Ever thought that picking up dog poo could pay the bills? Sounds a bit grim, doesn’t it?

But for Jon Wood, it turned out to be a goldmine. The Tulsa man founded Poop 911. A business literally built around picking up dog poo.

Not exactly the kind of career you’d dream of as a kid, right? But funny how life turns out.

Jon was just a student at the time, slogging through his biology degree at the University of Tulsa. Medical school was the plan. Big future, saving lives and all that.

But then… dog poo happened.

Apparently, people hate cleaning up after their dogs. Like, really hate it. Enough to pay someone else to do it. That’s where Jon came in, and somehow his little side hustle exploded into a real business.

Who’d have thought? One minute you’re cramming for exams. The next, you’re knee-deep (well, not literally!) in a poo empire.

He’s no longer studying medicine, by the way he’s too busy franchising the business. Yes, franchising! Like McDonald’s or something.

It’s crazy to think about, really. I mean, dog poo of all things! But then again, it makes sense. Everybody wants a tidy garden, but nobody wants to trudge around with a shovel picking up little brown landmines.

Jon’s idea just, I don’t know, clicked. He saw a gap and he filled it. And now he’s laughing all the way to the bank.

Well, maybe not laughing. I bet he’s still sick of the smell, even if he doesn’t do the scooping himself any more. Or maybe you get used to it? Like when you work in a bakery and after a while you stop smelling bread.

But here’s the kicker though, Jon’s not alone. There are other poop-pickers out there, making careers out of this (what do you call it?) “niche service sector”.

It’s a thing now. It makes you wonder what other grim little jobs might become the next big business?

• Cleaning gutters?
• Picking up litter at music festivals? (Now there’s a job. Bet you’d find some interesting treasures there. Or horrors.)

Anyway, Jon’s story is inspiring in a strange way. It’s proof that you don’t need a fancy, world-changing idea to succeed.

Sometimes it’s just a matter of recognising what people really can’t be bothered to do themselves. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Like, right now, there’s probably some random chore you hate that someone out there would pay you to do. Maybe not clearing up poo.

But who knows?