Like they sell something so specific that you wonder how they even make enough money to operate.
EDIT: Or they offer a very niche service.
Not especially niche (there are lots of people who fish) but a strange product/company optics disconnect. I’ve seen their products all over the place and my friends who fish swear by them. We drove past their corporate office once - it’s in a tiny town with a population of 300 and it looks like an abandoned auto repair shop.
Long time ago, I got to visit a bingo blotter factory. They’re kind of like markers made especially to mark bingo cards.
Reminds me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_22oCIurbs
Mr. Mann is my favourite Little Britain sketch!
“I’m looking for a painting of a disappointed horse”
“How about this one?”
“That horse looks more perturbed than disappointed”
Got a buddy who has a sewing table custom aftermarket business and one of the side operations is a little wire doodle making machine that cranks out commemorative plate holders…like for a display…and that got me to go ‘huh…guess someone does have to make those’… But a very specific use in a niche market indeed.
Decades ago, I worked for a laser animation company. We built lasers and created animated programs for planetarium laser shows and live events. It was a fun experience, but hella niche.
Repairing old antique/vintage record players/phonographs
Every mattress store ever.
I used to be convinced that mattress stores had to be a front for money laundering operations, but then I needed a new mattress. I went to the local store, and it was a good experience. The guy working knew everything about all the different versions and patiently answered all our questions. We wound up with a mattress that was perfect for our needs.
Apparently mattress stores are very high profit and need minimal staff (there was only the one guy every time we went in). They don’t have to sell many to stay profitable.
In the live production world, there was a product called “spider pod”. It is a riser for a camera tripod to get the camera up higher. It came with a step for the camera operator. A metal worker who used to work in television made it, patented it, and ran the entire business out of his shed. It became a staple in the television industry. After his last kid graduated college, he retired. You can now only get them used and nothing has replaced them on the market.
Tyres?
