Three neighbors paid me $300 each to read their county ordinance for them
Our county rewrote its ADU rules last spring and the new text is 26 pages. I read it because I was curious, and then I made a two page plain summary: what sizes are allowed by lot size, what the setback is, whether parking is required, and whether there's an owner-occupancy condition. I posted the summary in a neighborhood group with no pitch attached.
Three people asked me to do the same thing for their specific lot. I charged $300 each, took about two hours per lot, and gave them a one page memo plus the parcel record and the relevant ordinance sections highlighted.
Two things I'd say to anyone thinking about this. First, I do not tell people what the ordinance means for them legally. I hand them the text and the parcel numbers and I say the planning department and, if it matters, an attorney are the ones who answer that. It's a real line and I say it in the memo. Second, one of the three lots turned out to be in an overlay district I didn't know existed, and I only found it because the parcel record had a code I couldn't identify and I called to ask. If I'd guessed instead of calling I'd have given someone a wrong answer for $300.
$900 total. Not a business yet. It's the first time anyone has paid me for anything in this industry.