Hello Fastlaners,
Just today, I learned about a new side hustle idea that I'm going to try and will periodically update my progress on in this thread. For reference, yesterday I had ZERO KNOWLEDGE of WTF a Google NFC Reader was, how to program it, and I'm learning all of this right now through this thread. I'm also in college full time, and pushing a clarinet social media basically as a part time job in terms of hours. Therefore, this is TRULY a SIDE hustle.
Background: While mindlessly scrolling TikTok, I saw this post of somebody selling what is basically a card that can be scanned by a phone that leads the customer straight to a Google review page. It's like a QR code, but the customer can place their phone next to a physical card rather than needing to take a picture. The creator says each card costs $0.50. (my estimate is slightly different but I'll get into that), but either way he sells a card for $50 to the business owner with absurd efficiency.
This side hustle seems really great to me since the technical know-how to purchase, program, and design a Google NFC Card are all hassles solved for the local business. The product is also actually beneficial to the business since it means that there is a stupid simple way for the customer to leave a review. Many customers these days pay with things like Apple Pay that scan their phone, and so I can envision this product being placed next to a contactless payment being incredibly accessible. I also see some upsell potential with perhaps one scanner on the till and one on the window combined selling for $90 or something like that. The main drawbacks that I forsee are one, that each business is, at best, a one-time buyer. Two is that a QR code does a "fine job". Three is that another kid who was faster and scrappier than me already sold the same exact thing to the business. This is my greatest worry, and so that's why I'm going to start this up as soon as possible.
Plan: There's a $650 printer one can buy to print these Google NFC Card readers very easily. I'm going to opt to not do this at the start since it's quite a heavy investment. Instead, I opted to purchase 30 blank Google NFC Card readers off of a site Claude suggested for $18 (including shipping). I decided to hold off on designing the graphic for now since I read that the spot where you're able to scan the NFC Card varies (?) I'm hoping that the 30 cards I get will have the scan area in the same spot, since I plan for my design to have a spot where it says "tap here". In terms of programming the card to lead to the google review page, I was shocked to learn there is literally just an app called "NFC Tools" and that you can literally just upload a link. I was genuinely expecting to at least do some sort of programming for this, but alas it is incredibly simple. It's a great time to be alive people. So, plan is I'll setup the link, walk in, speak to the manager (assuming they're available), pitch the card with a quick physical demonstration, and repeat. What's also great is that I can switch the link to whatever I want, so if they say no I am literally out maybe 2-3 minutes of time.
Currently I'm just waiting on these cards to arrive. Once they do, I'll move as fast as I can to test out programming the cards, then I'll make a design for stickers, send it off to OfficeMax, then paste those puppies on the cards, and then it's go time! Again, I'll post updates on this thread on my progress.
Just today, I learned about a new side hustle idea that I'm going to try and will periodically update my progress on in this thread. For reference, yesterday I had ZERO KNOWLEDGE of WTF a Google NFC Reader was, how to program it, and I'm learning all of this right now through this thread. I'm also in college full time, and pushing a clarinet social media basically as a part time job in terms of hours. Therefore, this is TRULY a SIDE hustle.
Background: While mindlessly scrolling TikTok, I saw this post of somebody selling what is basically a card that can be scanned by a phone that leads the customer straight to a Google review page. It's like a QR code, but the customer can place their phone next to a physical card rather than needing to take a picture. The creator says each card costs $0.50. (my estimate is slightly different but I'll get into that), but either way he sells a card for $50 to the business owner with absurd efficiency.
This side hustle seems really great to me since the technical know-how to purchase, program, and design a Google NFC Card are all hassles solved for the local business. The product is also actually beneficial to the business since it means that there is a stupid simple way for the customer to leave a review. Many customers these days pay with things like Apple Pay that scan their phone, and so I can envision this product being placed next to a contactless payment being incredibly accessible. I also see some upsell potential with perhaps one scanner on the till and one on the window combined selling for $90 or something like that. The main drawbacks that I forsee are one, that each business is, at best, a one-time buyer. Two is that a QR code does a "fine job". Three is that another kid who was faster and scrappier than me already sold the same exact thing to the business. This is my greatest worry, and so that's why I'm going to start this up as soon as possible.
Plan: There's a $650 printer one can buy to print these Google NFC Card readers very easily. I'm going to opt to not do this at the start since it's quite a heavy investment. Instead, I opted to purchase 30 blank Google NFC Card readers off of a site Claude suggested for $18 (including shipping). I decided to hold off on designing the graphic for now since I read that the spot where you're able to scan the NFC Card varies (?) I'm hoping that the 30 cards I get will have the scan area in the same spot, since I plan for my design to have a spot where it says "tap here". In terms of programming the card to lead to the google review page, I was shocked to learn there is literally just an app called "NFC Tools" and that you can literally just upload a link. I was genuinely expecting to at least do some sort of programming for this, but alas it is incredibly simple. It's a great time to be alive people. So, plan is I'll setup the link, walk in, speak to the manager (assuming they're available), pitch the card with a quick physical demonstration, and repeat. What's also great is that I can switch the link to whatever I want, so if they say no I am literally out maybe 2-3 minutes of time.
Currently I'm just waiting on these cards to arrive. Once they do, I'll move as fast as I can to test out programming the cards, then I'll make a design for stickers, send it off to OfficeMax, then paste those puppies on the cards, and then it's go time! Again, I'll post updates on this thread on my progress.
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