When people ask me, “Kim, what is one of the easiest ways to make money?” I have to tell them that there aren’t any easy ways of making money short of inheriting it and leaving it to earn simple interest in a safe investment instrument. An easier way to make money though is finding what people hate to do and jumping into that market and doing it.
Take something simple like recycling. Back in the day, nobody wanted to haul or pick up trash. The savvy businessmen and companies that got involved in the trash hauling business discovered there was big money in contracts with other companies and even cities in disposing of garbage. The logical business after that was recycling. Getting people’s garbage, sorting out what has monetary value and reselling it seems like a no-brainer during the green, ecological thinking times we are in now but the way to make money in that business is long gone. Simply put, the markets have already been mined, they are fiercely competitive and you would have to find places where it hasn’t been worth somebody’s business to start a trash collecting business.
The other major problem in finding businesses where people hate to have anything to do with them is that you have to make sure that there isn’t a global competitor who can undercut you. Most people don’t like to write computer code for example. You would think that computer programming would still pay decently and it does for some markets. If it is an up and coming computer system or product and people haven’t jumped all over yet, you may have a couple of years of setting yourself up a decent practice with it. If you do good work and word gets around, you may be able to continue in the market despite saturation as more international outsourcing companies come on board to try and undercut you.
An interesting problem is that like all other products, even outsourcing gets to be expensive or not worth the aggrevation if it ends up costing you clients or business. The reason some call centers are back stateside here in the U.S. is that some Americans still give good customer service over the web and phone and actually understand what your issues and concerns are.
So here is what I would do if I were young and looking for a great business move:
I would start looking at what are the junky jobs or things that people don’t want to do and how much can I charge for me to do it? Is it also something I can physically (and psychologically) stomach doing even though I may be making money with it.
If you are a sewer electrician, you probably are working for utility companies or cities all the time. Not everybody is cut out for that work and it can be hazardous. Besides accidents happening underground, you can fall, get infection, possibly get electrocuted, well you get the idea.
Do you know why movie producers generally pay so little for new script writers, actors or actresses? It is because they know that there are thousands of people out there who will do that kind of work for free just to have exposure.
You will not find many people wanting to go down into a wet, cold and dark sewer to work on decaying electrical wiring and a rusted junction box for free.
Just remember in your planning to account for taxes and as usual, write your business plan down!
If you can think of any yucky jobs that people don’t want to do, let me know. I know there is at least one tv show on cable about it and I suspect there will be more if nothing else just for the shock factor. For a lot of people they can live with the dirt and risk if the price is right.
The question is, is it also right for you?
Kim Greenblatt
Questions? Comments? Please post them below! Thanks for your time!