It’s been said once, it’s been said a million times: the only way to generate true, lasting wealth (besides inheritance) is to start a business.
Doctor and lawyers and business people can be making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in salary, but there is a limit to what human time is worth, and by some estimations its around $1,000 an hour. You might make more, but that means you’re working more.
So starting a business is a good goal… how is it done?
Here’s a great list of 10 simple small businesses to get going.
1. Vending
Everybody likes a little snack food, and the beauty of vending machines: they’re automatic. Besides the monthly (hopefully weekly) trip to fill up the machines, they do all the work for you.
Vending machines can cost upwards of $500, but if you want to get off the ground fast, start with a gumball machine! These little guys are cheap, versatile, and can turn a hefty profit. Here’s the breakdown:
Capital: $80
Use to Buy: 1 Gumball Machine ($60), 400 Gumballs ($20)
Monthly Revenue: 400 Gumballs x $0.25 Each = $100
Expand: Every gumball machine brings in $100, which is enough to buy another machine. Follow the fibonnaci sequence to see how much you can make each month: $100, $200, $300, $500, $800, $1,300… after a year you could be making $37,000 every month.
Warning: Finding a place to put your vending machines can be difficult. Try to find a venue before you buy the machine!
2. Etsy
If you’ve ever been on Pinterest, you can see that a lot of the most sought after crafts on the web are readily available for sale on Etsy.
Etsy’s annual sales topped $2 billion, and it’s only headed up. In order to snag your piece of the pie, find a craft you love making and market it online.
Capital: $100
Use to Buy: Craft Supplies; at least enough to make a couple products ($60), Internet Ads ($40)
Monthly Revenue: $400 (the first round of products should be sold for at least $200. with $40 in ads you should be able to sell everything in a week. With a $100 cost that’s $100 a week)
Expand: Once you have a loyal customer base, expand into other products, crafts, and option (colors, sizes, etc). If you’re consistently doubling your money ($60 in supplies and $40 in ads generates $200 in sales), then pump all your revenue back into the business. Hire a part time crafter to help you meet your demand.
Warning: Start with one product! If you can’t make your best product sell, nothing will sell. Once you figure out the system with a single craft, then you expand. Don’t get ahead of yourself!
3. Home Service
This is perhaps the simplest way to build a great business. It requires a lot of hard work, but once you build a customer base, you can set it up to run hands-free.
This is a really broad category, but the general equation is the same.
Think of something you have to do but hate doing. This could be washing your windows, cleaning the gutter, mowing the grass… anything. Now become really good at it.
Once you really have a skill in that area, begin offering it to neighbors for a price. Make sure it’s worth your time; it should be at least $30 for every hour it takes to complete.
Capital: $0-$40 (Depends on what kinds of supplies you need)
Use to Buy: What ever you need to do your first job
Monthly Revenue: 5 clients x $30 per client x 4 weeks in a month = $600 (Assuming they need this service every week)
Expand: Once you have a couple “clients” train someone else to do what you do. Go with them to the first couple jobs to make sure they’re doing a good job. Pay them 60-80% of what the “client” is paying you.
Now that you’ve outsourced the work you can focus on client acquisition full time. Place advertisements, meet people, get on social media, and grow!
If you build up a client base of over 100, and you pay someone to do all of the work, you could have a passive income of $2,400 every month!
The Finance And Business Blog 