Name your business that you started with a low start-up

chocolate chips

Fri, May 11 2012, 9:24 am

What type of business are you interested in?
artistic (flowers, cards)?
food (special cookies, decorative cakes, catering)?
photography (portraits, scenery)?

crl

Fri, May 11 2012, 10:10 am

Graphic design, started with an old laptop I got for my 8th grade graduation present and lots of online tutorials. Smile

Started getting jobs when I was 16, and it snowballed from there -- now I have a full-time job as well as a lot of freelance inquiries which I sometimes outsource due to lack of time.

Throughout 8 years, I've invested (personally) less that $2500 and most of that was for a new Macbook when my old one died.

Rubber Ducky

Fri, May 11 2012, 1:41 pm

My space planning and design business is built on my love of architecture, interior design, ergonomics and flow, and kitchen design -- really it's a passion that's become a side business. I already needed a good computer for graphics work and teaching (I do freelance print graphics and teach computer graphics at Maalot Baltimore) so my main investments have been in software, myriad measuring devices, books, research, and time over many years... maybe three thousand dollars and several thousand hours.

I was already spending much of my free time doing things related to design and space planning when my DH suggested I turn my passion into a business. Do you have a hobby, an area of expertise, or a skill that could potentially become a business?

TwinsMommy

Fri, May 11 2012, 5:35 pm

I'm in direct sales and network marketing. Technically I'm with 3 businesses (focusing on one). One costs $100 to start and has made me hundreds of thousands. One costs $295 to start and has made me thousands, and one costs $195 to start and I just started last month and haven't yet profited at all (but plan to). If you want to hear about these, send me a message directly and we'll set up a phone chat. For all three I recruit all over the country.

groisamomma

Sat, May 12 2012, 10:27 pm

TwinsMommy wrote:

What do the words "direct sales and network marketing" mean? These are fancy terms and I always wonder what job these people actually do. Very Happy

TwinsMommy

Sat, May 12 2012, 11:33 pm

oops sorry, I spend so much time in my direct sales bubble that I tend to forget that people outside my olam don't necessarily know what it means.

Direct sales is product centered----- think Tupperware, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, anything where you're in your home or your client's home selling product one on one or in small or large groups. The majority of your income comes from commissions you make based on the team you recruit to work with you in the business-- you also get a profit from sales, plus bonuses, free cars, prizes, etc.

Network marketing, sometimes, is less product centered and more recruiting oriented--- in some cases you get paid to recruit people who get paid to recruit people who get paid to recruit people------ yes, there IS a product but in some cases the product is less of the point than the team building.

I'm sort of in both fields at the moment. The money per hour spent is ridiculously astounding, but yes, there is a learning curve. But I've been in direct sales for 12 years now.

wereafamily

Sat, May 12 2012, 11:59 pm

crl wrote:

Graphic design, started with an old laptop I got for my 8th grade graduation present and lots of online tutorials. Smile

How do you get freelance jobs?

crl

Sun, May 13 2012, 12:28 am

Wereafamily: Mostly word of mouth and I started out doing jobs for friends either very cheaply or free. I also did a lot of pro bono work for the youth group I worked for, because they needed quality designs and just by being in the communities and putting my contact information on my designs helped. I also interned at a place that did design for both internal and external projects -- and the clients liked my style and hired me even after I left.

I also sometimes scour craigslist or design sites like behance, coroflot, etc. but I never feel like "competing" for jobs, if that makes sense, since I have a full time one anyway.

bigprincess

Mon, May 14 2012, 12:34 pm

wereafamily wrote:

crl wrote:

Graphic design, started with an old laptop I got for my 8th grade graduation present and lots of online tutorials. Smile

How do you get freelance jobs?

I do graphic design too. I get freelance work from sending my portfolio. People like to see what you have done in the past.

seeker

Mon, May 14 2012, 1:13 pm

Not terribly original, but tutoring (if it's your type of thing) has almost zero startup. Of course, the hours are rather limited... but in the right neighborhoods you can fetch a nice fee.

amother

Mon, May 14 2012, 2:00 pm

I started out as with a blog and then turned it into a website
it takes lot of time but at some point hopefully I will make money. Only cost was the website name. ($10) everything else I did on my own.
hatzlacha

(edited by mod. Please refrain from unpaid advertising.)