What You Gonna do When the Well Runs Dry?

byzydegeaux

585 followers

6 years ago

What would you do if you lost your job, had no prospects or any income. The mortgage is almost due and so are the light and water bills.

You would need a side hustle to bring in some desperately needed cash right away. Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary said he would become a virtual assistant. Put ads on all the social media saying. The ads would say, "Give me a problem and I'll fi it for you.

People are willing to pay somebody else to do all sorts of things. Mark Cuban said he would become an expert in scripting for Alexa and Google Home and Cortana. He would go to any place that sold devices they supported and show them how much more they could do with a few hours or personalization

He said everybody thinks Alexa scripting is really hard but it's really very easy

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Chieh Huang, who created Boxed out of his parents garage and sold it for $600 million said he would get a used van and become a grown up ice cream type truck selling wine, alcohol infused treats and regular cocktails.

The above van looks like an ice cream van but the owner sells vegan snacks. All sorts of things you can sell out of a van. I have seen homemade tamales being sold out of an old car. There is a ferry across the Mississippi River I sometimes take when I have to go in that direction to avoid the traffic on the interstate. There are usually a couple of kids there selling pecan pralines. The ferry leaves each side every 30 minutes so there is a new supply of potential customers every half hour.

Boiled peanuts are popular in the south. All you need is a very large pot and a butane burner. Ideally you would have 2 pots so you could sell regular and spicy.

You wouldn't even have to have a truck or a van. Just one of those quick to set up canopy tents like people have when they tailgate.

Once when I was having trouble finding a job I bought some letter and number stencils, made a template out of a sheet of old plexiglass and started painting house numbers on the curb. You will need some cans of spray paint, at first half black and half white and maybe some masking tape

Print some flyers. You can print 2 on a regular size sheet of printer paper. At first I would stick the flyers on people's front door so they would see them when they got home. Offer you service for from $15 to $25. Have a box to check on each flyer saying that if they want their house number painted on the curb on from to their house to check yes and stick the flyer back on the door. You will go around the next day and paint those who want it. Leave an envelope on their door saying to leave a check or cash in it and reaffix it to the door and you will be by to pick it up. No need for them to be home.

Oh, and you also need a wire brush to clean the curb.

After a couple of weeks of walking around putting flyers on doors I thought there had to be a better way. I bought some bamboo kabob skewers. They came in packs of 100 for a dollar at a grocery store. I would attach the flyer to the sticks. Instead of walking I rode a bicycle and would stop briefly and stick the pointed end in the ground. I could get a lot more flyers out that way.

My best day was 43 curbs painted at $20 a pop. $860 minus what I had spent for supplies. And the best part is that most people pay in cash.

This was before everybody had internet. If I was doing it now I would give them a discount for paying with Paypal or Venmo. Wouldn't even have to visit again to get paid.

I got the idea to write this post from the story I saw about Kevin O'Leary. I didn't look anything up but there have to be a lot more was to bring in some quick emergency cash. You can think of some that would be perfect for you. Just use your noodle.