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- Startup Sphere Weekly #34
Startup Sphere Weekly #34
A job search platform selling for $500,000. PLUS: A real estate SaaS making $1,900,000.
Vlad Verba
August 21, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
Hey it’s Vlad 👋
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Thanks, ya’ll let’s get into this week’s roundup 🕺
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Weekly Rundown
Mobile barber service
Asking Price: $124,772
TTM Revenue: $28,715
TTM Profit: $—
Sometimes great businesses don’t need to be anything flashy. This listing is a perfect example of that.
The company for sale is a mobile barber service. Meaning users can book a barber that will come to their house and give them a haircut.
I have to admit, there isn’t much opportunity to scale this business. I’ve seen a couple of barbers be successful with this business model and they end up giving haircuts to NBA players and rappers, which undoubtedly pay well. However, that relies heavily on having the right connections in the industry.
With that being said, I’ve seen a surge of “barbershop“ content on TikTok. Barbers record before and afters of the haircuts they give, and often go viral. This would be an effective marketing strategy for this business and would undoubtedly increase the client base.
Platform for getting job referrals
Asking Price: $500,000
TTM Revenue: $152,000
TTM Profit: $130,000
This business is a platform that helps users land their dream job with referrals. The platform works by connecting job seekers with current employees at companies, who can connect them to any job they want.
On top of this, the company bundles other tools that help with the job search process, like AI resume reviews.
I am generally a fan of businesses for job seekers. People are always looking for jobs and will take any competitive edge they can get.
The one downside I can think of is that once someone gets a job, they no longer need your platform. This means there isn’t much recurring revenue in this business model.
I would grow this business by partnering with TikTok influencers in the career development niche.
Real estate training & SaaS
Asking Price: $4,900,000
TTM Revenue: $1,900,000
TTM Profit: $1,000,000
I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m a fan of “hybrid“ businesses, that are able to offer multiple solutions to their target audience (ie an agency with a SaaS offering). This listing is no different.
The company for sale is a real estate training platform, that also has a SaaS product.
Real estate is a booming industry, especially in the United States. This platform can offer training for new agents who are looking for guidance.
I also like how it has a SaaS offering, bringing an innovative approach to an established industry. The listing doesn’t mention exactly what the SaaS does, but I can imagine it is some sort of data-powered platform to help real estate agents.
This makes it a great upsell when users finish the training portion, offering them a SaaS that will give them a competitive edge out in the real world.
Cast Your Vote
Which business do you think is a winner?Vote below and tell us why: |
Last Week’s Poll
The results are in: The sports cards trading platform got the most votes last week, with the WhatsApp marketing tool coming in second.
Subscriber feedback: “Marketplaces are notoriously difficult to build. Since this one has already been around a few years and has okay revenue, there's a solid chance that it'll stay around.“
Startup Sphere Pro
This week Startup Sphere Pro subscribers got access to a business making $140,000/year and a SaaS selling for $332,000, plus:
✓ Unlimited access to 100+ historic listings
✓ 12+ deep dive listings every month
✓ 8+ pro exclusive listings every month
✓ Access to all listing URLs & contact info
✓ 12+ micro listings monthly
Micro Roundup
3D animation tool for social media (link)
Local Bali newsletter with 3,000+ subscribers (link)
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Thanks for reading this week’s edition of Startup Sphere. As always, feel free to reply to this email with any feedback and I’ll make sure I get back to you.
Till next week 🤙