Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2011, when the business was just starting out; its first clients and plans to hire five or six more people describe that stage.
This business idea probably doesn’t exist in your country, and although it may sound like an April Fool’s joke, the truth is that “gum busting” is a very profitable business, so much so that more than 5 years ago it became a franchise under the name Gumbusters, which now operates in more than 10 countries. Even so, you don’t need a franchise to start this business.
A former prisoner from Andalusia tells us how his business idea came about and how he has managed to get it off the ground.
This inmate, unlike some others, has used his time inside to think about becoming a business owner. There is a problem on our streets: those sticky lumps of chewing gum. Some people may not even notice them, but a lot of money has gone into finding out how to get rid of them with a simple method, since a piece of gum takes about 6 years to break down.
After so much research, in the end there is only one way to get rid of gum, and that’s with pressurised water and some detergent. Applied directly to the gum, it will come off the ground in about 2-3 minutes. It sounds simple, but bear in mind that when someone requests this service, it isn’t to remove one piece of gum but hundreds of them from the pavement outside their home or business.
The inmate had heard that there were very profitable franchises doing this job in Germany, Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom, and that they were even already up and running in some Spanish provinces, such as Barcelona. Andalusia, and Málaga in particular, was an ideal place for this kind of business.
This entrepreneur got down to work and set up a company of this kind. He needed 15,000 euros that he didn’t have, so he designed his company to qualify as a socially responsible company, which also made it easier to get financing for his business. And so it was: an association financed him in the early days and while he set up the company.
The company hires people who find it hard to get into the job market, especially prisoners. He knows that a great many prisoners have no training of any kind, and that when they get out of prison they will find it very hard to get a job, which makes it more likely they will have no alternative but to reoffend.
“Because of the social situation, once a prisoner leaves prison, if we improve their job situation, that person solves the social problem and can adapt again.”
His company already has its first clients and is negotiating with schools, town councils and local businesses in the area. If all goes to plan, he will soon need to hire another 5 or 6 people.
As long as no other solution is found for something as insignificant as a piece of chewing gum, demand for this business will keep growing. What’s more, the potential customer base for this kind of company is very broad, since the idea can be aimed at private individuals, shops, schools, gyms, supermarkets, hospitals, cinemas and so on.
Until now it had been said that removing a piece of gum cost a town council an average of 50 euros (water, detergent, labour, travel), which is why one of the measures councils have introduced is a fine of up to 3,000 euros for dropping gum on the ground. Even with the risk of these fines, chewing gum will keep decorating the pavements of our streets.
So you have two possible business ideas: either invent a chewing gum that doesn’t stick to the ground, or set up a gum-busting company. Both are profitable businesses.
Featured image: Bob Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
