Boring businesses FTW
Happy Holidays! We’re taking a short break to spend time with family (and maybe try our hand at some of these unexpectedly profitable service businesses). See you next week!
đź’ˇ THOUGHT
The Half-Life of Facts
We still teach kids like facts never change.
Here’s our list:
- Humans only use 10% of their brains
- Dinosaurs were cold-blooded
- The Great Wall of China is visible from space
(Speaking of space, don’t get us started on Pluto’s claim to planethood.)
While closed education often presents facts as carved-in-stone truth, open education embraces the idea that information sometimes comes with an asterisk.
All the more reason to teach kids how to think, not what to think.
What’s something you were taught in school that turned out to no be so?
đź“Š TREND
The Next Million-Dollar Business Might Be Cleaning Gutters.
We’ve been enjoying following @cleanwithmike on X, who shares these oddly satisfying threads showcasing “boring” service businesses. His latest hit 34.5M views. But here’s what’s fascinating: while millions watch these mesmerizing cleaning videos, few are connecting the dots to the massive opportunity they represent.
Pool cleaning. Pressure washing. Landscaping. Sign cleaning. Gutter cleaning.
Not exactly the careers your guidance counselor pushed, right? But as Mike Rowe (no relation to @cleanwithmike) has been preaching for years: while everyone fights for desk jobs, skilled trades and service businesses are quietly minting millionaires.
The numbers don’t lie. These “boring” businesses often have:
- Low startup costs
- High profit margins
- Zero student debt
- Endless demand
Plus, who doesn’t love a satisfying before/after video?
⚒️ TOOL
The Independence Kit
This holiday break, instead of planning activities for your kids, let them plan their own.
The free Let Grow Independence Kit helps kids identify something new they’d like to do on their own but haven’t tried yet.
Not another curriculum. Not another schedule.
Just a simple prompt: What would you like to try?
Maybe it’s making breakfast. Or shoveling snow for neighbors. Or learning to do laundry.
The kit includes lists of age-appropriate ideas. But the real magic happens when kids come up with their own. Because independence, like muscles, grows when you use it.
Grab the free kit at letgrow.org/join and check out their list of winter break activities for bored kids and harried parents.
(WORD) OF THE DAY
Hygge (hoo-gah)
Danish word describing a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being. Perfect for winter breaks spent indoors with family, hot chocolate, and maybe a good book about starting a pool cleaning business.
That’s all for today!
– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)