90 Day Money Challenge

A few hours into my challenge and I've made my first profit. OK so it's only a few pounds (£41.14 after fees to be precise) and only by selling an old camera on eBay, but it's a start.

I've also spent some time over at www.sms.ac reading up about 'pod development'. Their 'mobile pods' are basically small web applications which users subscribe to for a small fee. I believe I may be able to modify some of my Flash games and submit them as pods on a profit sharing basis. There's quite a lot of technical stuff to read through but luckily it's the weekend now so maybe I'll try and submit one tomorrow. I also have a few more bits and pieces to add to eBay, and possibly an article to write so it looks like it will be a busy weekend.

Labels: flash games, mobile pods, profit

In Michael's radio show he posed a question:

If you woke up in a strange town, knowing nobody and with only £100 and the clothes you were wearing, what would you do to double your money and how long would it take?

The idea here is just to open up your mind. You don't need to think of things and then actually go and do them, just brainstorm and be creative. Here's a few I thought of right away.

1. Buy a 'pay as you go' mobile phone. Spend a small amount on printing leaflets offering a dog walking/sitting service and giving the phone number. Distribute these to houses in the local area and hopefully some people would call. The same could be done for a gardening or 'odd job' service if enough of the £100 was left for tools.
   
2. Buy a cheap guitar and go busking.
3. Buy cans of cold drink at the cash and carry, take them to the park/beach and sell them for a profit. Variations on theme could suit different climates/seasons.
   
4. Visit charity shops, junk shops, car boot sales, garage sales etc. and look for bargains which could be cleaned up/fixed/improved and sold via eBay or a market.
5. Set up a small market stall.
6. Buy a Polaroid camera and film. Find a busy square/beach/fair etc. and charge people to have their photo taken.
7. Buy some supplies and set up a car-wash, giving a percentage of the profits to the car-park owner.

The list could go on and on. While all of these activities are very different, there appear to be 2 underlying themes. Firstly, just about any venture will incur costs - you have to speculate to accumulate. Secondly you can either offer a service or a product. In each of the above examples, and every other one I've thought of, there is some level of investment (stock, supplies, advertising etc.) and an exchange of value (goods or services for money).

I guess the key to making a profit must be to a) Keeping the overheads low while b) Offering a fair exchange of value. That makes the venture low risk and profitable, while building customer loyalty. I'm going to try thinking 'outside the box' and see if I can come up with any money making ideas which don't fit these 2 rules. If anyone can think of one please leave a comment.

Labels: customers, profit, trading