If you live in an urban area, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that graffiti is on the increase, and as we know, wherever there’s a problem, there’s an opportunity. The demand for graffiti removal has never been greater.

Graffiti  removal isn’t something that requires any prior experience. You could learn the necessary skills pretty quickly. There are plenty of resources online. Whilst there would inevitably be an investment to be made in equipment and a learning curve to travel,  this does seem like  a booming business which anyone could profit from, provided they’re prepared to put in a little time and effort. And as an added bonus, you’d be doing something that improves the area you live in for everyone.

This is well worth considering for anyone who wants to run a good old-fashioned ‘hands on’ business.

I just read an interesting survey of the spending patterns of US teenagers in 2015. If you want to get hold of  a slice of  the disposable income of this group of consumers (albeit their UK counterparts), it makes interesting reading. Here’s a summary of some of the more useful statistics for us here in the U.K.

Athletic-leisure, preppy, leggings and jogging pants are among the top teen fashion trends. The most preferred brands include Ralph Lauren, Nike, Lululemon, Victoria’s Secret, Vineyard Vines, UGG Australia and Timberland.  Michael Kors is  the No. 1 preferred handbag brand. MAC is the top preferred cosmetic brand.

Teens who spend above-average amounts on beauty prefer customer reviews over product selection as a guiding  factor in online purchasing decisions. Thirty-six percent anticipate playing more video games in 2015.

Food accounts for 23% of teens spending, followed by clothing (20%), accessories/personal care/cosmetics (10%), video games/systems (8%), car (8%), electronic/gadgets (8%), shoes (7%), music/movies (6%), concerts/movies/sporting events (6%), books/magazines (2%), furniture (1%) and other (4%).

Would you pay $100,000 for a franchise involved in junk removal. Me neither, but I might be wrong because 1-800-GOT-JUNK? is the world’s largest junk removal franchise with over 200 franchise partners. For the past 11 years the company’s franchise partners have been hugely successful across North America. The company have professionalised what was previously a disorganised industry characterised by dodgy vehicles, no receipts and cash in hand payments.

Junk removal is pretty disorganised in the UK too. Might there be a gap in the market for a professional service run in a businesslike manner. I believe that there is. If it works so well in the US, why not here?

City Moms Blog is a U.S based franchise operation that provides local blogs which  connect young mothers with information, resources and other mum’s in the same position in their neighbourhood. The minimum investment is $1,495 which gives franchisees the opportunity to set up what they call a ‘sister site’,  in their own area.

Could this work in the UK? I think it could. Young mothers are a group with very specific needs which are common to all of them. Many feel isolated. There are opportunities to set up local blogs throughout the UK, and a larger opportunity to set up a nationwide network like that provided by City Moms Blog.