Bill Myers - Feb 2, 2008

As I mentioned in last weeks tip, my wife and I just got back from spending ten days in Florida.

While there, we caught up on all the local news, especially related to real estate.

Among the more interesting stories was the one about the real estate salesperson who had accumulated twenty million dollars worth of property, only to lose it all when the real estate market tanked, and he was unable to make payments because his real estate sales commissions went to zero.

But not to worry, things actually turned out well for him.

See, instead of bemoaning the sorry state of the market, he decided to open a new business catering to the super wealthy clients who owned ocean-front property in the area.

He knew from experience that all these ocean-front properties had huge windows to take in the view. And every day, the ocean spray would deposit a layer of salt on those windows - hindering the view.

His solution was to offer a window cleaning service catering exclusively to well-to-do property owners, on a subscription basis.

It took him less than six months to build his little window cleaning business up to a $400,000 a year business - doing the job others didn't want to do.

Moral: There's always a way to make money. Especially if you choose as your customers, people who have money.