Life choices.

[GirlyMan]

(01-09-2012 08:27 AM)earmuffs Wrote:  Anyway, thoughts of giving up university to start my business that I so often talk about?

Think somebody's been spiking your muffins.

[earmuffs]

(01-09-2012 10:08 AM)Dom Wrote:  Here's a business you can do on the side with an outlay of less that $100 that works most anyplace:

Go the craigs list and jenny's and your local paper's classifieds. (don't forget the classifieds!)

Write down the contact info etc for all the handimen that advertise there.

Call them up and ask them if they were willing to pay you 10% for jobs you refer to them. Make sure they are licenced and have experience. Write down their licence numbers etc. Make an info sheet about each one so you can answer questions - years of experience, what they are specializing in, references, etc.

Think of a name for your business and go to your town hall or whatever and file a DBA (doing business as)

Put ads on Craigs and the local newspaper classifieds (yes, you are partially targeting an older generation, like widows and such, they need reliable handimen. You are also targeting younger affluent people who have no time for house stuff, them you can catch online).

Wait for your phone to ring or emails to come in and refer the jobs.

Collect your money.

I've used this a a crutch several times when I moved or was between businesses. It always seems to work fine. It's not a lifetime inspiration, but it generates money til you have come up with a great plan for your next move.

P.S. Do NOT use a generic email address like Yahoo etc, get one that has your business name as domain. You need basic trust.

Interesting idea.
I don't have a phone though and I'm not sure how well contractors would take to me asking to manage them, I think they'd take offense actually. This country is stupid like that.

Quote:There is no reason why one cannot BOTH go to school, AND work on a business at the same time. If you want to switch to another school, or another way to go to school, fine, but someday, you will regret not finishing, at least eventually finishing. And, besides, the paradigm is changing. Life-long learning is now the thing. You should have a plan for all the shit you want to learn about. This doesn't have to be a one-or-the-other thing. Do both, if that's what you want.

Yea that may be the way to go.

I think you'll are right, I might as well finish now. Get that stupid piece of paper and file it away somewhere.
Also I don't think future partners (no way I'm going into partnership, not because I want to do it myself but because of legal reasons partnerships are sketchy as hell if you ask me) would make their decision based on a piece of paper. What do they want? Money. At the end of the day all future partners, or investors or whatever are looking for is if I can turn a profit or not. The piece of paper doesn't mean you're good at what you studied, performance is what matters.

But I can't just do university, it's mind numbing. It's not as simple as do another paper. My degree is structured, I have certain papers I HAVE to do, all these papers are huge classes where you are very much just a number (literally, when you hand in an assignment you simply put your student number at the top of the page).

So here is what I am going to do.
Firstly, I need a job asap because bills and shit.
Summer holidays are coming up which will give me ample time to work on a business plan and talk to the bank, find space etc... Then once that is done I'm opening. Hopefully that'll keep me busy.
But if I strike it rich I'm dropping out.

[Anjele]

It's a deal...if you strike it rich then you can drop out, otherwise finish school.

[Dom]

(02-09-2012 01:32 AM)earmuffs Wrote:  

(01-09-2012 10:08 AM)Dom Wrote:  Here's a business you can do on the side with an outlay of less that $100 that works most anyplace:

Go the craigs list and jenny's and your local paper's classifieds. (don't forget the classifieds!)

Write down the contact info etc for all the handimen that advertise there.

Call them up and ask them if they were willing to pay you 10% for jobs you refer to them. Make sure they are licenced and have experience. Write down their licence numbers etc. Make an info sheet about each one so you can answer questions - years of experience, what they are specializing in, references, etc.

Think of a name for your business and go to your town hall or whatever and file a DBA (doing business as)

Put ads on Craigs and the local newspaper classifieds (yes, you are partially targeting an older generation, like widows and such, they need reliable handimen. You are also targeting younger affluent people who have no time for house stuff, them you can catch online).

Wait for your phone to ring or emails to come in and refer the jobs.

Collect your money.

I've used this a a crutch several times when I moved or was between businesses. It always seems to work fine. It's not a lifetime inspiration, but it generates money til you have come up with a great plan for your next move.

P.S. Do NOT use a generic email address like Yahoo etc, get one that has your business name as domain. You need basic trust.

Interesting idea.
I don't have a phone though and I'm not sure how well contractors would take to me asking to manage them, I think they'd take offense actually. This country is stupid like that.

You don't manage them. They still do whatever they have always done. You just refer additional clients to them and get paid for that. You are merely an additional source of work for them.