Might 20, 2025
Samuel says whereas individuals are making an attempt to determine how you can make a fast buck, he says it is all about profiting from what’s round you.
Ready in line for issues or alternatives may be time-consuming and annoying; nonetheless, when you’ve got not less than $40, you’ll be able to name one among Robert Samuel’s Similar Ole Line Dudes, and they’re going to do it for you.
Owned by the New York Metropolis native, Similar Ole Line Dudes have been seen holding areas for individuals for luxurious pattern gross sales, restaurant openings, and these days, the Sean “Diddy” Combs case. With plenty of sensible hustles seen on the web, Samuel began his gig in 2013 in the course of the croissant-donut “cronut” craze and now has 45 staff on his roster and costs between $25 and $37.50 per hour.
Whereas individuals are making an attempt to determine how to make a fast buck, Samuel says it’s all about profiting from what’s round you. “At all times be observant round the whole lot round you. When individuals complain, simply put your pondering cap on and see when you’ve got an answer to what they’re complaining about,” the enterprise proprietor informed Fortune.
“You’ll in all probability shock your self and be on the verge of the subsequent steps.”
His journey began whereas working as a gross sales consultant at AT&T. After being upset that he was going to overlook out on a fee examine with the timing of the brand new iPhone 5 launch, he determined to cheer himself up by posting an advert on Craigslist providing his providers to attend in line to get his arms on one. Three hours later, Samuel was employed, just for the consumer to tell him that he had positioned a web-based order when he obtained to the entrance of the road.
He then bought his spot in line for $100, giving energy to the lightbulb in his head — and strolling away with $300 in his pocket. “I mentioned, ‘Effectively, what can I do? Wait a minute. I made a whole lot simply sitting on the sidewalk,’” Samuel recalled. “So I made social media accounts, and steadily it took off from there.”
His journey has even taken him exterior of NYC limits. Samuel discovered himself on a aircraft to face in line for a consumer at Warren Buffett’s most up-to-date Berkshire Hathaway shareholder assembly in Omaha, Nebraska, in early Might 2025. Nevertheless, the courtroom scene has grown profitable for his enterprise, overlaying the trials of Sam Bankman-Fried, Ghislaine Maxwell, and even President Donald Trump’s arraignment in 2024.
In response to the New York Submit, members of Samuel’s workforce needed to combat off girls making an attempt to chop the road to get a glimpse of Luigi Mangione, the person accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. “It was freezing chilly, girls have been making an attempt to chop in line,” worker Brandon Sutton mentioned.
Sutton and two colleagues, Tim and Brian, weathered the frigid New York February temperatures as their nameless consumer paid them $25 an hour. No matter what his shoppers rent his workforce for, Samuel says he wouldn’t wish to be doing anything since he will get to “make individuals’s desires a actuality.” “It’s the fantastic thing about bringing pleasure to individuals simply by doing one thing so simple as ready in line,” Samuel mentioned.
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