I'm going to talk a little bit today about legality. Unfortunately, a MAJOR aspect of any business, is the laws governing it. Whether you are a major corporation who is subject to millions of rules, from the SEC, down to local laws, or you are a small entrepreneur who is not subject to nearly as many laws, how can you figure out what laws apply to you? Breaking a law can not only be expensive, it can shut you down.
First of all, a few resources you can use
Business.gov
Small Business Guide at Business.gov
Findlaw.com - Link to the small business section of Findlaw
Small Business laws at findanswers.com
So there are some resources for small businesses to find some laws that might apply to you. This is, however, DORMroombiz. We are all about dorm room businesses, and there is another level of laws that apply to you. You should definitely read any material available to you about the rules in your particular dorm complex. Please be sure you read this information, there may be some rules that you don't think make sense which are strictly enforced. I thought I would be allowed to have a harmless toaster oven, but they are strictly forbidden. This is a non-business example, but you get the point.
My dorm life contract DOES specify that I may not sell items from my room. I have interpreted that to mean I may not turn my room into a store, which I would definitely not do. If you choose to break these rules, you may get away with it, but if you get caught, it can be severe. Some have even been kicked out of the dorms. Remember, if you get kicked out, you VERY likely do not get a refund.
Showing posts with label making money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label making money. Show all posts
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Guest Post: Thomas Jowers on Worms
Thomas Jowers is a blogger out of Abilene, TX. He is attending (at the time of the start of his blog) Hardin Simmons University. I've chosen 2 of his blogs to illustrate the amazing creativity that is out there. You can read more of his blog over at www.buckadayblog.blogspot.com
The premise of his blog is to post about his goal of generating at least one dollar a day through strategic investments.
Without further adieu, here are two of his posts that I found interesting.
New Idea
Labels: Do the Worm Posted by SeekerBug on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 1:45 PM
I had a great idea for a small money making business (I hope).
I was trying to find something that I could do to help the environment. (I was actually going to buy a solar phone charger off of ebay) I was looking on ebay for ideas, solar power, wind turbines, etc..... then I came upon vermiculture! That is where you have a worm/bed and you put shredded paper and food scraps into the worm pile and they eat it. After a while, you have organic matter for your garden, since I just planted my herb/tomato/onion garden last week, I liked this idea. Plus...since I do a lot of stuff online, I am always printing items off, giving me an abundance of paper.
So I decided I was going to do it, all I need is the supplies, I already have dirt! I need some containers, (I am sure I can find some barrels in my grandpa's scrap pile for free) All I really need is the worms, (and I am too busy to catch my own) so I went to the bait store to buy some worms, THEY WERE OUT!!!!!!! I told the old guy what I wanted the worms for and he said that if I can get a colony started, he would buy all of his worms from me!!!! (The red wiggler type, not the night crawlers)
So here is my thinking....I recycle paper and food scraps......saving them from the landfill, and I get worms to sell! From the little research that I have done so far, it shouldn't take much capital to set up and hardly any to maintain.
I will post a list of items needed to do this, a business plan, how much this is costing me, and the plans and pictures of me building my home made vermiculture farm.
From what I have read, you can do this on a small scale in a house -or- garage and won't take up a lot of precious time. So, there you go, let me see if I can make some money and save the planet at the same time! If you already have tried this, send me some tips or insights!I actually started out with the intentions of just helping the environment, then the money bug hit me when I found a small niche that I could inhabit.
Those Recycling Worms
Labels: Do the Worm Posted by SeekerBug on Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 5:14 PM
This post will be updated periodically as needed. If you remember, I started the work project for two reasons: to make money and to do something Green!
So...on this post I will keep track of how much has been recycled or saved from the landfill!
To start out:
2 tires
2 plastic barrels
1 newspaper
1 pc of junk mail
March 20th
3 pc of junk mail
coffee grounds
coffee filter
March 24th
Some brown lettuce that I forgot to eat in the fridge, about 1/4 pound
April 2nd
about 4 cups of green ruffage from when I was cleaning some vegetables
April 17th
Coffee grounds
2 tea bags from Starbucks (I had a cup of tea for lunch)
*How many other worms do you know of that get Starbucks! LOL
April 31st
1 newspaper
3 pc junk mail
The premise of his blog is to post about his goal of generating at least one dollar a day through strategic investments.
Without further adieu, here are two of his posts that I found interesting.
New Idea
Labels: Do the Worm Posted by SeekerBug on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 1:45 PM
I had a great idea for a small money making business (I hope).
I was trying to find something that I could do to help the environment. (I was actually going to buy a solar phone charger off of ebay) I was looking on ebay for ideas, solar power, wind turbines, etc..... then I came upon vermiculture! That is where you have a worm/bed and you put shredded paper and food scraps into the worm pile and they eat it. After a while, you have organic matter for your garden, since I just planted my herb/tomato/onion garden last week, I liked this idea. Plus...since I do a lot of stuff online, I am always printing items off, giving me an abundance of paper.
So I decided I was going to do it, all I need is the supplies, I already have dirt! I need some containers, (I am sure I can find some barrels in my grandpa's scrap pile for free) All I really need is the worms, (and I am too busy to catch my own) so I went to the bait store to buy some worms, THEY WERE OUT!!!!!!! I told the old guy what I wanted the worms for and he said that if I can get a colony started, he would buy all of his worms from me!!!! (The red wiggler type, not the night crawlers)
So here is my thinking....I recycle paper and food scraps......saving them from the landfill, and I get worms to sell! From the little research that I have done so far, it shouldn't take much capital to set up and hardly any to maintain.
I will post a list of items needed to do this, a business plan, how much this is costing me, and the plans and pictures of me building my home made vermiculture farm.
From what I have read, you can do this on a small scale in a house -or- garage and won't take up a lot of precious time. So, there you go, let me see if I can make some money and save the planet at the same time! If you already have tried this, send me some tips or insights!I actually started out with the intentions of just helping the environment, then the money bug hit me when I found a small niche that I could inhabit.
Those Recycling Worms
Labels: Do the Worm Posted by SeekerBug on Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 5:14 PM
This post will be updated periodically as needed. If you remember, I started the work project for two reasons: to make money and to do something Green!
So...on this post I will keep track of how much has been recycled or saved from the landfill!
To start out:
2 tires
2 plastic barrels
1 newspaper
1 pc of junk mail
March 20th
3 pc of junk mail
coffee grounds
coffee filter
March 24th
Some brown lettuce that I forgot to eat in the fridge, about 1/4 pound
April 2nd
about 4 cups of green ruffage from when I was cleaning some vegetables
April 17th
Coffee grounds
2 tea bags from Starbucks (I had a cup of tea for lunch)
*How many other worms do you know of that get Starbucks! LOL
April 31st
1 newspaper
3 pc junk mail
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Summer Projects YOU can do
Well, if you're anything like me, you're in the summer, and you need money. I plan on spending lots of money when I go to England this summer on my study abroad, unfortunately, as the dollar is dying out against the pound, that is going to be difficult. It means I must either spend TONS of money, or just not buy much. I would rather have the option of spending TONS of money (wouldn't we all)
I need to come up with some projects to do, so I thought I would post some of my ideas.
1. Sell stuff on e-Bay
There are lots of things out there you can sell on e-Bay, and even more places you can find that will tell you how to do it. I am currently selling some old Yu-Gi-Oh cards I found. I bought them as a gift for my cousins, then lost them. My cousins are no longer into these cards, but other people are, and I will sell some stuff to them.
It's actually possible to make LOTS of money from projects like this: I used to make a couple hundred a week from selling Trading cards (back when I was 12ish) There's lots of money in it, but you have to do some homework. Learn the best ways to procure, repack, sell, and ship the cards. I had good suppliers (usually other sellers on e-bay selling boxes of cards) I sold the individuals that were good, shipped them in the bubble envelopes, and turned good profits. You'll also have to learn the game a little so you know which cards are good to sell, and which ones can be either trashed, given away to someone who plays, or sold in "grab bag lots" (a trick I actually created on e-Bay...they have been around in real life for some time, but I was the first to implement them with trading cards on e-Bay)
2. Mow Lawns
I will not be doing this, since my knees are bad from football, but you can! It does not have to be lawn mowing, it can be any physical labor people don't like to do. It sounds simple, but there really can be BOATLOADS of money in this. The best things you can do is first figure out what other companies in the area charge to mow the lawn; you will need to beat these prices. You will then need to decide who you would like to service. If you are mowing lawns, it will be houses near yours since you won't want to lug your lawn mower across town. If it is something with lighter equipment, you can expand more fully. You will also need to advertise. You can post on bulletin boards, send out mailers, even go door to door to tell people about your products (make sure this is all allowed before you do it) There are many opportunities out there: you can clean pools, do gardening, paint outside or inside, mow lawns, change peoples oil, anything you feel you can do well, someone will probably pay you to do. I once had a business managing other kids businesses, since I felt that was my strong point.
3. Get a plain old job
There are many good paying jobs out there that you can get. I am not one for getting jobs, since I like to be my own boss, but if you want one, here are some tips...work in a restaurant, or an office building. If you are a server, you can make BANK on tips (chili's around here, servers make about $100 a night) office buildings you will also get better wages/salary. Don't work somewhere like a grocery store, you make minimum wage with no opportunity for more.
4. Steal it
Just kidding
5. Have a garage sale
If you are anything like me, you have old crap in your room and house that you don't use anymore because you're at college. Talk to your parents and have a garage sale. You can get others involved and make a real event. Advertise in local papers, and be prepared to sit outside all day. You can probably make a couple of hundred bucks from your old crap.
6. Sell stuff online
You can use a website like ecrater.com to create a store for free, and you can sell some of your wares online. This is similar to e-Bay, but you would simply have your own store. It's very easy to set up, and you can even buy a domain name to mask it.
7. Invest what you DO have
If you want, you can even start investing in the stock market (provided you have enough money to cover the commissions with your returns) I highly suggest doing lots of homework before you buy a stock, and for your own benefit, read up on how to invest. My dad is very involved with reading Jim Cramer and watching his show, Mad Money. He's entertaining at least, and I believe he has some good tips. My biggest tip, don't buy stuff simply at market price, set a price, otherwise you could end up selling your stock for $0.01 or buying a share for thousands. Trust me on that one. Cramer's show is on at 6pm and 11pm Eastern on Weeknights.
I hope some of these ideas either provided you with a good idea, or helped you to come up with a good idea of your own. I hope you all make lots of money this summer. Just remember, the best way to stimulate the economy is to spend the money you make. Don't spend MORE than you make, but keep that money moving through the economy.
I need to come up with some projects to do, so I thought I would post some of my ideas.
1. Sell stuff on e-Bay
There are lots of things out there you can sell on e-Bay, and even more places you can find that will tell you how to do it. I am currently selling some old Yu-Gi-Oh cards I found. I bought them as a gift for my cousins, then lost them. My cousins are no longer into these cards, but other people are, and I will sell some stuff to them.
It's actually possible to make LOTS of money from projects like this: I used to make a couple hundred a week from selling Trading cards (back when I was 12ish) There's lots of money in it, but you have to do some homework. Learn the best ways to procure, repack, sell, and ship the cards. I had good suppliers (usually other sellers on e-bay selling boxes of cards) I sold the individuals that were good, shipped them in the bubble envelopes, and turned good profits. You'll also have to learn the game a little so you know which cards are good to sell, and which ones can be either trashed, given away to someone who plays, or sold in "grab bag lots" (a trick I actually created on e-Bay...they have been around in real life for some time, but I was the first to implement them with trading cards on e-Bay)
2. Mow Lawns
I will not be doing this, since my knees are bad from football, but you can! It does not have to be lawn mowing, it can be any physical labor people don't like to do. It sounds simple, but there really can be BOATLOADS of money in this. The best things you can do is first figure out what other companies in the area charge to mow the lawn; you will need to beat these prices. You will then need to decide who you would like to service. If you are mowing lawns, it will be houses near yours since you won't want to lug your lawn mower across town. If it is something with lighter equipment, you can expand more fully. You will also need to advertise. You can post on bulletin boards, send out mailers, even go door to door to tell people about your products (make sure this is all allowed before you do it) There are many opportunities out there: you can clean pools, do gardening, paint outside or inside, mow lawns, change peoples oil, anything you feel you can do well, someone will probably pay you to do. I once had a business managing other kids businesses, since I felt that was my strong point.
3. Get a plain old job
There are many good paying jobs out there that you can get. I am not one for getting jobs, since I like to be my own boss, but if you want one, here are some tips...work in a restaurant, or an office building. If you are a server, you can make BANK on tips (chili's around here, servers make about $100 a night) office buildings you will also get better wages/salary. Don't work somewhere like a grocery store, you make minimum wage with no opportunity for more.
4. Steal it
Just kidding
5. Have a garage sale
If you are anything like me, you have old crap in your room and house that you don't use anymore because you're at college. Talk to your parents and have a garage sale. You can get others involved and make a real event. Advertise in local papers, and be prepared to sit outside all day. You can probably make a couple of hundred bucks from your old crap.
6. Sell stuff online
You can use a website like ecrater.com to create a store for free, and you can sell some of your wares online. This is similar to e-Bay, but you would simply have your own store. It's very easy to set up, and you can even buy a domain name to mask it.
7. Invest what you DO have
If you want, you can even start investing in the stock market (provided you have enough money to cover the commissions with your returns) I highly suggest doing lots of homework before you buy a stock, and for your own benefit, read up on how to invest. My dad is very involved with reading Jim Cramer and watching his show, Mad Money. He's entertaining at least, and I believe he has some good tips. My biggest tip, don't buy stuff simply at market price, set a price, otherwise you could end up selling your stock for $0.01 or buying a share for thousands. Trust me on that one. Cramer's show is on at 6pm and 11pm Eastern on Weeknights.
I hope some of these ideas either provided you with a good idea, or helped you to come up with a good idea of your own. I hope you all make lots of money this summer. Just remember, the best way to stimulate the economy is to spend the money you make. Don't spend MORE than you make, but keep that money moving through the economy.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Store Updated
All of my inventory is now available on my store (dorm-gear.com) I finally got it all updated, and I'm very excited, I think I can finally start some advertising. I know I'm going to put up signs around campus; I feel that will be the best advertising. If you have any ideas, I would LOVE to hear them.
I have also begun work on an access database to manage my orders, products, and inventory. As it turns out, this is a bigger project than I had expected; I guess I know less about access than I had previously thought. I finally figured out how to do some things, like automatically add one to my highest invoice number, so they are sequential, but I will not have gaps in the data. I want to build it using mostly forms, so I can have a very simple method of adding data to the database.
I think what I'll do is just take my time trying to get this system up and running, I don't think it has to be rushed, but it's also a great learning experience. It doesn't help that I'm really sick right now, so I'm not doing much of anything right now. I thought since I slept through all my classes, I would go ahead and do something a little beneficial.
Anyway, again, check the store at dorm-gear.com, I'd appreciate it.
Stay Safe!
I have also begun work on an access database to manage my orders, products, and inventory. As it turns out, this is a bigger project than I had expected; I guess I know less about access than I had previously thought. I finally figured out how to do some things, like automatically add one to my highest invoice number, so they are sequential, but I will not have gaps in the data. I want to build it using mostly forms, so I can have a very simple method of adding data to the database.
I think what I'll do is just take my time trying to get this system up and running, I don't think it has to be rushed, but it's also a great learning experience. It doesn't help that I'm really sick right now, so I'm not doing much of anything right now. I thought since I slept through all my classes, I would go ahead and do something a little beneficial.
Anyway, again, check the store at dorm-gear.com, I'd appreciate it.
Stay Safe!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
My first Woot! Purchase with intent to sell
So I made a purchase on Woot! the other day, and I'm pretty excited about it. I bought three Sandisk mP3 players, which sell for about $20-$25 on e-bay, for $35 total. They're pretty nice actually, I just don't need one 'cause I have my iPod. I'm hoping to make a couple bucks on this, and at least I'll have the experience of buying something on Woot! For those who don't know what Woot! is, it's a website that offers deep discounts once a day on certain products, if you get the product, you get the discount, but once they sell out, it's over. It's found at www.woot.com
Every so often, they'll get some products that are re-sellable (there's a limit of 3 items per person) and this is the first one that seemed pretty solid on e-Bay. I'm trying to find something to get me back into the e-Bay groove, but I just can't think of anything, I've hit a sales wall :'( Any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated, although I know anyone reading this would probably keep those to themselves.
Valentines Day is coming up, and...well, I think it's a fairly pointless holiday, but it does help to stimulate the economy to a small extent, so it can't be all bad. It's definitely a consumer holiday though; however, whoever enjoys it, enjoy it with all your heart, just because something might be a consumer holiday, doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy it if you want to.
It's been a little while since my last post, sorry about that; I had 3 exams in a matter of 2 days, and that kind of adds up the other work to be done, I wasn't really thinking about the blog. I ended up getting:
ITM 309: 33/40 (82.5%)
MSC 303: 44/50 (88%)
ACC 202: 17/18 (94.4%)
I'm pretty pleased with those scores, I expected a perfect score in Accounting, but the others went well. I usually score around an 80% on the first exam, then step it up to around 95-98% on the last exams, which so far has always averaged out for a 4.0. This isn't exactly my toughest semester (I just moved on to Oxy-acetalene welding in my Welding class) but these classes still require some work. I also started thinking about what to do with my schedule: I think I'm keeping the Supply Chain major, I'm also taking all the Accounting classes (though they won't give me the extra degree) with a specialization in Entrepreneurship and maybe International Business. This should get me a good first job (goal is $60,000 a year) and from there I should be good to get a free MBA.
Anyway, I am still looking for an effective way of making money on the internet from this room. I am going to make custom magnets, if anyone has a funny idea for a magnet, I would love to hear it, if I decide to use it, you might make a little cash :)
I'll keep you all posted on how things are going. Also, the senate approved the stimulus package with a few changes, I won't outline them, but if someone wants to guest post them, I'd be happy to put it up.
Every so often, they'll get some products that are re-sellable (there's a limit of 3 items per person) and this is the first one that seemed pretty solid on e-Bay. I'm trying to find something to get me back into the e-Bay groove, but I just can't think of anything, I've hit a sales wall :'( Any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated, although I know anyone reading this would probably keep those to themselves.
Valentines Day is coming up, and...well, I think it's a fairly pointless holiday, but it does help to stimulate the economy to a small extent, so it can't be all bad. It's definitely a consumer holiday though; however, whoever enjoys it, enjoy it with all your heart, just because something might be a consumer holiday, doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy it if you want to.
It's been a little while since my last post, sorry about that; I had 3 exams in a matter of 2 days, and that kind of adds up the other work to be done, I wasn't really thinking about the blog. I ended up getting:
ITM 309: 33/40 (82.5%)
MSC 303: 44/50 (88%)
ACC 202: 17/18 (94.4%)
I'm pretty pleased with those scores, I expected a perfect score in Accounting, but the others went well. I usually score around an 80% on the first exam, then step it up to around 95-98% on the last exams, which so far has always averaged out for a 4.0. This isn't exactly my toughest semester (I just moved on to Oxy-acetalene welding in my Welding class) but these classes still require some work. I also started thinking about what to do with my schedule: I think I'm keeping the Supply Chain major, I'm also taking all the Accounting classes (though they won't give me the extra degree) with a specialization in Entrepreneurship and maybe International Business. This should get me a good first job (goal is $60,000 a year) and from there I should be good to get a free MBA.
Anyway, I am still looking for an effective way of making money on the internet from this room. I am going to make custom magnets, if anyone has a funny idea for a magnet, I would love to hear it, if I decide to use it, you might make a little cash :)
I'll keep you all posted on how things are going. Also, the senate approved the stimulus package with a few changes, I won't outline them, but if someone wants to guest post them, I'd be happy to put it up.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
My Dad Has a New Website
Quick post this time. First of all, my phone comes Monday, so I'm going to be very excited on Monday. Secondly, my dad just launched a new website to help preserve memories. Here's the write-up on the site. His website can be found at www.eventcollage.com
If you are reading this blog on facebook, the full blog can be found at www.dormroombiz.com
"When you take pictures at family events or vacations you end up with many photo's of the event. We will take your individual photo's and turn them in to a beautiful Collage to commemorate the Event.
We will resize and crop photo's as necessary so they will fit on an 8x10, 11x14 or 16x20 inch Collage. See the sample at the right. Click on the picture to see more examples.
We look forward to doing business with you." [www.eventcollage.com]
Again, if you want to see his site, go to: www.eventcollage.com
We can work with digital photo's or if you send us photo prints we will scan them in and create the Collage. We offer several Collage sizes as well as other services. See our Products page for details. If you want something specific that you don't see here we also offer custom services.
Call or email and let us know what you want.
Again, if you want to see his site, go to: www.eventcollage.com
If you are reading this blog on facebook, the full blog can be found at www.dormroombiz.com
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Sorry For The Lack of Posts
I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while (15 days to be exact) I've been quite busy. I had a paper and two tough quizzes on Thursday; an incredibly difficult mid-term yesterday, and a final for a half semester class today. I think I performed decently well on all of them, but it still wasn't fun; it also required quite a bit of studying. My marketing professor is very proud of the fact that no one has gotten a perfect score on his midterm in 6 years, I wanted to kill that statistic...I don't think I did.
With better news, I'm getting a new phone and I am absolutely psyched about it. It has built in GPS, a full keyboard, and too many features to count. It's an HTC TyTn II (AT&T Tilt). It has everything I want, and then much more. I hear a Google phone might actually be on the horizon, but I don't want to wait for it, so I'll just get this now :) I'll post pictures when I get it, and I can even blog from it if I want to. No one knows how excited I am about this.
Also, I'm pretty fed up at HP right now. I bought an ink cartridge last year, and when I used it, it didn't work; it was a defective cartridge. I went ahead and contacted them, and was told I would receive a new ink cartridge. I never did, so I contacted them again, tried the troubleshooting steps again, and was told I would be shipped a replacement. I still have not. HP is a few days from losing a VERY loyal customer, and that is NEVER good. When you lose a loyal customer, that is not just future revenues lost, but all other revenues lost by my friends potentially. Why is that bad? That's terrible. We'll see if they step it up in the next few days. I'm also sick of the Indian customer service representatives who speak "English" but are just copying and pasting from a script. I'll let you know how it goes.
During the writing of this post, I learned that my new phone has been ordered already; WOOT!
For those of you reading on Facebook: the full blog is available at www.dormroombiz.com
With better news, I'm getting a new phone and I am absolutely psyched about it. It has built in GPS, a full keyboard, and too many features to count. It's an HTC TyTn II (AT&T Tilt). It has everything I want, and then much more. I hear a Google phone might actually be on the horizon, but I don't want to wait for it, so I'll just get this now :) I'll post pictures when I get it, and I can even blog from it if I want to. No one knows how excited I am about this.
Also, I'm pretty fed up at HP right now. I bought an ink cartridge last year, and when I used it, it didn't work; it was a defective cartridge. I went ahead and contacted them, and was told I would receive a new ink cartridge. I never did, so I contacted them again, tried the troubleshooting steps again, and was told I would be shipped a replacement. I still have not. HP is a few days from losing a VERY loyal customer, and that is NEVER good. When you lose a loyal customer, that is not just future revenues lost, but all other revenues lost by my friends potentially. Why is that bad? That's terrible. We'll see if they step it up in the next few days. I'm also sick of the Indian customer service representatives who speak "English" but are just copying and pasting from a script. I'll let you know how it goes.
During the writing of this post, I learned that my new phone has been ordered already; WOOT!
For those of you reading on Facebook: the full blog is available at www.dormroombiz.com
Friday, September 21, 2007
Guest Poster: Matthew Wolfe
I recently imported all my blogs into Facebook. There Matt Wolfe took some interest, and was generous enough to send me some tips on the DVD rental idea. Although I can't personally run a business like this, I thought his points were WAY too good to pass up, so I asked if I could post his message to me as a guest post. I hope you all enjoy it.
"Hi Paul! I haven't seen you in a while. I saw your note and decided the opportunity to offer my two cents was too good to pass up.
I think it's awesome that you are contemplating the merits of a business venture. I haven't run or began my own business yet but I offer my advice because I read about businesses every day in the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance, thestreet.com, etc. I encourage you to seek out the advice of actual business owners/creators, to read columns and articles online about starting your own business, etc.
(By the way, I checked deep discount's website, and they are cheap and have free shipping. For instance, the movie October Sky is only $8.59 w/ free shipping. You've Got Mail is 6.62 w/ free shipping. Not bad. However, there are better deals if you look at amazon, half, ebay, froogle.com, etc. and are willing to accept a used copy, although there are sometimes new copies for even lower than the used copies.)
Here's a non-exhaustive list of questions to answer before you begin with this venture:
What are the limitations of your client base? Just your dorm? Just the people you know in your dorm? Or anyone with a pulse on campus?
What will constitute a "day" of rental? If the person accidentally keeps the movie for 13 days (they owe you $13), have they automatically bought it? Will you offer to buy/trade movies from other people? How many copies of each movie will you have on hand?
The movies in the highest demand are new releases (new's). How many copies of new releases will you buy? What is the cheapest source for new's? It's not Deep Discount - they don't sell The Pursuit of Happiness or probably any new's.
Why will clients choose your service over Blockbuster's or Netflix's mail-service? It is important that you identify how you provide value beyond what they offer and then capitalize on that.
Just as an idea for the extra value you provide, you offer the benefit of being able to watch the movie you want that day/immediately. With mail-service, you have to wait at least a day or two for the movie to come in. Then again, are you familiar with Netflix's instant online viewing once you've rented the movie? They let you view the movie online even before the DVD has been physically delivered to you.
What forms of payment will you accept? Cash, check, credit card, anything else? My inclination is cash only at first, but you should certainly look into the cost/benefit of accepting credit card payments. Anyone can do it, I think I heard one guy tell me he has a wireless credit card machine that he pays $70/month to use (plus prob. a percentage of all transactions).
What about your competitors? If your business were not in existence yet, what would most people do to rent a movie?
Read about your competitors, I think Block & Net are operating at very thin profit margins, if any at all. Why is that? Was Block ever a very profitable business, and why did profitability decline drastically? What does that mean for your business.
Those are just the questions on the top of my head; I could think of several times more. I wish you the best!
Regards,
Matthew"
I think everyone can take away something from that message. I have invited Matthew the opportunity to guest post on my blog in the future if he so wishes.
If you wish to be posted as a guest poster on dormroombiz.com, just send your write up (blog) to recchiap@gmail.com; I'll review it, and there is a good chance I will post it if it is relevant. Then you could be a published writer online :)
Thanks again Matt, and thanks to everyone reading this.
Again, if you are reading this on the imported facebook account, you can view my full blog at www.dormroombiz.com
"Hi Paul! I haven't seen you in a while. I saw your note and decided the opportunity to offer my two cents was too good to pass up.
I think it's awesome that you are contemplating the merits of a business venture. I haven't run or began my own business yet but I offer my advice because I read about businesses every day in the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance, thestreet.com, etc. I encourage you to seek out the advice of actual business owners/creators, to read columns and articles online about starting your own business, etc.
(By the way, I checked deep discount's website, and they are cheap and have free shipping. For instance, the movie October Sky is only $8.59 w/ free shipping. You've Got Mail is 6.62 w/ free shipping. Not bad. However, there are better deals if you look at amazon, half, ebay, froogle.com, etc. and are willing to accept a used copy, although there are sometimes new copies for even lower than the used copies.)
Here's a non-exhaustive list of questions to answer before you begin with this venture:
What are the limitations of your client base? Just your dorm? Just the people you know in your dorm? Or anyone with a pulse on campus?
What will constitute a "day" of rental? If the person accidentally keeps the movie for 13 days (they owe you $13), have they automatically bought it? Will you offer to buy/trade movies from other people? How many copies of each movie will you have on hand?
The movies in the highest demand are new releases (new's). How many copies of new releases will you buy? What is the cheapest source for new's? It's not Deep Discount - they don't sell The Pursuit of Happiness or probably any new's.
Why will clients choose your service over Blockbuster's or Netflix's mail-service? It is important that you identify how you provide value beyond what they offer and then capitalize on that.
Just as an idea for the extra value you provide, you offer the benefit of being able to watch the movie you want that day/immediately. With mail-service, you have to wait at least a day or two for the movie to come in. Then again, are you familiar with Netflix's instant online viewing once you've rented the movie? They let you view the movie online even before the DVD has been physically delivered to you.
What forms of payment will you accept? Cash, check, credit card, anything else? My inclination is cash only at first, but you should certainly look into the cost/benefit of accepting credit card payments. Anyone can do it, I think I heard one guy tell me he has a wireless credit card machine that he pays $70/month to use (plus prob. a percentage of all transactions).
What about your competitors? If your business were not in existence yet, what would most people do to rent a movie?
Read about your competitors, I think Block & Net are operating at very thin profit margins, if any at all. Why is that? Was Block ever a very profitable business, and why did profitability decline drastically? What does that mean for your business.
Those are just the questions on the top of my head; I could think of several times more. I wish you the best!
Regards,
Matthew"
I think everyone can take away something from that message. I have invited Matthew the opportunity to guest post on my blog in the future if he so wishes.
If you wish to be posted as a guest poster on dormroombiz.com, just send your write up (blog) to recchiap@gmail.com; I'll review it, and there is a good chance I will post it if it is relevant. Then you could be a published writer online :)
Thanks again Matt, and thanks to everyone reading this.
Again, if you are reading this on the imported facebook account, you can view my full blog at www.dormroombiz.com
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
New Business Idea
So while I was looking for some wholesale DVDs I had a business idea that I can't really pursue, but many people out there probably could. It takes a small investment, but it could pay off. If you bought a bunch of movies wholesale, then rented them out of your room, you could make some good money. I figure you can get most DVDs for $10 somewhere. If you rented them out for like $1 a day, you could easily make the money back. Start with the movies you already have, and maybe buy a couple real popular ones.
You could make a list for people to see what you have, and you could even find a way to mark whether it's in stock or not. The main issues would be dorm rules. You would need to make sure there's no stores with really cheap rental fees. The dorm just to the south of mine rents out DVDs to students for free. Is this the norm at most colleges? If not, you might be able to make a fair buck. Make sure you write down who has what DVD, DON'T rely on your memory, that is futile, you'll forget, and someone might steal your DVD. Also write down what room they live in, in case you need to go get them. You might also have a policy in case someone breaks a DVD (ex: you break it, pay $15 to buy it)
Beyond that, you could offer to sell the DVDs to the people for like $13 after they rent it (SPECIAL: Buy the movie and get your rental fee back!) You still make a profit, and have enough to get a new DVD to replace that one.
Well, just a thought; I wanted to get it out there before I forgot the specifics I had cooked up in my head.
You could make a list for people to see what you have, and you could even find a way to mark whether it's in stock or not. The main issues would be dorm rules. You would need to make sure there's no stores with really cheap rental fees. The dorm just to the south of mine rents out DVDs to students for free. Is this the norm at most colleges? If not, you might be able to make a fair buck. Make sure you write down who has what DVD, DON'T rely on your memory, that is futile, you'll forget, and someone might steal your DVD. Also write down what room they live in, in case you need to go get them. You might also have a policy in case someone breaks a DVD (ex: you break it, pay $15 to buy it)
Beyond that, you could offer to sell the DVDs to the people for like $13 after they rent it (SPECIAL: Buy the movie and get your rental fee back!) You still make a profit, and have enough to get a new DVD to replace that one.
Well, just a thought; I wanted to get it out there before I forgot the specifics I had cooked up in my head.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Some Products Found
I've found some products to use. I'm making customized magnets (fridge magnets). I'm also making these really neat photo holders. I've made 2 of them so far to hold pictures of my god daughter. I also plan on selling temporary tattoos (great upseller) and glow shot glasses. Any other ideas out there? I'm working VERY hard on getting these products going.
I'm also starting to think about store design; I'll need a shopping cart, but I can use Paypal for that. I do need to find a webhost, as well as a clever name for the store. I could use some ideas on that too. I'm pretty excited about this. Even if it doesn't take off, it's still something I did, and that's a good feeling. I tried hard with e-bay many years ago, and was rewarded for that, hopefully this will pay off as well. I wish I could find like wholesale DVD's and sell those, that would be great.
Well I just wanted to keep everyone updated on my current progress with the store.
I'm also starting to think about store design; I'll need a shopping cart, but I can use Paypal for that. I do need to find a webhost, as well as a clever name for the store. I could use some ideas on that too. I'm pretty excited about this. Even if it doesn't take off, it's still something I did, and that's a good feeling. I tried hard with e-bay many years ago, and was rewarded for that, hopefully this will pay off as well. I wish I could find like wholesale DVD's and sell those, that would be great.
Well I just wanted to keep everyone updated on my current progress with the store.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
The Business is on it's way
I've been working on finding products, and so far it's going pretty well. I've decided I will be selling clever/cool looking magnets. I ordered a sample of magnetic ink jet paper, so I can see if it will work in my printer. I'm also making a thing that can hold like 4-8 pictures, so people could get one or two of these for their dorms.
I'm currently figuring what else to sell. I would need to dropship most of the products, and ideally I find a site that can dropship most of the items, so I don't have like 4 different shipping charges. I found a site that can send out DVD's, but it's based in Europe, and after the exchange rate, it's not as much of a deal as you would think. I'd like to send like laptop accessories, ipod accessories, stuff like that. I just need to figure out how I'm going to do this. I can't hold any inventory really, so I've got to work hard at getting very small items, or finding an affordable dropshipper.
I also ordered some shipping supplies, mostly priority mail. I think I"ll send most products via priority mail, since it has free shipping supplies. It costs a bit more, but it is much easier to ship out.
I'm currently figuring what else to sell. I would need to dropship most of the products, and ideally I find a site that can dropship most of the items, so I don't have like 4 different shipping charges. I found a site that can send out DVD's, but it's based in Europe, and after the exchange rate, it's not as much of a deal as you would think. I'd like to send like laptop accessories, ipod accessories, stuff like that. I just need to figure out how I'm going to do this. I can't hold any inventory really, so I've got to work hard at getting very small items, or finding an affordable dropshipper.
I also ordered some shipping supplies, mostly priority mail. I think I"ll send most products via priority mail, since it has free shipping supplies. It costs a bit more, but it is much easier to ship out.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
A business I can get behind
So I finally decided that I'm going to open a small online store selling things that would be useful in the dorm rooms. I'm working on a list of items right now, and now I need to find vendors. This will not be fun, but it's necessary. I figure the people I'm targeting with this blog would be likely to buy some of these things, and since I'll be going for low margin high turnover (VERY risky for a small business) I'll need to get word out. However, with low overhead, I won't be out too fast if it fails, since I'm not paying any sort of monthly fee. My goal is to make $5 in the first month, $20 in the second month, and $60 in the third. I think this is all plausible, and that's profit numbers.
Any tips? Anyone out there know a good way to find vendors. I know Neville from his financial blog has houseofrave.com and he doesn't even keep most of that stuff in stock, just handles the orders. Maybe I'll try to ask him how he got his vendors in line. Ha, he runs one of the most popular financial blogs out there, and I want him to answer my question...think he'll respond.
Well that's all for now, just wanted to let everyone know what I'm up to. Short one. Hopefully next time I post I'll have some sort of store going.
Any tips? Anyone out there know a good way to find vendors. I know Neville from his financial blog has houseofrave.com and he doesn't even keep most of that stuff in stock, just handles the orders. Maybe I'll try to ask him how he got his vendors in line. Ha, he runs one of the most popular financial blogs out there, and I want him to answer my question...think he'll respond.
Well that's all for now, just wanted to let everyone know what I'm up to. Short one. Hopefully next time I post I'll have some sort of store going.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Roommate, part 2, plus much much more
My roommate seems like he'll be really cool. I checked out his facebook, and he likes most of the same shows I do, and quite a few of the same bands. We're pretty similar. He's also pretty chill, which is good, and it means he'll probably be laid back a bout these little money making experiments.
I just today changed my schedule, instead of taking Financial Bank and Money Markets, I'm taking racquetball I. I want to take the Econ class, but I looked up the professor, and he has a crazy hard curve. This way, I have 12 credits, which means easier 4.0, and I save like $600 when you factor in the book I don't have to buy. I'm pretty excited about this, it means I will be starting every morning Monday-Thursday with exercise...awesome!
I go back the 23rd, and move in the 24th. I'm pretty psyched because my grandma is making my mom and I food on Thursday...WOOT! I love the breaded chicken, I can't freaking wait. I'll miss my friends here, but it's time to go back. Hopefully all my friends stay friends while I'm gone, so I don't have to split myself up between them...I also need to find a way to start making money soon. I'm gonna spend around $1500 on school fees/expenses I think, just when I get back.
My Professor I'm working with on research already contacted me so we can make a time to meet and start working again. I think it was easier when we hadn't made contact yet last year, and I got paid for august for doing nothing :) I guess I don't get that luxury this year. I get paid the 15th, plus I still have like $100 from my summer job at LISD, which NEEDS to hit my account soon.
Anyway, I've kept you for a while, so I'll be gone.
I just today changed my schedule, instead of taking Financial Bank and Money Markets, I'm taking racquetball I. I want to take the Econ class, but I looked up the professor, and he has a crazy hard curve. This way, I have 12 credits, which means easier 4.0, and I save like $600 when you factor in the book I don't have to buy. I'm pretty excited about this, it means I will be starting every morning Monday-Thursday with exercise...awesome!
I go back the 23rd, and move in the 24th. I'm pretty psyched because my grandma is making my mom and I food on Thursday...WOOT! I love the breaded chicken, I can't freaking wait. I'll miss my friends here, but it's time to go back. Hopefully all my friends stay friends while I'm gone, so I don't have to split myself up between them...I also need to find a way to start making money soon. I'm gonna spend around $1500 on school fees/expenses I think, just when I get back.
My Professor I'm working with on research already contacted me so we can make a time to meet and start working again. I think it was easier when we hadn't made contact yet last year, and I got paid for august for doing nothing :) I guess I don't get that luxury this year. I get paid the 15th, plus I still have like $100 from my summer job at LISD, which NEEDS to hit my account soon.
Anyway, I've kept you for a while, so I'll be gone.
Friday, August 3, 2007
e-Bay Forex Arbritage
I noticed something recently when trying to figure out a way to make money on e-bay. It's another idea that requires some capital, but it looks to have fairly consistent gains.
When I was coming home from Austria/Italy last year on a choir trip, I looked on e-bay to see if maybe people on e-bay would pay more than the exchange rate I could get anywhere else (and with astronomically lower fees). I discovered that they did purchase euros for about $0.05 more per euro than at the services. This number varied based on the denomination. Unfortunately, I used all my Euros to buy chocolate and other duty free items.
I have thought about this for some time, and have looked again, only to find that e-Bay buyers are willing to pay about $1.43 per euro, whereas the accepted change rate was only $1.37 at the time I checked it. So...if you found some low commmission currency converters, you could theoretically make a pretty penny selling euros on e-Bay.
One tip I would have is to charge a handling charge; you will have to go to the post office to buy insurance, you need to go to your currency conversion agency to get the currency, and you have to put up some currency to start. I would suggest getting the Euros in fives, and then charge around $1-$2 more than shipping for a handling charge. This way, you will likely make up your money you pay in commission fees.
I want to try this, but I can't do that until I have all my fees paid for fall semester. I'm looking at about $2000 in fees/books after all my scholarships are used. I should be able to do this, with about forty-seven cents left over for other things.
When I was coming home from Austria/Italy last year on a choir trip, I looked on e-bay to see if maybe people on e-bay would pay more than the exchange rate I could get anywhere else (and with astronomically lower fees). I discovered that they did purchase euros for about $0.05 more per euro than at the services. This number varied based on the denomination. Unfortunately, I used all my Euros to buy chocolate and other duty free items.
I have thought about this for some time, and have looked again, only to find that e-Bay buyers are willing to pay about $1.43 per euro, whereas the accepted change rate was only $1.37 at the time I checked it. So...if you found some low commmission currency converters, you could theoretically make a pretty penny selling euros on e-Bay.
One tip I would have is to charge a handling charge; you will have to go to the post office to buy insurance, you need to go to your currency conversion agency to get the currency, and you have to put up some currency to start. I would suggest getting the Euros in fives, and then charge around $1-$2 more than shipping for a handling charge. This way, you will likely make up your money you pay in commission fees.
I want to try this, but I can't do that until I have all my fees paid for fall semester. I'm looking at about $2000 in fees/books after all my scholarships are used. I should be able to do this, with about forty-seven cents left over for other things.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Sorry it's been so long
So it has been a very long time since I've posted, and for this I apologize. I've been busy with work, and putting my room back together (I just painted it and moved everything around) I do have a few things to say though.
Experiment 1 is taking a little break until I can work up some capital to do everything necessary. I was thinking I might just wait until I get back into the dorm, since this is Dorm Room Business. I also tried another money making idea. It was obscure, but fun...and ultimately unsuccessful.
I went to a gas station locally with a "quarters" game with the slides that push quarters over the edge, with $25 in quarters. There were various prizes, including a $20 bill and a $50 bill (plus smaller denominations) on the quarters. I was not, however successful in winning either of these, although I came quite close to the $20, probably another $5 and I would have had it. Either way, this was probably a stupid idea, but it game me and my friend about 2 hours of fun, so it wasn't a total loss. I also won a girls watch...that's useless, but I won something :)
I'll admit, so far, my ideas have resembled gambling, and I need to get more solid ideas running; I don't however feel like doing this before I get back to the dorms. I get back the 27th of August, I leave to go back to Michigan on the 23rd, and hopefully I will have a cool roommate (I'm staying in the dorms, and my roommate request decided to transfer to Cornell)
My job ends on Thursday, which means my steady income is done, so I need to find a better way of making money. I start my job as soon as I get back to school, which is good. I need income.
One thing I want to buy when get the money is the AT&T 8525, which in my opinion is better than the iPhone. Someone at the AT&T store told me she thinks a lot of the iPhone ideas came from the 8525. It works on 3G, which is faster, has windows mobile, and a full keyboard that's easy to type on. The data plan is $40 a month. I figure I can afford $30 a month with my current income, which means if I can raise it by $10, I can safely do it. Any thoughts?
Good Day.
Experiment 1 is taking a little break until I can work up some capital to do everything necessary. I was thinking I might just wait until I get back into the dorm, since this is Dorm Room Business. I also tried another money making idea. It was obscure, but fun...and ultimately unsuccessful.
I went to a gas station locally with a "quarters" game with the slides that push quarters over the edge, with $25 in quarters. There were various prizes, including a $20 bill and a $50 bill (plus smaller denominations) on the quarters. I was not, however successful in winning either of these, although I came quite close to the $20, probably another $5 and I would have had it. Either way, this was probably a stupid idea, but it game me and my friend about 2 hours of fun, so it wasn't a total loss. I also won a girls watch...that's useless, but I won something :)
I'll admit, so far, my ideas have resembled gambling, and I need to get more solid ideas running; I don't however feel like doing this before I get back to the dorms. I get back the 27th of August, I leave to go back to Michigan on the 23rd, and hopefully I will have a cool roommate (I'm staying in the dorms, and my roommate request decided to transfer to Cornell)
My job ends on Thursday, which means my steady income is done, so I need to find a better way of making money. I start my job as soon as I get back to school, which is good. I need income.
One thing I want to buy when get the money is the AT&T 8525, which in my opinion is better than the iPhone. Someone at the AT&T store told me she thinks a lot of the iPhone ideas came from the 8525. It works on 3G, which is faster, has windows mobile, and a full keyboard that's easy to type on. The data plan is $40 a month. I figure I can afford $30 a month with my current income, which means if I can raise it by $10, I can safely do it. Any thoughts?
Good Day.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Experiment 1: How to make a million dollars
For a few weeks, while I'm home, I'll be doing this blog from my room, but with the same constrictions as a dorm room. My room at home is basically a dorm room anyway. Even though ideally the ideas can transcend the dorm room/apartment, the goal of the blog is to find ways to make money in the dorm.
Idea: Place classified ads in paper/flyer's around town that offer the secret for earning a million dollars. The cost of this information is $1. This money may be mailed to me or paypal may be used.
Execution: I'll need to find some newspapers to place my ads in. This is going to cost something, but not much. Ideally I'll find some papers with free classified ads. I would also like to set up a website for this, to make it look more official. Something along the lines of "makeamilliondollars" or something like that.
How it works: So when I get the dollar, they get the information...place an ad somewhere telling people to send one dollar for information on making a million dollars. Then get a million people to do it.
Variations: This could work with flyer's, classified ads, and maybe even places like e-bay.
Idea: Place classified ads in paper/flyer's around town that offer the secret for earning a million dollars. The cost of this information is $1. This money may be mailed to me or paypal may be used.
Execution: I'll need to find some newspapers to place my ads in. This is going to cost something, but not much. Ideally I'll find some papers with free classified ads. I would also like to set up a website for this, to make it look more official. Something along the lines of "makeamilliondollars" or something like that.
How it works: So when I get the dollar, they get the information...place an ad somewhere telling people to send one dollar for information on making a million dollars. Then get a million people to do it.
Variations: This could work with flyer's, classified ads, and maybe even places like e-bay.
Welcome to Dorm Room Business!!!
I have just started this blog because I know there are thousands, if not millions of people out there who are sitting in their dorm rooms because they don't have any spare cash to do anything fun. Well I'm here to say it doesn't have to be that way.
I figure, while you're sitting in your room, why not be making money instead of just watching TV or watching another stupid video on YouTube again. If you take that time and make it even slightly more productive, then you're likely to make a few bucks.
I plan on trying different money making experiments in my dorm, and I encourage you to do the same in your own residence hall. If you are trying any new experiments, please e-mail me and I will post the details on the blog so everyone can see how it works. If we can just get a little creative, I think everyone can be making some good cash in their dorm rooms.
The next step to making money, is saving money. I'll be posting any neat little tricks I come up with to save money on anything, from supplies, to booze.
I hope you'll come back to visit again, and read about some of these experiments. Who knows, maybe you'll get a couple ideas and wind up a wealthy college student (you could be one of the 58 of them)
I figure, while you're sitting in your room, why not be making money instead of just watching TV or watching another stupid video on YouTube again. If you take that time and make it even slightly more productive, then you're likely to make a few bucks.
I plan on trying different money making experiments in my dorm, and I encourage you to do the same in your own residence hall. If you are trying any new experiments, please e-mail me and I will post the details on the blog so everyone can see how it works. If we can just get a little creative, I think everyone can be making some good cash in their dorm rooms.
The next step to making money, is saving money. I'll be posting any neat little tricks I come up with to save money on anything, from supplies, to booze.
I hope you'll come back to visit again, and read about some of these experiments. Who knows, maybe you'll get a couple ideas and wind up a wealthy college student (you could be one of the 58 of them)
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