A Man. A Van. A Surprising Business Plan.

There are going to be a lot of vans parked on that corner before long.<p>If I'm these guys, I realize that my moat is weak and do these things:<p>1. Do not interview with NPR. It isn't like you are driving business. You are only attracting competitors.<p>2. Park 6 vans outside, each with a different dba so that the market looks saturated.<p>3. Make a retail space, see if it does better than the vans.<p>4. Look nation wide for similar geographic anomalies that would create this same pain point. Park a van at one of them and send one of the owners to sit in it. See if money can be made. Repeat.<p>There are many unemployed people in America right now, it sounds like several dozen can go rent a van and fix the glitch. :-)

Am I the only one who read that in a hip hop voice?:<p>"We've all been there. Trapped in line at the D-M-V<p>Or stuck on hold while trying to call a city a-genCY.<p>It's easy to complain about government bureau-craCY.<p>But it's the rare person who sees such ineffi-cienCY<p>as a business opportuniTY.<p>Meet Adam Humphreys. He lives in New York CiTY<p>It started simpLY<p>enough. Adam found out he needed a viSA<p>to travel to ChiNA.<p>for a vacation. His bureaucratic haSSleS with the ChineSe conSulate launched a whole new buSineSS.<p>"Can you help me?" he said.<p>No!<p>"Do you have a printer I can use?" he tried.<p>No!

I was born in Russia. Where they still have vans like this next to the US embassy, the UK embassy, the Canadian embassy, the French/German/Spanish/Swedish embassies, heck, all the "western" countries' embassies. We're used to it.<p>This "business plan" is 60 years old. When the WW2 was over and the world was (stupidly) divided into two parts. Visas are PITA. You, Americans, just not very used to it... Fortunately.

I wonder how many HN folk's first inclination would have been to create a website to do this instead of rent a van and deal directly with people? How much do we hold ourselves back by trying to go directly to a scaleable solution?

I talked to a guy in Chicago who just opened-up an upscale bar/restaurant. His description of the corruption and bureaucratic hassles reminded me of stories told to me by Indian friends about getting basic stuff done in India. Apparently the Chicago liquor permit process required standing for hours in lines only to be told that you were in the wrong line, had the wrong documents, etc. This guy gladly would have paid a couple hundred bucks for a "guide" of sorts.<p>I'm sure there are high-end, lawyer-run advisory services which handle these issues for large clients. Perhaps the opportunity lies in the middle-ground? People who don't have complex needs but don't want to waste hours of their day? I'm thinking about the walk-in, "Minute Clinics" at CVS and other pharmacies which are run by nurse practitioners. Nurses there know how to treat basic stuff and how to decide if someone's needs might be beyond their expertise. It works out pretty well for the patient who just wants to confirm that he has strep throat and get some antibiotics.

I could see the same thing doing well outside the US embassy in London.<p>Offer a US-visa sized passport-photo service, a locker to put your phone when you can't take it into the embassy and some tissues to wipe away your tears of joy/despair and you'd be in business.<p>Add to that a £10 glossy file to give the assorted papers of your $2,000 application that final touch of gloss and you could make a wonderful income.

Great business. Serves an identified need for people with a real pain point. I'm glad to see that they're erecting some barriers to competition with native Mandarin speakers and a service oriented atmosphere.<p>It'll probably last a few months at least, but make hay while the sun shines. Doing NPR probably wasn't a great idea since their customers don't find them via traditional advertising means, but are literally thrown on their doorstep by the Chinese consulate.

If they are making $500 a day, they only need this to work for a few months, then they have enough cash to keep them going for a few more to come up with another great idea.<p>I'm not sure it's sustainable, but it's certainly viable!

Most of the trouble with the Chinese Visa system is the requirement that you apply in person. Note that this is for reciprocity against the USA requiring the same in-person application for Chinese nationals visiting the USA. There are several "by-mail" services that just stick a runner in line with your documents, I've used one for the last several trips to China.<p>These services are expensive, like roughly 50-100 bucks, depending on which consulate you're using. Those who stand in line risk running into trouble like the folks in this story, and I'm sure they're more than happy at this point to fork over some cash for the help they need.

Interesting. Having done all the paperwork myself for my wife's visa (thanks to help from visajourney.com) I always wondered how much 'consulting' one could do without being an immigration lawyer.<p>By the same token, if I am not a tax accountant how much tax advice can I give someone for a fee?<p>Granted, on the surface the Lucky Dragon Mobile Visa Consultants are just providing an internet and printing service — so there shouldn't be much of an issue. However, would they have to be careful of going from "What form do you need?" to "Hey, before you go in there, you probably need this form instead."

This used to be common in Brazil: a guy in a VW van with a typewriter to help you with bureaucracy. I see the fact that these characters are gone as a sign of progress, so it's funny that this has shown up in the US.

Oh it's not just the competition that will ruin this for them giving this interview.<p>It's the law enforcement that won't allow them to park and run a commercial business like that.

This is what happens in front of every single Indian government office - state or central :(

Let's do the math:<p>Gas + Truck Rental = 100$/day. Parking/tickets in front of embassy: Free? Costly?<p>3 people (or 4? The article says they have 2 mandarin speakers on tap) in said truck for 8 hours + back and forth time splitting the remainder and you have a bit under 12.5/hour.<p>That said, they're not being up front about how much they make, and given its probably largely a cash business ...

I live across the street from this, and I've always wondered what these guys did. Great to read their story, and I've got to say it definitely takes guts to put yourself out there day in and day out (especially right now when it's 14 degrees outside!).

Last time I went to China was just before the Olympic Games and security was a little higher - not sure if it's since relaxed. You needed to list an itinerary for the trip and, specifically, accommodation for each night you were there. I, however, was looking to arrive with basically the contents of my pockets and then make things up as I went along. (Turns out my phone died and I was still wandering Shanghai at 2am until I settled on a hotel, but that's a separate matter.)<p>Solution was to book a couple of the cheapest hostels in a believable travel pattern, get stamped confirmation letters and then cancel them once I had the visa. I think one of the hostels was so cheap and I felt bad about cancelling (even a month out) that for the $4/night cost, I just let them know I wouldn't be showing up but that they could keep the money.<p>I wonder if arranging cheap accommodation for this purpose is a service they offer in the van?

When arranging my trip to China, I was told not to even try to get my visa by going to the consulate. I was told to pay a service company to do it. It worked. This certainly helps those who are willing to do it themselves. However, if you plan to go to China, find a service to do it for you.

Quite an interesting story, I would like to point out that being from Pakistan, I have seen such services since the first day that I went outside a passport office. Here in Karachi, you can find people providing Copy services, to scanning and printing and also what they call here is document composition where the guy writes a complete letter application for the client to be submitted in the Govt office. You can also find different Oath Commissioners (for document attestation). And all these are commonly found outside courts and other Govt offices, usually having a desk under a tree !

Find a problem: Check<p>Think of a solution: Check<p>Take some calculated risks: Check<p>Bring your solution to customers in need: Check<p>Make money: Check<p>This is brilliant!

&#62; <i>And it's clear that Adam Humphreys and Steven Nelson have stumbled on a viable business. In a van. On the street.</i><p>Well, that all depends on your definition of viable. Being dependent on a single bureaucratic bug for your livelihood is not that great. They need to diversify a bit before this can really be called viable.

Thought it was going to be about BangBus.

I think there's a huge market out there for beauracracy negotiation/consulting services. Every time I open up an insurance information packet, I am deluged with many options, all slightly different, all carrying different implications.<p>I want something <i>simple</i>.

I went to the American consulte in Tel - Aviv about a week after they've changed the Visa procedure and had a missing form. The consulte did had a couple of PC's but non of them could access an email account.<p>I wondered to the street and found a coffee shop next to the consulte that provided all the services you'll need, lockers (this part is strange since you can't pretty much bring anything to the consulte e.g. a mobile phone lockers are essentials, I know that other consultes like the one in Sydney provides lockers), printer, and for a fee will feel up your forms.<p>So this isn't a new idea, but its an interesting phenomenon.<p>BTW I got my visa, and I must admit that the consulate service was outstanding

See an opportunity and take it...

Government creates inefficiency and markets spring up (here, drive up) to take advantage. Classic lesson of economics.

The thing that bothers me is that everyone just accepts that the initial problem -- lack of printers or whatever at the government office -- won't get solved in that office.<p>I think everyone's premise is that the bureaucracy is unchangeable and unfixable, which in the short term and for an individual or small group is a realistic and practical perspective, but a longer-term responsible view for society is that the initial problem should be resolved.<p>First of all, its not _impossible_ to improve a bureaucracy. However, it is quite difficult, and therefore I think that in most cases bureaucracy needs to be replaced by a much more functional and responsive model.<p>Speaking of government versus private in general, we have two modes: 1) a private mode which has a profit motivation but no legal or ethical motivation but which is (supposedly) restricted in its capacity for monopoly and has (supposedly) highly restricted authority for force, and 2) a government mode has ultimate legal and ethical motivation and responsibility and total monopoly on force authorization and the domains of government.<p>I think we should be able to formulate another mode of operation that works better.

There's an opportunity for some A/B testing, not just of price but of service. Another van, parked at another consulate, could vary one thing and the team could measure the gains/losses. I imagine this kind of thing is done in retail all the time.

I'm thinking more of a Life Aquatic look.

Upvotes for any headline with alliteration.