Going to make $2,500 in one week with $0 investment

[DeletedUser394]

Today I learned that even after you wash clothing twice, the paint doesn't come off.

Finished the job yesterday, got paid. Worked 1.5 hours approx? $166 per hour is okay I think. One of the laborers looked and acted like a crack fiend, but he did his job.

No job other than my slowlane one today.

Interesting thing transpired. Found out I'm slowly being pushed out of my job because I essentially make too much and it's cheaper if they hire another person to do more menial tasks. Taking on a whole other human being is cheaper than giving me the hours. Fine by me, little do they know that with every paycheck I get, I become closer to never needing them again. Heck, technically I don't need them now, but I get paid a lot so I'm pumping it into investments and side projects.

2 gigs tomorrow, transplanting gardens for elderly people. $50 each my way and I don't have to do anything. New laborers.

$515 total at this point.

It's just after 5pm.. going to get busy on my other ventures till midnight.

 

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[JustinBoshans]

So you're basically the middle man? It's a great plan! I saw a youtuber named KingHuman talk about something like this but it was for building websites.

 

[jrace4fun]

You have to make sure that the companies you deal with are strong enforcers of MAP, don't allow Amazon to sell their products, have at least 50% markup from wholesale to retail, and the goods should be at least $30 or higher. You also must always be fully stocked (via FBA) so that when the other 25 run out of stock, you swoop in and get the purchases that would have gone to them.

Jargon decoded
MAP-minimum advertised price
FBA- fulfillment by Amazon

 

[jrace4fun]

Between this and @RogueInnovation's thread, I came up with an interesting idea. Now, it requires a bit more of a management type role, and it will be a harder sell, but I think it might work:

I want to execute this same hustle, utilizing homeless guys. Yeah, risky - hence my necessary presence. But I feel like offering them an opportunity to make some money and do something other than begging, might give one or two of them some motivation to keep working. The people get their work done. I make money just like a temp agency, and @RichKid's plan for tomorrow.

Maybe not Fastlane, but definitely helpful, no?

A very high percentage of homeless have severe physiological problems. Picking these people up off the street would be extremely risky. On the other hand when they are properly treated, and maintain their treatment, they can be good reliable hard working people. A call to your local county hospital's phyc ward might be able to help you find such people. Another demographic you might want to consider is recently released convicts, although they have the same draw backs as the homeless.

 

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[jrace4fun]

Oh god, homeless people irritate the shit out of me. The begging is ridiculous, sell me something...they are at every stop light it Austin it seems like just begging for money, they don't even offer to clean my windshield. I'd give them a couple bucks if they were at least doing that, it's ridiculous though. Sorry for the rant, I've been drinking. Lol

I don't want them anywhere close to my car. Hell, I'd pay them to stay the hell away from it.

 

[D11FYY]

Absolutely loved this thread from the beginning.
I would love to see how far you could actually go with this idea/business if you stuck at it and built a proper reliable team working hard for you.
Congrats but your effort has and will inspire many on this forum!

 

[DeletedUser394]

Challenge over, I technically failed.. and quite spectacularly at that.

Was able to snag one more $75 from a referral from a previous day which was unexpected.

All said and done I made $590 in 7 days, doing ~10 hours worth of work. That includes finding these people and actually doing some manual labor and what not.

I sent 130 emails over the span of the week. Got 20 responses. That's a 15% response rate. I 'employed' 8 or 9 people, one of whom was most definitely on some kind of drug. I did 7 jobs total, including 2 days with zero jobs.

Went by pretty damn fast...

Well, I'm going to go and cry over my failure now... Jk, I'm going to order a pizza and watch the season finale of the profit on cnbc.

 

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[BlokeInProgress]

Its not the results you wanted but still the effort paid off $590 in a week is no joke.
Rep ++

Lessons learned and some advices/tips?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

How's it feel to know that you'll NEVER be broke? What you've done is something you can call on if you ever need to call on it. Most other folks wouldn't even bother and would prefer to take a bus ride to the welfare office.

 

[Bigguns50]

@RichKid .. Damn good job ! Thanks for sharing. What City are you in ? I want to compare MI Craigslist because either I suck, or CL here sucks.

 

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[DeletedUser394]

Lessons learned and some advices/tips?

Do something, anything.

I failed and yet I did a lot more than someone who has a bunch of big ideas and doesn't do anything.

I went into this with a two sentence long plan. Took 5 minutes to come up with the idea and start to take action.

You don't need all the answers up front. There's no perfect time. As mentioned prior, I never did something like this before, nor did I have a blueprint. Figured it out as I went along.

 

[DeletedUser394]

@RichKid .. Damn good job ! Thanks for sharing. What City are you in ? I want to compare MI Craigslist because either I suck, or CL here sucks.

I'll send you a PM in a sec.

 

[Mike.B]

@RichKid .. Damn good job ! Thanks for sharing. What City are you in ? I want to compare MI Craigslist because either I suck, or CL here sucks.

It could be worse, you could be in Ohio!

 

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[DeletedUser394]

Location is an excuse though.

If the streets are too dangerous and/or barren, the internet is at your finger tips. You can make money buying and selling stuff on ebay/amazon, and never leave your house other than to go to the post office.

 

[ExecutionisKing]

Amazing job @RichKid. Loved following this along.
Perfect example of "leap, and a net shall appear."

@RichKid .. Damn good job ! Thanks for sharing. What City are you in ? I want to compare MI Craigslist because either I suck, or CL here sucks.

Looks like I'm nearby you. Craigslist here "in the D" is awesome! I thrive on it. So many people that get rid of good stuff (don't want to take time to list it w/pics, owe $ on a "payment," etc).

I haven't tried what RichKid did... but there are so many postings for different labor demands and sub-contractors selling themselves that I bet it would work.

 

[Ryan Oshe]

@RichKid .. Damn good job ! Thanks for sharing. What City are you in ? I want to compare MI Craigslist because either I suck, or CL here sucks.

I'm going to try yooper craigslist tonight/tomorrow. Although its still going to be snow removal jobs for awhile. Things pretty dry south of the bridge?

 

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[Bigguns50]

So many people that get rid of good stuff

There is SO much for sale. I JUST started looking at that. PM me...we'll Skype or something.

Things pretty dry south of the bridge?

Well, I just looked this week for what @RichKid did and there were 2 possibilities...maybe just a slow week. ?
And yea...I'm having a hard time south of the bridge here. I keep wondering...is it ME that sucks ? Am I just not seeing the opportunities ? Very frustrating.
I love the U.P. !

 

[Ryan Oshe]

There is SO much for sale. I JUST started looking at that. PM me...we'll Skype or something.



Well, I just looked this week for what @RichKid did and there were 2 possibilities...maybe just a slow week. ?
And yea...I'm having a hard time south of the bridge here. I keep wondering...is it ME that sucks ? Am I just not seeing the opportunities ? Very frustrating.
I love the U.P. !

From what I've seen up here Craigslist doesn't have much, but since almost everyone here lives rural and tends to be a bit behind with technology (not a bad thing) the internet might not be the best choice of places to look.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

 

[ZCP]

Actually found the opposite in Atlanta. Every posting was for labor / temp / and job services offering the service. Very few people looking for someone to do something. Seems as if the market was big enough for companies to organize and chase.

 

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[CommonCents]

Great job on making things happen.

When I was on my neighborhood association board of 50 homes on a lake. We had two handymen that networked in our 'hood. They became the unofficial handymen and were literally kept busy nearly full time doing projects. We were almost better off hiring 'em full time (aside from employment headaches), or should have signed 'em up for a monthly retainer. Six figures a year easy on deck/porch repair, siding, gutters, appliance maintenance, painting, tiling, roof/skylight repair, minor electrical, room/basement remodeling. There are TONS of these guys out there leftover from the building boom that don't have steady work that are qualified that need near zero oversight once on the job. Just line 'em up with steady work and cash the checks.

This is a twist on your idea, in order to generate a nice sustainable business in approaching neighborhood associations as a group after you do a job or two w/ good recommendations.

Another idea on helpers other than the homeless are the functional disabled/handicapped for simple jobs. I've had great success with them and they bring a lot of joy to other employees and the workplace. Cities/counties/states may have programs to help you, or specialized temp agencies.

There have been nice cottage industries born out of services that most anyone can do, but putting a little marketing and execution savvy behind it. Ikea stores have led to enterprising folks starting up delivery and assembly services. If you've ever bought stuff from Ikea that needs assembly, you know what I mean. I bought a couple large 10ft x 8ft frosted glass wardrobes there and it took me hours to figure out the first wardrobe, with tons of stress and swearing. And their instruction books suck balls. I'd never assemble another one again, but those services are probably very efficient in doing so.

 

[Mike.B]

Ikea stores have led to enterprising folks starting up delivery and assembly services.

I did this exact business for a stint; it would have worked out had we been located in a larger metro area, and had our own storefront/warehouse. The logistics were a total nightmare, and the margins were slim, but it was a good learning experience.

 

[MyDuckets]

We were almost better off hiring 'em full time (aside from employment headaches), or should have signed 'em up for a monthly retainer

Did the HOA help pay for the repairs to individual homes? Interested how this could save HOAs money.

 

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[Testament]

Great thread, RK! I'm currently searching out my city's Craigslist to try out the process you've so generously laid out for everyone here. I did have a few questions though.

Mostly, I'm curious about how or if you've been screening out potential problem workers. With the guy who came on drugs, did you have to watch him the whole time to make sure that he didn't steal anything? What would you do if the home owners claimed something was missing from their house? If he was clearly unfit to actually do his job there, would you just ask him to leave?

Thanks for taking the time to write this all out. INCREDIBLY helpful to actually see an A-Z map of how to go about creating something from nothing.

 

[DeletedUser394]

Great thread, RK! I'm currently searching out my city's Craigslist to try out the process you've so generously laid out for everyone here. I did have a few questions though.

Mostly, I'm curious about how or if you've been screening out potential problem workers. With the guy who came on drugs, did you have to watch him the whole time to make sure that he didn't steal anything? What would you do if the home owners claimed something was missing from their house? If he was clearly unfit to actually do his job there, would you just ask him to leave?

Thanks for taking the time to write this all out. INCREDIBLY helpful to actually see an A-Z map of how to go about creating something from nothing.

As mentioned before, I pre screen everyone via facebook using their email addresses.

I was never at a site for longer than an hour and a half, whereas the jobs ran much longer than that, so no I didn't stay there all day watching everyone.

If a home owner claimed something was missing I would have paid to replace it. If someone was unfit to do work I would tell them that they aren't needed, but thanks for coming out.

 

[Mike.B]

As mentioned before, I pre screen everyone via facebook using their email addresses.

This is tough to do with Craigslist's new email format. Good idea though.

 

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[Bruh]

This is tough to do with Craigslist's new email format. Good idea though.

As an alternative, you could search their name and narrow it down by location.

 

[DeletedUser394]

This is tough to do with Craigslist's new email format. Good idea though.

The real name of the person is still passed though the randomized email address.

 

[DeletedUser394]

As an alternative, you could search their name and narrow it down by location.

Ha, beat me by 10 seconds.

 

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[Mike.B]

The real name of the person is still passed though the randomized email address.

True ... forgot about that.

 

[Dillon Carter]

This thread is awesomely inspiring! I am looking into trying this for the short-term. It is really interesting! Keep at it