Dream you and me up a business

[Tinkerer]

Re: Dream you and me up a business

NYMINUTE<br /><br />Aaah, yes.<br /><br />Cash businesses.<br /><br />MMMMMMMM!

 

[Tinkerer]

Re: Dream you and me up a business

dolluper<br /><br />I sell a lot on eBay, but it's going downhill steadily. Wouldn't want to rely on it for an income as they keep changing the rules and screwing the market for small sellers.

 

[12Footer]

Re: Dream you and me up a business

Originally posted by Tinkerer:<br /> I've been thinking along parallel lines on a bigger scale about boat detailing / fibreglass repolishing.<br /><br />The problem is that the boats that need it the most are probably worth the least so the owners won't pay.<br /><br />I wonder about a lot of small job mobile services like car vinyl or paint chip repair. Do you think people really use them, outside the car trade?

It's funny you should mention that.. This 3M product pair werk GREAT on chalky jellcoat. I tried it on the Cobra project boat's hull just for giggles. Beautiful results and no burn-thru.<br />But the cost would be high to do an entire hull, with each bottle rougly cleaning 24Sq Ft of boat hull...That would be 30 buks worth for a little 16footer.<br />But if the profits are there, (say $12.50 American per linear foot), it would be a money maker. But you could paint it allmost as cheaply, i would think.

 

[Tinkerer]

Re: Dream you and me up a business

Originally posted by 12Footer:<br /> But if the profits are there, (say $12.50 American per linear foot), it would be a money maker. But you could paint it allmost as cheaply, i would think.

Maybe on materials, but not on labour. Prepping for paint takes way, way longer than re-polishing.

 

[one more cast]

Re: Dream you and me up a business

I wonder about a lot of small job mobile services like car vinyl or paint chip repair. Do you think people really use them, outside the car trade?

I met a guy one time that went around to the big marinas and did vinyl repair on boats. Said he could make $1000/week in the summer time.He also did the same at diners.

 

[all thumbs]

Re: Dream you and me up a business

We had a girl [ not too bad to look at] who came to our place of business and removed small stone blemishes from the windshield of one of our trucks. The next time she came our whole fleet needed windshields fixed. Business was good!

 

[mattttt25]

Re: Dream you and me up a business

there is always going to be a market for doing things people either don't know how to do, or are too lazy to do themselves. usually the wealthy fall into this catagory.<br /><br />i always thought you could make a living off of this principal in the shopping or "finding" department.<br /><br />someone calls you and gives you their christmas order, birthday list, etc. you sit home and spend a few hours on the net finding everything and shipping the orders to their home. you then send them their bill plus 10%. you'd be surprised how many old timers still have no idea how to use the internet and don't care to learn.<br /><br />i think you could really exploit this with harder to find items. i'm always helping friends or family find things on the web. it's usually a 10 minute event for me, and something they were struggling with for 2 weeks. just need to find a way to package and market this service.

 

[SoulWinner]

Re: Dream you and me up a business

Around here there are several guys making a killing with mobile auto detail outfits. The pull a trailer with a water tank on it, and they go around a detail cars for people while they are at work. They do it right there in the parking lot. And they make more money than the people they work for.

 

[deputydawg]

Re: Dream you and me up a business

Talking of auto detailing, I know three men who do similar work. They travel to the truck stops polishing the chrome on the trucks. They will make an easy $500 a day. Split 3 ways it works for them. They only work a few hours a day, only when they want to. <br />Usually in the winter they travel south to warmer climate, rent an apartment for a few months and go to work at the truck stops. They have a few trucking companies that hire them every 6 months to come polish all of their trucks chrome. <br />Last winter they got hooked up with two companies to work from home. One company made headers for corvettes. They shipped the headers to them to be polished. They would remove the burs from the manufacture, polish the chrome, and ship them back for about $50 per header. They would get (I think) $50 per header. They could easily do 10 a day each.<br />They also had a contract to polish and remove the burs and whatever on paint spray nozzles and valves. This paid about $25 per nozzel, but they could do 20 to 30 a day. <br />People laughed at them for being chrome polishers. If they only knew they were making an easy 40 to 50K per year each, most under the table. Probably averaging 4 or 5 hours a day each throughout the year.

 

[Tinkerer]

Re: Dream you and me up a business

Reminds me the best paying job I ever had was 30 odd years ago putting reflective film on windows. I've moved a long way up the salary scale since then but I'm still making about the same dollars an hour in straight dollars, i.e. not adjusted for wages growth which must be somewhere around 5 to 8 times what it was then, if not more.<br /><br />Knew a sad bloke 15 years ago who could make $300 for a morning washing car windows at traffic lights. Maybe the sadder you look the more you make.<br /><br />The suggestions so far all show there's plenty of opportunities to make money doing something outside the usual situations vacant type of jobs.

 

[snapperbait]

Re: Dream you and me up a business

How bout a "go-fer" service... Ya know.. go fer this, go fer that.. Running errands for folks who can't, other businesses, picking up/deliver dry cleaning/laundry, ect. ect. ect.....<br /><br />Tinks go-fer service..

 

[Tinkerer]

Re: Dream you and me up a business

snapperbait's post sort of links with the others and got me thinking along these lines.<br /><br />There's endless specialised home and business services for mowing lawns, cleaning windows, swimming pool maintenance, washing cars, walking dogs etc. Also franchises for every one of these.<br /><br />Most of them most of us can do already. <br /><br />Why not bundle them all together?<br /><br />Be a lot easier hiring one servant to do half a dozen jobs, plus you don't have so many strangers around your house.<br /><br />From the worker's viewpoint it's a lot more efficient in travelling time, fuel etc to be doing half a dozen jobs in each of three or four places a day than one job in 20 or more places. You'd also be the first one the homeowner thinks of for odd jobs for a few extra dollars.

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: Dream you and me up a business

Here is a suggestion Tink.<br />Go around all the Flea Markets in your district and have a good look at what people are selling/doing there.<br />There is a Publication called Markets and Fairs (I think that's its name). <br />It gives the location of every market in the Country , split up in to States. Gives the Name of the Market, Place, Price, contact Phone of operator etc.Also lists all shows etc.<br />If you want a copy, let me know, I have an old one somewhere and it will have the address on it.<br />Have a Dutch mate, and when he arrived off the boat couldn't speak English. He went around garage sales and bought up old tools, mechanical/garden/everything. Spent the week cleaning them up, linseed oil handles, some sort of oil on steel, then sold them at a flea market.<br />There are a lot of opportunities, and flea markets can be a good place to view them.<br />We do 2 flea markets with our plants, and for the past 10 yrs (up till 6 mths back) did exceptionally well. It will come again.<br />There are some ideal benefits to them too. No credit cards/paid on the spot/can negotiate on your price/overheads real low/when you get to know the other stall holders, they are a community of their own.<br />Cheers<br />Phillip