I was watching TV tonight and they has a special on a town in the countryside where most of the residents are 65 years plus. The town was dying and there was no income coming in until one of the residents came up with an idea. The idea? Selling leaves.

You read that correctly. The town sells leaves. High end restaurants in Japan use leaves to display with the food. The towns people (many in their 80s) walk out the door and pick the leaves off the trees to sell. So how much can the earn doing this? The average monthly salary is $2,000 while in peak season they can ear as much as $20,000 a month.

It was rather funny. They took a trip to Kyoto to see all the leaves changing and all the members were estimating what each tree was worth instead of the beauty. Then then went to a restaurant that used the leaves they picked to see how they were used in food displays.

This isn’t one or two families, but the entire town. The entire business brings in over $10 million a year. Again, there are opportunities where you least expect them if you’re willing to think a little outside the box.