Don's ideas are good in concept, but not so good in application. Many are hard to make work and profit from and maybe that's why he hides his return policy on the inside of his products instead of posting it on his site and he makes you jump through hoops before you can even be considered for a refund.
I called my city business office today and asked them what I would need to start a deck renewal business. They told me that I had to have a city license, a $1,000,000 liability insurance policy, a bond and a contractors license from the state. I called the state and told them what I wanted to do. They told me I had to get a contractors license which means I have to go to school, pay anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 for the courses and then have to take tests and be on a probationary period. Plus I also have to have liability insurance that the state recognizes. They tolde me that if I got caught contracting business without a license or subcontracted to others that I could be fined $10,000 for every infraction and could also be subject to criminal liability depending on what I was caught doing.
I also talked to someone who does deck renewal. He's a friend of a friend and a licensed contractor who has been doing this for over twenty years. His business is in another county so we wouldn't be in competition with each other so he gave me a lot of info. He told me that the chemicals that are used in the business are very caustic and you need to know what you're doing, and that not every city allows the use of the chemicals because of hazardous waste concerns. He said that most people today just go down to Home Depot and buy a gallon of Armor All deck wash and clean their decks themselves. His big money comes from repairing the decks after damage. He says that most decks need to be repaired by having boards changed or rails tightened or having to repair rot which is a common problem. He told me that using a pressure washer can be dangerous and that you can really ruin a deck if you don't know how to use one. He told me about a guy that ended up doing $7,000 in damage to a deck once. He gouged the wood so deeply that most of the deck had to be replaced. He was also sued.
This is not a business that you start up after reading one message on a board, or even after buying whatever Don is hawking. It takes a lot of work and a bit of money to do it the right way and you better be in it for the long run too.
I tried two of Don's other businesses. They were both wash outs. The daily specials board ideas was horrible. I contacted over 200 restaurants in five cities and only 3 were interested. One asked me how much I was going to pay him monthly for the advertising. He said that since I was going to advertise on his property for other businesses that he should get a piece of the pie. Another one asked me that if he didn't like it after a couple of months if he could just junk the board since I had given it to him. When I told him that I really owned the board but gave it to the restaurant for their use he told me that it wouldn't work and that if I wanted to do that in his restaurant that I could rent space. I also contacted a lot of businesses about advertising. Two were interested. One asked me if he got a refund if the restaurant stopped using the board before the year was up. When I told him no he told me he wasn't interested.
I also tried the paper coffee cup idea. I couldn't get any takers and there were only a dozen independent coffee places in the same five cities.
Don always says to start the business first and then worry about the legalities later. Maybe Don doesn't worry about them as he only sells the ideas but the average person does need to think about these things before they try anything. I could cost them a lot of money and a lot of headaches. And it could end them up with criminal liability too.