Category: Entrepreneurship

The Ass Wiping Business

I was having some delicious Ryowa ramen with a friend in Mountain View today when he asked me questions about an LED business his friend runs. I immediately quipped, it’s no ass wiping business. Oy vey, here goes Noah again. What does that mean?


link to photo

People will ALWAYS need to wipe their asses regardless of the economy. My friend was a bit surprised but I said I only want to be in businesses now and for the near future that are always going to be needed. People won’t always redecorate, buy new cars and other things when times are tough. Things like toilet paper, making others money, food (always tough to do), some entertainment, public transportation and a few others will always be needed.

What kind of businesses do you think will always be needed?

Popularity: unranked [?]

Want More? Get new articles via email:

people read Okdork everyday!

22 Responses to “The Ass Wiping Business”

  • Best CSS Gallery
    February 19th, 2009
    2:45 am

    Contraceptives

  • Ross Hill
    February 19th, 2009
    6:07 am

    Girls. Music. Beer.

  • Juan
    February 19th, 2009
    9:00 am

    Water, electricity, clothes, time hahaa

  • Sean Tierney
    February 19th, 2009
    10:08 am

    Essential utilities

    Medical

    Cost-effective recreation/entertainment alternatives

    Food-related

    Government contracts

  • TitaniumDreads
    February 19th, 2009
    10:36 am

    Alcohol consumption actually goes up during a recession.

    Clothing consumption goes down because people hold on to old clothes for longer. A lot of restaurants close in recession because people don’t go out to eat as much.

    I bet gov contrax actually go down too. recession = less tax revenue.

    Medical also goes down because fewer people can afford insurance and use alternative treatment methods. interesting and slightly horrifying article recently about that in the nytimes
    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/nyregion/18insure.html

  • Paul
    February 19th, 2009
    10:40 am

    Vices. Insurance. Education.

  • Devin Reams
    February 19th, 2009
    11:34 am

    Yeah, but all these things (the real world calls them “commodities”) don’t get to set their prices the same way a car maker can (in other words: profit).

  • noah kagan
    February 19th, 2009
    1:24 pm

    paul,

    good call.

    titanium:)

    so true, im part of the problem with drinking.

  • Pat Phelan
    February 19th, 2009
    1:30 pm

    Seriously thats the second time I have heard that in two weeks
    Slightly off topic but I believe Cinema/DVD rentals are in line for a huge upturn
    Ages since I commented here
    hope all is well Noah

  • Toby
    February 19th, 2009
    6:18 pm

    The funeral business… bit hard to put of dying during a recession/depression.

  • Mark
    February 19th, 2009
    7:00 pm

    let’s see I was drinking before the shit hit the fan and I’m still drinking while it’s hitting the fan and I suppose I might celebrate with a drink after it stops hitting the fan. That’s a lot of drinking and a lot of shit to clean up. I recommend a bidet over toilet paper!

  • Berry
    February 20th, 2009
    12:53 am

    Dreams. People need them and they sell well.

  • TitaniumDreads
    February 20th, 2009
    10:35 am

    re: noah being part of problem

    nah man, have an extra beer to do your part for the stimulus ;)

  • Mark McGuire
    February 25th, 2009
    3:02 pm

    Noah:

    I couldn’t agree more. Check out what we’re up to at Alice.com. It is a great time to be selling t.p. :-)

  • Dota
    February 26th, 2009
    2:07 am

    Alcohol and girls! -))

  • Nicole Price
    March 1st, 2009
    7:14 pm

    I now cannot think of a single solitary thing that commentators have not already mentioned here! But this will set me thinking all day…

  • Harvey
    March 8th, 2009
    3:59 am

    It’s interesting that Alcohol consumption goes up during recessions. People are probably drowning their sorows.

    Nice picture!

  • Lane Rapp
    March 9th, 2009
    8:13 am

    I agree DVD rentals will go up, but the internet is a vast and relatively cheap resource for entertainment. And education! To retool and to bring the dreams duly noted above.

  • Steven Kovar
    April 6th, 2009
    9:17 am

    Anything that saves time to let us enjoy our lives more. Be it sports league management, making a more effective toilet paper, or a more intuitive interface. I sort of disagree on your stance, as there is a lot of money to be made in being versatile and open to the economic swings. I prefer to be in the business of innovation.

    Innovation is always necessary.

  • TitaniumDreads
    April 6th, 2009
    11:47 am

    a few other quick economy stats

    dentistry is up – more cracked teeth due to nightly grinding
    shark attacks down – fewer vacationers
    vasectomies up – kids are pricey!
    porn rentals down – although I bet porn watching is up

  • RahulC
    May 1st, 2009
    8:37 am

    How about dating business. During the economic turmoil some of the companies that saw increased revenue and profitability were the – dating business.

    Human emotion – it will sell no matter what. Think of a situation/condition or whatever when a single don’t like to have a date.

  • Ashtray
    May 29th, 2009
    10:20 am

    Haha this is the same TP pic I used for my Twitter page… ahh the Internet…

Leave a Reply




Most Popular Posts...EVER!

    will brb.

Noah.licio.us

March's Top Commenters