in. People will opt your service to have their pets vaccinated, or treated for some issues. You might have seen such videos on YouTube where a dog or a cat is being treated. Yeah, that’s what a pet care service actually do.
Among all the businesses I have mentioned above, this one is probably the hardest one to own. Since a pet care service enters the borders of medical treatment, you might have to get certain government permission before you can start a pet care service.
Well, we have finally reached the end of this looooong post. I have tried my best to list down the most legit evergreen businesses. Please do explore these business ideas if you’re completely out of ideas. Also, please keep in mind that these are just my personal suggestion. I don’t intend to make money from recommending any service. Please do thorough research before investing money into a new business or investment. I won’t be held responsible for any losses you make. I might sound rude. Sorry if I do. I had to write this because I have faced these issues in the past, and I don’t want to fall into the same trap again…
Until then, I’ll meet you in the next one…