Judson Burdon

You see them in poorly maintained parking lots and roads all over the city, and your anxiety levels spike whenever you spot one in front of you. Your whole body tightens, and you grit your teeth as you try to avoid those potholes as best as you can. 

Planning to have a driveway installed in your new home? Or have your old and damaged driveway demolished to give way to a new one? Are you torn between an asphalt driveway and a concrete one?

In this blog, we're going to discuss

• What are asphalt and concrete driveways?
• The pros and cons of asphalt and concrete driveways
• Answers to commonly asked questions about blacktop vs. concrete driveways

Homeowners' associations, or HOAs, are a relatively new invention. The first homeowners' associations sprouted around the 1950s. But it wasn't until the 1960s and the '70s that the number of HOAs around the country skyrocketed.

Asphalt pavements generally last anywhere between 10 to 30 years when installed correctly. But rainwater, sunlight, motor oil, and heavy foot/vehicular traffic can drastically cut down your parking lot or driveway's lifespan. 

Sealcoating and crack repair services are highly profitable. The bad news is most asphalt maintenance jobs can only be done during spring and summer months. Once the air turns frigid and the snow begins to fall, it's time to put your sealcoating and crack repair equipment in storage and hibernate until spring arrives.

If you live in temperate climates and you're an asphalt maintenance business owner, it's normal for you to dread the arrival of fall. Fall means the number of people signing up for sealcoating and crack repair services are now fewer and farther between.

Frequent rains are normal during this time, and some parts of the country even get rogue snow, making the ground too wet or too cold for proper asphalt maintenance.

Asphalt cracks are the first sign that a driveway or a parking lot is deteriorating. But that doesn't mean it's time to have the pavement replaced entirely.

Are you planning to enter the sealcoating industry this year or the next? Then, congratulations because you'll be joining a billion-dollar industry that is forecasted to grow at a pace of 4% in the next few years.

One thing is for sure — the past few years have been a whirlwind, with COVID-19 and inflation shaking things up for millions of families across America. It’s also left many of us disillusioned with the old promise of working hard for a company for 50 years only to retire and wonder where life passed us by. For a lot of people, that 9 to 5 grind just isn’t working anymore, and they're looking for a way out.

If you’re one of those people, dreaming of more control over your life, and time with your family, you have to take a leap of faith to control your future. There are obviously a lot of options out there, but we argue the strongest of them is a home services business.

It could be easy enough to say “Everyone has a home that needs servicing,” but we’re not the types to blow smoke. The fact is, the U.S. home services industry is thriving, valued at over $657 billion in 2024, and expected to grow to $5.14 trillion (with a T!) by 2026. This growth is driven by a ton of reasons, mostly it’s that our houses are getting older, technology is rapidly improving, and people are wanting more leisure time by leaving the work to someone else.

So if you’ve got the drive and the willingness to learn, there really isn’t any reason you can’t be part of that tremendous growth.  Whether you're looking to start a side hustle or transition fully into entrepreneurship, this booming market presents all sorts of opportunities.

Let’s take a look at some of the most stable and promising home service business ideas in America today, helping you take that first step towards achieving your personal and financial goals.

The term side hustle entered the public lexicon in 1950, but the concept itself is not new. High prices of goods, inadequate wages, and job insecurity have been our constant companions throughout history. These have led many people to look for more ways to make money.