Service Starters · Cohort 01
25 spots
With Hnry · Powered by Service Subscriber

Start your service
business this June.
Together.

A free 4-week program for 25 Australians launching local service businesses.

From idea to first customer in 30 days. Four Saturday mornings online, starting 20 June 2026. Or we keep going until you get there.

Three people working together at a table while a fourth presents at a whiteboard — a small group session
Why now02

Roles are changing.
Demand is shifting.

Some roles are quieter than they used to be. Costs are higher. Australians are spending differently — more on local services, more on the things that make daily life work.

Lawns still need mowing. Dogs still need bathing. Houses still need cleaning. Cars still need detailing. The work that has to happen in person, near where people live, isn't going anywhere. And the people doing it well are in higher demand than ever.

That's why we built Service Starters. To help twenty-five Australians at a time start a local service business and land their first paying customers. It's not overnight success. It's a start.

The bet03

A small bet that
pays itself back.

$0

in upfront costs. No shopfront. No warehouse. No year of savings.

Weeks

until your gear pays itself off, then keeps paying for years.

Up front

customers see your price, book the job, pay before you turn up.

Word of mouth

the next customer comes from the last one telling their neighbour.

Slow to grow into something big.
Fast to start.

The kind of business you can begin on a Saturday — and still be running ten years from now.

What you might start04

What people will pay you to do.

Real services. Already in every Australian suburb. We don't teach you the work — we teach you the business.

Lawn & garden

Mowing. Edging. Hedge trimming. Garden tidies.

Cleaning

Residential. Commercial. End-of-lease. Builders cleans.

Pet services

Mobile grooming. Dog walking. Pet sitting. Training.

Mobile trades & handy work

Handyman. Painting. Repairs. Small builds.

Beauty, hair & wellness

Hair. Beauty. Massage. Personal training.

Specialist services

Detailing. Pool servicing. Pressure washing. Tutoring.

Don't see yours? If it's local, hands on, and people will pay for it, it probably fits.

The program05

Day 0 is a plan. Day 1 is a first paying customer.

Day Zero
0

A plan you can act on. Pricing set. Service named.

Day One
1

A first paying customer. Money in your account.

Most people don't fail because the work is hard — they fail because they can't see what "start" actually looks like. Service Starters strips it back to two days: a plan, then a paying customer. Four Saturdays. Twenty-five people. That's the whole job.

Nik Leigh, founder and facilitator
Nik Leigh

Hey,

For 12 years I helped people start service businesses. Not as a coach or consultant, but as the franchisor of a brand that grew from one location to over 30 across Australia and New Zealand. Some of those operators built something they loved. Some didn't. That's how it goes.

I exited in 2024, and since then I've spent a lot of time with existing and aspiring service business owners. The pattern I keep noticing is that people who haven't started are trying to solve problems they don't have yet — scaling, hiring, route efficiency, fancy branding, the perfect business name — when none of that matters until you have a paying customer.

That's what led me to build Service Subscriber, and it's why I'm launching Service Starters now. There's a lot of people sitting on a real skill or a real idea who just need a structured month to actually start. So we're going to try it and see who turns up.

— Nik

Looking forward to meeting you.

Emily Gale

I came in not knowing what I was doing. Nik walked me through every part of starting — pricing, customers, the bits no one talks about. Five years later I sold the business and walked away with more than I ever expected. He's the reason it worked.

Emily Gale · Former franchisee · Started 2016, exited 2023
Four Saturdays06

Four Saturdays. One real business at the end.

  1. 01
    Set up · Sat 20 Jun

    Pick it. Price it. Switch it on.

    Pick your service, set pricing, get your page live, sort the ABN. By Sunday night you can take money.

  2. 02
    Reach out · Sat 27 Jun

    The hardest week.

    Make the list, knock doors, drop flyers, post on Nextdoor. I'll be there when it feels terrible — and then it won't.

  3. 03
    First yes · Sat 04 Jul

    Someone says yes.

    Handle the quote, booking, payment. Maybe you mess up small stuff. Then you do it again. This week rewires something.

  4. 04
    Rhythm · Sat 11 Jul

    Graduation. A real business.

    You graduate with a real business, a weekly loop, and 24 others alongside you. What happens next is up to you.

What you get07

What you get.

The promise08
August 2026 1 Saturday

First paying customers by 1 August.
Or we keep going until you get there.

If you've done the work and haven't landed a customer by graduation, you stay in — free — into the next cohort. We don't graduate you on a technicality.

If you've shown up every Saturday, done the homework, and still haven't landed a paying customer by 1 August — I'll personally work with you 1-on-1 for another 30 days, free, until you do. No fine print. No "but actually." If you do the work, I'll keep going until you get there.

— Nik

What this isn't09

A list of things this isn't.

A course. A video library. A 12-week curriculum. A $2,000 coaching upsell at the end. A Discord where you're on your own. A mindset retreat.

It's also not for ecommerce, dropshipping, digital products, agencies, or online-only anything. Service Starters is for real local services — someone pays you to do something for them, in person, near them.

The honest answers10

Frequently asked. Honestly answered.

01Is starting a service business actually a good idea right now?

Better than most alternatives. Service businesses are local, hands-on, paid in cash, and unautomatable. They survived every economic shift of the last hundred years and they'll survive this one. The barrier to start is lower than it's ever been; the demand is steady. The harder question isn't whether to start — it's why you haven't yet.

02Why service businesses, of all things?

Because they reward showing up. Because nobody is going to offshore your local lawn round, automate your dog grooming, or build an AI that fixes a leaky tap on Sunday morning. Because the most boring businesses are also the most resilient. And because the time-to-first-dollar is days, not years — which matters when you need this to work.

03Is this really free, or is there a catch?

Really free. No card, no tier, no upsell. Service Subscriber (my company) funds it because it's how we find the people who'll use the tool. Hnry co-funds because every graduate becomes a sole trader who needs them. That's the whole business model — said out loud.

04What if I don't have an idea yet?

That's fine — about a third of applicants arrive unsure. You need a skill you could honestly sell locally. We help you turn it into the business in week one.

05What if my service doesn't fit a subscription?

Service Subscriber works best for services with some repeat cadence, but the program helps anyone launching a local service business. If yours is genuinely one-off, we'll point you to the right tool. No hard sell.

06What if I can't make every Saturday?

Miss one and you'll be fine. Miss two and you'll struggle. Sessions aren't recorded — showing up with the group is what makes it work. If you genuinely can't commit four Saturdays, wait for Cohort 02 in October.

07Why should I apply instead of starting alone?

You absolutely can start alone. Most people don't — they think about it for another year. Four weeks, 24 people doing it with you, and a specific week you land your first customer is what turns thinking into doing.

08I already have a few customers. Is this still for me?

If you have under 5 and want the structure to grow properly, yes. If you have 10+ and you're looking to scale, this isn't the right program — wait for the alumni version later.

09I've tried other programs and they didn't work. Why would this?

Most programs are content libraries with a Discord attached. You watch videos alone, and the watching is mistaken for progress. This isn't that. We're 25 people in the same Zoom on Saturday mornings, doing the same week's work, with one week to land a customer. The accountability is the program.

10What if my partner or family thinks this is a bad idea?

Normal. Most people who go on to build real businesses had someone in their life skeptical at the start. The honest answer is: 4 weeks is short, and the worst case is you tried something. Show them the page if it helps.

11How much will it cost after the program?

Service Subscriber is $18/month after the free program — your call whether to continue. Hnry has its own pricing if you keep using them. Everything else (the cohort, the coaching, the WhatsApp group) stays free for life.

12Will you actually read my application personally?

Yes. Every one. I reply within 48 hours whether you're in or not. If you're not the right fit for Cohort 01, I'll tell you why and where to go from here.

If you've read this far11

If you've read this far,
you're probably the kind of person Cohort 01 is for.

There are 24 others reading this same page right now, deciding the same thing. The application takes two minutes. I read every one.

— Nik

Apply for Cohort 0112

Tell us about your start.

Two minutes. We read every one. I'll reply within 48 hours whether you're in or not.