Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I talk about this to my wife all the time...  My heart goes out to those less fortunate than others, the homeless and the poor.  It`s disheartening realizing there are families out there that won`t eat today or don`t have a clean set of clothing today... all because they just can`t make ends meet or even get a job.

If I could say one thing to these people it would be, "Stop struggling and living in poverty and start your own business!".  Sounds crazy, I know... but it can be done and it should be done during desparate times. 

Which leads me to the question: If All You Had Were $200, What Type of Business Would You Start?  How?  Why?

I`ll get things started:  If all I had were $200 I would... Start a Poop-Scooping Business:

Sidenotes: A true Entrepreneur never lets pride stand in the way of an opportunity and during extreme times anything is better than failure.  Just thought I would throw that out there because I know some of you are probably laughing your tails off right now about my biz idea for <$200, but hey... if it makes money... why not?!

- First, I would register my DBA at the local County Clerk`s Office: (est. $30)
- Next, I would get use Vista Print to get 250 free business cards and a free logo made. (est. $3-5$)
- Next, I would get a prepaid cellular phone from Cellular.  Only because Cellular has best coverage and Pay As You Go is a great deal! (est. $40)
- Next, I would visit a local print shop and:
          > Have fliers made with price, contact info, etc. (est. $20)
          > Buy a few display holders for your fliers. (est. $20)
- Next, I would take these fliers/biz cards and visit local vet clinics, pet shelters and pet stores and ask to leave your fliers/biz cards for customers.
- Next, I would buy a bag of heavy duty trash liners(est. $5), a garden hoe/shovel(est. $15), an industrial size lobby pan to toss poop in(est. $10).

TOTAL INVESTMENT: $145.00

Then you wait for the calls to slowly come in and "handle your business!"

Suggested Fees
* 1 yard w/1 dog = $10 (once a week)
* $4 more per additional dog
* You can determine fees for any special circumstances

Potential Earnings (*1 yard = 10-15 minutes of work, 20-30 min. for travel)
10 yards per week @ $10 per yard = $100 a week!  For less than 5 hours!!!
20 yards per week @ $10 per yard = $200 a week!  For less than 10 hours!!!
30 yards per week @ $10 per yard = $300 a week!  For less than 15 hours!!!
40 yards per week @ $10 per yard = $400 a week!  For less than 20 hours!!!

In my opinion... Desparate times call for desparate measures!
Sam

Great question.  It`s got me thinking and i will be sending in a response soon.

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http://www.startupnation.com/leading-moms-in-business/contestant/12907/index.php

Instead of the prepaid cell, you can get the Vonage 24.99 Unlimted service ( given that you have DSL or Broadband at home)..

Villarealsj,
I am a true believer that one can set a business with only $200.00 Dollars, How? Because I started my business with $200.00 dollars and 4 years later, I`m still in business, profiting about 6K a month. Not bad for the two hundred dollar Business Start Up.
Oh, I incorporated, Got two DBA`s and Going at full Gear straight ahead.
What do you think about that??

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Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net

Well, I think that`s quite impressive.  What business are you in... if you don`t mind me asking.

I`m interested to see your idea.

I am in the web design and consulting field.



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Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net

with $200, i would set up online biz..

i reckon its less physically demanding, you can do it at home if you own a computer or via public computers in libraries,etc.

i joined one affiliate site for free during lunch break 2 wks ago..did some advertising via free websites duirng that 30 minutes break..forgot all bout it and when i check back a week later..saw that i had already earned $125 for e-book sales. all without any cost coz the i used the computer at library..

but i reckon it all boils down to luck as well..

 

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Grab free Google Adwords course at http://m171.infusionsoft.com/go/default/nurulh01/

This is a great and timely article. My friend was on a fixed income, couldn`t get employed due to Federal and SS regulations, and couldn`t live on that income. "Cut costs" had been pushed to such a limit that there weren`t any more ways to do it. It was a very interesting problem, much like your posting.

It just didn`t involve being homeless, but that would`ve been the next step. Already were Sectioni-8, food stamps, medicare, and whatever possible social programs anyone could imagine. But there was also the earning limit. Beyond a certain low number, and ALL the rest would be in jeopardy.

Total startup capital was $50 available, and that led to an eBay business. Friends, contacts, and help with software copies, an old digital camera someone gave away, and that sort of thing, all became fodder for the "idea mill."

It`s an incredible problem starting anything to make any kind of money under those conditions. Yet many people are faced with it. The very first thing is to do a complete inventory of all possible skills, all possible hobbies, and things you were "good at" as far back as you can remember.

What can you make? Something very cheap to produce, that you can sell for 4 times your costs. At this economic level, even $10 is a huge reason to celebrate! The next problem is what to reinvest.

When you have no money, everything is geared against you. Fees, costs for shopping, no car, phone, etc. It`s astounding just how difficult it is even to set up a pushcart, nowadays. You can`t sell on the street, because the license is often too expensive. You can`t spread out a carpet in the city and sell from the sidewalk without the same issues. Forget loans, and even grants require buying the materials to learn how to write a grant.

My brother was broke once, and wanted to simply start a handyman business in Orgeon. $10,000 just for licensing and bonding! And he`s a superb fix-it guy. It would`ve been all he`d needed to pay the bills.

"Getting" those cards free online requires having access to the Internet, which means having a computer. That means having a stable address, which many poor folks don`t have. It means having a phone that can access the system, and even without long-distance, lowest is still in the $60/month area.

Having a mailing address for people to mail business might work, but a phone where they can call is absolute. So in a modern world where money replaces hunting/gathering, I believe there are three total absolutes. Without them, you can`t survive, except as flotsam in the storm.

1. A mailing address and roof over your head
2. A phone number for contact with any kind of work or money at all
3. Transportation to get you to wherever the money is.

If you don`t have those you have nothing. But beyond that, the pooper-scoop idea is valid, and as you said, pride is one thing but self-respect is different. Making your own money provides the self-repect. You can be proud later.

The real problem is marketing. Beyond that is the unbelievable and stupifying depression, despondency, and lack of energy that comes from this type of poverty. Until I faced it, then met others in the same boat, I never would`ve believed it possible. Whatever you hear about in the media, it utterly fails in any way to portray the situation until you`ve lived it.

Excellent post!

my husband is doing a car washing business that definitely costs less than $200.00, but to go over what Craig L. said if you don`t have transportation or even $10.00 to your name how will you ever get there to begin with.  the only way is to save, even if its $5.00 every month eventually this less fortunate person can start somewhere. car washing like i said is a cheap side business, you`ll sweat plenty, but if you do simple car wash just oustide only you can ask for $10.00, then someone elses $10.00 if you do 5 people at $10 = $50.00 now save that and buy detailing products for est. $30.00 even less if you go to a place like Walmart, now you can do outside detailing and charge a bit more about $15-20.00 once you get yourself a shopvac to take with you voile now you can ask for more money. of course the more cars you do the more money you make...when you need money you can`t be lazy. my husband makes $100.00 a month on two cars that he does every two weeks. plans on doing more and then eventually by himself a low pressure, pressure cleaner so he can go even faster.

Bianca speaks to the idea of how much would be reinvested from first profits on the startup. When you`re that poor, it`s incredibly hard to think of the long-term gain, and with so many pressures to pay bills, buy food, keep the lights on, many people can`t do it.

Secondly is the entire concept of being self-reliant v. a victim of a malevolent universe of bad luck. I used to think that being so broke that homeless-ness was only 30 days away, was a character issue. I now see it isn`t. It can indeed happen, just as "Jurassic Park" was a set of related breakdowns in an extremely complex system.

It requires a powerful desire to be self-reliant, to get out of that poverty, and has nothing to do with character excepting this valuing of self-reliance. But it also requires pure and simply, luck! That`s where having a philosophy that encompasses such things as luck, hope, and the benevolent or malevolent nature of the universe comes into play.

When you`re down to your last dollar, living totally on your wits, those personal skills and your historic approach to seemingly insoluble problems is all you`ve got left. It speaks to the way people reacted to being thrown into a concentration camp, back during WWII.

Finally, if I was running a poop-scoop business, I`d also look around for a company that would buy the poop for compost or to extract chemical fertilizer. (Gotta keep thinking of that collateral marketing, after-market sell-through, and so forth!)


Then again, how did I learn about seeing related aspects for scooping poop? Partly from my family, where my folks always used humor to teach the value of wider context. Some is my own innate mind, and some is growing up seeing the world as a banquet of opportunities.

To see opportunties is a function of "set" extraction, information theory, and processing. In an increasingly complex, technological world, many people end up in poverty because they just can`t do it. But ironically, many people end up in the condition simply because of the massive increase in litigation, and the argument over "tort" law.

Welfare laws, insurance laws, fees, licensing, Federal oversight laws, and all the other things meant to protect people under an assumption that nobody has any common sense: All these directly impact anyone trying to start a business for less than $10,000 in startup capital. (At least that`s how I`ve encountered things to be.)