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The Press On Report - August 25, 2025

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F.I.P.O. 👏

Monday Morning Reality: Last week, three different people apologized to me for having "boring" businesses.

A 47-year-old woman who runs a commercial cleaning service. A guy who sells industrial equipment parts. Another who does bookkeeping for small contractors.

All three making multiple six figures. All three embarrassed about what they do because it's not "sexy" enough for LinkedIn.

Here's what I told them, and what I'm telling you.

The Unsexy Empire

While everyone's building the next revolutionary app, the smart money is in solving old problems that never go away.

Toilets still need cleaning. Machines still break down. Taxes still need filing. Trucks still need parts.

Your boring business isn't a bug. It's a feature.

Why Boring Wins

Boring businesses have moats. Try disrupting a 20-year relationship between a contractor and their parts supplier. Good luck with that.

Boring businesses compound. Every year you stay in plumbing, HVAC, or industrial maintenance, your expertise becomes more valuable, not less.

Boring businesses survive recessions. People stop buying luxury services. They don't stop needing their AC fixed.

The FIPO Reframe

That commercial cleaning service owner? She's not "just" cleaning offices. She's providing health security and professional confidence to 200+ businesses. Her revenue is recession-proof, AI-resistant, and growing 15% annually.

The equipment parts guy? He's keeping manufacturing running across three states. When a $2 million production line goes down, they call him. Not an app. Not a chatbot. Him.

The bookkeeper? She's the financial backbone for 40+ small businesses. She knows where every dollar goes and comes from. That's not boring, that's powerful.

This Week's Wake-Up Call

Stop apologizing for your industry. Start leveraging it.

Your "boring" business probably has:

• Higher profit margins than most startups

• Better customer retention than any social platform

• More predictable revenue than anything trendy

• Skills that can't be outsourced to AI

The Competitive Advantage You're Missing

While everyone else is pivoting to the next shiny thing, you've been quietly building:

• Deep industry relationships

• Hard-earned expertise

• Systems that actually work

• A reputation that took decades to build

That's not boring. That's beautiful.

Press On Challenge of the Week

List three ways your "boring" business is actually irreplaceable:

1. What problem do you solve that will never go away?

2. What relationships have you built that a newcomer can't replicate?

3. What expertise have you earned that no amount of money can buy quickly?

Now stop calling it boring. Start calling it bulletproof.

FIPO Moment of the Week

"I used to be embarrassed that I wasn't building the next Uber. Now I realize I'm building something better, a business that makes money while Uber's still trying to figure out profitability." — Mike R., FIPO Nation member who owns three "boring" service companies

Next Steps

• Own your industry. Stop apologizing, start optimizing

• Join the conversation: What's your "boring" business that's actually brilliant? FIPO Nation on Facebook

• Get the playbook: FIPO: The Weeks Way - How to leverage what you've built instead of starting over

Final Thought: The richest person in my hometown owns a septic service company. Not sexy. Extremely profitable. While everyone else chases unicorns, he's built something better: a business that prints money solving a problem that's never going away.

Your boring business isn't holding you back. It's your competitive advantage.

Fuck it. Press on.

— Ed

Next Issue: "The AI Panic Is Missing the Point (And Creating Your Biggest Opportunity)"