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If you had 2 months to learn a skill, that adds value and makes you money, what would you learn?

USN-Ken

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Check out Sweaty Startup (google his site). He has a page with a ton of service business ideas you can start and get operational and profitable in 2 months, NO DEGREE REQUIRED. The first 2 months would be learning to market your service (Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp). Hint: Just showing up when you SAY you will show up will make you MORE competitive than most others offering the same service. Learn to charge appropriate amounts, learn to bill/invoice for work done. HINT: take photos and include that on your invoice.
@karakoram Great share! Just checked it out and signed up for his newsletter. Thanks!
 
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astr0

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Tbh i would love to get a job and start working on my own. Its just that i live in a poor south Asian country where jobs such as painting, window cleaning, grass cutting are done by people who come from very low income families and they earn 90-100$ / month for doing such jobs so like 3$ per hour . So yes unlike the USA or developed European economies these jobs are very underpaid. I come from a relatively upper middle class family which firmly believes that one should go to university, get a job and then live life.
Almost the same here, in Ukraine.

It seems common for most developing countries. You can't raise prices cause of the competition and cause your clients would simply do everything themselves if that's too expensive for them.

I've noticed that product businesses and commerce/e-commerce are still doing great here though. You'll need some funds and some skill not to burn it all to start something like that though.

Planned to learn app development but decided better to learn python/data science and from that income outsource the app dev work.
YES!

Learning some service skills that could be sold through the internet is a great way to escape this poverty and continue from there.

From a business perspective - you can hire employees for cheap there and that's a major benefit for geo-arbitrage types of businesses too. And the cost of living should be very low with those salaries, so you can build sufficient funds quite fast.
 

Marcobello

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Pressure Washing.
Painting.
window cleaning
cutting grass

Seems silly? Most people are riding the big tech wave. Trying to code, etc. the competition in blue collar industries? absolutely sucks. they can't communicate. they can't show up on time. They don't seem honest or trustworthy. They can't sell their own services. You can blow the market out of the water.

Why compete with huge tech companies and people all over the world? I'd rather compete with people that don't know how to run a business and can't communicate.

I own a pressure washing company, so maybe I'm biased. I quote jobs and make an average of $100/hour. Sometimes upwards of $200/hour. Pay my guy $25/hour to do the job. I can make $75+/hour laying in bed.

The internet is worldwide. I can find someone in a foreign country to code something for $10/hour. You're facing off against the rest of the world. Why compete with that? Blue collar industry, you're facing off against everyone in your backyard. And trust me, they suck. AND THERE'S HUGE DEMAND FOR IT.
Oh, please!
 

Stevekins

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My 2 cents: learn SALES. Coding gives you a specific job while sales is valuable either as an entrepreneur or as an employee. But even as an employee if you go for a percentage of sales - this can be a great leverage. And as an entrepreneur knowing SALES is crucial. And I learned sales in 30 sessions (1h each) from the best of the best - 18% conversion rate on phone calls. After you learn the theory - you can find countless opportunities where you can immediately apply and practice the skill while earning money. (I have a master in Computer Science and 20 years working in the field - so I know for sure what a tedious work coding is.)
I have been watching videos on this currently, but I need to practice my skills. May I know who you learnt from and how I can get hands on sales practice and experience? Thanks

My 2 cents: learn SALES. Coding gives you a specific job while sales is valuable either as an entrepreneur or as an employee. But even as an employee if you go for a percentage of sales - this can be a great leverage. And as an entrepreneur knowing SALES is crucial. And I learned sales in 30 sessions (1h each) from the best of the best - 18% conversion rate on phone calls. After you learn the theory - you can find countless opportunities where you can immediately apply and practice the skill while earning money. (I have a master in Computer Science and 20 years working in the field - so I know for sure what a tedious work coding is.)
 

Jav100

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Agree

But one question with these businesses is once you hire employees, what's to stop them from starting their own business and being competitors? They know your clients, know how to do the job?

I know this can happen with tech businesses too, but seems more challenging with those.

I know many of these businesses have been around for years and there are just some people who prefer to be an employee rather than an owner, and its not easy to be an owner of these businesses but just curious on thoughts


Pressure Washing.
Painting.
window cleaning
cutting grass

Seems silly? Most people are riding the big tech wave. Trying to code, etc. the competition in blue collar industries? absolutely sucks. they can't communicate. they can't show up on time. They don't seem honest or trustworthy. They can't sell their own services. You can blow the market out of the water.

Why compete with huge tech companies and people all over the world? I'd rather compete with people that don't know how to run a business and can't communicate.

I own a pressure washing company, so maybe I'm biased. I quote jobs and make an average of $100/hour. Sometimes upwards of $200/hour. Pay my guy $25/hour to do the job. I can make $75+/hour laying in bed.

The internet is worldwide. I can find someone in a foreign country to code something for $10/hour. You're facing off against the rest of the world. Why compete with that? Blue collar industry, you're facing off against everyone in your backyard. And trust me, they suck. AND THERE'S HUGE DEMAND FOR IT.
 

ChrisGav

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Agree

But one question with these businesses is once you hire employees, what's to stop them from starting their own business and being competitors? They know your clients, know how to do the job?

I know this can happen with tech businesses too, but seems more challenging with those.

I know many of these businesses have been around for years and there are just some people who prefer to be an employee rather than an owner, and its not easy to be an owner of these businesses but just curious on thoughts
Some of this is inevitable I’m sure. But the real thing is: most people simply don’t want to put in what it takes to build a business.

I think it won’t be an issue if you pay your employees well, treat them well, etc. a lot of people lack the business mindset. They may be able to use a pressure washer well, but do they know how to sell? Get clients? Are they willing to take the risk and buy a few thousand dollars worth of equipment?

The majority of people are comfortable showing up, getting paid, and living a comfortable lifestyle. Many people say they want to start their own business, but when it comes to execution, it usually doesn’t happen.

You briefly touched on it, but it’s very similar with online businesses. What stops me from watching 5 YouTube videos and going to make Wordpress sites for people? Nothing. But that industry does not appeal to me. And the main benefit, a pressure washing business will not appeal to many employees. Or appeal to many people in general at all. That is the greatest defense when it comes to employees starting a business like this. Especially with the huge societal push of “follow your passion”.
 
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fastermillionair

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Some of this is inevitable I’m sure. But the real thing is: most people simply don’t want to put in what it takes to build a business.

I think it won’t be an issue if you pay your employees well, treat them well, etc. a lot of people lack the business mindset. They may be able to use a pressure washer well, but do they know how to sell? Get clients? Are they willing to take the risk and buy a few thousand dollars worth of equipment?

The majority of people are comfortable showing up, getting paid, and living a comfortable lifestyle. Many people say they want to start their own business, but when it comes to execution, it usually doesn’t happen.

You briefly touched on it, but it’s very similar with online businesses. What stops me from watching 5 YouTube videos and going to make Wordpress sites for people? Nothing. But that industry does not appeal to me. And the main benefit, a pressure washing business will not appeal to many employees. Or appeal to many people in general at all. That is the greatest defense when it comes to employees starting a business like this. Especially with the huge societal push of “follow your passion”.

Great ideas man.

Since i am learning app dev, i was thinking of creating an app for that sort of business -pressure washing , cooking , cleaning etc.,
In fact, it was my teacher who mentioned how the workers setting up furniture in her house/painting etc., showed up late or sometimes never showed up and i realised how valuable it would be to create an app solely for that purpose.

Basically uber but for household chores/ house maintenance. And considering there are very few apps ( or i guess none) doing this it would work very well if marketed properly.

Costs i am assuming would be:
- providing tools to workers
- clothing for workers
- marketing costs
- training costs

There may be a few more costs. Usually workers here have their own tools and know their craft, its just that they either don't show up or come late.

Give them bonuses for showing up on time doing more work etc.,

What do you think @Gav?
 

peterb0yd

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Great ideas man.

Since i am learning app dev, i was thinking of creating an app for that sort of business -pressure washing , cooking , cleaning etc.,
In fact, it was my teacher who mentioned how the workers setting up furniture in her house/painting etc., showed up late or sometimes never showed up and i realised how valuable it would be to create an app solely for that purpose.

Basically uber but for household chores/ house maintenance. And considering there are very few apps ( or i guess none) doing this it would work very well if marketed properly.

Costs i am assuming would be:
- providing tools to workers
- clothing for workers
- marketing costs
- training costs

There may be a few more costs. Usually workers here have their own tools and know their craft, its just that they either don't show up or come late.

Give them bonuses for showing up on time doing more work etc.,

What do you think @Gav?

You're looking at a 6 month project here. Have you talked to more prospective customers? Can you put together a mock-up? Can you get buy-in from prospective customers based on your mock-up? I.e. can you get people to pay you real money to be an early beta user?

If you're just looking to build the project as a learning experience, go for it. If you're looking to make money from it, that's a different story.
 

ChrisGav

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Great ideas man.

Since i am learning app dev, i was thinking of creating an app for that sort of business -pressure washing , cooking , cleaning etc.,
In fact, it was my teacher who mentioned how the workers setting up furniture in her house/painting etc., showed up late or sometimes never showed up and i realised how valuable it would be to create an app solely for that purpose.

Basically uber but for household chores/ house maintenance. And considering there are very few apps ( or i guess none) doing this it would work very well if marketed properly.

Costs i am assuming would be:
- providing tools to workers
- clothing for workers
- marketing costs
- training costs

There may be a few more costs. Usually workers here have their own tools and know their craft, its just that they either don't show up or come late.

Give them bonuses for showing up on time doing more work etc.,

What do you think @Gav?
interesting idea. from what I understand, you are looking to deliver the tools/equipment on-site for these services? Or are you saying delivering equipment to the homeowners themselves to do the work?

Usually, if it's a business that doesn't show up, it probably stems from burn-out/not caring/ or kind of tired of the business in a sense. I will say I go through these periods of burnout (I always show up though, or communicate and reschedule). Where running any business can cause burnout, one that is manual labor adds an extra notch in the bedpost so to speak. Any business is mentally draining, but a labor intensive business is not only mentally draining, but also physically.

I say all of that to say, if the idea was to provide equipment or tools for the businesses on-site, I don't know that it would be helpful. Usually we have all equipment, and with little overhead, we wouldn't want to add in more overhead for equipment we already own ourselves.

Or, as I'm typing this, I may now know what you mean. If painters run out of paint mid-job, you'd be going to get them and deliver it onsite rather than them having to leave the site to go get materials. I could see this being of some benefit to industries like construction, not really pressure washing though. I'd consider pitching it to big commercial project where there is a constant need for materials, and with having to manage so many workers, it could be helpful.
 
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jasonrego

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My 2 cents: learn SALES. Coding gives you a specific job while sales is valuable either as an entrepreneur or as an employee. But even as an employee if you go for a percentage of sales - this can be a great leverage. And as an entrepreneur knowing SALES is crucial. And I learned sales in 30 sessions (1h each) from the best of the best - 18% conversion rate on phone calls. After you learn the theory - you can find countless opportunities where you can immediately apply and practice the skill while earning money. (I have a master in Computer Science and 20 years working in the field - so I know for sure what a tedious work coding is.)
interested in how/where to learn sales in 30h?
 

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