If you’re thinking of looking for a new business to start, you may want to look beneath your feet. Businesses that compete to get business loans in this recession have to prove that they are an industry that will be able to generate income, even in tough times. Right now, many entrepreneurs are thinking along the lines of dirty laundry and compost products.

Dirty Laundry Brings in Clean Cash

One of the ways to view services that are in demand in a recession is to understand the shifts in what consumers are doing and what they need. Then, offer it for the right price. With so many people who lost their homes and people who are renting apartments, you have a large shift from at-home laundries and dry cleaning to using commercial facilities with old-fashioned soap and water. There are several ways this new behavior can help you bring in some business cash.

You can set up a laundry mat in areas with renters to help bring in a steady stream of income. You can also refurbish old washing and drying machines that are no longer wanted and resell them for a profit. Either of these models can be a good way to start a business at a time when people pay only for the essentials.

Compost

There are lots of dirt entrepreneurs. Some sell topsoil and others offer compost to a growing trend of backyard vegetable gardeners. Others get creative and offer worm farms in the dirt that can be sold as compost buddies and/or live bait. Dirt is not as tough to sell as you might think. It’s cheap and plentiful and people love to buy it by the bag full instead of digging up their own. Condition the dirt with nutrients or additives that help vegetables to grow and you can concoct your own secret compost mixture that can help you reap profits and help others sustain themselves in bad times.

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