There are many companies and professionals who specialize in offering exclusive services to millionaires. In an earlier article we gave 5 business ideas aimed at the 1% (the rich), from a chef for rich people’s pets to the tanning butler and the mysterious queen of millionaire matchmaking, Virginia Sweetingham. To some people these ideas may seem a bit crazy, but for the crazy ones who decided to launch them and make a name for themselves in this exclusive club, the gamble has paid off handsomely.
Today we present seven business ideas you probably haven’t heard of, all of them aimed at the exclusive 1%.
1. Asset-recovery firms and other services
Many millionaires keep artworks worth millions at home, or other objects of great sentimental value. When there’s a fire, a hurricane, a disaster or rioting, the 1% sometimes don’t wait for the police and fire brigade; instead they call a company that specializes in this kind of situation to recover all their valuables, get them out and take them somewhere safe. These companies usually employ staff with military training, who arrive on the scene like a SWAT team. They have helicopters, armoured vans and so on. They also provide bodyguards and every kind of security tailored to millionaires’ needs.
2. Full-service travel agents
There are travel agents who don’t just sell the holiday, find the hotel and sort out the visas: during the trip, if you have a problem, you don’t call the airline or the hotel. You call your travel agent to fix it for you. They also manage the millionaire’s money during those days. They usually advertise themselves with a slogan along the lines of: “We sell pleasure; leave the worrying to us.”
3. Handmade Christmas trees
Companies that specialize in gigantic handmade Christmas trees, for around 20,000 dollars. They make sure the tree is ready for Christmas and take it down once the holidays are over. These companies also do business with large corporations, town councils and big shopping centres.
4. Extra-VIP personal shoppers
The personal shopper profession is nothing new, and the business is finding more and more demand, even among the middle class. That has pushed millionaires’ personal shoppers to keep setting themselves apart among their select clientele, so they are now hired for the whole year, for a monthly fee. The most exclusive personal shoppers now keep a database of their clients, take their measurements every six months, dress the entire family and fill millionaires’ wardrobes every month with the new trends as they hit the market. More and more, these professionals also give etiquette lessons to the newly rich.
5. Vice manager
Many millionaires are married or hold very prominent positions, so if they’re going to be unfaithful, they have to make sure it’s done as discreetly as possible. There are people working on millionaires’ yachts whose only job is to pick up a prostitute, bring her discreetly on board and then take her back to shore. It’s said that there are professionals in this line of work in every city in the world, and that when there’s a business meeting, they’re the ones in charge of providing the entertainment as discreetly as possible.
6. Private cinema for millionaires
Plenty of millionaires build their own cinema at home. It’s said that for around 30,000 dollars, some companies will bring them a film on the same day it opens in cinemas. I don’t know whether these companies operate legally or whether they work with the film studios themselves. That would explain the high price paid to watch a new release in your own screening room.
7. Heated paving
This business idea originated in the Nordic countries, where wealthy people wanted heated paving so they wouldn’t have to clear snow from their homes or let ice form. In the United States it already has its own market, and not only among millionaires. You can easily tell which neighbour has this kind of paving.
These are just a few of the many services aimed at this select club. As you can imagine, other profitable businesses on a grander scale include private jet and limousine services, as well as financial services. To take one example, American Express offers its Platinum cardholders (the truly rich) the “Amex concierge” service, which basically includes picking the children up from school when we can’t, wedding planning, medical appointments and so on.
Without a doubt, aiming a business at the 1% can be a great opportunity, as long as we have the right contacts or know how to market ourselves properly, because I’ll tell you now: winning their trust isn’t easy.
Further reading
- 11 profitable micro-business ideas for the unemployed, homemakers and more
- 6 new business ideas that started in the United States
- Five steps to getting rich, by Charlie Munger
- 9 tips for entrepreneurs from millionaire Richard Branson
Featured image: Tysto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
