A few years ago, I met a man who made a fortune selling stuff on Amazon. He was so good at it that he changed tracks, built an online platform, and sold courses to other people who wanted to make big bucks on Amazon.

Now, I have to say that quite a few people I know who bought these courses and, after a lot of set-up time and money, ended up quitting because, according to them, ‘it does not work.’

There may be some truth in that. But I also think when it came to selling the course the marketing was a bit fanciful. That was because it was sold on the basis that you only need to spend a few hours a week on your online business without giving up your job and before you know it ‘cha ching’ was the only noise you got to hear.

There was something else, too, that no one wanted to know about. That was because everyone wanted to sell sexy stuff. And that was exactly what you did not want to do if you really wanted to hear cha-ching.

Now, I know you may be thinking I am talking about sexy underwear or glow-in-the-dark toys that just happen to vibrate, but you must remember I am an accountant. Accountants don’t do sexy. They don’t align themselves to vibrations either.

Anyway, we should stop there before your imagination runs wild.  What am I talking about?

Well, non-sexy on Amazon means stuff that ordinary people don’t like talking about. I’m talking about stuff you don’t want to tell people you sell when you have just met them at a dinner party.

For example, one of the largest/ biggest margins on goods sold on Amazon relates to urine bags. Now, urine bags are not sexy, so there aren’t many people who sell them. After all, imagine if you sell them and then ask at a dinner party what you do, what do you say? You could say you’re into the collection of liquid gold, but then the chances are they will ask more questions, and you have to start being creative with the truth, and that really is a slippery slope to misery.

But because it is not sexy, not many people want to sell it, and that means that the few who do make a packet, or, as this blog mentioned above, there is a lot of cha-ching.

Now, I do not expect you all to stop reading this and start a business selling urine bags on Amazon. That is not what this article is about.

This article is about operating and running small businesses, which are not sexy but essential to the public that go cha-ching.

And, if you are relatively young and willing to put in some hard work in the beginning, I think many of these small businesses may be the answer to many money worries.

It gets better. Because unlike, say, report writing, bookkeeping, and data collection, which will be taken over by AI bots, these businesses are unlikely to be replaced any time soon.

Such as, you may ask?

Well, electricians (but you need to study for that), Plumbing (again, you need to study for that) or Window cleaning (where all you really need are a couple of moving arms and hands (which amazingly God gave us), a ladder (which God did not give us but gave us the brains to work out how to make one), a bucket and some soap.

Anyway, we recently had our office windows cleaned and whilst talking to our cleaner I found out that window cleaning is quite a cha ching business.

He makes more than some accountants with 5 years experience. He has no HECS debt either. He works less hours too. What’s not to like? Well, the problem is that it’s not sexy.

Same with a gardener. Or, in my case, not really a gardener but a lawn mower. Forty-five minutes mowing my lawn cost me $110. If I annualise that, it comes to a whopping $267,500. His costs? Well, a lawn mower (obviously) and a blower. A Ute and some fuel costs. Oh and bag to collect the grass too. And ……… that’s about it.

But here is why it may be about to get better.

I believe there are about 3m businesses in Australia, with about 60% owned by old people like me. We are not getting younger, and we all know that our hearts are shot, our knees no longer work, and soon, our brains will turn to jelly. And that means over the next 10 years there will be a glut of businesses on the market.

Who is going to buy them? Well, a lot of young people will because these businesses have regular (and good) customers, good income and goodwill generated over 20, 30 or 40 years, and they may have some staff and systems in place.

I recently heard an expert on population. He told me Australia is rich as a nation. We are the 14th largest economy. Considering that there are only 27 million of us who are very rich. And we rich Aussies love our lifestyle and we are living longer. If you want a business that will do well in the future you should consider one which the old aged will want and one that enhances lifestyle.

So, if you are looking for a business, do not assume that sexy is the way to go. Sexy just looks good. Ladies may find their knees just melt when they see a six pack of a business but then they find out all the six pack wants to do is exercise and eat rabbit food. Where’s the fun in that?

All I am saying is when it comes to it, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. Just because it looks sexy does not mean it is sexy beneath the sheets.

Buying a cha ching business (a sexy one or a non-sexy one) is step 4 of our 9 steps to work less, earn more and become wealthy. If you want to know more contact Hitesh at hitesh@wowadvisors.com.au or call 07 3161 9548.