Howdy GirdleyWorld!

Entrepreneurship sometimes gets a bad rap. It’s not all sleepless nights, angry clients, and no work-life balance.

So here are 7 “nice life” careers in entrepreneurship.

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I’ve written before about so-called “no-fail businesses”.

Tons of people online treat them like they’re the holy grail of business.

We’re talking stuff like laundromats, self storage, vending machines…

But personally, I think these are terrible businesses to get into. They’re a TON of work. They’re expensive to run well. And sometimes you’re dealing with a lot of hassle just to get paid.

Or, with a laundromat, you’re coming in when someone clogs your toilet at 2am.

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My theory is that most people want a nice life (pretty crazy, right?).

And there are lots of lines of work out there that offer a nice life. There are regular W2 jobs that can give you a great salary, you clock in and clock out, and you don’t have to worry too much about money.

But if you’ve got a little appetite for risk, or like me, you’re just not cut out for a W2, you can build a great career as an entrepreneur without having to sacrifice everything else in your life.

So here are 7 ways you can build yourself a “nice life business” as an entrepreneur.

My criteria:

• Lots of headroom to grow
• Can earn $200,000+ per year
• Low capital and time requirements
• Good work-life balance
• Defensible, durable, and inflation-resistant
• Medium to low-risk

Notice I’m not making “easy to start” one of my criteria. You’ll still need to work. But you’ll be working towards a picture you really want.

Here we go.

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1. Niche consulting.

Find a platform that is mission-critical to a small niche of people or businesses. Get really, really good at it. Then you offer your services on either a project-based or time-based system to clients.

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2. Start a digital agency.

Examples include coding agencies, SEO agencies, digital ad agencies, and Twitter ghostwriting. You’re basically offering your specific services to businesses or individuals basically as a product.

The cool thing about this one: very low barrier to entry.

You can get started as a side hustle while doing your day job. There's almost infinite demand for some of this stuff, like SEO, because people want their websites to show up in Google.

It doesn't require much capital to get started, just a few weeks of your own work time.

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3. Become a franchise owner.

While franchises often require a pretty high spend up front, you’re paying to de-risk the business.

Buying a McDonald's, Orange Theory, or Chili's isn’t cheap, but they’re super winning franchises. The people selling the franchise to you know very well where to put them and what makes them work.

Your job is to run that playbook, and there are lots of government funding opportunities available to help you fund and grow franchised businesses.

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TOGETHER WITH CONNOR GROCE

Want to start a business? Stop waiting for that perfect idea.

Start using the proven playbooks, strategies, and resources of a big company that’s done it before — start a franchise.

Want to learn more? Connor Groce has become a friend of my podcast, Acquisitions Anonymous. He bought his first franchise when he was just 19 years old, and after a decade of growing his portfolio, he’s sharing everything he’s learned.

Join his mailing list, and discover if franchises are right for you! Subscribe today.​

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4. Real estate private equity.

Got a nose for a land deal? Then RE PE is another low capex business I love. You take investor money, deploy it into real estate deals, and earn fees and upside.

You get to magnify your level of ownership of real estate by using other people's money and sharing in the upside.

Real estate is a ginormous market, super tax-advantaged, and can scale over time.

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5. Staffing firm

Despite it being essential for success, lots of businesses suck at bringing in the right people. So if you’ve got good people sense, or have experience in hiring, sell that skill!

I started and own a business that helps companies staff people overseas. There are lots out there. And you can start on your own, sourcing candidates and job postings, then making the right connections.

Staffing has tons of room to grow because the market for companies to hire is huge.

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6. Commercial real estate broker

Like a regular real estate broker, but for business transactions.

The clients are very professional, and everyone just wants to get the job done. A lot of commercial real estate trades at high valuations, so your commissions can be much better when the deals are bigger.

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7. Financial or wealth planning adviser

Getting into the wealth management business involves helping people plan for retirement.

You can build up your book of business at a big firm, consulting with customers to help them plan for retirement and savings.

The market is enormous, and you get to build great relationships with people. Plus the business has recurring revenue, often based on a percentage of the assets under management.

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At the end of the day, you're going to see a lot of “get rich quick” stuff on the internet.

Don't just believe things you read. Keep your eyes open.

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3 things from this week

• Appetizer: Early in my career, I learned a hard lesson about job titles. Spoiler: they don’t pay the bills. Check it out (LinkedIn)
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• Main: What’s the worst business model? Sieva Kozinsky wrote this up about the movie business. If you’re not already subscribed, click here to sign up — it’s a great read!

• Dessert: The mathematical solution for choosing a Netflix movie, reviewing job applications, choosing a business to buy. Share with your friends who have been online dating too long.

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Hit reply and let me know — what other nice life businesses are out there?

Thanks for reading,

Michael