Resume Rewriting

[Laurus]

Hello!

After reading this post I browsed through Flippa’s most active sites and found an intresting, need-based business idea: resume rewriting.

I know that the barriers of entry are low and therefor a lot of people are already doing it. Check out resumematches.com - on Flippa the owner claimed that he makes 2k/month with this site. I have the impression, if the market were already saturated, he wouldn’t make any money with his site. That’s why I think that there’s room for another competitior. What I would do is the following: Build a webpage offering resume rewriting, buy ppc-traffic, outsource the rewriting to someone on odesk/elance.

According to this statistic it would make sense to on focus younger people / aftergraduates without much job experience.

I have no experience in online business and think that might be a good learning opportunity and way to start making money. What do you think?

 

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[nextgen]

resume writing is an interesting business to go into however you would need something to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

 

[Virtualgal]

I write resumes. Whilst it is possible, in theory, to make decent money, it is pretty rare in the industry. Like you say, the barriers to entry are unbelievably low which saturates the market with amateurs and drives down margins massively. And, as mentioned, differentiation can be pretty tough.

Even if you can diffferentiate, say with years of relevant experience, it doesn't necessarily make much difference to customers as they are often driven by price (because there are lots of low cost resume services/freelancers).

It can be tough to really get people to take their resumes as seriously as they should, mostly, I think because people are used to writing themselves, for the most part, and they think (usually mistakenly) that pretty much anything will do and that a resume is a resume.

All that said, there is definitely a need, and plenty of custom in the market, but big money, not so much imo.

The problem with the younger people/grads is they are even less likely to want to spend decent money on their resume. All depends on if you intend to go for a higher priced service with higher margins, or are interested in the volume end of the market.

 

[Laurus]

Thank you nextgen and Virtualgal for your replies.

I understand that this is not a business for making big money. But according to your answer, I should be able to get a couple hundred dollars out of it per month. More than I would doing nothing.

Maybe I should see this more as a way to get a foot in the door of online business than a way to earn a lot of money.

 

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[Virtualgal]

Hi Laurus,

Yes, definitely. Actually, that's pretty much my situation.

The only thing is - and it might just be me so take no notice if not relevant to you - you can end up getting caught up in these small 'ventures' and it is time you could potentially be spending on other/more profitable things.

I read a great quote, I think on here, but can't remember from who, unfortunately. Something along the lines of it takes as much effort to build a low potential business as a high potential one. Food for thought.

As a side gig though, it works fine and could help out with cash for another venture.

 

[Laurus]

you can end up getting caught up in these small 'ventures' and it is time you could potentially be spending on other/more profitable things

Yes, you're right. But with the start of next week I'm unemployed (had a contract for a fixed time) and therefore I'll have plenty of time for such projects.

I might shoot you a PM about how it's going and my experiencces with that.

 

[JAJT]

Ever thought of writing a resume re-writing GUIDE instead of doing it yourself?

The theories involved are few are simple to explain yet many people get them wrong and the guide would pay for itself the second an applicant gets a job.

Give a money-back guarantee: "If this guide doesn't increase the number of interviews you receive within 3 months I will provide 100% money back bla bla bla". Or offer free personal services along with your guarantee (as a sort of 100% money-back + free consulting if it doesn't work).

Now you've separated your time from money and can spend time working on a business instead of in the business.

(Shit, this actually isn't a bad idea... you better get on this before I do...)

 

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[johnp]

Write the guide and I'll promote it to all of the people on my site who are telling me that they need a professional resume. I'll take it, wrap it up all nice, and then market the shit out of it.

Ever thought of writing a resume re-writing GUIDE instead of doing it yourself?

The theories involved are few are simple to explain yet many people get them wrong and the guide would pay for itself the second an applicant gets a job.

Give a money-back guarantee: "If this guide doesn't increase the number of interviews you receive within 3 months I will provide 100% money back bla bla bla". Or offer free personal services along with your guarantee (as a sort of 100% money-back + free consulting if it doesn't work).

Now you've separated your time from money and can spend time working on a business instead of in the business.

(Shit, this actually isn't a bad idea... you better get on this before I do...)

 

[Virtualgal]

Sounds like a great plan, Laurus, from JohnP & JAJT.

What has put me off doing this is there seem to be so many free guides available on this, but that is probably where my 'knowledge' of the resume & recruitment market works against me. Your fresh eyes could be an advantage. I guess lots of people don't know where to get this information or maybe it's a convenience thing. You'd be able to develop a great guide in no time.

I still struggle to understand the income potential of these sort of books in all honesty - whereas the Fastlaners don't, they know their stuff, so it's advice well worth taking.

It would be pretty simple to put together really. The added consulting could be a good differentiator too.

 

[Laurus]

Great input, thank you guys.

I started looking around for information and found a lot of free information and guides. But as far as I can tell there are not many guides available for purchase. Except a few books maybe.

I do some more research and try to put something together that adds valuable to the market.

 

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[Virtualgal]

Just one other thing, Laurus, I noticed you are in Switzerland. Again, might not be relevant, but I have actually had several unsolicited inquiries about resumes specifically for Switzerland (as you know, different countries can have very different resume styles/requirements).

There definitely seems to be a market for people coming from other countries, largely with a financial background, wanting to learn how to resumes for the Swiss market. The information out there currently isn't great. Just maybe an option for another small guide/niche in future, what with your knowledge of the market.