The £100 challenge – start a business
Discussion
metbandit1 said:
Im going to be selling home brew equipment, considering im an avid some brewer and my line of work has a fair bit to do with beer its something i know a bit about!
Not aiming for a mega store at the start, just £100 worth of stuff, once thats all sold ill place another order worth of stuff and go from there.
Excellent, I'll be needing a few things! Let me know when you've got a website or eBay page going. Not aiming for a mega store at the start, just £100 worth of stuff, once thats all sold ill place another order worth of stuff and go from there.
A quick update on my £100 challenge.
Things have finally started to tick over. I've had an income of £7.20 for December via my cycling / mountain bike website (see my profile for the link). I've decided to reinvest this money and I am going to spend it on a Facebook advert as an experiment. I am curious as to how they work.
It's a slow burning idea but this recent 'success' has encouraged me to think about launching the motorsport website and possibly the ski / snowboard website now that the European season has started.
Things have finally started to tick over. I've had an income of £7.20 for December via my cycling / mountain bike website (see my profile for the link). I've decided to reinvest this money and I am going to spend it on a Facebook advert as an experiment. I am curious as to how they work.
It's a slow burning idea but this recent 'success' has encouraged me to think about launching the motorsport website and possibly the ski / snowboard website now that the European season has started.
Quick and dirty update: (reminder: I has gone and done me an Englisch skool in a forren kuntry, innit)
I have won another 'kinder contract'- so that's two more of the local young'uns.
I also have a meeting set up with the local Youth Centre, the aim here is to try and set up weekly English lessons, give the kids a useful skill, keep them out of trouble- all at a reasonable price! To do this I will set up a deal with the Centre of $5Euros per student and they provide all equipment, the Centre can then charge the students what they want.
Some of you may remember my plan to offer lessons online initially targeting German, Austria and Switzerland (as I live in Austria and can speak German)- this is on hold at the moment. I would prefer to grow the business with face-to-face clients. But we will see what happens in the New Year.
I'm making around $700Euro clear profit at the moment. If I double that, I will be registering a company and starting a website! (To register and pay tax you need to make $350E per/week).
I have won another 'kinder contract'- so that's two more of the local young'uns.
I also have a meeting set up with the local Youth Centre, the aim here is to try and set up weekly English lessons, give the kids a useful skill, keep them out of trouble- all at a reasonable price! To do this I will set up a deal with the Centre of $5Euros per student and they provide all equipment, the Centre can then charge the students what they want.
Some of you may remember my plan to offer lessons online initially targeting German, Austria and Switzerland (as I live in Austria and can speak German)- this is on hold at the moment. I would prefer to grow the business with face-to-face clients. But we will see what happens in the New Year.
I'm making around $700Euro clear profit at the moment. If I double that, I will be registering a company and starting a website! (To register and pay tax you need to make $350E per/week).
Ive come up with a very silly idea that will cost far less than £100 and should, once set up, run on autopilot.
It probably wont be very profitable, but you never know.
I will keep exact details quiet for now, but it is a one page website.
The only start up cost will be domain registration and the only overhead will be the cheapest hosting fee I can find.
Revenue generated from a PPC banner/box or two.
Edited to add:
Bought the .com domain for £6.33, which is pretty good i think.
£93.67 left to play with
It probably wont be very profitable, but you never know.
I will keep exact details quiet for now, but it is a one page website.
The only start up cost will be domain registration and the only overhead will be the cheapest hosting fee I can find.
Revenue generated from a PPC banner/box or two.
Edited to add:
Bought the .com domain for £6.33, which is pretty good i think.
£93.67 left to play with
Edited by WetPaint on Friday 7th December 15:50
Friday was the second of our monthly club nights.
After November’s club (and pre-booking the venue for December) we were sitting at £105, so £5 up.
We had a busier night and no band to pay this time. I printed all the posters in-house this time, so no expenditure there (and not enough drop in quality for most people to care) so now we’re up by £430.
It’s definitely going better than expected. Nightclubs are a fickle business, but I really didn’t expect to be in profit at all until Jan/Feb. Word seems to be spreading and our PR machine is starting to hit its stride. We hit the front page of Scottish Television’s website and have a few bands/artists from South of the border asking whether they can come up and play. It’s all boding rather well.
After November’s club (and pre-booking the venue for December) we were sitting at £105, so £5 up.
We had a busier night and no band to pay this time. I printed all the posters in-house this time, so no expenditure there (and not enough drop in quality for most people to care) so now we’re up by £430.
It’s definitely going better than expected. Nightclubs are a fickle business, but I really didn’t expect to be in profit at all until Jan/Feb. Word seems to be spreading and our PR machine is starting to hit its stride. We hit the front page of Scottish Television’s website and have a few bands/artists from South of the border asking whether they can come up and play. It’s all boding rather well.
By reading and using this idea you agree to pay me 15% of gross profit.
Mistletoe belts, a sprig of plastic mistletoe lifting up from the belt buckle, I envisage a market of young people and horny older people as your main customers.
You don't have long to earn us money people so chop chop.
Mistletoe belts, a sprig of plastic mistletoe lifting up from the belt buckle, I envisage a market of young people and horny older people as your main customers.
You don't have long to earn us money people so chop chop.
Last weeks ebaying raised about £370 and a total profit of -£3 on the week. It did mean I learnt exactly how much a certain item would fetch which was the vast majority of that £370 and I've just bought another half dozen of them at a price to allow a decent margin.
This weeks ebaying is looking promising, plenty of watchers on most items including something I've got 150 off that I paid less than £1 each. Selling a pair of them and they're already up to nearly £5 with a couple of days to go.
I've learnt that auctions finishing on Sunday evening do much better than those finishing midweek in work time. I'm wondering what will happen on Sunday the 23rd, I feel it's just a little too close to christmas and many people will be busy on other things. I'll perhaps finish some auctions on Friday 28th, many people will have been fed up of doing family stuff and turkey stuffing by then.
This weeks ebaying is looking promising, plenty of watchers on most items including something I've got 150 off that I paid less than £1 each. Selling a pair of them and they're already up to nearly £5 with a couple of days to go.
I've learnt that auctions finishing on Sunday evening do much better than those finishing midweek in work time. I'm wondering what will happen on Sunday the 23rd, I feel it's just a little too close to christmas and many people will be busy on other things. I'll perhaps finish some auctions on Friday 28th, many people will have been fed up of doing family stuff and turkey stuffing by then.
spikeyhead said:
I've learnt that auctions finishing on Sunday evening do much better than those finishing midweek in work time. I'm wondering what will happen on Sunday the 23rd, I feel it's just a little too close to christmas and many people will be busy on other things. I'll perhaps finish some auctions on Friday 28th, many people will have been fed up of doing family stuff and turkey stuffing by then.
For the future I found this tip which I think is rather good. Its certainly helped me sell a few things in the past.'List for 10 days, many potential buys only check eBay irregularly, often only at the weekend when they have some spare time. Posting your listing for 10 days will give bidders plenty of time to find your item and watch it until they want to bid. Listing on a Thursday evening for 10 days will allow you to get two weekends in and your auction will end on a Sunday afternoon.'
I've decided to change ideas since my first one I haven't actually done anything with.
The new plan is to set-up as a mobile DJ. I've dabbled in it with a friend for a few years who has been doing it as a successful part time job for about 10 years now. I already own a laptop, some basic software, plenty of tunes, dual output sound card (for previewing tracks) and a basic USB mixing controller.
So I'll be needing some lighting to begin with and some speakers. I will potentially be able to borrow some speakers or will be trying to find some lower power ones to start off with smaller venues. At a worst I know I can hire some for £50 which would be excellent quality. So if I can get some lighting for the other £50 then I can make a start. I have a plan for making some very fancy lights, but this will be an ongoing project requiring a lot of electronics and chip coding.
Plan for the next few weeks is to put together some basic playlists then get practising again.
I have stood in for my friend a couple of times at functions so I know I can do it. It will just be a case of getting some gear together and getting my first booking for less than £100.
This is something I've been planning for a while, but having an MX5 made it impossible to carry equipment! Now I have a slightly bigger alternative.
The new plan is to set-up as a mobile DJ. I've dabbled in it with a friend for a few years who has been doing it as a successful part time job for about 10 years now. I already own a laptop, some basic software, plenty of tunes, dual output sound card (for previewing tracks) and a basic USB mixing controller.
So I'll be needing some lighting to begin with and some speakers. I will potentially be able to borrow some speakers or will be trying to find some lower power ones to start off with smaller venues. At a worst I know I can hire some for £50 which would be excellent quality. So if I can get some lighting for the other £50 then I can make a start. I have a plan for making some very fancy lights, but this will be an ongoing project requiring a lot of electronics and chip coding.
Plan for the next few weeks is to put together some basic playlists then get practising again.
I have stood in for my friend a couple of times at functions so I know I can do it. It will just be a case of getting some gear together and getting my first booking for less than £100.
This is something I've been planning for a while, but having an MX5 made it impossible to carry equipment! Now I have a slightly bigger alternative.
I suppose I should post another update.
Our club night was on Friday.
We were in profit by £430 beforehand.
Took an investment of £100 from a friend for this one - it as her 30th birthday and she wanted to have her birthday night out at our club, with a live band of her choice … so we agreed to split the cost of paying the band.
So - £530 up before opening.
£100 venue hire
£200 band fee
£20 tip for our glamorous door lady
£0 on promotion (doing it mostly online now, with only a minimum of printed posters that I run out myself)
Balance at £210 profit before opening the doors.
January was always bound to be a quiet month for us. The majority of Glaswegians took an extra two days off this year and aren't even back at work until tomorrow.
We made £260 on the door in the end, which puts us at £470 in profit heading into February.
Frankly, we were glad to turn any profit at all in January with the extra expense of a live band. £40 added to the pot at the end of a great night out isn’t bad at all.
So. Three months in and we’re up by £470. Not setting the world on fire, but having a bit of fun without losing out.
Our club night was on Friday.
We were in profit by £430 beforehand.
Took an investment of £100 from a friend for this one - it as her 30th birthday and she wanted to have her birthday night out at our club, with a live band of her choice … so we agreed to split the cost of paying the band.
So - £530 up before opening.
£100 venue hire
£200 band fee
£20 tip for our glamorous door lady
£0 on promotion (doing it mostly online now, with only a minimum of printed posters that I run out myself)
Balance at £210 profit before opening the doors.
January was always bound to be a quiet month for us. The majority of Glaswegians took an extra two days off this year and aren't even back at work until tomorrow.
We made £260 on the door in the end, which puts us at £470 in profit heading into February.
Frankly, we were glad to turn any profit at all in January with the extra expense of a live band. £40 added to the pot at the end of a great night out isn’t bad at all.
So. Three months in and we’re up by £470. Not setting the world on fire, but having a bit of fun without losing out.
Mines still growing nicely, though i have put a lot more than £100 in.
Persuaded ebay after a month of trading to double my selling allowance, which has helped a lot. I'm also attending a specialist rally where i'll hopefully sell a load of electronics stuff on Sunday, or else getting very bored persuading people to part with their pennies. It does mean an early start on Sunday, which isn't what i'd love to be doing with my life but if it shifts another load of stuff it will be worth it. With luck I'll also use that event to attract people to my mailing list, I've some products of my own design a few weeks away that they should be interested in.
I've found that what sells isn't always what I'd expect to sell, but at least i'm learning where to target my buying. I hope to be at break even point come the end of February and making a decent income from then on, or at least whilst I can still buy enough stock to keep things moving until my own designs really take off.
As far as ebay goes, I've had a few things sell well on buy it now, but my Sunday evenings wouldn't be the same without auctions ending then. It's definitely the best time to finish an auction, just need to start it at 7 or 8 on a Thursday and run fr 10 days to get maximum exposure. I did curse when a unit I paid £20 for had only been bid to £1.04 with 10 seconds to go. Went off to have dinner a little despondent and was delighted afterwards to find it finished a little over £100.
I've also had a plonker from Turkey buy a pair of items for £100 each, then ask about the postage, curse that it was more than he expected and refuse to pay. Still waiting for ebay to sort that one out but it should only take a couple more days.
Here's to all that are starting their own business, and if you're reading this and wondering whether to start, JFDI.
Persuaded ebay after a month of trading to double my selling allowance, which has helped a lot. I'm also attending a specialist rally where i'll hopefully sell a load of electronics stuff on Sunday, or else getting very bored persuading people to part with their pennies. It does mean an early start on Sunday, which isn't what i'd love to be doing with my life but if it shifts another load of stuff it will be worth it. With luck I'll also use that event to attract people to my mailing list, I've some products of my own design a few weeks away that they should be interested in.
I've found that what sells isn't always what I'd expect to sell, but at least i'm learning where to target my buying. I hope to be at break even point come the end of February and making a decent income from then on, or at least whilst I can still buy enough stock to keep things moving until my own designs really take off.
As far as ebay goes, I've had a few things sell well on buy it now, but my Sunday evenings wouldn't be the same without auctions ending then. It's definitely the best time to finish an auction, just need to start it at 7 or 8 on a Thursday and run fr 10 days to get maximum exposure. I did curse when a unit I paid £20 for had only been bid to £1.04 with 10 seconds to go. Went off to have dinner a little despondent and was delighted afterwards to find it finished a little over £100.
I've also had a plonker from Turkey buy a pair of items for £100 each, then ask about the postage, curse that it was more than he expected and refuse to pay. Still waiting for ebay to sort that one out but it should only take a couple more days.
Here's to all that are starting their own business, and if you're reading this and wondering whether to start, JFDI.
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