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If I save up a few thousand dollars, what can I buy that I would use to provide a service or produce a good?

anon9601

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Here's my problem: I don't have any interests. I'm a blank slate, I just want to make money. But I have no direction because of my lack of interests.

So I need a direction. What can I buy that I could then use to provide a service or produce a good? Anything to make money.

I'm not talking about passive income, I want to buy something that I can then use to generate profit eventually.
 
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anon9601

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A website
I actually would like to teach myself how to build a website, my problem is I NEVER could figure out what kind of website to make that would eventually generate profit. Since I have no interests I had no direction, I actually thought about it quite a bit and never came to an answer.
 

Duane

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Your going about this backwards.

You can't think of money first, you need to think of how you can solve other people's problems.

When you start diving into other people's complaints and issues, you'll find a lot of ideas and directions on products/services you can create that will solve them.
 
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anon9601

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Your going about this backwards.

You can't think of money first, you need to think of how you can solve other people's problems.

When you start diving into other people's complaints and issues, you'll find a lot of ideas and directions on products/services you can create that will solve them.
Interesting. Then how do I find out about people's complaints and issues? Since I don't have a specific thing I want to do, how do I find those complains and issues in order to "help people" and solve their problems?
 

peterb0yd

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Interesting. Then how do I find out about people's complaints and issues? Since I don't have a specific thing I want to do, how do I find those complains and issues in order to "help people" and solve their problems?
You ask them what their problems are
 

socaldude

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I actually would like to teach myself how to build a website, my problem is I NEVER could figure out what kind of website to make that would eventually generate profit. Since I have no interests I had no direction, I actually thought about it quite a bit and never came to an answer.

You need to think in terms of economic principles first. Find markets that have inefficiencies. That’s where you can deliver value and profit. Learn a technology and leverage it. Create a service around it and brand it.
 
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anon9601

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You need to think in terms of economic principles first. Find markets that have inefficiencies. That’s where you can deliver value and profit. Learn a technology and leverage it. Create a service around it and brand it.
Ok so how do I learn these markets? Where do I go to find out about what markets have inefficiencies?
 

Strm

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With a couple of thousands, I would flip some a bit more unique products, that are not currently sold around me. Or maybe I can add something unique to the product. Can be done with a few K.

You have to try some shit bro, you can't get all the answers here.
 
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peterb0yd

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What? Ask whom? I don't know anyone who would be useful in this regard, is there some site where I can see people's problems or something?

Google "Customer Discovery Process".

1. Pick an industry (any random industry will do)
2. Reach out to people in that industry for interviews (higher level the better, i.e. director level or c-suite)
3. Ask them a series of questions to find out what is challenging for them
4. Review your notes and identify the most pressing challenge is
5. Mock-up a service or product to solve that problem
6. Try to sell the service or product

Some of these steps will take about 2-3 weeks. It's a lot of work.

I recall a quote I heard from Alice In Wonderland. I'm butchering it, but it's something like this:

"If you don't know where you want to go, it doesn't matter which direction you go in"

Just start! Make mistakes and come back to the forum to share your mistakes and ask for specific help.
 

afrankmore

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What? Ask whom? I don't know anyone who would be useful in this regard, is there some site where I can see people's problems or something?
There you go... you just solved your first problem

Is there a website that you can go to, in order to see other people problems... Why not just create a site that will answer those questions?
 

Johnny boy

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I always feel like banging my head against a wall when I read some answers to questions like these.

We have to know more to give you any good advice.

Tell us about your situation. Tell us about your goals. Tell us about what life you're looking to build. Tell us about what you would do with all of your free time. Tell us all the details about your dream life and THEN, we can talk about how you're going to get there, and the most practical next steps to take to make that happen.

I'll tell you what I did personally.

-

I was working for a guy for $12 an hour part time while playing college baseball.

I noticed a lawn care company come to his place and spent under an hour there. I asked how much he pays and he said $400 a month.

I figured if I did 6 places a day on a weekly basis I could get 30 customers paying $400 a month and make $12,000 a month. (Making $50 a day chopping wood in the rain made that sound like a bajillion dollars to a kid)

I didn't do it right away. I was still a baseball player trying to get drafted.

Baseball didn't turn into a career.

I dropped out of school and got a sales job.

I saved my money, bought everything for my lawn business, signed up customers, optimized our systems and now I manage it, pay some guys to do the work, and I have a nice view of a lake and don't have anyone telling me what to do.

The nice thing is that I have set up my business to be able to scale, unlike other companies. We have excellent and efficient online marketing which brings us as many customers as we want, efficient systems that let me manage employees easily without wasting much time on customer service, training, and dealing with problems. It's a good gig.

-

My vague advice is to open your eyes to the opportunities around you and start selling something. But don't sell for someone else, sell for yourself. Sell your own product or service, and then have other people (or a website or robot) take over and replace you so the work is done without YOU having to do the work, then scale it up so you have lots of work being done in the name of your company without you doing the work, and take home massive profits.

The problem most people have and the trap most people fall into when they get started is that they think way too broad. They aren't familiarized with just how insanely detailed the economy really is. You can start a business that sharpens lawn mower blades as a service for local lawn care companies. You can build an app that tells you when you should clip your nails. You can write a program that analyzes your instagram and tells you which of your followers is the most attractive and sends them an automated DM. You can find a product for skiers that seems unique and built in China, buy a huge stock of it and let Amazon handle the rest. You can start a service that delivers bad news over the phone to people for a $15 fee. The opportunities are endless.

Other businesses I'll be spending some time growing in the meantime when I would like to focus on other things besides my lawn care company:

A reverse yelp: Businesses can check a directory and do a search for a new client or employee's name before hiring or doing business with them to check if they are a P.O.S or a scammer, or just extremely lazy. I've built the website in it's crude form and it functions pretty well in my opinion. I just haven't advertised it yet.

Classic car leasing: We buy a classic car (say a 65 mustang coupe) that's fully restored for about $25,000. We find qualified customers and lease them a cool classic car for 3 years for $350 a month and get the car back at the end of it. The car lost very little value since classic cars don't usually depreciate, we put a grand or two into it before we put it back up for leasing to the next person, and get a great passive return on the initial investment. $25,000 invested, $12,600 paid in leasing costs - $2,000 in restoration costs at the end of each lease = $10,600 profit on $25,000 principle over 3 years. (16% yearly returns + any appreciation of the vehicles + unhurt by inflation since the price of the vehicle and the price of the lease rise with inflation)
 
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Dora Wi

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Are you sure you are not interested in anything - is it possible that you are interested in stuff you just don't yet know what? I don't want to make assumptions but you might benefit from getting to know yourself a little bit better. Maybe you could try things like different free online college courses, textbooks in different topics, thinking about what kind of work suits your personality. I believe the best way to start a business is when you do something you care about.
 

Raoul Duke

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If I was a foot taller. I would be in the NBA.

Can anyone solve my problem??
 

SEBASTlAN

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What? Ask whom? I don't know anyone who would be useful in this regard, is there some site where I can see people's problems or something?
Get a job and you'll find a handful of problems in your first week.
 
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Walter Hay

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My vague advice is to open your eyes to the opportunities around you
This vague advice is spot on. A I read the through this thread my reply hit me quickly: "LISTEN."

While still running my first business which I was planning to sell after 20 years I kept a file of "Bright Ideas".

These mostly came to me by listening. I was constantly meeting company employees at all levels, and from time to time I heard them complaining about something. I would often think "I could fix that" and so I added to my list.

The most productive idea came from family members. Two of my brothers and their wives all worked for different businesses in a field that suffered from suppliers being careless, and when I heard them talking about their frustrations I noted it, put it in my list, and after selling my first business I started my B2B importing business based on those grumblings.

It grew at an amazing rate and I franchised it out in four countries.

The motto of the story: Listen for complaints either in your job, among family and acquaintances and work out how to make their life better.

Walter
 

jdm667

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I actually would like to teach myself how to build a website, my problem is I NEVER could figure out what kind of website to make that would eventually generate profit. Since I have no interests I had no direction, I actually thought about it quite a bit and never came to an answer.
There is a simple solution: don't start a site from scratch, wondering whether it will ever generate a profit. Buy a site/app that is already doing so.

Go to Flippa. It is the craigslist of website/app sales, but there are still some gems among the junk, to be had for a few thousand dollars.

Some of those sites/apps are already making a profit. Pick one that interests you, even slightly, and try to figure out these 2 things:
1.) What problem does the website/app solve? Are they answering questions? Providing a helpful calculator? Connecting or building a community, like this site does?
2.) How does the website/app make money? Are they running ads? Using affiliate links? Information product (ebook or course)? Lead generation? Email marketing? Selling their own physical products? Keep in mind it could be any or many of these.

If you can't figure these things out, message the person selling the site and ask (I think you need to need to make a Flippa account for this).

Even if you don't find a site/app to buy, you will probably find something you are interested in. Build on that, and go from there.

Sometimes, if you start walking, you will eventually see that you are going in the wrong direction - but you'll never know that if you just stand still.

Good luck.
 
G

Guest-5ty5s4

Guest
I always feel like banging my head against a wall when I read some answers to questions like these.

We have to know more to give you any good advice.

Tell us about your situation. Tell us about your goals. Tell us about what life you're looking to build. Tell us about what you would do with all of your free time. Tell us all the details about your dream life and THEN, we can talk about how you're going to get there, and the most practical next steps to take to make that happen.

I'll tell you what I did personally.

-

I was working for a guy for $12 an hour part time while playing college baseball.

I noticed a lawn care company come to his place and spent under an hour there. I asked how much he pays and he said $400 a month.

I figured if I did 6 places a day on a weekly basis I could get 30 customers paying $400 a month and make $12,000 a month. (Making $50 a day chopping wood in the rain made that sound like a bajillion dollars to a kid)

I didn't do it right away. I was still a baseball player trying to get drafted.

Baseball didn't turn into a career.

I dropped out of school and got a sales job.

I saved my money, bought everything for my lawn business, signed up customers, optimized our systems and now I manage it, pay some guys to do the work, and I have a nice view of a lake and don't have anyone telling me what to do.

The nice thing is that I have set up my business to be able to scale, unlike other companies. We have excellent and efficient online marketing which brings us as many customers as we want, efficient systems that let me manage employees easily without wasting much time on customer service, training, and dealing with problems. It's a good gig.

-

My vague advice is to open your eyes to the opportunities around you and start selling something. But don't sell for someone else, sell for yourself. Sell your own product or service, and then have other people (or a website or robot) take over and replace you so the work is done without YOU having to do the work, then scale it up so you have lots of work being done in the name of your company without you doing the work, and take home massive profits.

The problem most people have and the trap most people fall into when they get started is that they think way too broad. They aren't familiarized with just how insanely detailed the economy really is. You can start a business that sharpens lawn mower blades as a service for local lawn care companies. You can build an app that tells you when you should clip your nails. You can write a program that analyzes your instagram and tells you which of your followers is the most attractive and sends them an automated DM. You can find a product for skiers that seems unique and built in China, buy a huge stock of it and let Amazon handle the rest. You can start a service that delivers bad news over the phone to people for a $15 fee. The opportunities are endless.

Other businesses I'll be spending some time growing in the meantime when I would like to focus on other things besides my lawn care company:

A reverse yelp: Businesses can check a directory and do a search for a new client or employee's name before hiring or doing business with them to check if they are a P.O.S or a scammer, or just extremely lazy. I've built the website in it's crude form and it functions pretty well in my opinion. I just haven't advertised it yet.

Classic car leasing: We buy a classic car (say a 65 mustang coupe) that's fully restored for about $25,000. We find qualified customers and lease them a cool classic car for 3 years for $350 a month and get the car back at the end of it. The car lost very little value since classic cars don't usually depreciate, we put a grand or two into it before we put it back up for leasing to the next person, and get a great passive return on the initial investment. $25,000 invested, $12,600 paid in leasing costs - $2,000 in restoration costs at the end of each lease = $10,600 profit on $25,000 principle over 3 years. (16% yearly returns + any appreciation of the vehicles + unhurt by inflation since the price of the vehicle and the price of the lease rise with inflation)
Your reverse Yelp idea is awesome. Would love to see that!

Overall awesome post. Nailed it
 
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