Mobile AC Rental

Proton Mail’s free plan keeps your inbox private and secure—no ads, no data mining. Built by privacy experts, it gives you real protection with no strings attached.

Get free private email

🔥 FRESH IDEA

Extreme heat events are increasing. Not every apartment or office has adequate cooling. Renting portable A/C units to people who need temporary relief is a business that barely exists despite obvious demand.

The market gap is real. Climate data shows heat waves increasing in frequency and intensity. Power grids strain during peak demand. Landlords don't upgrade aging HVAC systems. Tenants suffer.

Home Depot rents portable A/C units, proving demand exists. But their model requires customers to pick up units. The twist: you deliver, install, and retrieve. The convenience premium justifies higher pricing.

Unit economics work well. Commercial portable A/C units cost $300-600 each. Rental rates run $25-50 per day. A couple rentals pay for each unit. Everything after is profit minus maintenance. Rinse and repeat, year over year.

Target customers include event planners needing tent cooling, construction sites with no permanent HVAC, offices with broken systems awaiting repair, and apartment dwellers during heat emergencies. Each segment has different needs and a willingness to pay.

Sunbelt Rentals and similar equipment rental companies serve commercial customers but ignore residential. The residential gap is your opportunity. Someone's grandmother in a third-floor walkup during a heat wave will pay premium prices for same-day delivery.

Seasonality is obvious but manageable. Summer peaks require maximum inventory. Off-season, units store compactly. Consider dehumidifier rentals for shoulder seasons and heater rentals for winter to utilize equipment year-round.

Insurance and liability require attention. Units can cause water damage if improperly drained. Clear rental agreements and renter's insurance verification protect your business.

Marketing targets crisis moments. Google Ads during heat wave forecasts. Nextdoor posts when temperatures spike. The demand is predictable and searchable. Be visible when people are desperate.

🚧 BUILD THIS

Not every SaaS success story is a unicorn. Some of the best ones are “small exits” that prove the model works.

Derrick Reimer’s MicroConf case study is a clean example: he bootstrapped a product and turned that into a $128,000 exit. It’s not flashy, but it’s real, and it’s repeatable because it’s the “boring SaaS” playbook: build something useful, keep costs sane, sell to a niche, and treat it like an asset.

This is why boring markets are underrated. Competition is weaker. Buyers have real pain. And the software doesn’t need to be genius, it needs to be better than whatever spreadsheet hell they’re currently using.

MicroConf exists because thousands of founders are building exactly this kind of business: sustainable, profitable, and calm. No VC pressure required.

The takeaway for a side hustler: don’t ask “Is this exciting?” Ask “Will someone pay monthly because this saves time and reduces mistakes?”

Next step: pick an industry where people still email PDFs back and forth and build the simplest replacement.

A successful retirement can depend on having a clear plan. Fisher Investments’ The Definitive Guide to Retirement Income can help you calculate your future costs and structure your portfolio to meet your needs. Get the insights you need to help build a durable income strategy for the long term.

Download Your Free Guide

🔦 TECH REVIVAL

QR codes didn’t survive, they evolved into a real growth channel.

Bitly’s 2025 survey data shows the behavior shift is now permanent: 93% of marketers say they increased QR code usage in the last 12 months, and 88% say consumer sentiment is more positive. That’s not “people scan menus.” That’s brands using QR codes for list growth, tracking, offers, packaging, events, and post-purchase engagement.

The mechanism is friction removal. QR codes turn “type this link later” into “tap now.” And modern QR systems are dynamic, so you can update the destination after you print the code. That means the code becomes an asset you can keep optimizing instead of a dead link locked in ink.

This creates a sneaky opportunity for small operators: you can sell QR code funnels as a service to local businesses. Not “QR codes,” but the system behind them. Landing page, offer, follow-up email, retargeting.