We previously wrote about how Americans are leaping into entrepreneurship at record rates.
Among those who opened for business in 2023, the home services category saw the highest growth, with 278k new openings.
From wallpapering to carpentry, those who help homeowners upgrade their abodes are pocketing millions.
Source: Bloomberg
It’s not hard to see why. The housing market’s been a mess:
- The Fed’s been flirting with a rate cut that never seems to happen
- Young people can’t afford to move out of their parents’ basements
- Investors are buying up affordable stock
With all this going on, homeowners (especially those who locked in a low rate during COVID) know that they’re, well, kinda stuck. So why not drop some dough to make their golden handcuffs shinier and cozier, right?
On a more positive note, one man’s trouble is another’s pot of gold.
So here are four ways to join the $884B+ home improvement gold rush.
1. Renovation Finance
Let’s be honest, home renovations can be a money sink.
It’s not quite like buying another property, but you should be prepared to shell out ~$40k+ on average. You’ve also got weeks of homework to do on construction crews, contractors, materials, and pricing.
Just promise you’ll vet your construction crew, okay? Source: Tumblr
You could provide an accounting service that helps first-time homeowners evaluate the costs related to a renovation project. Alternatively, productize that by selling an ebook on home improvement finances, or building an AI tool to do all the math in a visual, actionable way.
The AI will ask detailed questions about the property, their goals, and figure out:
- How much money to set aside for a project
- The value added to the property post-renovation
- How often they need to do these projects (with a reminder function)
- When to start saving up and how to allocate budget smartly
For premium features, it can recommend pre-vetted local contractors that fit their budget and goals.
2. Home Improvement Content
We love watching others make houses look pretty – it’s just human nature.
Whether it’s a timelapse or a step-by-step tutorial, people eat that content right up. On TikTok, DIY home improvement videos easily get views in the millions – like this video of someone hanging drywall with 51m+ views.
If you’re in the middle of a home improvement project, set up some cameras and get down to business. It could be a Loom walkthrough of finding the materials for a home gym, or videos of you building a shed, or a trapdoor (+255% YoY search volume on Houzz).
You might also find success in a niche, like this YouTuber with 1.5m subscribers who uses Feng Shui knowledge to reset the vibe of people’s houses.
3. Custom Home Fixtures
Speaking of vibes… Today’s consumers see their living quarters as an integral part of their emotional well-being.
Tap into this need and specialize in mini-upgrades to cozy up a home.
You can make and sell life quality-boosting furniture, like multipurpose furniture for small spaces, for babies and fur babies, even for gaming.
Because Fido is an important part of our emotional well-being. Source: Coexiste
If you happen to be into woodworking, wooden furniture is a designer-approved comeback trend. Plus, carpentry was the second fastest growing category in the home improvement biz (+54% YoY).
Or focus on smart home fixtures like mood lighting, digital scenting, smart locks… and set up a service to help homeowners with IoT configurations after assessing their property.
4. AI Meets Interior Design
Who’s gonna build the Canva of interior design?
With the help of generative AI, it’s anyone’s game. But some are getting a headstart:
- Collov raised a $10m Series A in February
- RoomGPT made $168k in revenue in six months
- Spacely AI raised pre-seed funding to focus on interior architecture
Source: Google Trends, six-month rolling average
Tennis star and serial entrepreneur Venus Williams (who’ll be at INBOUND24, wink) also launched one recently — Palazzo, an AI design tool that aims to make redesigning your space fun and easy. It’s only in beta, but she’s got big plans for it down the road.
Of course IKEA has one, too.
So how do you compete? Niche down.
Instead of redesigning the entire house, or rooms, focus on statement pieces that add character to the space, such as:
- Wallpapers (a high growth category)
- Throw pillows (51k searches/mo.)
- Custom rugs (20k searches/mo.)
And instead of building yet another AI app, experiment with existing tools and become an expert at prompting AI to get cool design results.
Then post your results on social media. When you get eyeballs, send them to an ecommerce store. You could sell pre-generated, printable patterns, or AI prompts that folks can customize to fit their needs — both of which require low upfront investment.
