Introduction
You're
on the road to success - Congratulations!
You bought
this
report because you want information on starting a business,
part-time
at first, without investing a lot of money, yet one
that
will quickly be a money-maker. You'll
find a number of
them
here.
In
each one we give the basic concept of the business, what
product
or service it provides to your customers, and how it is
operated,
and (if any are necessary) what equipment or
facilities
or help will be needed.
But
whatever business you choose, remember that no business can
succeed
without your effort. remember that
determination and
hard
work are the mother and father of success.
If you supply
those,
and use the information we supply, you can't miss. Good
luck!
1. Television Computer Pictures
Lease
a computer printer and a video camera and a
monitor
screen
that produces large-size, high contrast portraits of
customers
in 30 seconds, while they wait. You will
find this a
sure-fire
crowd attracter, as the printer chatters away.
Set up
in
a crowded resort are. Charge at least $4
a picture, framed
in
a simple mat, almost all of which is gross profit. Net cost
of
all materials, about 8 cents.
Hot
source: The equipment to do this is
available from
Sketch
Division, 140 Wood Road, Braintree, Mass. 02184
2. Badge-Making
Rent
a small multilith printing machine and a badge sealing
machine,
and using self-adhesive Presstype for typesetting,
design
and set cut sayings for the badges. Sell
as a custom
service,
making slogans to order, or make a wide range of
far-out
sayings in bulk quantities and sell them to local gift
and
novelty shops for resale.
3. Run a "Consignment Shop"
It
requires very little capital and accepts goods for sale from
members
of the public and sells these items for them on a
commission
basis. You might try a wide variety of
items at
first,
to see what sells best and most regularly.
4. Picture Framing, In Your Own Home
Relatively
inexpensive materials with a good sense of color and
style
and a reasonable ability with carpentry tools, will build
a
large custom-framing business, since people who spend money on
art
won't skimp on the frames either, if they want a
good-looking
result.
5. Rental Equipment
Be
the source of supplies for do-it-yourselfers.
Working only
Saturdays
and Sundays, when they do, you rent out power tools,
such
as circular saws, jigsaws, reciprocating saws, gasoline
chain
saws, electric drills, electric planers, belt and orbital
sanders,
routers, paint sprayers, wallpaper-removal steamers,
staple
guns, pumps, home cleaning machines, Roto-tillers, and
other
equipment for daily fees. Operate out of
your garage.
6. Talent Bureau, For Kid's or Adults'
Parties
Using
local ads, or your own contacts, line up 10 to 20 local
entertainers,
magicians, comics, puppeteers and other talents,
and
supply them for parties, club meetings and other functions.
Have
a list of films you can also supply for the same, or other
groups,
which they can project themselves, if they wish, or you
will
supply an operator.
7. Throwing Parties for Profit
Everyone
loves to go to a party, and nowadays some smart
operators
make a mint running them for everybody who wants to
attend. You can too!
Hire a hall and a band, plan to set up a
bar
(if you can get a temporary liquor permit), and promote the
hell
out of it with ads, handbills, bumper stickers and
lamp-post
posters. Special parties aimed at a
particular group
do
best, such as singles, or under-thirties, or over-forties.
This
idea is especially good in college towns.
8. Start a Hobby Center
Make
money on your unused space (and maybe the power tools
you've
already paid for!) Turn your basement
into a woodworking
center,
your spare bedroom into a photo darkroom, and your
garage
into a pottery workshop with a wheel and a small kiln.
Rent
the space and equipment by the hour, expand into more
hobbies
as time and money permit, and charge additional fees for
instruction
in any of those fields you're good at.
9. Organize a Babysitting Service
One
of the troubles most people find is that their babysitter is
always
busy just the night they want to go out.
You set up a
service,
finding good reliable teenage girls and boys,
middle-aged
or older women, and act as a go-between, providing
sitters
whenever your customers want them, collecting the fees,
and
paying the sitters. Advertise your
service, and handbills
house-to-house
locally being a good way.
10. Make Money From Your Hobbies
Are
you an expert at something that you do at home for fun?
Then
make it pay off for you! If you're a
gourmet cook, give
cooking
lessons in the haut cuisine. If you're
an accomplished
painter
in oils or water-color, offer a portrait-painting
service. If you're a skilled carpenter, design and
make custom
cabinets
to order. Almost any hobby you're good
at can be
turned
to making a profit if you think about it carefully, and
decide
who could use your expertise - as a consultant in that
field,
if nothing else. All you really have to
do to get
started
is to place an ad!
11. Publish a Buy/Swap Paper in Your Town
Get
money from both ends in this sweetheart deal. Publish the
weekly
paper with classified ads from the public offering stuff
for
sale, arranged according to category, and charge the people
for
their ads (some operators let them pay only if and when they
sell,
but in that case charge them a percentage of the selling
price,
5% for smaller items, 2% or 3% for automobiles), and then
sell
the newspaper (suggest price is 25 cents) as well, through
local
newsstands and by subscription (in the mail).
Once you
have
a fairly decent circulation, local merchants will also pay
you
for display ads, because they know people really read buy
and
swap newspapers religiously cover-to-cover.
12. Do Custom Photo Developing
Quality
is essential, and speed is generally also required,
although
you can charge a premium for rush service.
If you
already
have an elaborate dark-room set-up in your home, so much
the
better, but if not it can be fitted in anywhere you have
room,
the basement being ideal, since windows are not a
requirement. You must be able not only to develop and
print
every
normal size of film from 35 mm to 8" x 10" but handle
enlargements
up to a minimum of 30" x 40", and preferably 5" 8*"
or
more, and do copying both of opaque material and slides. An
ability
to offer retouching, restoration and coloring as well is
helpful,
even if you have to send that specialized work out.
13. Publish a Part-Time Jobs Directory
Make
this a newsstand book, as well as offering it, with small
ads,
by mail order. List all the possible
jobs people can get
part-time,
especially angling it at college kids on vacation,
teachers
after school hours, housewives with time on their
hands,
and moonlighters looking for part-time second jobs.
14. Run a Children's "Explorer
Club"
Take
kids on Saturday and Sunday
outings. Ten kids each day,
to
zoos, farms, theaters, children's shows and sports events. A
small
micro-bus (rented and, or eventually bought) can be used
to
travel in. Many parents are delighted
to have weekend days
to
themselves, even though it costs them some dough.
15. Be an Instructor
Teach
whatever you know. Your trade,
profession, cooking
skills,
a second language, woodworking, chess, photography,
knitting,
karate, bridge, auto repair, etc. People
will pay for
good
lessons in these useful and enjoyable skills.
16. Run a Floor Scraping/Polishing Service
You
buy or (at first) rent, a heavy-duty machine, and do the
cleaning
and waxing of fine, hardwood floors. If
the floors are
in
very bad condition, machine sand them and them completely
refinish
them with modern super-durable polyurethane finishes.
17. Operate a Children's Hotel
This
is sort of a "boarding house" for kids while their parent
go
away for a week-end or two-week vacation.
Requires a large
house,
and preferably, a large yard or grounds, swings, slides,
and
facilities useful for kids. Must be done
very responsibly
and
carefully. Also, don't take very young
children (less than
9
or 10 say) because they may require too much dressing,
feeding,
etc.
18. Start a Mail-Order Business
Write
a booklet about something people really want to know
about,
print a few hundred copies, and place some small ads.
You'd
be surprised how much money you can make.
Sell modern
copies
of out-of-print uncopyrighted material or books. Or sell
something
unusual you make at home, providing that it is
something
really useful to your prospective customers.
Or sell
some
of your ideas such as #2 badges, #37 genealogy, and others.
19. Operate a Xerox Copy Center
The
secret of this is not just selling one or two copies of each
original
(although on a 300-page original manuscript, that can
add
up too), but using one of the latest high-speed high-quality
mass-production
Xeroxes so that you can compete with the guys
operating
those quick printing services, by turning out 100 or
200
resumes, letters, or circulars just as fast, and probably a
great
deal faster, for the same (or potentially less if you want
to
be competitive) money as they charge.
This way you have two
kinds
of work, giving you twice as many customers, and twice the
profit
opportunity, and with the right location, a chance to
clean
up.
If
you want to offer even more services, and have the space in
your
shop, as well as the potential customers, you can offer
Xerox
reductions (New York Times-size page down to 8-1/2"x11"),
and
Xerox copies in full-color, which are remarkably good. The
color
machine will also make color copies directly from 35 mm.
color
slides in one quick step.
Of
course, you can consider using other brands of xerographic
copiers,
such as IBM, Kodak, Savin, Canon, Minolta or others,
but
although you may theoretically save money, make sure of
their
service policies, and that they have field servicemen in
your
locality, or you may find yourself stuck with a copier on
the
fritz for a week, which could ruin your
business.
20. Be a Local News Correspondent
For
big city papers some distance from your town.
When an event
occurs
in your area you write the story for those papers (they
have
correspondents in many big places but not in most small
towns
or isolated areas) and they pay you for it.
This is known
as
being a "stringer". If you're
good with a camera, take
photos
to accompany the story.
21. Campground Store-On-Wheels
Use
either a panel truck or a camper body on a pick-up truck
chassis. Go to public park areas and campgrounds
selling
charcoal,
paper plates, water-melon, ice cream, eggs, milk,
bread,
insect repellent, sunglasses, newspapers, etc.
22. Create a New Tour-Bus Service
Even
in affluent America, not everyone has a car, and even those
who
do often prefer to leave long trips to a professional bus
driver. and although there are bus tours offered to
some
familiar
places, there are still so many interesting, even
exciting,
places people would like to go to, if they were
offered
the chance. Here's where you come
in. You must be
creative
about it, and study all the six-State areas around your
hometown,
to discover some original and different places to
travel
to on day trips which will "turn on" your prospective
customers,
and get them to sign up.
The
rest is easy. You get competitive quotes
(from commercial
bus
companies) for a quality bus to do the round-trip, with a
suitable
stopover at the destination point (enough to do the
sights,
shop and maybe eat as well). Then you
figure you tour
price
per person so you can make a profit even if the bus is
only
half full or so. Then you have a safety margin
- and if
you
sell every seat you will do very well indeed.
Then
all you have to do is sell. You put
little ads in your
local
papers, paste up flyers wherever you can (supermarkets are
good),
contact local travel agents (of course you give them a
percentage
on what they sell for you), local hotel clerks, etc.,
and
you also contact women's clubs, religious groups, fraternal
societies,
factory social organizations, and so on (they may
take
a whole bus, or even two, and you give them a special
price,
naturally).
23. Run a Pet Hotel Service
For
dogs or cats or both. People will pay
high fees to ensure
high-quality
care fo the animal they love. Separate
kennels for
each
animal are essential. Good food and
adequate care and
attention
must be assured also. You can hire responsible
teenagers
to help you. Advertise with posters in
pet shops,
veterinarians'
offices; and if they're cheaply available, get
the
mailing lists of local ASPCA groups and other animal welfare
groups,
as well as membership lists of dog and cat clubs.
24. Sell Second-hand Kids Clothing
Children
usually outgrow their clothes rather than wearing them
out. So many families have such clothing left
around. You
collect
it, paying nothing or as little as possible.
Then you
resell
it; you can do the selling by ads,
handbills or through
your
church or community groups.
25. Breed Tropical Fish
This
requires only a moderate amount of space and a small
investment
in equipment. Properly done, it needs
only a small
amount
of your time yet can make you a good profit.
You can
obtain
your beginning stock from the large wholesale dealers.
You
can sell direct to consumers (the hobbyists) or to stores in
your
area.
26. Make Plastic Engraved Signs
All
you need is a simple-to-operate machine that engraves
lettering
in various types onto sheets of plastic of many
colors,
finishes and sizes. Perfect for signs
for merchants,
banks,
doctors, dentists, schools and colleges, private front
doors,
and many other uses.
27. Sell Christmas Trees
Seasonal,
but if you have the time in the few weeks before
Christmas,
can be a good money maker. Find a vacant
storefront
or
lot, or space inside a larger building, where people pass by.
But
be sure to order a supply of trees enough in advance. And
if
you own country land that is not being used, consider growing
the
trees yourself. Your first crop can be
ready in four years,
with
steady crops from then on.
28.
Open a Rubber Stamp Business
Manufacture
them in your basement. The materials
needed are
cheap. And the finished stamps can be sold to many
people,
storeowners,
offices, individuals. You can market
them by mail
and
through local merchants.
29. Camper's Equipment Rental Service
With
urban living, the back-to-nature movement is growing and
camping
is becoming very popular. Rent out
tents, sleeping
bags,
portable propane stoves, chairs, etc.
Demand
identification
from customers and reliable security (keeping one
of
their credit cards is good).
30. Operate a Key-Safety Service
Each
customer is sold a special tag to put on his or her key
ring. It says "Drop in any mailbox" and
has the address of a
post
office box that you rent (Don't use your home address for
the
same reason your customers shouldn't have their home address
on
their keys - dishonest people finding the keys will come
prowling
around). You assign each customer's tag
a code number
from
a list that you keep. When someone's
keys arrive at your
post
office box, you return them to him, for another fee.
31. Be a Used Car Buying Consultant
With
a knowledge of cars, plus the proper test equipment (for
checking
the engine, transmission, brakes, font-end alignment,
and
chassis), you go with your customer to check out the used
car
he is thinking of buying. Advertise your
service next to
the
ads offering used cars for sale. After a
while you will get
to
know people in this field and you can pick up more money by
acting
as a middleman in sales between private individuals.
32. Sell "Loss Leaders" for
Profit
This
may sound contradictory but it isn't.
Supermarkets aren't
the
only ones who use loss leaders. A good
mail-order idea is
offering
a cute item (worth much more) for $1 in women's
magazines,
giving prompt delivery and including with it stuffers
(ads
with order blanks) for half a dozen more expensive items.
The
repeat business on the other items makes the $1 offer
profitable.
33. Baby Items Rental Service
You
rent everything needed for a baby's care - stroller,
playpen,
high chair, etc. When the customer's
baby outgrows
them
you rent to the next couple. Of course,
you must
advertise,
and also send direct mail pieces to all couples with
new
births (get their names from hospitals and newspapers and
list
brokers).
34.
Operate a "Give a Party" Service
You
rent out everything needed for a party:
tables, chairs,
punch
bowls, table cloths, cutlery, and napkins.
You can also
supply
waitresses and bartenders, finding them through agencies
that
supply temporary help such as Manpower.
But if you can
find
good workers yourself, you can save the agency fee and make
more
money.
35.
Operate a Miniature Slot Car Racing Track
In
your basement (or wherever you can fit it) build a large and
elaborate
miniature slot car racing track (with a least 6 or 8
slots). Local kids, and often adults, pay you by the
hour to
race,
using either your cars or theirs. To
boost interest you
can
hold monthly contests with trophies.
36.
All-Service Service
You
line up the specialists in fixing almost anything, and take
care
of getting them customers by delivering handbills to homes
and
placing ads in supermarkets and local papers.
They pay you
5%
of every job refer to them, which can soon add up.
37.
Genealogy for People Who Want Roots
You
seek out the records in public or university libraries,
county
courthouses and elsewhere, as necessary, for a sliding
fee,
depending on the size of family, difficulties in getting
information,
geographic dispersion, and other factors.
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