A broken torsion spring means the car is inside the garage and not coming out, which gives this category real pricing power. Here is what a garage door business costs, what it pays after you replace yourself, and why it takes about $15,000, and in many states no trade license, to start.

A truck, a set of tools and about $2,000 get you started, and the work produces cash quickly. Here is what a handyman business costs, what it pays after you replace yourself, and why the order you do things in matters so much here.

At $347.5 billion, electrical is the largest trade market among the fifty — nearly double plumbing — and employment is growing 9% a decade with 81,000 openings a year nobody can fill. Here is what an electrical contracting business costs, what it pays after you replace yourself, and why where the revenue comes from decides more than how much of it there is.

Estate sale firms take 30 to 40% of every sale, and the aging-boomer wave behind them is the largest transfer of household goods in American history. Here is what an estate sale business costs, what it pays after you replace yourself, and how a referral network turns a calendar of scattered sales into a predictable one.

More than 1.2 million cleaning businesses share a $110 billion market, almost all of them small and owner-run, which makes this one of the most fragmented industries in the country. Here is what a cleaning business costs, what it pays after you replace yourself, and why all three ways in (startup, acquisition and franchise) genuinely work here.

Mobile trainers charge $60 to $100 an hour and carry almost no variable cost, which gives this category unusually strong solo cash flow. Here is what a mobile dog training business costs, what it pays after you replace yourself, and the one decision — stay solo or build a team — that settles almost everything else.

Lint buildup is a leading cause of house fires, and most homeowners have never been told, which makes this a service that sells itself the moment someone explains it. Here is what a dryer vent cleaning business costs, what it pays after you replace yourself, and why attaching it to a service already inside the home turns an expensive sale into a nearly free one.

As new-appliance prices climb, more households choose the repair, which puts a steady tailwind under this category. Here is what an appliance repair business costs, what it pays after you replace yourself, and why the manufacturer authorizations most owners skip are the thing that fills a schedule without marketing.

Around 93,100 independent shops share a $92 billion market and no national chain owns it, which leaves the field open to a well-run local owner. Here is what an auto repair business costs, what it pays after you replace yourself, and why one decision made before you sign — which shop, at which price, with which specialty — settles almost everything that follows.

More than 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day and nearly all of them want to stay in their own homes, which gives this category a demographic tailwind that will last for decades. Here is what an aging-in-place home modification business costs, what it pays after you replace yourself, and how the referral network that makes it demanding becomes the thing competitors cannot buy.