Marketplace Fatigue

Nick Huber observes that many aspiring entrepreneurs are fixated on creating marketplaces, but he's skeptical of this approach. He receives 5-10 messages per month from people pitching marketplace ideas for various services like kitchen cleaning. Instead, he's discovered that traditional service businesses with strong margins are far more profitable than most people realize.

Key Points:

• Marketplace Overload:

  • Gets 5-10 DMs monthly from people wanting to start marketplaces
  • Common pattern: "I found [niche service], I want to connect [providers] to [customers]"
  • Example: Marketplaces connecting restaurants to kitchen cleaning services

• The Real Money is in Service Businesses:

  • Discovered this through personal experience with a roofing project
  • Initial bid: $70,000 for a 10,000 sq ft warehouse roof
  • Actual hard costs: $30,000 labor + $15,000 materials = $45,000
  • The roofing company's spread: $25,000 profit

• How These Service Businesses Work:

  • They don't actually do the physical work themselves
  • Their value-add: Sales, quoting, insurance, quality control
  • Process: Sell the job → hire subcontractor → supervise → collect payment → pay sub → keep the spread
  • Result: $20,000+ profit in a two-day job

• The Unsexy Truth:

  • These businesses aren't "sexy and exciting"
  • But roofers (and similar service providers) are making $5-10K per day across America
  • This model exists in every town
  • It's proven, profitable, and overlooked by people chasing trendy marketplace ideas