Indie Bites · 2025-06-02 · 17 min
Today I’m talking with Flo Schirmer about "sweaty startups", a term for old-fashioned, low-risk businesses that are often service based and unsexy. I’m talking window cleaning, car washing, self-storage, house moving and more. We’re going to discuss if you can do this as a side hustle, if you should do this over a regular software business, and what you need to do to get started with some ideas along the way. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:38 What is a sweaty startup? 03:18 From window cleaning to home security 04:37 How to start a sweaty startup 06:41 Growth for a sweaty startup 07:26 Sweaty startup vs software - what is best for indie hackers? 08:45 Injecting a tech edge into old fashioned businesses 11:34 Examples of successful sweaty startup brands 13:58 Two free sweaty startup ideas 15:57 Recommendations Recommendations Book - $100m Leads Podcast - My First Million Indie Hacker - Alex Hormozi My links Twitter Indie Bites Twitter Indie Bites YouTube Join the membership Personal Website 2 Hour Podcast Course Sponsor - EmailOctopus EmailOctopus is an independently owned email marketing platform, built to support other small growing businesses.
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