Srn22

Yeah, these apartment hunting services (the ones in which they drive you around for free and get paid the first month's rent by the unit's owner) do extremely well and seem to be far more popular than Craigslist. Also, they are the ones on Craigslist over-saturating the listings in the hopes that they can show you an apartment and if you don't like it, they can easily take you to see more.

There is so much overlap because the apartment finders (working on commission) are all posting the same listings they grab off the MLS. This seems ripe for innovation as the redundancy and non-existent barriers of entry make for a very ineffective system.

I for one love niche businesses and think this post touches on a lot a small business areas/ideas that are oft-ignored in favor of flashier ideas.

When I look around my area I see lots of money being spent in a variety of areas that have not been innovated online at all.

1) Landscaper architects/garnders/etc. - Still a very old way of doing things. This easily could be brought online

2) People love their dogs and as a result, dog walkers, groomers, etc. have very thriving businesses

3) Coffee/morning commute - Some sort of app that ties both of these together. A great offline component.

4) Coupons - Groupon has proven that people want deals and that if you're able to remove the stigma around it, they'll buy it with tenacity. This could definitely be expanded upon.