The importance of training new and current staff members is very important in customer service, especially in a call center environment. The first impression of the company is likely based on how well the representatives respond to customers.
At tafutabiz.com when we hire a new CSR (Customer Service Representative), we want them to receive the best training possible. Our training consists of educating the representative in what we believe to be customer service’s three core responsibilities, which also happen to be our three main methods of contact. There are many aspects to training a CSR, but in order to properly execute communications with our customers we assign greater values to training on the phones/voicemail, email, and LivePerson.
Assigning responsibility to answering phones is pretty straight forward. The CSR is tasked with answering the customer service phone lines. Although this sounds simple it is also very important. We have several lines a customer can call into: CS cancellations, CS returns, and CS sales. Depending on what line the customer selects, the CSR assists them appropriately. The importance that we are attempting to impress upon the trainee here is that, each customer, depending on their need, will need to be taken care of differently. There are many reasons our customers call in, some of them being assistance placing an order, order status, product inquiry, checking stock, shipping inquiry, assistance in returning a product or requesting an RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization). A qualified and seasoned representative should be able to help the customer that is calling for any of the above reasons, and not in a robotic fashion. For instance the person calling in that wants assistance in placing an order is likely unfamiliar with the product, the company, or placing an order online. Knowing these traits gives the representative the opportunity to forge a relationship with the customer, by helping them with products that may be needed to finish the installation of the product they are ordering, answering questions about our company so they are comfortable placing an order with us, or simply assisting a new internet user place an order.
We find the most efficient way in training someone on the phone is to let them shadow an experienced CSR. In doing this they can observe a variety of calls that we typically receive, and listen to the appropriate language that should be utilized in customer communications. This also allows trainees to ask the experienced CSR questions regarding the calls as they arise. Once the trainee has shadowed an experienced CSR for a set amount of time, the trainee is able to answer calls with the experienced CSR looking on so they are able to assist if any questions arise.
The second duty our new CSRs are trained on is voicemail. It is extremely important in a call center to get back to customers in a reasonable amount of time. Our goal is always returning a call within 24 hours, most of the time this goal is reachable depending upon the call volume. When voicemail queues are checked they are entered into a ticket system that has been created especially for voicemail. The ticket consists of entering any or all of the following information: First and last name, phone number, email, order number, and LivePerson ticket number. Contact type and an inquiry type should also be selected if the customer has left this information. A notes section is provided as well so that the person responsible for returning the call has all pertinent information. We feel all of these fields assist in our response and preparation for calling the customer back. Training a CSR in this area is simple and easy because all you have to do is enter the information left in the voicemail into the ticket fields. The importance we stress in this area is returning the customer’s voicemail within a reasonable amount of time.
The third task is Live Person which covers our email and chat program. All customer emails are sent through this program and they have the ability to chat with us during business hours by simply clicking the chat icon on our site. This area of customer service is also important because a number of our customers use the email and “chat” feature for product inquiries, order status, help with an order, help with a return, etc… The chat feature is becoming more popular everyday as it allows a customer to be connected with a CSR quickly without having to pick up a phone.
Training new or experienced CSRs in this area of customer service, puts their multi-task abilities to use. They must be able to answer several emails in a timely manner while taking chats in-between. Training on this task is similar to phones in that trainees shadow someone that is experienced in LivePerson. They explain how the program works and show them first hand how to answer emails and assist a customer via chat. Learning to answer emails can take some time as the CSR has to also be familiar with our order system and how to check for order status and return status. Our call center feels that Live Chat feature from LivePerson is one of our greatest tools as it allows a CSR to do more than one task at a time.
Successful training is very important for employees that are directly interacting with customers. The effectiveness of being able to assist customers is dependent upon the quality of the customer service skills they are taught, and the tools available to them. The way our employees represent customer service to our customers will determine how our customers feel about our business practices and can be a determining factor when or if they decide to do business with us in the future.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
The google group "Michubu Theory" has recognised us
I Have come to see the sense of diminishing resources with every increase in population.The reason rich people have less children is because of this factor.I was watching the movie "The Day after Tommorow" and can't help pitying the earth.Am sure in the near future will be scramble for resources that will just cause enough Wars.This will partly be blamed on the population increase and irresponsible human behaviour too.
To know about investments and entreprenuership that may save the earth you can visit tafutabiz blog(http://tafutabiz.blogspot.com). I also take this oportunity to congratulate www.tafutabiz.com for the effective campaigns they are making through their anti-paper society(Save environment) banners on their website.I hope this will be adopted by other like minded entreprenuers.
Michubu Theory.
To know about investments and entreprenuership that may save the earth you can visit tafutabiz blog(http://tafutabiz.blogspot.com). I also take this oportunity to congratulate www.tafutabiz.com for the effective campaigns they are making through their anti-paper society(Save environment) banners on their website.I hope this will be adopted by other like minded entreprenuers.
Michubu Theory.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
All you have to do is ask
By: Monica Ginsburg October 13, 2008
Few entrepreneurs do extensive market research before launching or expanding their businesses. They may know who their competitors are and what makes their product or service different, but many never do anything as simple as talking to customers.
That's surprising considering 78% of respondents in a 2006 survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses said that adding innovative products or services is important to their companies' success. And 83% reported they face tough competition in the marketplace.
Sounds like a case for research. So why aren't more entrepreneurs doing it?
"The tendency with small-business owners is to think they have the best thing since sliced bread," says Linda Darragh, director of entrepreneurship programs at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. "They automatically assume there is no competition. If they build it, they will come. That's not the way to pursue things."
DO'S AND DON'TS
Cheap and easy market research
Talk to your customers. That's the No. 1 piece of advice small-business experts and research professionals give entrepreneurs. Here are more tips for doing market research right:
DON'T LIMIT RESEARCH TO THE INTERNET
The Net is a great tool for finding data, but what you won't find online is firsthand experience: why your customers are buying certain products, how they are using them and what may interest them in the future. To find out, ask them.
TEST SURVEY QUESTIONS
Before pushing the send button, determine your objective. Is it to gauge interest in new products? Evaluate new markets? Refine questions to get useful answers. Run a trial with customers, employees or those who have expressed interest in your product. Ask neutral questions: Did the salesperson answer your questions? Were you helped in a timely fashion? Fine-tune as needed.
DON'T RELY ON TOO LITTLE DATA
A sample size of 100 or more will give you statistically sound data, but you can survey fewer people and still get good information. "A minimum of 30 people will start to give you a clue about what's going on," says Dawn Harris, a professor at Loyola University's Graduate School of Business. "But reach out to 50 to 100 people — you'll be in a lot better shape."
TALK TO STRANGERS
Don't rely on family and friends to tell it like it is. You need as much objectivity as possible.
ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS
Retailers can ask shoppers how they plan to use the products they have purchased. Sales people can ask customers about their style preferences. On the flip side, use rejection to your advantage. Call people who didn't buy your product and ask them what they got instead, how that product met their needs and what it would take for them to switch to your product in the future.
MAKE RESEARCH A HABIT
The beginning of a business venture isn't the only time for research. Keep in touch with your customers after a sale, when launching a new product or fine-tuning an existing one, and while branching into a new market. That way, you avoid becoming obsolete. Remember, research keeps you current.
Cheap and easy market research
Talk to your customers. That's the No. 1 piece of advice small-business experts and research professionals give entrepreneurs. Here are more tips for doing market research right:
DON'T LIMIT RESEARCH TO THE INTERNET
The Net is a great tool for finding data, but what you won't find online is firsthand experience: why your customers are buying certain products, how they are using them and what may interest them in the future. To find out, ask them.
TEST SURVEY QUESTIONS
Before pushing the send button, determine your objective. Is it to gauge interest in new products? Evaluate new markets? Refine questions to get useful answers. Run a trial with customers, employees or those who have expressed interest in your product. Ask neutral questions: Did the salesperson answer your questions? Were you helped in a timely fashion? Fine-tune as needed.
DON'T RELY ON TOO LITTLE DATA
A sample size of 100 or more will give you statistically sound data, but you can survey fewer people and still get good information. "A minimum of 30 people will start to give you a clue about what's going on," says Dawn Harris, a professor at Loyola University's Graduate School of Business. "But reach out to 50 to 100 people — you'll be in a lot better shape."
TALK TO STRANGERS
Don't rely on family and friends to tell it like it is. You need as much objectivity as possible.
ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS
Retailers can ask shoppers how they plan to use the products they have purchased. Sales people can ask customers about their style preferences. On the flip side, use rejection to your advantage. Call people who didn't buy your product and ask them what they got instead, how that product met their needs and what it would take for them to switch to your product in the future.
MAKE RESEARCH A HABIT
The beginning of a business venture isn't the only time for research. Keep in touch with your customers after a sale, when launching a new product or fine-tuning an existing one, and while branching into a new market. That way, you avoid becoming obsolete. Remember, research keeps you current.
There's a wealth of free information on government sites such as the U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov), including data on people, households, businesses and industries, and the U.S. Department of Commerce (www.commerce.gov), which provides economic and demographic data. PolicyMap (www.policymap.com), created by the Reinvestment Fund, an organization that finances urban development, maps neighborhoods by per-capita income, educational levels and unemployment.
Reference USA (www.referenceusa.com) can help you target companies based on employee size, sales volume, type of business and location. California Polytechnic University (www.lib.calpoly.edu) is home to a large collection of magazines, newspapers, online journals filled with business research.
But nothing, experts say, replaces firsthand feedback. "I say this all the time — you need to get out of your office and talk to your customers," Ms. Darragh says. "You need to understand where their pain is and solve it."
One of the most popular tools to arise from the Internet Age is online survey software, such as SurveyMonkey or Zoomerang, which can cost as little as $200 and allows you to poll customers by e-mail.
But when using these applications, it's important to know how to get the best results possible, "Otherwise you're going to end up with a whole lot of paper that doesn't mean much," says Bonnie Richter, director of the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Harper College in Palatine.
Ms. Richter recommends surveying customers every quarter, using a sample size of 100. Other research professionals recommend a sample size of at least 200 to 300, depending on the number of subgroups you have and the margin of error you find acceptable. A typical response rate is 30%. If your response rate is low, use the analysis as just one part of your decision-making process.
"The surveys may not always be statistically valid but you can get a lot of great information," she says.
Michelle Elster, vice-president of Rabin Research, a Chicago market research company, cautions against this do-it-yourself method. That's not surprising, given her business, but she says survey software has limitations.
"You may have a small sample size or your questionnaire can be biased," she says. "That compromises the integrity of the data."
Without the support of a research professional, it falls to the entrepreneur to ensure a survey is valid. One way marketing experts say to make it more statistically sound is to pose neutral questions. For example, a restaurant seeking feedback on its new lunch menu should ask, "How do you feel about our new lunch menu compared to the old one?" rather than "Do you think the new lunch menu offers a better variety of healthy foods than the old one?"
Kathy Paddor, director of marketing for Crate & Barrel, began working with Rabin Research in 2003, when her company wanted to strengthen its position in the bridal registry market. Now the company surveys customers every quarter about how people shop in its stores, on its Web site and through its catalog, she says. Crate & Barrel declined to release sales figures.
"Research helps us understand all the decisions that go into buying a product," Ms. Paddor says. "It's a constant reality check."
©2008 by Crain Communications Inc.
FOR PROFITS ON THE HOME BUSINESS
1. Keep your overhead low. Don't rush to expand; this will, believe me, come in due time if you have chosen an idea for which you are willing to give all that you have to give.
2. Don't offer anything for sale until your cost has been carefully computed. You may decide to sell knockdown bird houses or dog kennels, complete with directions, nails, screws, and so on. The first one you make and package may take you three hours and the tenth one but twenty minutes. Your price will be set upon the tenth one.
Don't hesitate to ask a fair price for your product or service; it is the tendency of those running home businesses to set their prices too low, and it can be your greatest weakness. Keep track of every penny you spend on materials and supplies. Compute a percentage of your home's water, heat, electricity, and rent; these come under overhead. Decide how much your time is worth per hour and add this. Now add 10 per cent for unexpected expenses; sometimes you may sell wholesale and this 10 per cent will go to the middleman or jobber. Adding all these expenses together, double the sum and this will be your retail price. If you find yourself saying, "I'd never pay that for this article," backtrack over your expenses and see what can be eliminated to bring the cost down; often eliminating a frill improves a product.
Once your price is established, stick to it. Don't cut the price to friends and neighbors. Never undersell your retail market, for if you do, you will soon lose it. The goods you yourself sell direct to customers must carry the same price as those you retail in stores or by mail.
3. Don't hire anyone to do something that you can do yourself. The minute you hire even one person, the whole nature of your business changes; you become not only an employer, subject to various government returns and taxes, but your time is divided between your own work and that of being an instructor, supervisor, and inspector. Remember you were willing to work long hours!
4. Don't hesitate to ask for professional advice. Take it, and profit by it.
5. Start in a small way. Don't forget the story of the restaurant owner who, after a prosperous first year of finding himself packing them in, added two wings, and soon failed. Nor the woodworker who made a simple wooden toy, sold all he could make, and in the flush of success, hired a factory, put his entire capital into expensive woodworking machinery, only to find that he had made more money when he had fewer orders and machines, and lower overhead. Try out your product before going into mass production. You won't be normal unless, after you have sold quite a few, you want to make some changes in it; listen to your customer's reactions and suggestions, You may believe the product you are making is perfect as it is, but it is the customers who will be using it and whose judgment you must listen to.
Since starting this book I gave a simple idea for making silhouettes to a friend who needed some money. I have spent enough hours in the five-and-dime stores trying to find an inexpensive trinket to bring home to the children to know that any new, good, cutout paper product will sell easily.
This young woman had some samples made up (pen drawings, not printed, though it is always best to show the finished product) and took them to Woolworth's in New York. Woolworth's purchased 1,500 packages, warning her not to have any printed beyond that amount until they were certain the first order would sell. Because it was so much cheaper to have them printed in lots of 5,000, however, she went into production to that amount. But the first 1,500 did not sell; there were no reorders.
I had been very much surprised when Woolworth's ordered only 1,500 and even more amazed to learn that the small order of 1,500 did not sell quickly. I asked her to send me a sample. I could not understand why parents were not delighted with this paper idea, which was to sell for a quarter. (Woolworth's paid her seventeen cents for each one.) When the sample arrived, I realized that she had taken what was a sure-fire idea and tried to improve upon it. She had slanted it for adults and not for children! What had been a simple idea that would have had a widespread sale had been turned into just another worthless paper idea. She had completely disregarded the potentialities in the children's market, but this would have been unimportant had she gone slowly. She would have at least broken even on the first 1,500 if that were all she had had printed. As it was, she went in the red for the printing costs and the thousands of sheets of black paper she had purchased to make up 5,000.
If she had been wiser (everyone is entitled to make mistakes) she would have produced 1,500, and sat back for consumer reaction. As soon as she realized her idea was worthless, she could have started to improve upon it. But by the time she saw her error it was too late. She had spent all her money and at this point is trying desperately to get someone to buy 3,500 packages of black-and-white paper, with which adults can decorate wastebaskets, lamp shades, and so forth. The original idea was to have simple Mother Goose pictures printed as silhouettes on sheets of black paper for children to cut out and paste as borders around their rooms, and so on.
Another error this girl made was in packaging the sheets of black-and-white-paper in envelopes much too large. No mother wants to carry home a package 24 inches long. An 8- x 10-inch envelope would have been sufficient, and would have sold much more readily.
The error was costly, but not an entire loss, because the next time this young woman is given or finds an idea she is going to feel her way slowly and use her common sense instead of rushing into production. Some men and women have started one home business after another—making one mistake after another—until one day they blended all their experiences into their actions and came up with a home business that prospered. They could have done the same with the first, had they stopped, looked, and learned; but they were in a hurry and would not heed caution's advice.
6. Do accumulate knowledge about the idea you wish to carry out. You may have the best idea or product or service in the world. You may have more than adequate capital to work with. But your first requirement is a thorough knowledge of the product or service you wish to sell. All surveys that the U.S. Department of Commerce has made to determine the reasons for failure in business indicate that previous experience is essential to success. The best way to get this background, they say, is by working in a well-managed, successful business of the type that interests you. This is not always possible with a home business, and the alternative is to gather unto yourself every bit of wisdom on your chosen "line."
If you live in one of the twenty-six states supporting an extension service at the state university, call upon this service for assistance. Tell the extension service people just what you plan to do, and ask them if they have anything that can help you. Your taxes pay for this service, and information will be graciously given; their bulletins (and they have many) are yours for the asking.
Your taxes also support your library, where all the information is yours for the seeking—and the seeking is sometimes arduous. Don't give up. Tell your librarian exactly what you are trying to find out—whether it be the laws governing the weight of loaves of bread for sale, or the laboratory nearest to you that sometimes buys guinea pigs for research. This digging out of information is tedious. You will be tempted to give up, but the "know-how" you will want is in the average library, even though you may have to make several attempts to find it.
Practically all libraries stock all the government bulletins. Often these bulletins are not given out, but you may use them at the library. If you cannot find information on your subject, ask your librarian to get you the books you want. A service called "interlibrary" loan does allow you to borrow books not in your library. This service varies from state to state, and even from library to library within the state. Most states do have a central library agency that furnishes certain materials on request to local libraries; your library will know the service offered in your state.
Some cities are fortunate in having specialized libraries. Boston has the Kirstein library where you can obtain expert advice on all types of businesses; the Newark, New Jersey, Business Library is similar to the Kirstein, but the average library does not have such a well-trained staff as do these specialized ones.
When you start out on this hunt for information, right at the beginning get at least one good book on running a business. This chapter can, at best, give you only a skeletonized view of the mechanics involved in starting a home business, and there are many easily obtained books that will go into the subject for you in great detail. Business, to you, may mean a large factory, but even the simplest selling of your monogrammed handkerchiefs will involve some of the principles of big business. Going into Business for Yourself by O. Fred Rost (published by McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.) will give you the answers to many of your questions that are not answered here.
There are over 1,000 trade journals published in this country. Chances are there is one allied to your subject, and in these specialized publications you will find a wealth of information difficult to obtain elsewhere.
Take advantage of government bulletins; there are helpful ones published on all subjects from raising fur-bearing animals to operating a mail-order business. Don't hesitate to study something entirely alien to all your former training, provided, of course, that the subject interests you.
7. Keep a separate bank account for your home business. Actually, if your records are complete, this isn't necessary, but why take a chance of getting your business assets confused with your own?
8. Keep records. Even the smallest pin-money home business should keep complete records. Have an indexed file of all correspondence. A study of nearly 1,000 bankrupt businesses showed that not even 25 per cent of them kept any records. Once you are on your own, no income payroll deductions will be taken from your profits; you will, instead, file an estimated return once a year and pay your taxes quarterly. You will need a memorandum of every item to know exactly just what your profits are for your return.
9. Get everything in writing. Don't trust your memory or that of anyone else. Even if you plan to sell only six pecan rolls a week, write down to whom they went, how much they sold for, and what your cost and profits were. There are several types of record books on the market. Study them and buy the one that you feel is best suited to you.
Get all your orders in writing—that is, if they are of any proportion. The pin-money gal won't want to ask a housewife ordering a cake by phone to put it in writing, but any orders from retail stores or wholesalers should be accepted only on this basis.
10. Be flexible. You may have the best product in the world, but times change quickly. Change with them. Vogues come and vogues go. A lot of women picked up their pin money by making shell jewelry; the vogue is over. Study the trade journals, the magazines that have anything to do with the idea you have chosen; get in on the advanced trends and move right along with them.
11. Think prosperity. Your attitude will have much to do with whether or not you will make money at home. Again and again, the world around, it has been proved that we do shape our outer world of circumstances by the way we think. No one thinking in terms of poverty ever made any money. The only way to demonstrate prosperity is first to feel it. There is abundance and plenty for all—for all those who know this precept. If this book gives you only that one thought, it is well worth the time and money it has cost you. Once you begin to feel prosperous, you will jump that mental defeatist hurdle that looms in front of so many who have to make money at home. You will stop feeling sorry for yourself and will rejoice that you are able to work for yourself. When you find in this book a good idea—one with which you can certainly make money—you will not say, "That's just too much work." Instead, you will welcome it as the right way for you to go.
It is also likely that many of you do not need any more money. Rather, you may need a wiser use and a greater enjoyment of the income already in your possession. Since this book is written only to show you how to make money, it is not the purpose here to enter into your personal philosophy of living or your adjustment to your circumstances. But why struggle to make money if you do not need it? Too many men and women spend their years making money for which they have no use—it feeds some creative urge they are born with—but there are many creative ways of living in which you may indulge without adding unneeded dollars to your pocket.
But if you are absolutely set upon making money, decide at once not to set your goal too low. Don't allow one single chance to escape you, as did the salesman who made $7,000 a year. When his territory was cut in half, he still made $7,000, and when it was again reduced by one-half, he brought home the same amount. He saw himself as a $7,000-a-year man although, as time showed, he had had, at one time, potentially a much more valuable territory.
Too many home careerists limit their vision. They see themselves making only ten dollars a week extra instead of the fifty (or two hundred) they could make easily with a little more imagination. But you say you don't have any imagination. Do you worry? If you worry, you have imagination. Worrying is simply creative thinking in reverse. Your job, as you start digesting the ideas in this book, is not to use this imagination backwards as in worrying, but to turn it around and use it forwardly and constructively. As you come to an idea that you believe may be for you, instead of immediately thinking of the things that are wrong with it, you will, with your pencil, begin to list all the ways in which it is right and suitable for you. Daily, if you will live with this list, and add each thought that comes to you, you will soon find the list has grown to sizable proportions. Set aside a time of day for this "idea time." Keep your pad and pencil beside your bed, if bedtime is the time you have chosen, and watch the ideas for promoting your plan, product, or service roll out. The more you do this the more freely will the ideas pour forth. Creative thinking, which you will be doing—using your imagination is what it amounts to—increases with use. Imagination is much like the battery in your automobile. It charges only when it is being used, and unless it gets enough hours of charging, it runs down and becomes useless. It may take a week to ten days before you get your creative imagination working, but once it starts, it will keep generating.
In your idea time you will decide how to give your product "eye-appeal," how to distribute it, how to give it color, how to improve it over your competitors', and so forth.
12. Consult your zoning laws. Make certain that you can open, in your neighborhood, a home business of the type that you wish. Your lawyer can tell you, and he also will know whether or not you need any licenses. Any legal papers, such as those necessary when you form a partnership or have anyone invest capital in your business, should be drawn up by a competent lawyer. Have him also investigate those laws—federal, state, or local—which might have any bearing on your business.
13. Have enough money to live on. Plan for at least nine months ahead if you intend to start a full-time proposition. I hope you'll start on a part-time basis; remember, few businesses show a profit right from the start. Too much money, however, can be as bad as too little. With only small capital you will tend to go more slowly and your mistakes will be smaller. Try to use your own money and borrow as little as possible. If you have to borrow as much as 50 per cent, either give up your idea or wait until you have saved the money so that you don't have to borrow over 25 per cent. Don't be timid about asking your banker for this amount. You may have to produce some security to get the money, and he can show you what to use for collateral. Don't hesitate to take your banker into your confidence; he won't steal your ideas. But do choose a banker who is friendly to small business. We might as well admit it—all bankers are not. If the first banker you go to isn't friendly, pick another.
And now with most of the don'ts behind you, the fun begins. Before you are almost two hundred exciting ways in which to make money at home.
Actually, no one can blueprint for you one sure, straight way to home-business success. I have written that you must have adequate capital before you begin, yet many a business flourishes today after starting on much less than the proverbial shoestring. I have told you that you must not go into business for yourself if you think you can work only when you want to, but it is easier to work ten hours a day at what intrigues you—and when you pick a home career you certainly can pick one pleasing to you—than a forty-hour-a-week job at something that you don't like. Working for yourself—and this country never would have grown as it has had not some men had the vision and courage to go on their own—is the most stimulating and satisfying way to make money.
The idea you find for yourself in these pages should and will stimulate your imagination, once you start your daily idea time, in which you list everything that has any connection, however remote, with the service, product, or idea that you have chosen for making money.
With a good idea in hand, there is still one ingredient necessary if you are to go on to making money at home. This ingredient is your common sense. You can read all the books on making money ever printed, and think the nights away with long thoughts of prosperity; but your own common sense will be worth more to you than all the words of wisdom ever printed, or all the dreams of making money that you can conceive. You can use the imagination you already possess; everyone has imagination. But not everyone has common sense. Can you acquire this? I do not know. But if you do have common sense and courage, and use your imagination, there is nothing to wait for; you cannot fail.
But before you can use either your imagination, your courage, or your common sense, you must first have an idea. This book is full of ideas. Take them, cull them, dream over them. Worry a little, if you must; waste though it is, nothing was ever achieved without some worry. Every idea was not written just for you. Many will not appeal to you, and some, you will immediately realize, will not fit your own aptitudes at all. Don't start utilizing an idea until you are absolutely certain that it is the exact one for you. But once you start, let nothing stop you.
Remember—an idea, to be good, does not have to be strange. It must simply be one that will do something for people that they would like to have done for them; or be something that they would like to possess, or eat, or wear.
2. Don't offer anything for sale until your cost has been carefully computed. You may decide to sell knockdown bird houses or dog kennels, complete with directions, nails, screws, and so on. The first one you make and package may take you three hours and the tenth one but twenty minutes. Your price will be set upon the tenth one.
Don't hesitate to ask a fair price for your product or service; it is the tendency of those running home businesses to set their prices too low, and it can be your greatest weakness. Keep track of every penny you spend on materials and supplies. Compute a percentage of your home's water, heat, electricity, and rent; these come under overhead. Decide how much your time is worth per hour and add this. Now add 10 per cent for unexpected expenses; sometimes you may sell wholesale and this 10 per cent will go to the middleman or jobber. Adding all these expenses together, double the sum and this will be your retail price. If you find yourself saying, "I'd never pay that for this article," backtrack over your expenses and see what can be eliminated to bring the cost down; often eliminating a frill improves a product.
Once your price is established, stick to it. Don't cut the price to friends and neighbors. Never undersell your retail market, for if you do, you will soon lose it. The goods you yourself sell direct to customers must carry the same price as those you retail in stores or by mail.
3. Don't hire anyone to do something that you can do yourself. The minute you hire even one person, the whole nature of your business changes; you become not only an employer, subject to various government returns and taxes, but your time is divided between your own work and that of being an instructor, supervisor, and inspector. Remember you were willing to work long hours!
4. Don't hesitate to ask for professional advice. Take it, and profit by it.
5. Start in a small way. Don't forget the story of the restaurant owner who, after a prosperous first year of finding himself packing them in, added two wings, and soon failed. Nor the woodworker who made a simple wooden toy, sold all he could make, and in the flush of success, hired a factory, put his entire capital into expensive woodworking machinery, only to find that he had made more money when he had fewer orders and machines, and lower overhead. Try out your product before going into mass production. You won't be normal unless, after you have sold quite a few, you want to make some changes in it; listen to your customer's reactions and suggestions, You may believe the product you are making is perfect as it is, but it is the customers who will be using it and whose judgment you must listen to.
Since starting this book I gave a simple idea for making silhouettes to a friend who needed some money. I have spent enough hours in the five-and-dime stores trying to find an inexpensive trinket to bring home to the children to know that any new, good, cutout paper product will sell easily.
This young woman had some samples made up (pen drawings, not printed, though it is always best to show the finished product) and took them to Woolworth's in New York. Woolworth's purchased 1,500 packages, warning her not to have any printed beyond that amount until they were certain the first order would sell. Because it was so much cheaper to have them printed in lots of 5,000, however, she went into production to that amount. But the first 1,500 did not sell; there were no reorders.
I had been very much surprised when Woolworth's ordered only 1,500 and even more amazed to learn that the small order of 1,500 did not sell quickly. I asked her to send me a sample. I could not understand why parents were not delighted with this paper idea, which was to sell for a quarter. (Woolworth's paid her seventeen cents for each one.) When the sample arrived, I realized that she had taken what was a sure-fire idea and tried to improve upon it. She had slanted it for adults and not for children! What had been a simple idea that would have had a widespread sale had been turned into just another worthless paper idea. She had completely disregarded the potentialities in the children's market, but this would have been unimportant had she gone slowly. She would have at least broken even on the first 1,500 if that were all she had had printed. As it was, she went in the red for the printing costs and the thousands of sheets of black paper she had purchased to make up 5,000.
If she had been wiser (everyone is entitled to make mistakes) she would have produced 1,500, and sat back for consumer reaction. As soon as she realized her idea was worthless, she could have started to improve upon it. But by the time she saw her error it was too late. She had spent all her money and at this point is trying desperately to get someone to buy 3,500 packages of black-and-white paper, with which adults can decorate wastebaskets, lamp shades, and so forth. The original idea was to have simple Mother Goose pictures printed as silhouettes on sheets of black paper for children to cut out and paste as borders around their rooms, and so on.
Another error this girl made was in packaging the sheets of black-and-white-paper in envelopes much too large. No mother wants to carry home a package 24 inches long. An 8- x 10-inch envelope would have been sufficient, and would have sold much more readily.
The error was costly, but not an entire loss, because the next time this young woman is given or finds an idea she is going to feel her way slowly and use her common sense instead of rushing into production. Some men and women have started one home business after another—making one mistake after another—until one day they blended all their experiences into their actions and came up with a home business that prospered. They could have done the same with the first, had they stopped, looked, and learned; but they were in a hurry and would not heed caution's advice.
6. Do accumulate knowledge about the idea you wish to carry out. You may have the best idea or product or service in the world. You may have more than adequate capital to work with. But your first requirement is a thorough knowledge of the product or service you wish to sell. All surveys that the U.S. Department of Commerce has made to determine the reasons for failure in business indicate that previous experience is essential to success. The best way to get this background, they say, is by working in a well-managed, successful business of the type that interests you. This is not always possible with a home business, and the alternative is to gather unto yourself every bit of wisdom on your chosen "line."
If you live in one of the twenty-six states supporting an extension service at the state university, call upon this service for assistance. Tell the extension service people just what you plan to do, and ask them if they have anything that can help you. Your taxes pay for this service, and information will be graciously given; their bulletins (and they have many) are yours for the asking.
Your taxes also support your library, where all the information is yours for the seeking—and the seeking is sometimes arduous. Don't give up. Tell your librarian exactly what you are trying to find out—whether it be the laws governing the weight of loaves of bread for sale, or the laboratory nearest to you that sometimes buys guinea pigs for research. This digging out of information is tedious. You will be tempted to give up, but the "know-how" you will want is in the average library, even though you may have to make several attempts to find it.
Practically all libraries stock all the government bulletins. Often these bulletins are not given out, but you may use them at the library. If you cannot find information on your subject, ask your librarian to get you the books you want. A service called "interlibrary" loan does allow you to borrow books not in your library. This service varies from state to state, and even from library to library within the state. Most states do have a central library agency that furnishes certain materials on request to local libraries; your library will know the service offered in your state.
Some cities are fortunate in having specialized libraries. Boston has the Kirstein library where you can obtain expert advice on all types of businesses; the Newark, New Jersey, Business Library is similar to the Kirstein, but the average library does not have such a well-trained staff as do these specialized ones.
When you start out on this hunt for information, right at the beginning get at least one good book on running a business. This chapter can, at best, give you only a skeletonized view of the mechanics involved in starting a home business, and there are many easily obtained books that will go into the subject for you in great detail. Business, to you, may mean a large factory, but even the simplest selling of your monogrammed handkerchiefs will involve some of the principles of big business. Going into Business for Yourself by O. Fred Rost (published by McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.) will give you the answers to many of your questions that are not answered here.
There are over 1,000 trade journals published in this country. Chances are there is one allied to your subject, and in these specialized publications you will find a wealth of information difficult to obtain elsewhere.
Take advantage of government bulletins; there are helpful ones published on all subjects from raising fur-bearing animals to operating a mail-order business. Don't hesitate to study something entirely alien to all your former training, provided, of course, that the subject interests you.
7. Keep a separate bank account for your home business. Actually, if your records are complete, this isn't necessary, but why take a chance of getting your business assets confused with your own?
8. Keep records. Even the smallest pin-money home business should keep complete records. Have an indexed file of all correspondence. A study of nearly 1,000 bankrupt businesses showed that not even 25 per cent of them kept any records. Once you are on your own, no income payroll deductions will be taken from your profits; you will, instead, file an estimated return once a year and pay your taxes quarterly. You will need a memorandum of every item to know exactly just what your profits are for your return.
9. Get everything in writing. Don't trust your memory or that of anyone else. Even if you plan to sell only six pecan rolls a week, write down to whom they went, how much they sold for, and what your cost and profits were. There are several types of record books on the market. Study them and buy the one that you feel is best suited to you.
Get all your orders in writing—that is, if they are of any proportion. The pin-money gal won't want to ask a housewife ordering a cake by phone to put it in writing, but any orders from retail stores or wholesalers should be accepted only on this basis.
10. Be flexible. You may have the best product in the world, but times change quickly. Change with them. Vogues come and vogues go. A lot of women picked up their pin money by making shell jewelry; the vogue is over. Study the trade journals, the magazines that have anything to do with the idea you have chosen; get in on the advanced trends and move right along with them.
11. Think prosperity. Your attitude will have much to do with whether or not you will make money at home. Again and again, the world around, it has been proved that we do shape our outer world of circumstances by the way we think. No one thinking in terms of poverty ever made any money. The only way to demonstrate prosperity is first to feel it. There is abundance and plenty for all—for all those who know this precept. If this book gives you only that one thought, it is well worth the time and money it has cost you. Once you begin to feel prosperous, you will jump that mental defeatist hurdle that looms in front of so many who have to make money at home. You will stop feeling sorry for yourself and will rejoice that you are able to work for yourself. When you find in this book a good idea—one with which you can certainly make money—you will not say, "That's just too much work." Instead, you will welcome it as the right way for you to go.
It is also likely that many of you do not need any more money. Rather, you may need a wiser use and a greater enjoyment of the income already in your possession. Since this book is written only to show you how to make money, it is not the purpose here to enter into your personal philosophy of living or your adjustment to your circumstances. But why struggle to make money if you do not need it? Too many men and women spend their years making money for which they have no use—it feeds some creative urge they are born with—but there are many creative ways of living in which you may indulge without adding unneeded dollars to your pocket.
But if you are absolutely set upon making money, decide at once not to set your goal too low. Don't allow one single chance to escape you, as did the salesman who made $7,000 a year. When his territory was cut in half, he still made $7,000, and when it was again reduced by one-half, he brought home the same amount. He saw himself as a $7,000-a-year man although, as time showed, he had had, at one time, potentially a much more valuable territory.
Too many home careerists limit their vision. They see themselves making only ten dollars a week extra instead of the fifty (or two hundred) they could make easily with a little more imagination. But you say you don't have any imagination. Do you worry? If you worry, you have imagination. Worrying is simply creative thinking in reverse. Your job, as you start digesting the ideas in this book, is not to use this imagination backwards as in worrying, but to turn it around and use it forwardly and constructively. As you come to an idea that you believe may be for you, instead of immediately thinking of the things that are wrong with it, you will, with your pencil, begin to list all the ways in which it is right and suitable for you. Daily, if you will live with this list, and add each thought that comes to you, you will soon find the list has grown to sizable proportions. Set aside a time of day for this "idea time." Keep your pad and pencil beside your bed, if bedtime is the time you have chosen, and watch the ideas for promoting your plan, product, or service roll out. The more you do this the more freely will the ideas pour forth. Creative thinking, which you will be doing—using your imagination is what it amounts to—increases with use. Imagination is much like the battery in your automobile. It charges only when it is being used, and unless it gets enough hours of charging, it runs down and becomes useless. It may take a week to ten days before you get your creative imagination working, but once it starts, it will keep generating.
In your idea time you will decide how to give your product "eye-appeal," how to distribute it, how to give it color, how to improve it over your competitors', and so forth.
12. Consult your zoning laws. Make certain that you can open, in your neighborhood, a home business of the type that you wish. Your lawyer can tell you, and he also will know whether or not you need any licenses. Any legal papers, such as those necessary when you form a partnership or have anyone invest capital in your business, should be drawn up by a competent lawyer. Have him also investigate those laws—federal, state, or local—which might have any bearing on your business.
13. Have enough money to live on. Plan for at least nine months ahead if you intend to start a full-time proposition. I hope you'll start on a part-time basis; remember, few businesses show a profit right from the start. Too much money, however, can be as bad as too little. With only small capital you will tend to go more slowly and your mistakes will be smaller. Try to use your own money and borrow as little as possible. If you have to borrow as much as 50 per cent, either give up your idea or wait until you have saved the money so that you don't have to borrow over 25 per cent. Don't be timid about asking your banker for this amount. You may have to produce some security to get the money, and he can show you what to use for collateral. Don't hesitate to take your banker into your confidence; he won't steal your ideas. But do choose a banker who is friendly to small business. We might as well admit it—all bankers are not. If the first banker you go to isn't friendly, pick another.
And now with most of the don'ts behind you, the fun begins. Before you are almost two hundred exciting ways in which to make money at home.
Actually, no one can blueprint for you one sure, straight way to home-business success. I have written that you must have adequate capital before you begin, yet many a business flourishes today after starting on much less than the proverbial shoestring. I have told you that you must not go into business for yourself if you think you can work only when you want to, but it is easier to work ten hours a day at what intrigues you—and when you pick a home career you certainly can pick one pleasing to you—than a forty-hour-a-week job at something that you don't like. Working for yourself—and this country never would have grown as it has had not some men had the vision and courage to go on their own—is the most stimulating and satisfying way to make money.
The idea you find for yourself in these pages should and will stimulate your imagination, once you start your daily idea time, in which you list everything that has any connection, however remote, with the service, product, or idea that you have chosen for making money.
With a good idea in hand, there is still one ingredient necessary if you are to go on to making money at home. This ingredient is your common sense. You can read all the books on making money ever printed, and think the nights away with long thoughts of prosperity; but your own common sense will be worth more to you than all the words of wisdom ever printed, or all the dreams of making money that you can conceive. You can use the imagination you already possess; everyone has imagination. But not everyone has common sense. Can you acquire this? I do not know. But if you do have common sense and courage, and use your imagination, there is nothing to wait for; you cannot fail.
But before you can use either your imagination, your courage, or your common sense, you must first have an idea. This book is full of ideas. Take them, cull them, dream over them. Worry a little, if you must; waste though it is, nothing was ever achieved without some worry. Every idea was not written just for you. Many will not appeal to you, and some, you will immediately realize, will not fit your own aptitudes at all. Don't start utilizing an idea until you are absolutely certain that it is the exact one for you. But once you start, let nothing stop you.
Remember—an idea, to be good, does not have to be strange. It must simply be one that will do something for people that they would like to have done for them; or be something that they would like to possess, or eat, or wear.
Selling Your Home Product or Service
ONCE you have decided upon the service or product you wish to sell and are ready to start, the problem of merchandizing it immediately arises. Strong men and robust women who have spent months developing a product or service until it is as perfect as they can possibly make it have been known to grow weak at the thought of trying to sell it.
If you have carefully read the specialists' introductions to the chapters in this book, you have already learned of many ways to sell your product, but the main thought to grasp and to cherish is that the men and women whom you are trying to sell are only human beings who get up in the morning, dress, eat, think, hope, and worry, even as you do. Buyers, whether they be housewives or business executives, are not superhumans, waiting like vultures to turn you down or to show you how poor your product is. Retail store buyers are not hired to turn away a good item, and they are just as eager to find excellent merchandise as you are to sell it.
There may be many possible ways to sell your product; there is no one way that is suitable for all products.
If your only need is for pin money, the chances are that your product will be sold to neighbors and friends by word of mouth. Many a little enterprise has grown without any advertising other than having one person tell another of the superior qualities of the service or product.
You may set up a retail shop in your own home. But is this wise? It is time-consuming and you may find your profits will be much greater if you spend all your time in the production end, and sell at wholesale. Some businesses, such as a knitting shop that sells yarn and lessons, lend themselves to a shop at home, but here you are selling not only a product but a service as well.
By utilizing your own home as a shop, you will realize the entire profit and you will be able to get customer reaction to your wares at first hand. But, you should give considerable thought to the problem of deciding which method pays you the most for your time. Remember that time is money.
If you start a shop in your own home, be sure that your location is suitable before you invest any money in remodeling and buying necessary equipment or fixtures. You must first check on zoning regulations to make certain that there are no laws against your type of business.
You can sell by the house-to-house method. Most of you will be horrified at the thought. Actually this is the best way to begin selling anything, whether it be a specific item or a service. If you personally will put in a few days making these house-to-house calls, the criticism you may get from prospective buyers will immediately show you, while you are just getting started and before you have made too heavy an investment, not only how you may improve your product, but also how you may improve your selling technique. Up to the time you start actual production, the chances are that the only reactions you will get to your commodity will be those which come from your family and your friends. Go out and get comments direct from the man who is going to spend money on your goods.
You should keep track of the number of calls you make per sale, as later on you may decide to put on door-to-door salesmen, and you will be able to know in some degree what to expect from them.
You may sell your product through an agent. An agent's commission ranges from 10 to 20 per cent, and this must be taken into consideration when you set your wholesale price. An agent assures you a much wider distribution, and in some cases he will handle all the details, such as billing and collections, and pay you after he has taken out his own commission. You may obtain an agent through the wholesale houses handling your type of goods, or if you wish to sell to gift shops you may obtain a reputable agent through the wholesale department of America House, at 485 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y.
You may, without an agent, sell direct to large department stores. There is seemingly something so formidable about these gigantic edifices that I wonder how many of you will have the courage to approach them. It is really very simple. (See Buyer Approach, page 242.) I once designed a simple worsted belt and took it to Jordan Marsh and Company, Filene's, and White's in Boston. Within an hour I had sold an order of a dozen to each store. The buyers were all courteous; two were men and one was a woman, and none of them hesitated to give an order once they had seen the belts. I was lucky in that I didn't have to wait a long time to see the buyers, whom I found in the belt departments, but it was not just sheer luck to sell the belts. Anything good and new will always sell. The belts were to sell for a dollar, and I received fifty-three cents for each belt.
If the belts had been complicated and time-taking to make, I would have been very foolish to approach a department store unless I had a great many already made up. As Mrs. Peake says in the introduction to the chapter on sewing, the department store is the last place to approach until you can produce in quantity. Incidentally, by the time I had finished the three dozen belts, I knew making belts was not for me. Actually I had wanted merely to find out if the belts were salable. My next step, had I wished to continue in this line, would have been to design other accessories and put other people to work making them. Only then would I have been able to produce in quantity.
No department store buyer will hesitate to tell you if there is something wrong with your product. It may be too expensive, too ornate, too impractical. Forget your nervousness and listen to their advice; then go home and improve your merchandise. Once you have sold a department store, you have only to deliver the goods to them (see page 243); for the store does the advertising, packaging, and mailing. Also, they are good credit risks, even though they do sometimes demand thirty to sixty days for payment of your bill.
Continued.....
If you have carefully read the specialists' introductions to the chapters in this book, you have already learned of many ways to sell your product, but the main thought to grasp and to cherish is that the men and women whom you are trying to sell are only human beings who get up in the morning, dress, eat, think, hope, and worry, even as you do. Buyers, whether they be housewives or business executives, are not superhumans, waiting like vultures to turn you down or to show you how poor your product is. Retail store buyers are not hired to turn away a good item, and they are just as eager to find excellent merchandise as you are to sell it.
There may be many possible ways to sell your product; there is no one way that is suitable for all products.
If your only need is for pin money, the chances are that your product will be sold to neighbors and friends by word of mouth. Many a little enterprise has grown without any advertising other than having one person tell another of the superior qualities of the service or product.
You may set up a retail shop in your own home. But is this wise? It is time-consuming and you may find your profits will be much greater if you spend all your time in the production end, and sell at wholesale. Some businesses, such as a knitting shop that sells yarn and lessons, lend themselves to a shop at home, but here you are selling not only a product but a service as well.
By utilizing your own home as a shop, you will realize the entire profit and you will be able to get customer reaction to your wares at first hand. But, you should give considerable thought to the problem of deciding which method pays you the most for your time. Remember that time is money.
If you start a shop in your own home, be sure that your location is suitable before you invest any money in remodeling and buying necessary equipment or fixtures. You must first check on zoning regulations to make certain that there are no laws against your type of business.
You can sell by the house-to-house method. Most of you will be horrified at the thought. Actually this is the best way to begin selling anything, whether it be a specific item or a service. If you personally will put in a few days making these house-to-house calls, the criticism you may get from prospective buyers will immediately show you, while you are just getting started and before you have made too heavy an investment, not only how you may improve your product, but also how you may improve your selling technique. Up to the time you start actual production, the chances are that the only reactions you will get to your commodity will be those which come from your family and your friends. Go out and get comments direct from the man who is going to spend money on your goods.
You should keep track of the number of calls you make per sale, as later on you may decide to put on door-to-door salesmen, and you will be able to know in some degree what to expect from them.
You may sell your product through an agent. An agent's commission ranges from 10 to 20 per cent, and this must be taken into consideration when you set your wholesale price. An agent assures you a much wider distribution, and in some cases he will handle all the details, such as billing and collections, and pay you after he has taken out his own commission. You may obtain an agent through the wholesale houses handling your type of goods, or if you wish to sell to gift shops you may obtain a reputable agent through the wholesale department of America House, at 485 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y.
You may, without an agent, sell direct to large department stores. There is seemingly something so formidable about these gigantic edifices that I wonder how many of you will have the courage to approach them. It is really very simple. (See Buyer Approach, page 242.) I once designed a simple worsted belt and took it to Jordan Marsh and Company, Filene's, and White's in Boston. Within an hour I had sold an order of a dozen to each store. The buyers were all courteous; two were men and one was a woman, and none of them hesitated to give an order once they had seen the belts. I was lucky in that I didn't have to wait a long time to see the buyers, whom I found in the belt departments, but it was not just sheer luck to sell the belts. Anything good and new will always sell. The belts were to sell for a dollar, and I received fifty-three cents for each belt.
If the belts had been complicated and time-taking to make, I would have been very foolish to approach a department store unless I had a great many already made up. As Mrs. Peake says in the introduction to the chapter on sewing, the department store is the last place to approach until you can produce in quantity. Incidentally, by the time I had finished the three dozen belts, I knew making belts was not for me. Actually I had wanted merely to find out if the belts were salable. My next step, had I wished to continue in this line, would have been to design other accessories and put other people to work making them. Only then would I have been able to produce in quantity.
No department store buyer will hesitate to tell you if there is something wrong with your product. It may be too expensive, too ornate, too impractical. Forget your nervousness and listen to their advice; then go home and improve your merchandise. Once you have sold a department store, you have only to deliver the goods to them (see page 243); for the store does the advertising, packaging, and mailing. Also, they are good credit risks, even though they do sometimes demand thirty to sixty days for payment of your bill.
Continued.....
Hard Cash for Hard Skills
An idea that needs further development..... "Hard Cash for Hard Times"
I'd like to make a very sharp right turn.... based on the post by BizCoach:
That turn should be into something along the lines of...
"An Entrepreneur's 'Survival-Tactics Guide' For Hard Economic Times"....
With the theme (thread) being "Hard Cash for Hard Skills". The economy MAY be in for a sharp decline (although I'll not convinced of that just yet) and it might be well to discuss business types and methods to have at least in reserve for our folks to use when they hit a personal fire-wall in their economic life. I expect that most of the ideas, endeavors, and hints n' tips will generally be along the lines of what folks did in the 1930's.... when just earning enough cash to buy food for basic survival was a serious challenge. (It might even make a firm foundation for a great biz-manual the group can actually publish as well!) Really this is a longer - I hope - extension of the "Underground Economy" thread..... and other posts over the years here at The ECN that may have use too.
On that - I am asking everyone for whatever ideas and info they may have along these lines. Please feel free to go as "long" as you like! PLEASE - stay "on-subject" in this thread... Thanks!
For those that make useful contributions - IF this gets published as a manual - I will give a copy to you for your comments and additions for the final edition. Deal?
Thanks... now, let's get cracking - OK?
A Few 'Basics' for Rating Your Business Idea
1. Test, Test, and Test Some More: Test your product(s) in the hands of potential consumers in your market for early, critical feedback. Do not keep your idea a secret.... share it with a select group of potential customers. Without critical, real-world feedback, your business idea will very quickly hit the wall.
2. Find Your Target Market: Far too many small businesses fail by trying to be everything to everyone. Maybe your idea has some potential in multiple markets, but start with the one target market with the greatest need. Your business idea should grab the attention of a specific and reachable market that has enough breath and depth to offer long-term longevity for your business.
3. Get Protected: A new business idea is a delicate thing.... in order to protect and nurture your business, you will need to apply some forms of protection. This will provide assurance that no other companies can invade and steal your market share. Protection can take the form of exclusive contacts, licensing, patents, or the best location on the block. Consider all of your insurance needs as well.
4. Find Out What They Really Want: Ultimately, running a business comes down to the simple task of providing a product or service that people want and/or need.... a simple, yet often overlooked principle. Your business idea is good or great - IF it meets a customer's needs or wants. There may be a wide open market for a new kind of jewelry design, but if consumers do not want yet another choice in jewelry, success will be fleeting.
5. Manage Your Cash: Every small business idea needs to be evaluated against the cost of building that business. The idea can be great, but if you are not prepared to self-fund, OR go out and creatively raise the million dollars required for your launch, the idea is not for you. The best business idea is one that matches your ability to deal with, and raise attainable cash to fund the start-up and still have a decent capital reserve for operations. A person that makes their own home-made jewelry most likely cannot afford to start out in retailing by buying a high-end jewelry store in the mall.
6. Sales Skills: A business idea can have an incredible upside - only if you bring the well developed sales skills required to succeed to the table. If the business requires that you to go way outside of your comfort zone, it might be better to find something that more closely mirrors your other skills and experience. General sales skills offer much better chance of success than an idea based on unrelated skills. Nothing happens until you sell something.... and without profitable sales, you are NOT in any kind of business that either the IRS or I would recognize.
7. Short-Term View: In the near-term, what is the likelihood your business can be replaced by something newer, better, bigger, etcetera..., impended by government regulations, or made obsolete by technological and/or social changes? Perform a quick SWOT analysis to see how well your small business idea might survive. It's probably not too realistic to start a "me-too" gift-shop in the midst of an already over-crowded tourist shopping area. If this is your aim, try consignment sales to the already existing shops....
8. People: Many business ideas will require a highly motivated and technically skilled work force. Make sure that you're able to fulfill this equation, or it will wind up being the one 'critical success factor' which can make or break you. Remember, as the Kenyan soldiers are fond of saying: "good people are hard to find." Consider how and where you will gain and retain them.
There are many more things to consider, but this short list should serve to get you started on the right path....
A Few 'Basics' for Rating Your Business Idea
1. Test, Test, and Test Some More: Test your product(s) in the hands of potential consumers in your market for early, critical feedback. Do not keep your idea a secret.... share it with a select group of potential customers. Without critical, real-world feedback, your business idea will very quickly hit the wall.
2. Find Your Target Market: Far too many small businesses fail by trying to be everything to everyone. Maybe your idea has some potential in multiple markets, but start with the one target market with the greatest need. Your business idea should grab the attention of a specific and reachable market that has enough breath and depth to offer long-term longevity for your business.
3. Get Protected: A new business idea is a delicate thing.... in order to protect and nurture your business, you will need to apply some forms of protection. This will provide assurance that no other companies can invade and steal your market share. Protection can take the form of exclusive contacts, licensing, patents, or the best location on the block. Consider all of your insurance needs as well.
4. Find Out What They Really Want: Ultimately, running a business comes down to the simple task of providing a product or service that people want and/or need.... a simple, yet often overlooked principle. Your business idea is good or great - IF it meets a customer's needs or wants. There may be a wide open market for a new kind of jewelry design, but if consumers do not want yet another choice in jewelry, success will be fleeting.
5. Manage Your Cash: Every small business idea needs to be evaluated against the cost of building that business. The idea can be great, but if you are not prepared to self-fund, OR go out and creatively raise the million dollars required for your launch, the idea is not for you. The best business idea is one that matches your ability to deal with, and raise attainable cash to fund the start-up and still have a decent capital reserve for operations. A person that makes their own home-made jewelry most likely cannot afford to start out in retailing by buying a high-end jewelry store in the mall.
6. Sales Skills: A business idea can have an incredible upside - only if you bring the well developed sales skills required to succeed to the table. If the business requires that you to go way outside of your comfort zone, it might be better to find something that more closely mirrors your other skills and experience. General sales skills offer much better chance of success than an idea based on unrelated skills. Nothing happens until you sell something.... and without profitable sales, you are NOT in any kind of business that either the IRS or I would recognize.
7. Short-Term View: In the near-term, what is the likelihood your business can be replaced by something newer, better, bigger, etcetera..., impended by government regulations, or made obsolete by technological and/or social changes? Perform a quick SWOT analysis to see how well your small business idea might survive. It's probably not too realistic to start a "me-too" gift-shop in the midst of an already over-crowded tourist shopping area. If this is your aim, try consignment sales to the already existing shops....
8. People: Many business ideas will require a highly motivated and technically skilled work force. Make sure that you're able to fulfill this equation, or it will wind up being the one 'critical success factor' which can make or break you. Remember, as the US Marines are fond of saying: "good people are hard to find." Consider how and where you will gain and retain them.
There are many more things to consider, but this short list should serve to get you started on the right path....
Underground Economy
As I was following the recent disaster in the world's economy, I did find one glimmer of hope and a "golden opportunity":
What if....
One were to negotiate and obtain the diving board concession for the NYSE building at Wall & Broad for a "special event" celebrating the halving of the Dow-Jones? All diving competition entrants would be charged a nominal, appropriate, but cost effective fee for our services.
The logistics would be pretty straight-forward... among them would be:
- lease the roof section of the NYSE building facing Wall Street
- buy up or rent a number of good quality used pool type diving boards
- arrange with the NYPD to have the block-long section of Wall Street blocked off to all traffic for this "special event"
- have Velaity draft up the "final wishes & disposal" contract for the competitive divers
- form a judging panel of financial peers to determine the winners for best form and grace in their final dive
- contract with Allied Waste to pick-up the remains and deliver them to the funeral home of choice
- arrange with the Bates Casket (manufacturing co.) for cheap wood and cardboard coffins (probably by the train-load!)
- buy a several acre track of land that used to be a waste disposal site for all the burials
- hire a non-denominational celebrant to provide the final rites
...and so on...
Anyone care to go into this business?
It might be a lot of fun.... 
--Nick
PS: If it weren't for bad taste, I'd have no taste at all....
Underground Economy
Thread Summary: The modern "Underground Economy".....
Message 1 of 33 in Discussion
From: OldNikko (Original Message)Sent: 7/30/2004 2:37 PM
The modern "Underground Economy".....
Here's the idea..... if you can, please post the money-making idea and as much "details" as you can... be the actual "biz" legit or not.
What I'd like to do with whatever is posted, and with what I know, is to develop a series of pages for this site on the subject.... with perhaps enough detail, each "earning-way" can merit a page or two of their own. Hopefully, with what else we have here - some could use one or more of these ideas (guides?) to develop and run their own little businesses.
A suggestion..... an alternative is to take a "tool" that someone might have that's not commonly owned and turn it into a money-maker.
An short example is my neighbor who bought one of those hydraulic log-splitters for his own home use, and wound up buying extra un-split cords of wood (a lot cheaper this way), splitting the wood, and "bundling" a half-dozen split-logs or so into "bundles" with baling cord and an industrial plastic wrap - then sells these "bundles" to the local convenience stores, campgrounds and individual home-owners. What costs him well under a half-buck directly wholesales for $1.50 and "retails" for $3.00+ per bundle.... or directly to the home-owner/consignment dealers for $2.00 a pop.
What he uses for this "business"....
- cords of logs he gets from local farms and homes with trees to remove (in cooperation with a local tree removal service)
- a chain saw, a log splitter and a few other assorted small tools
- rolls of baling cord and a heavy plastic wrap
- homemade "log sales displays" made from scrap metal and commercially sawn wood
- a small pick-up truck (could use a small van, wagon or even a larger car's trunk
- the usual sales receipt book and assorted flyers that his kids post all over the place.
- an ample backyard where he both works the business and displays "bundled splits" for sale, and for local merchants to "pick-up" new supplies of his merchandise.
Cost to get into this business....
- if the tools are already owned, very little (under $200 certainly) - and if the tools need to be purchased, try for good used ones, or if new, expect something like $1,500 to $2,000 to start. This really is a business that should be started once you have all the "tools" you'll need on hand.
How he sells....
- he approaches the owners and/or managers of places that would sell his product and offers to set-up on either consignment (for less profit share) OR direct sales of a "log sales display" and refills.
The returns...
- although I can't even hazard any sort of accurate income figure for this, I will note that he's pretty darn busy, he goes thru' a LOT of wood, and he managed to buy a new "Hemi-Ram" pickup that he could never afford before. I also have noticed that his spouse is driving a new car, and seems to dress better that she ever did before he started this little "endeavor".
Taxes....??
- who knows, or even cares - his business is mostly "wholesale" anyway.
His kid still cuts my grass however....
Nick
Message 2 of 33 in Discussion
From: bizcoachSent: 7/31/2004 3:25 AM
Okay, I'll add one here.
When I reached middle age--a long time ago--I decided to quit drilling my ice-fishing holes with a hand-auger and pop for a power-auger. For the women of this site (women seldom ice-fish, mainly because there are no potties out there, nor any trees to go behind), I'll explain that a power-auger is like a five-foot-tall drill, 8 or 9 inches in diameter, driven by a small gasoline engine at the top of the whole thing. The handles for holding it--and for keeping it from going right through its own hole into the water--are also at the top.
Where my buddies and I do our ice-fishing is a lagoon of Lake Michigan, near downtown Chicago, right in the shadow of Soldier Field. All summer, it holds hundreds of private boats. But when it ices over, it sprouts an entire "urban slum" of ice-fishing shelters, plus a crowd of people who fish out in the open (as I do). Many of them don't have anything to drill holes with--they just count on finding holes that other guys have abandoned but that haven't frozen over yet. Some have steel rods they use to crack through the thinner ice that covers frozen-over holes. Many have hand-augers. Generally, only a few have power-augers, since ice-fishing isn't a very big sport in Chicago.
So my rationale was that I could drill holes for other ice-fishermen, for a buck or two apiece, and soon recover the $150 cost of the power-auger.
I suppose it violates the spirit of this thread, but I gotta confess I could never bring myself to charge anyone for drilling a couple holes for them. For one thing, I'm too softhearted. But for another, it was a lot of FUN to pull the starter-cord and watch that thing burrow down through two feet of ice in about 15 seconds! Since ice-fishing could be described as "Hours of chatting with your buddy, punctuated by occasional bursts of hauling up a couple Yellow Perch," punching holes for other guys broke the boredom, too.
But it COULD'VE been another business in the Underground Economy! (Underwater Economy?)
From: OldNikko (Original Message)Sent: 7/30/2004 2:37 PM
The modern "Underground Economy".....
Here's the idea..... if you can, please post the money-making idea and as much "details" as you can... be the actual "biz" legit or not.
What I'd like to do with whatever is posted, and with what I know, is to develop a series of pages for this site on the subject.... with perhaps enough detail, each "earning-way" can merit a page or two of their own. Hopefully, with what else we have here - some could use one or more of these ideas (guides?) to develop and run their own little businesses.
A suggestion..... an alternative is to take a "tool" that someone might have that's not commonly owned and turn it into a money-maker.
An short example is my neighbor who bought one of those hydraulic log-splitters for his own home use, and wound up buying extra un-split cords of wood (a lot cheaper this way), splitting the wood, and "bundling" a half-dozen split-logs or so into "bundles" with baling cord and an industrial plastic wrap - then sells these "bundles" to the local convenience stores, campgrounds and individual home-owners. What costs him well under a half-buck directly wholesales for $1.50 and "retails" for $3.00+ per bundle.... or directly to the home-owner/consignment dealers for $2.00 a pop.
What he uses for this "business"....
- cords of logs he gets from local farms and homes with trees to remove (in cooperation with a local tree removal service)
- a chain saw, a log splitter and a few other assorted small tools
- rolls of baling cord and a heavy plastic wrap
- homemade "log sales displays" made from scrap metal and commercially sawn wood
- a small pick-up truck (could use a small van, wagon or even a larger car's trunk
- the usual sales receipt book and assorted flyers that his kids post all over the place.
- an ample backyard where he both works the business and displays "bundled splits" for sale, and for local merchants to "pick-up" new supplies of his merchandise.
Cost to get into this business....
- if the tools are already owned, very little (under $200 certainly) - and if the tools need to be purchased, try for good used ones, or if new, expect something like $1,500 to $2,000 to start. This really is a business that should be started once you have all the "tools" you'll need on hand.
How he sells....
- he approaches the owners and/or managers of places that would sell his product and offers to set-up on either consignment (for less profit share) OR direct sales of a "log sales display" and refills.
The returns...
- although I can't even hazard any sort of accurate income figure for this, I will note that he's pretty darn busy, he goes thru' a LOT of wood, and he managed to buy a new "Hemi-Ram" pickup that he could never afford before. I also have noticed that his spouse is driving a new car, and seems to dress better that she ever did before he started this little "endeavor".
Taxes....??
- who knows, or even cares - his business is mostly "wholesale" anyway.
His kid still cuts my grass however....
Nick
Message 2 of 33 in Discussion
From: bizcoachSent: 7/31/2004 3:25 AM
Okay, I'll add one here.
When I reached middle age--a long time ago--I decided to quit drilling my ice-fishing holes with a hand-auger and pop for a power-auger. For the women of this site (women seldom ice-fish, mainly because there are no potties out there, nor any trees to go behind), I'll explain that a power-auger is like a five-foot-tall drill, 8 or 9 inches in diameter, driven by a small gasoline engine at the top of the whole thing. The handles for holding it--and for keeping it from going right through its own hole into the water--are also at the top.
Where my buddies and I do our ice-fishing is a lagoon of Lake Michigan, near downtown Chicago, right in the shadow of Soldier Field. All summer, it holds hundreds of private boats. But when it ices over, it sprouts an entire "urban slum" of ice-fishing shelters, plus a crowd of people who fish out in the open (as I do). Many of them don't have anything to drill holes with--they just count on finding holes that other guys have abandoned but that haven't frozen over yet. Some have steel rods they use to crack through the thinner ice that covers frozen-over holes. Many have hand-augers. Generally, only a few have power-augers, since ice-fishing isn't a very big sport in Chicago.
So my rationale was that I could drill holes for other ice-fishermen, for a buck or two apiece, and soon recover the $150 cost of the power-auger.
I suppose it violates the spirit of this thread, but I gotta confess I could never bring myself to charge anyone for drilling a couple holes for them. For one thing, I'm too softhearted. But for another, it was a lot of FUN to pull the starter-cord and watch that thing burrow down through two feet of ice in about 15 seconds! Since ice-fishing could be described as "Hours of chatting with your buddy, punctuated by occasional bursts of hauling up a couple Yellow Perch," punching holes for other guys broke the boredom, too.
But it COULD'VE been another business in the Underground Economy! (Underwater Economy?)
Message 3 of 33 in Discussion
From: BilSent: 7/31/2004 4:24 PM
Coach,
You have nailed the spirit of the board. Profits are not always in cash. From a Guy perspective, The ability to pop a hole in 2 feet of ice in 15 sec. proves that you don't need fur lined underware - even though you are an old man. Toys (and talents) are no fun if you can't share them and gloat a bit. Even the Pope would say that profit is non-taxible.
Jack
From: BilSent: 7/31/2004 4:24 PM
Coach,
You have nailed the spirit of the board. Profits are not always in cash. From a Guy perspective, The ability to pop a hole in 2 feet of ice in 15 sec. proves that you don't need fur lined underware - even though you are an old man. Toys (and talents) are no fun if you can't share them and gloat a bit. Even the Pope would say that profit is non-taxible.
Jack
Message 4 of 33 in Discussion
From: carolinaSent: 7/31/2004 6:33 PM
I loved BizCoach's example ..... but .... gotta ask this ..... way back when in NH, on Lake Winnipesaukee and a few of the outlying lakes, those ice fishing shantys had a real name ...a moniker, a very colorful and descriptive moniker .....
Quiz .... what are they really called? There is a name, I just know it but can't remember it! Maybe it is just too country ......
(I'm not sure I even spelled Winnipesaukee just right - my references are the books written by my uncle who was the pursar on the Mt. Washington tour boat 'round The Lake for decades -when he wasn't teaching music in the local schools- - its somewhere here in the archives ... of my mind and family )
So, what is the real word for 'ice fishing shanty' .... ???
From: carolinaSent: 7/31/2004 6:33 PM
I loved BizCoach's example ..... but .... gotta ask this ..... way back when in NH, on Lake Winnipesaukee and a few of the outlying lakes, those ice fishing shantys had a real name ...a moniker, a very colorful and descriptive moniker .....
Quiz .... what are they really called? There is a name, I just know it but can't remember it! Maybe it is just too country ......
(I'm not sure I even spelled Winnipesaukee just right - my references are the books written by my uncle who was the pursar on the Mt. Washington tour boat 'round The Lake for decades -when he wasn't teaching music in the local schools- - its somewhere here in the archives ... of my mind and family )
So, what is the real word for 'ice fishing shanty' .... ???
Message 5 of 33 in Discussion
From: bizcoachSent: 7/31/2004 7:08 PM
You spelled the lake exactly right, Carolina! And I think I found the New Hampshire nickname for ice-shanties.
First, though, lemme tell you where I found it. After Googling my way through a bunch of American ice-fishing sites, I stumbled across a report by an AUSTRALIAN journalist of his bitter-cold February visit to Lake Winnipesaukee (when it was summer Down Under)...and there it was! "Bob huts."
Hee hee, has this thread gone spinning out of control, or what???
From: bizcoachSent: 7/31/2004 7:08 PM
You spelled the lake exactly right, Carolina! And I think I found the New Hampshire nickname for ice-shanties.
First, though, lemme tell you where I found it. After Googling my way through a bunch of American ice-fishing sites, I stumbled across a report by an AUSTRALIAN journalist of his bitter-cold February visit to Lake Winnipesaukee (when it was summer Down Under)...and there it was! "Bob huts."
Hee hee, has this thread gone spinning out of control, or what???
Message 6 of 33 in Discussion
From: carolinaSent: 7/31/2004 8:18 PM
Yeah, BixCoach ..... we are monopolozing this thread to our own agenda .... but hope we'll be excused. The 'bob hut' didn't quite ring true w/me ...(but thanks for your research) ! ... .....
So I called my Dad - a transplanted NH type. His best recollection was 'bob house' - close, but still not what I'd thought. Now, I think my recollection was a real regional nomenclature via my Mom ..... she's gone now, so guess this will forever remain in my ?? list in my pointed little head.
No never, never mind ...... that you thot this up and then didn't capitalize on it makes me smile.
We all want to make something work ...but sometimes making it work doesn't involve dollars.
Sometimes it just makes one smile for the sharing ....
From: carolinaSent: 7/31/2004 8:18 PM
Yeah, BixCoach ..... we are monopolozing this thread to our own agenda .... but hope we'll be excused. The 'bob hut' didn't quite ring true w/me ...(but thanks for your research) ! ... .....
So I called my Dad - a transplanted NH type. His best recollection was 'bob house' - close, but still not what I'd thought. Now, I think my recollection was a real regional nomenclature via my Mom ..... she's gone now, so guess this will forever remain in my ?? list in my pointed little head.
No never, never mind ...... that you thot this up and then didn't capitalize on it makes me smile.
We all want to make something work ...but sometimes making it work doesn't involve dollars.
Sometimes it just makes one smile for the sharing ....
Message 7 of 33 in Discussion
From: carolinaSent: 7/31/2004 8:24 PM
Back to the OP .......... I'm thinking, scratching my head trying to re-invent stuff. Will share, but am very interested in how others are coping with/ re-designing business in this time block. It's getting more than a bit tenuous. jmo.
Message 8 of 33 in Discussion
From: OldNikkoSent: 8/1/2004 6:44 PM
Bil/Jack, et al... no offense, but......
This thread's intent is in exactly the same spirit that this board was built on.
What I had hoped to achieve here is to build a small repository of great, workable and low-buck "first-biz" ideas for those that want some sort of business... and so that I might be able to turn them into workable "mini-biz-plans" for our newest members.
And, even though they've listened to - and looked at - all of the "high-end" stuff we're noted for here at The ECN, they still don't have any real idea of just what they'd like to do - and, could use a page or two where they could kick-start their own idea generators into the high-speed running mode. Unless I miss my guess - and from what we've seen here over the years - this is the majority of our new members, and what they really do need to have available. Most have never had a business of their own - and desperately need a good hard push in the right direction. These mini-plans will serve that purpose quite well I think.
With the great many 10's of thousands of different business types possible, it is most often the easiest to find that first tiny start-up, low cost business idea from an assortment of some real-life, workable examples that have already made others some cash. I think they ought to be able to find at least a part of that most basic need fulfilled by us, the only decent public-domain, non-profit biz-info site on the web.
Good first steps for the beginner.... and once some success is achieved operating a mini-biz - the budding entrepreneur may then be ready for the next step - a somewhat more complex (and expensive) start-up venture.
All toward the goal of helping the weakest of our members, the business newcomer get started on a path they can call their very own.
They are after all, the ones that need the most help from us, and that only we can give to them in any sort of credible way - and, I intend giving it to them in this way, with or without anyone else's help. These new "newbie help pages" will exist, here at the Entrepreneur Group and on The ECN.... and that's a simple statement of fact.
Regards to all - agree with, and help me or not.
Nick
PS: All of you new folks... chime in please. Would you, or would you not like to see some real, workable mini-biz-plans pages here at The ECN? Add your opinions and comments to this thread - as well as comments from those members that are somewhat more experienced too. Help and useful advice is always welcome at The ECN!
Thanks.
Administrivia Nota Bene:
Yeah Coach - yet still another bad hair day (what's left of it, of course).... What I had hoped to need only a velvet hammer's tap in execution seems to have turned into a 15 pound sledge's bit of work. Ya know how I really hate to be "pushy" - but, this newbie biz-stuff is something we've needed here for some time, and no-one's seemed to have had the time or inclination to help fill the void. I really don't need a lot of help, but SOME would be most appreciated. Heck, I'd like to think that Entrepreneur and The ECN is NOT - all Nikko, all the time - but rather US helping those that we can best serve together, as a team. As the GM around here, I expect to have to do all of the hard stuff, like putting these ideas into some sort of standard format, and developing the actual web-pages.... I'll even do much of the necessary research as well... That's why I AM the general manager - that's my job, and what I do - making things happen, just like every other section, and almost every page on this site. I just don't wish to be depended upon to generate EVERY idea on my own is all. If that's what happens, so be it - although it will be even longer getting this vital info onto this site.... it will be here anyway - either way.
Of course, I may be also be all wrong in that sort of thinking. Your mileage may vary. I suppose I oughta apologize for being such a hard-case.... Maybe I'll do that - one day down the road.
Onward..... the next post will be the plan format.
From: carolinaSent: 7/31/2004 8:24 PM
Back to the OP .......... I'm thinking, scratching my head trying to re-invent stuff. Will share, but am very interested in how others are coping with/ re-designing business in this time block. It's getting more than a bit tenuous. jmo.
Message 8 of 33 in Discussion
From: OldNikkoSent: 8/1/2004 6:44 PM
Bil/Jack, et al... no offense, but......
This thread's intent is in exactly the same spirit that this board was built on.
What I had hoped to achieve here is to build a small repository of great, workable and low-buck "first-biz" ideas for those that want some sort of business... and so that I might be able to turn them into workable "mini-biz-plans" for our newest members.
And, even though they've listened to - and looked at - all of the "high-end" stuff we're noted for here at The ECN, they still don't have any real idea of just what they'd like to do - and, could use a page or two where they could kick-start their own idea generators into the high-speed running mode. Unless I miss my guess - and from what we've seen here over the years - this is the majority of our new members, and what they really do need to have available. Most have never had a business of their own - and desperately need a good hard push in the right direction. These mini-plans will serve that purpose quite well I think.
With the great many 10's of thousands of different business types possible, it is most often the easiest to find that first tiny start-up, low cost business idea from an assortment of some real-life, workable examples that have already made others some cash. I think they ought to be able to find at least a part of that most basic need fulfilled by us, the only decent public-domain, non-profit biz-info site on the web.
Good first steps for the beginner.... and once some success is achieved operating a mini-biz - the budding entrepreneur may then be ready for the next step - a somewhat more complex (and expensive) start-up venture.
All toward the goal of helping the weakest of our members, the business newcomer get started on a path they can call their very own.
They are after all, the ones that need the most help from us, and that only we can give to them in any sort of credible way - and, I intend giving it to them in this way, with or without anyone else's help. These new "newbie help pages" will exist, here at the Entrepreneur Group and on The ECN.... and that's a simple statement of fact.
Regards to all - agree with, and help me or not.
Nick
PS: All of you new folks... chime in please. Would you, or would you not like to see some real, workable mini-biz-plans pages here at The ECN? Add your opinions and comments to this thread - as well as comments from those members that are somewhat more experienced too. Help and useful advice is always welcome at The ECN!
Thanks.
Administrivia Nota Bene:
Yeah Coach - yet still another bad hair day (what's left of it, of course).... What I had hoped to need only a velvet hammer's tap in execution seems to have turned into a 15 pound sledge's bit of work. Ya know how I really hate to be "pushy" - but, this newbie biz-stuff is something we've needed here for some time, and no-one's seemed to have had the time or inclination to help fill the void. I really don't need a lot of help, but SOME would be most appreciated. Heck, I'd like to think that Entrepreneur and The ECN is NOT - all Nikko, all the time - but rather US helping those that we can best serve together, as a team. As the GM around here, I expect to have to do all of the hard stuff, like putting these ideas into some sort of standard format, and developing the actual web-pages.... I'll even do much of the necessary research as well... That's why I AM the general manager - that's my job, and what I do - making things happen, just like every other section, and almost every page on this site. I just don't wish to be depended upon to generate EVERY idea on my own is all. If that's what happens, so be it - although it will be even longer getting this vital info onto this site.... it will be here anyway - either way.
Of course, I may be also be all wrong in that sort of thinking. Your mileage may vary. I suppose I oughta apologize for being such a hard-case.... Maybe I'll do that - one day down the road.
Onward..... the next post will be the plan format.
Message 9 of 33 in Discussion
From: OldNikkoSent: 8/1/2004 6:45 PM
From: OldNikkoSent: 8/1/2004 6:45 PM
Here's the basic format (chapters?) I intend using for these mini-plans:
Business type/name:
Prologue/introduction:
Description of business:
How it operates:
Revenue generation methods:
Advertising & marketing:
Equipment/tools & facilities:
"Special requirements" and Misc.:
Market demographics:
Start-up & estimated operating costs:
Estimated revenues:
Hints, tips and tricks:
Additional comments:
Notes & etcetera:
And, the usual fine-print publishing disclaimer is to be added here:
NB: These plans will be perfectly suited to use with my Basic Business Manual as a business-specific companion text, soon to be released and available thru' The ECN and OldNikko.com Publishing Co.. Any and all proceeds will go to support the commercial website version of The ECN, with any excess earnings going to the various children's charities that I help support.
Message 10 of 33 in Discussion
From: OldNikkoSent: 8/1/2004 11:14 PM
Bumping to the top, past all of the new thread summaries completed.
Nick
Business type/name:
Prologue/introduction:
Description of business:
How it operates:
Revenue generation methods:
Advertising & marketing:
Equipment/tools & facilities:
"Special requirements" and Misc.:
Market demographics:
Start-up & estimated operating costs:
Estimated revenues:
Hints, tips and tricks:
Additional comments:
Notes & etcetera:
And, the usual fine-print publishing disclaimer is to be added here:
NB: These plans will be perfectly suited to use with my Basic Business Manual as a business-specific companion text, soon to be released and available thru' The ECN and OldNikko.com Publishing Co.. Any and all proceeds will go to support the commercial website version of The ECN, with any excess earnings going to the various children's charities that I help support.
Message 10 of 33 in Discussion
From: OldNikkoSent: 8/1/2004 11:14 PM
Bumping to the top, past all of the new thread summaries completed.
Nick
Message 11 of 33 in Discussion
From: jfstrawSent: 8/2/2004 10:10 AM
This message has been deleted by the manager or assistant manager.
From: jfstrawSent: 8/2/2004 10:10 AM
This message has been deleted by the manager or assistant manager.
Message 12 of 33 in Discussion
From: OldNikkoSent: 8/2/2004 12:07 PM
Please pardon the re-post... it is simply to remove the extended included text, thereby saving some of our precious web-space.
Thanks for the reminder Jim --- I've also added the link for your offer because I believe it to be of benefit to our newest members.
From: jfstraw
Good idea, Nick - but ...
I did it years ago and even offer complete, detailed plans for 17 of those businesses as a Special FREE Report on my website.
Jim
Note from the manager: As you know, we usually do not allow "ads" - but this one is a freebie from one of the most highly recognized small business masters (Please note - I did NOT say guru - I consider that particular accolade as being essentially derisive and should be reserved solely for the scammers)... that should rightly be an exception to the rule - and, it doesn't directly generate any income, so I feel good about this small deviation from our gold standard. And, Jim has more good info for free that shouldn't be missed.
For the record - and everyone's edification, the "freebies" Jim speaks of may be found at this link:
http://www.businesslyceum.com/lectures.html You won't be disappointed.
Enjoy!
Nick
Message 13 of 33 in Discussion
From: Roodey5Sent: 8/2/2004 3:53 PM
Hi Nick,
You may have already had this in mind but imho I think it would be nice to have descriptions for each chapter that provide a framework of what should be listed under each item. For instance “How it operates” could incorporate information from the various other chapter headings so it would be good to have more precise info as to what info should go under each heading.
Roodey
Message 14 of 33 in Discussion
From: dunstergirlSent: 8/4/2004 1:20 AM
OT -- but Coach, there are many other reasons besides the lack of appropriate bathroom facilities why women don't ice fish...like, we simply cannot grasp why an otherwise sane human being would spend hours crouched over a hole in the ice and freezing off his best parts simply for the sake of a few fresh fish (could it be the beer and the decidedly not female companionship??). But we do enjoy the stories about "bob huts" (and trucks, and the odd really dumb guy) disappearing into the lake in the spring when the ice just can't take it anymore. Just natural selection in action...
Cheers,
Lelani
Message 15 of 33 in Discussion
From: Jeremy22772Sent: 8/4/2004 3:15 PM
Nick:
There are quite a few businesses that are easy enough to set up and run. I'll list them off here, and then post the "mini biz plan" when I get some more time.
1. Delivery company - you just need to set up contracts with local restaurants, computer stores and anybody who doesn't want to hire a delivery driver. You need a CB base and a number of radios that have magnetic aerials and some delivery drivers. You pay them 60% plus their tips and you keep 40% for answering phones and calling out the delivery locations.
2. Deck building - build fences and decks for anybody who needs them. You need a drill, skill saw, level and plumb-bob and you're set. Advertise through word of mouth and small yard signs. Most lumber stores will give contractors a 10% discount on supplies and even finance you short term. Two employees working while you charge $20/ man hour makes you some money
3. Deliver and assemble - go to stores like Wal-Mart that sell furniture that isn't assembled. Tell them that you will deliver and assemble for anyone who needs it. People here charge $50 for delivery and $50 for assembly. A lot of older people will pay to have someone else lug 80lbs furniture-in-a-box around and set it up for them.
4. Shopping cart retreival - pick up shopping carts for local grocery and department stores. Carts cost stores over $1500, so they will pay $80 for returned carts (give or take). You need a vehicle (preferably a truck), a flat-deck trailer and two employees that don't mind staying up late. Go around to condos and parks and find the MIA shopping carts, load them up and deliver. First, make sure you have an agreement with the store.
5. Window sealing - re-caulk windows. Caulking on windows (seals out the weather around the window) needs to be replaced every 2 years. Sun will damage the old caulking no matter what quality it is. Go an buy the cauliking in bulk (6 month shelf life), a caulking gun and a ladder. Train your employees on scrap wood and do a good job. Quality here will keep people coming back to you. Again, advertise with yard signs and word of mouth. You could charge $20 per window, and make even more money by offering to paint wooden window trims while you're there. Use latex caulking since you can't paint silicone.
6. Landscaping - a lot of kids do this, so why not you? Hire a couple of kids to mow lawns twice a month. Set up accounts with people, and you can charge from $25 to $50 per mow. Pay the kids $8 per hour and everybody's happy. You will need a lawn mower, gas and transportation. Start with this and grow it into laying sod, building gardens and any other landscaping jobs. Most suppliers of products will deliver, so you won't need a large truck initially.
Well, that's all I have time for right now. I'll go through these and add further information later.
From: OldNikkoSent: 8/2/2004 12:07 PM
Please pardon the re-post... it is simply to remove the extended included text, thereby saving some of our precious web-space.
Thanks for the reminder Jim --- I've also added the link for your offer because I believe it to be of benefit to our newest members.
From: jfstraw
Good idea, Nick - but ...
I did it years ago and even offer complete, detailed plans for 17 of those businesses as a Special FREE Report on my website.
Jim
Note from the manager: As you know, we usually do not allow "ads" - but this one is a freebie from one of the most highly recognized small business masters (Please note - I did NOT say guru - I consider that particular accolade as being essentially derisive and should be reserved solely for the scammers)... that should rightly be an exception to the rule - and, it doesn't directly generate any income, so I feel good about this small deviation from our gold standard. And, Jim has more good info for free that shouldn't be missed.
For the record - and everyone's edification, the "freebies" Jim speaks of may be found at this link:
http://www.businesslyceum.com/lectures.html You won't be disappointed.
Enjoy!
Nick
Message 13 of 33 in Discussion
From: Roodey5Sent: 8/2/2004 3:53 PM
Hi Nick,
You may have already had this in mind but imho I think it would be nice to have descriptions for each chapter that provide a framework of what should be listed under each item. For instance “How it operates” could incorporate information from the various other chapter headings so it would be good to have more precise info as to what info should go under each heading.
Roodey
Message 14 of 33 in Discussion
From: dunstergirlSent: 8/4/2004 1:20 AM
OT -- but Coach, there are many other reasons besides the lack of appropriate bathroom facilities why women don't ice fish...like, we simply cannot grasp why an otherwise sane human being would spend hours crouched over a hole in the ice and freezing off his best parts simply for the sake of a few fresh fish (could it be the beer and the decidedly not female companionship??). But we do enjoy the stories about "bob huts" (and trucks, and the odd really dumb guy) disappearing into the lake in the spring when the ice just can't take it anymore. Just natural selection in action...
Cheers,
Lelani
Message 15 of 33 in Discussion
From: Jeremy22772Sent: 8/4/2004 3:15 PM
Nick:
There are quite a few businesses that are easy enough to set up and run. I'll list them off here, and then post the "mini biz plan" when I get some more time.
1. Delivery company - you just need to set up contracts with local restaurants, computer stores and anybody who doesn't want to hire a delivery driver. You need a CB base and a number of radios that have magnetic aerials and some delivery drivers. You pay them 60% plus their tips and you keep 40% for answering phones and calling out the delivery locations.
2. Deck building - build fences and decks for anybody who needs them. You need a drill, skill saw, level and plumb-bob and you're set. Advertise through word of mouth and small yard signs. Most lumber stores will give contractors a 10% discount on supplies and even finance you short term. Two employees working while you charge $20/ man hour makes you some money
3. Deliver and assemble - go to stores like Wal-Mart that sell furniture that isn't assembled. Tell them that you will deliver and assemble for anyone who needs it. People here charge $50 for delivery and $50 for assembly. A lot of older people will pay to have someone else lug 80lbs furniture-in-a-box around and set it up for them.
4. Shopping cart retreival - pick up shopping carts for local grocery and department stores. Carts cost stores over $1500, so they will pay $80 for returned carts (give or take). You need a vehicle (preferably a truck), a flat-deck trailer and two employees that don't mind staying up late. Go around to condos and parks and find the MIA shopping carts, load them up and deliver. First, make sure you have an agreement with the store.
5. Window sealing - re-caulk windows. Caulking on windows (seals out the weather around the window) needs to be replaced every 2 years. Sun will damage the old caulking no matter what quality it is. Go an buy the cauliking in bulk (6 month shelf life), a caulking gun and a ladder. Train your employees on scrap wood and do a good job. Quality here will keep people coming back to you. Again, advertise with yard signs and word of mouth. You could charge $20 per window, and make even more money by offering to paint wooden window trims while you're there. Use latex caulking since you can't paint silicone.
6. Landscaping - a lot of kids do this, so why not you? Hire a couple of kids to mow lawns twice a month. Set up accounts with people, and you can charge from $25 to $50 per mow. Pay the kids $8 per hour and everybody's happy. You will need a lawn mower, gas and transportation. Start with this and grow it into laying sod, building gardens and any other landscaping jobs. Most suppliers of products will deliver, so you won't need a large truck initially.
Well, that's all I have time for right now. I'll go through these and add further information later.
Message 16 of 33 in Discussion
From: DdsprojectsSent: 8/4/2004 6:11 PM
Ha, Ha, Ha! 'Jackie of All Trades' here knows tons of whacky and creative 'dirt cheap' ways to always be 'busier than a one armed paper hanger' and for 'cash only' or 'barter' through friends and referrals and referrals of referrals.
Here's a list for starters:
*garage sale and storage resale-easily done, for the storage centers, contact local storage centers in your area and find out when they are 'auctioning' the contents of their defaulting storage tenants but of course you must have a generous garage or backyard to store the stuff and a truck to discard the 'real garbage' that can be included in your auction 'winnings.' When you have your resale garage sales, have beverages on hand in the form of free hot coffee and canned soda for .50c per can, you want the place to smell good and 'welcoming'. Create 'mini' fliers that announce your terms during and at the end of the garage sale. If you do the sale after work during the weekdays hold your garage sale as open until about 8PM so that all those getting off work can swing by. Set up your stuff up in clusters of 'related items' along the sides of your garage or driveway with a few of the items in the clusters reasonably priced. When folks start showing up, keep your eye on them and when they approach a 'cluster' with interest let them know the items are available for a flat price of 'x' amount and that everything is negotiable(if they pick something up and put it down engage them with some positive comments about the item and where applicable, ask the what they think about it, if it's positive, ask them if they'd like to 'name their price.' As folks leave, let all of them know that at the end of the garage sale, whatever's left will be available for a flat price as a 'bundle' on a first come first served basis at a specific time with the 'bundle' price to be decided on at the end of the garage sale and that if there is 'no taker' for the 'bundled' sale, all of the marked items will be sold for 1/2 price. The 'leftovers' can be either kept for future sales or donated as a nice tax deduction through your local thrift store!
*doing garage sales for folks who don't seem to have any luck with doing it themselves (make sure the stuff appears to be enough for you to make some sort of a decent 'split', I've been known to walk away with $250 for 3 hours' worth of garage selling to the amazement of the seller.
*cleaning realtor's clients' houses to prep them for listing and sale. there's nothing cheaper than cleaning supplies so this can morph easily to cleaning folks homes for about 3 hours out of your day. 'Light cleaning jobs' are great 'cause you can offer to do stuff such as wash the dishes, sweep the kitchen, vacuum the house and 'make the beds' in about 30 minutes and make about $50 cash or barter.
*desktop publishing of, printout, and distribution of fliers for real estate offices-this can also be good for other business owners who need leads such as Dentists and specialty small stores.
*holding 'open house' on weekends for $50 for real estate agents when you have nothing in your datebook to do-note, make sure if you are not licensed that you observe the local rules governed by your state, in California for example you are not allowed to answer questions re: price etc but you are allowed to hand out fliers and show folks through the home.
*if you have access to a pressure washer you can deep clean people's driveways for about $40 a pop.
*create outgoing answering phone messages for friends or associates who feel your voice is professional sounding.
*prepare friends or associate's tax returns by hardcopy or Internet provided they are not too 'involved' for your ability. Offer to do it for a cash amount in the form of a percentage of the refund they get.
*alterations of clothing to creation of custom vehicle, window, furniture and appliance coverings-must be at least an intermediate to advanced sewing enthusiast with a good 'eye' for detail and skill in measurements.
-----------------------------------------------
Most of the above have in the past helped me to 'tread water' and at least survive month to month during times of low income/no employment and all of them have the 'seeds' for a regular business even though most have been and are done by many in the 'underground economy.'
Message 17 of 33 in Discussion
From: dunstergirlSent: 8/5/2004 1:06 AM
On topic this time...
Computer consulting for anyone who knows less about computers than you do. This can involve pretty much anything you can do and your neighbours/clients can't (from windows basics to internet access to viruses and spyware to fixing something that isn't working quite right, you name it). Particularly appropriate in smaller communities, but probably equally effective in bigger centres - there's lots of people out there still feeling pretty intimidated by that machine in their home/office/car...
As the acknowledged computer expert in these parts (not through any promotional efforts, just that I was involved with computers, the net, etc., a long time before most of my neighbours, and somehow everyone figured that out PDQ) I've traded this particular skill for everything from truckloads of manure to getting my driveway plowed to getting my snowblower and/or vehicle fixed. Never felt right about actually charging money to locals for these services but barter feels fine, and has it's own rewards (the lack of a tax man high among them, not to mention long-term goodwill, which is also important in a small community).
Also (culling from neighbour's activities and not my own), home-based vehicle/small engine repair -- lots of demand for that if you can do it well -- I have a farmer neighbour who's expanded into automotive work - picks my vehicle up at the store or at my home, does what I've asked, and brings it back (at a price well below the mechanic in town, particularly when you consider travel time and cost and waiting around or arranging alternate transport while things get fixed)...and even leaves me his truck for use if I have immediate travel requirements. And another neighbour has long been the king of small engine work...why take it to town if he can fix it better and cheaper?
Cheers,
Lelani
P.S. Having a couple dozen laying hens also, in the long run, seems to produce enough income (eggs) to justify their feed as long as you happen to like doing it and don't rate your labour too highly. But certain hobbies (or obsessions, call it what you like) can at least pay for themselves...
Message 18 of 33 in Discussion
From: askmrmarkSent: 8/5/2004 11:19 PM
Greetings,
Please note....
Cities are starting to crack down on garage sales professionals.
People who hold more than the occasional garage sale.
They are hungry for the new tax plus the nosy neighbors like to complain
because their neighbors are making tax free money and they arent.
The storage unit auctions are interesting.
You can not inspect the loot, just bid on what you see and hope for the best.
Attend a couple and you will see it is a "family". Groups of people who do it regularly and have an outlet for what they buy. It is interesting to talk to these people an hear the stories of the treasures they found.
But you must clean out the locker totally and accept whatever you find in them. Good or bad.. A true treasure hunt. Helps to have a person who works the flea market or has an ebay fetish to sell the stuff...
Fast cash if you dont mind getting your hands dirty
Mark Anthony
http://mrmarktours.com
Message 19 of 33 in Discussion
From: OldNikkoSent: 8/6/2004 10:53 AM
Boat and other watercraft repair.... A young water-enthusiast in town started doing this for a part-time income... and is now in a full-time business.
Since we leave quite near the largest inland lake in the state, there are a LOT of folks that have, use and enjoy their assorted watercraft. Considering that the lake is a man-made reservoir, there are more than enough "obstacles" to damage the craft of the unwary watercraft operators on the lake. This young fella started by fixing his own craft, then added his friends as the word got around - and eventually, he started to take in other locals and even some tourists craft. He started with basis hull repairs to fibreglas and aluminum hulls, and as he took a few "mechanics" courses at the community college, he added power systems to his repertoire.
During most of the year, he now has more work than he can handle operating out of that old abandoned gas station located on an old section of a major highway that was re-route around our town. His rates are excellent compared to what the "marine dealerships" charge... and his work is very good as well. If I were to guess what his income is from what now has become a full-time endeavor, I would guess low... and that would be in the neighborhood of $400-500/day in labor alone. Add the stuff he's started selling to his customers beyond repairs and it adds up quickly.
The cost to get into this work can vary from very little, to quite high if one needs to have all the fancy diagnostic equipment.... but in reality, can be started for very little if the operator has most or all of the basic hand tools needed. His "advertising" costs are almost non-existent beyond maintaining a sign out front and a few strategically placed small signs on trees near the lake-side parking areas.
His main "problem" now is - he has no-one to repair all the fancy electronics stuff. Know anyone around here that can do that? If so, there is more work than that person could handle too. Send 'em by for a chat..... will ya'?
Nick
From: DdsprojectsSent: 8/4/2004 6:11 PM
Ha, Ha, Ha! 'Jackie of All Trades' here knows tons of whacky and creative 'dirt cheap' ways to always be 'busier than a one armed paper hanger' and for 'cash only' or 'barter' through friends and referrals and referrals of referrals.
Here's a list for starters:
*garage sale and storage resale-easily done, for the storage centers, contact local storage centers in your area and find out when they are 'auctioning' the contents of their defaulting storage tenants but of course you must have a generous garage or backyard to store the stuff and a truck to discard the 'real garbage' that can be included in your auction 'winnings.' When you have your resale garage sales, have beverages on hand in the form of free hot coffee and canned soda for .50c per can, you want the place to smell good and 'welcoming'. Create 'mini' fliers that announce your terms during and at the end of the garage sale. If you do the sale after work during the weekdays hold your garage sale as open until about 8PM so that all those getting off work can swing by. Set up your stuff up in clusters of 'related items' along the sides of your garage or driveway with a few of the items in the clusters reasonably priced. When folks start showing up, keep your eye on them and when they approach a 'cluster' with interest let them know the items are available for a flat price of 'x' amount and that everything is negotiable(if they pick something up and put it down engage them with some positive comments about the item and where applicable, ask the what they think about it, if it's positive, ask them if they'd like to 'name their price.' As folks leave, let all of them know that at the end of the garage sale, whatever's left will be available for a flat price as a 'bundle' on a first come first served basis at a specific time with the 'bundle' price to be decided on at the end of the garage sale and that if there is 'no taker' for the 'bundled' sale, all of the marked items will be sold for 1/2 price. The 'leftovers' can be either kept for future sales or donated as a nice tax deduction through your local thrift store!
*doing garage sales for folks who don't seem to have any luck with doing it themselves (make sure the stuff appears to be enough for you to make some sort of a decent 'split', I've been known to walk away with $250 for 3 hours' worth of garage selling to the amazement of the seller.
*cleaning realtor's clients' houses to prep them for listing and sale. there's nothing cheaper than cleaning supplies so this can morph easily to cleaning folks homes for about 3 hours out of your day. 'Light cleaning jobs' are great 'cause you can offer to do stuff such as wash the dishes, sweep the kitchen, vacuum the house and 'make the beds' in about 30 minutes and make about $50 cash or barter.
*desktop publishing of, printout, and distribution of fliers for real estate offices-this can also be good for other business owners who need leads such as Dentists and specialty small stores.
*holding 'open house' on weekends for $50 for real estate agents when you have nothing in your datebook to do-note, make sure if you are not licensed that you observe the local rules governed by your state, in California for example you are not allowed to answer questions re: price etc but you are allowed to hand out fliers and show folks through the home.
*if you have access to a pressure washer you can deep clean people's driveways for about $40 a pop.
*create outgoing answering phone messages for friends or associates who feel your voice is professional sounding.
*prepare friends or associate's tax returns by hardcopy or Internet provided they are not too 'involved' for your ability. Offer to do it for a cash amount in the form of a percentage of the refund they get.
*alterations of clothing to creation of custom vehicle, window, furniture and appliance coverings-must be at least an intermediate to advanced sewing enthusiast with a good 'eye' for detail and skill in measurements.
-----------------------------------------------
Most of the above have in the past helped me to 'tread water' and at least survive month to month during times of low income/no employment and all of them have the 'seeds' for a regular business even though most have been and are done by many in the 'underground economy.'
Message 17 of 33 in Discussion
From: dunstergirlSent: 8/5/2004 1:06 AM
On topic this time...
Computer consulting for anyone who knows less about computers than you do. This can involve pretty much anything you can do and your neighbours/clients can't (from windows basics to internet access to viruses and spyware to fixing something that isn't working quite right, you name it). Particularly appropriate in smaller communities, but probably equally effective in bigger centres - there's lots of people out there still feeling pretty intimidated by that machine in their home/office/car...
As the acknowledged computer expert in these parts (not through any promotional efforts, just that I was involved with computers, the net, etc., a long time before most of my neighbours, and somehow everyone figured that out PDQ) I've traded this particular skill for everything from truckloads of manure to getting my driveway plowed to getting my snowblower and/or vehicle fixed. Never felt right about actually charging money to locals for these services but barter feels fine, and has it's own rewards (the lack of a tax man high among them, not to mention long-term goodwill, which is also important in a small community).
Also (culling from neighbour's activities and not my own), home-based vehicle/small engine repair -- lots of demand for that if you can do it well -- I have a farmer neighbour who's expanded into automotive work - picks my vehicle up at the store or at my home, does what I've asked, and brings it back (at a price well below the mechanic in town, particularly when you consider travel time and cost and waiting around or arranging alternate transport while things get fixed)...and even leaves me his truck for use if I have immediate travel requirements. And another neighbour has long been the king of small engine work...why take it to town if he can fix it better and cheaper?
Cheers,
Lelani
P.S. Having a couple dozen laying hens also, in the long run, seems to produce enough income (eggs) to justify their feed as long as you happen to like doing it and don't rate your labour too highly. But certain hobbies (or obsessions, call it what you like) can at least pay for themselves...
Message 18 of 33 in Discussion
From: askmrmarkSent: 8/5/2004 11:19 PM
Greetings,
Please note....
Cities are starting to crack down on garage sales professionals.
People who hold more than the occasional garage sale.
They are hungry for the new tax plus the nosy neighbors like to complain
because their neighbors are making tax free money and they arent.
The storage unit auctions are interesting.
You can not inspect the loot, just bid on what you see and hope for the best.
Attend a couple and you will see it is a "family". Groups of people who do it regularly and have an outlet for what they buy. It is interesting to talk to these people an hear the stories of the treasures they found.
But you must clean out the locker totally and accept whatever you find in them. Good or bad.. A true treasure hunt. Helps to have a person who works the flea market or has an ebay fetish to sell the stuff...
Fast cash if you dont mind getting your hands dirty
Mark Anthony
http://mrmarktours.com
Message 19 of 33 in Discussion
From: OldNikkoSent: 8/6/2004 10:53 AM
Boat and other watercraft repair.... A young water-enthusiast in town started doing this for a part-time income... and is now in a full-time business.
Since we leave quite near the largest inland lake in the state, there are a LOT of folks that have, use and enjoy their assorted watercraft. Considering that the lake is a man-made reservoir, there are more than enough "obstacles" to damage the craft of the unwary watercraft operators on the lake. This young fella started by fixing his own craft, then added his friends as the word got around - and eventually, he started to take in other locals and even some tourists craft. He started with basis hull repairs to fibreglas and aluminum hulls, and as he took a few "mechanics" courses at the community college, he added power systems to his repertoire.
During most of the year, he now has more work than he can handle operating out of that old abandoned gas station located on an old section of a major highway that was re-route around our town. His rates are excellent compared to what the "marine dealerships" charge... and his work is very good as well. If I were to guess what his income is from what now has become a full-time endeavor, I would guess low... and that would be in the neighborhood of $400-500/day in labor alone. Add the stuff he's started selling to his customers beyond repairs and it adds up quickly.
The cost to get into this work can vary from very little, to quite high if one needs to have all the fancy diagnostic equipment.... but in reality, can be started for very little if the operator has most or all of the basic hand tools needed. His "advertising" costs are almost non-existent beyond maintaining a sign out front and a few strategically placed small signs on trees near the lake-side parking areas.
His main "problem" now is - he has no-one to repair all the fancy electronics stuff. Know anyone around here that can do that? If so, there is more work than that person could handle too. Send 'em by for a chat..... will ya'?
Nick
Continued....-->
Chinese hawkers push manufacturers out of town..Nairobi Kenya
The growing presence of Chinese traders in Nairobi is causing panic among small and medium entrepreneurs and manufacturers. Complaints are flowing fast about the low-priced and what, it is believed, are substandard goods brought into the country by Chinese investors.
Manufacturers are up in arms, saying the low-priced goods were eating into their sales and leading to huge losses, partly due to the sector’s limited or poor capacity to distribute. They are blaming the Government for not supporting and protecting them from the cheap imports.
“We have seen counterfeit goods in the country by fellow Kenyans but this is not as worrying as the high presence of China-made goods being imported into the country,” says Paul Kinuthia, the director at Interconsumer Products, an SME in Kenya.
Interconsumer deals in personal care products and has had to reduce some of their prices as competition intensifies. Personal care products sector feel the pinch of imported cosmetics from China selling at much cheaper rates.
Now the Chinese have taken to hawking their wares in town due to the high demand for their products. To read more visit www.bdafrica.com
Manufacturers are up in arms, saying the low-priced goods were eating into their sales and leading to huge losses, partly due to the sector’s limited or poor capacity to distribute. They are blaming the Government for not supporting and protecting them from the cheap imports.
“We have seen counterfeit goods in the country by fellow Kenyans but this is not as worrying as the high presence of China-made goods being imported into the country,” says Paul Kinuthia, the director at Interconsumer Products, an SME in Kenya.
Interconsumer deals in personal care products and has had to reduce some of their prices as competition intensifies. Personal care products sector feel the pinch of imported cosmetics from China selling at much cheaper rates.
Now the Chinese have taken to hawking their wares in town due to the high demand for their products. To read more visit www.bdafrica.com
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