Well... This topic has been puzzling me for awhile now and thought I'd bring it up for some more insight about the topic.
I decided in June 2015 that life should not be about living to work, it should be about enjoying life and doing something that you enjoy. Why should I invest most of my time into working and poddering away for somebody else, when there is so many more better paths and opportunities out there to take?
However, back to my original point. What do you think? Do you think it important to make meaning and have value with your projects?
Well... Personally, I do.
I've noticed that a lot of my projects and ideas I've been developing over the last year are just simply numbers. They have no meaning, they have no value. I'm simply utilising money as a tool.
I cannot see how my ideas and projects are creating meaning. Let me share some of them with you.
Process 1: Exchanging $ to take advantage of a 'big dog' petrol station promotion while returning a profit on my investment.
A petrol station was promoting collectible figurines and at the same time, they created a niche market for them. Fuel was a big consumable for me, so I decided it would be a good idea to purchase a bulk of petrol vouchers to acquire these figurines. It was very unlikely these fuel vouchers were going to go unused or expire and the profit greatly surpassed standard bank interest rates. I labelled it as "low risk".
Concept 2: Purchasing damaged and used laptops with intentions to repair and combine parts from other laptops.
One of the most mentally painful approaches I've taken. Some of those things were;
* Trying to sell a big ticket item
* Diagnosing computer issues can be diabolical - these were costing me hours, my hourly rate would soon plummet to $0/hour
* Incorrect product description by the seller - Easy, desribe a broken laptop with faults A, B and don't mention C as that completely devalues the product. Money down the drain, just like that.
Every laptop I encountered was a can of worms, one way or another.
Jimmy-fixing components and hardware to make a laptop functional again. A headache and a half.
Is this creating meaning? You don't really care who buys it, you just want to make your margin.
Idea 3: Importing and re-selling products. Now this idea is a little bit different again. It's been one of the bigger projects; website maintenance, customer support and managing third-party trading sites.
I understand that you can go directly to a manufacturer and buy the same product "for cheap" as some people describe. However, they hand away the insurance you can offer them.
In some ways you are creating value:
* Eliminating risk of dodgy suppliers
* Courier / Overnight shipping services (quicker arrival)
* Cheap as chips postal services (nationwide)
* Product less-likely to be damaged
* Don't have to communicate with somebody using Google Translator / non-English
These 5 factors are some of the benefits you receive by buying off a local supplier. But it does come at a premium rate. Which is one way I can justify selling my products for a more expensive price.
However, still at the end of the day. It's still not creating value, it's just buying and selling. You don't really care much about what you're selling, just as long as it makes money.
These are just some of the projects I've been working on over the last year and they've all taught me many valuable lessons. However, my next idea will be aimed at creating value and having a meaning.
I've share with you my view. What are your thoughts on this?
I decided in June 2015 that life should not be about living to work, it should be about enjoying life and doing something that you enjoy. Why should I invest most of my time into working and poddering away for somebody else, when there is so many more better paths and opportunities out there to take?
However, back to my original point. What do you think? Do you think it important to make meaning and have value with your projects?
Well... Personally, I do.
I've noticed that a lot of my projects and ideas I've been developing over the last year are just simply numbers. They have no meaning, they have no value. I'm simply utilising money as a tool.
I cannot see how my ideas and projects are creating meaning. Let me share some of them with you.
Process 1: Exchanging $ to take advantage of a 'big dog' petrol station promotion while returning a profit on my investment.
A petrol station was promoting collectible figurines and at the same time, they created a niche market for them. Fuel was a big consumable for me, so I decided it would be a good idea to purchase a bulk of petrol vouchers to acquire these figurines. It was very unlikely these fuel vouchers were going to go unused or expire and the profit greatly surpassed standard bank interest rates. I labelled it as "low risk".
Concept 2: Purchasing damaged and used laptops with intentions to repair and combine parts from other laptops.
One of the most mentally painful approaches I've taken. Some of those things were;
* Trying to sell a big ticket item
* Diagnosing computer issues can be diabolical - these were costing me hours, my hourly rate would soon plummet to $0/hour
* Incorrect product description by the seller - Easy, desribe a broken laptop with faults A, B and don't mention C as that completely devalues the product. Money down the drain, just like that.
Every laptop I encountered was a can of worms, one way or another.
Jimmy-fixing components and hardware to make a laptop functional again. A headache and a half.
Is this creating meaning? You don't really care who buys it, you just want to make your margin.
Idea 3: Importing and re-selling products. Now this idea is a little bit different again. It's been one of the bigger projects; website maintenance, customer support and managing third-party trading sites.
I understand that you can go directly to a manufacturer and buy the same product "for cheap" as some people describe. However, they hand away the insurance you can offer them.
In some ways you are creating value:
* Eliminating risk of dodgy suppliers
* Courier / Overnight shipping services (quicker arrival)
* Cheap as chips postal services (nationwide)
* Product less-likely to be damaged
* Don't have to communicate with somebody using Google Translator / non-English
These 5 factors are some of the benefits you receive by buying off a local supplier. But it does come at a premium rate. Which is one way I can justify selling my products for a more expensive price.
However, still at the end of the day. It's still not creating value, it's just buying and selling. You don't really care much about what you're selling, just as long as it makes money.
These are just some of the projects I've been working on over the last year and they've all taught me many valuable lessons. However, my next idea will be aimed at creating value and having a meaning.
I've share with you my view. What are your thoughts on this?
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