|
|
|
Reports |
|
Money Making Reports
Report #1
Your lucky break-but can you afford it?
As a person who believes in getting the most our of life, we assume you already have several national credit cards which enable you to buy things when you want them, even if you're temporarily short of funds. But did you know that these same credit cards, nearly all of them, also allow you to "buy money!" The "cash advance" privilege that these cards extend is the best way to raise the cash you need, immediately, and with no questions asked! If you have reasonably good credit, your credit limit on each of your credit cards should be $500 to $1,000 at least, with American Express often giving a $2,500 limit, and if you have ten cards with this cash advance privilege, each with a $1,000 credit limit, you can simply go to the banks involved, and draw our your $10,000! If you don't have them, you may not realize that it's possible to have ten credit cards that offer cash advances, but you must remember that different banks sponsor different cards, and they all want you to use their card. For example, you can have a BankAmericard from Chase Manhattan, and another, separate, BankAmericard from Bankers Trust, plus a Master Charge card from Citibank, and a second Master Charge card from Chemical Bank. (BankAmericards are using a new name--Visa). The possibilities are numerous, and you should take advantage of them, for this is certainly the easiest way of raising cash quickly. If you don't hold these cards now, then you should begin to establish the credit that will enable you to get them in the near future, so you will have the reserves available when you too need to raise cash quickly.
Aside from the no-fee cards like Master Charge and BankAmericard, there are also the travel and entertainment cards like American Express, Carte Blanche and Diners Club. These cards charge a yearly fee for holding them, and are more difficult to get (your annual income and your credit standing must be higher), but the amount of cash advances they allow you to draw on are higher, running as high as $2,000 or $2,500 each. American Express even offers a Golden American Express card, which many businessmen use, which allows them about $5,000 of instant cash immediately!
Most bank accounts today, and yours is very likely to be among them, come with automatic overdraft arrangements whereby you can write checks for more than the balance you have in the bank, and the bank will honor them, merely automatically adding loan money to your account, and charging you the interest due for that loan. In effect, this is an immediate and automatic loan to you, without any current credit check-which is especially handy if, at the moment you need the money, you happen to be unemployed, and planning to start a new business, which banks sometimes look upon with disfavor, and refuse to loan upon until you're big and successful! So go ahead and write a check for the full amount that you're allowed to draw upon, which is seldom less than $1,000, and which, in some banks, goes to $5,000 or more. If you're lucky enough, or provident enough, to have established two or three bank accounts while you were in the chips, each with its "ready-credit," "check-credit" or whatever-they-choose-to-call-it provisions, you can, of course, really cash in on this one, completely legally, and amass enough capital for you new business.
If you're stuck for sources for capital, or at least for sufficient capital for the business you have in mind, give some careful thought to whom you could ask to help you. Almost all of us have a favorite relative or two, and, if we're lucky, at least one of those may have money. Of course, it's nice if he or she has loads of it, we all like to have a rich uncle, but even if the amount is not enormous, perhaps you'll succeed in persuading one or more of your relatives that they should help you, from whatever they've got put by for a rainy day. Mother, father, uncles, aunts, brothers sisters, even cousins-try'em all where there's any chance at all they might have some bread stashed away, and might spring some loose for you. If your relatives are friendly to the idea, but they want to hold on to their funds, don't overlook another neat idea-one of them can co-sign with you on a bank loan, and this almost always ensures that your bank will go along with a loan that they might otherwise have refused, or give you a loan for a much larger amount than they would have granted you yourself on just your own personal credit. It's really no skin off their back, just so long as you keep up the payments on the loan. Of course, co-signers are not restricted to relatives. You can have your best buddy, or your girlfriend or a fellow-employee co-sign for you.
Sometimes we don't realize that we're lucky enough to have some good friends, who, in a case of this sort, might be willing to come through with a loan for us.
Depending on the type of life insurance policy you now hold, and especially if you've had it for a number of years, you may be eligible to borrow against its "cash value." In most cases, this money is available to you at a very low rate of interest, and also, generally, you can keep the money out, providing you pay the interest, without having to repay the principal at any set time.
If you're buying the home you're living in, and have a conventional home mortgage, you may not realize that if you've been paying down the mortgage month by month for a number of years, you have a considerable equity built up. In addition, the way things are these days of galloping inflation, your house may now be worth more than you originally paid for it. Therefore, either your present bank or another may be willing to refinance your mortgage, which will provide you with a chunk of available cash with which you can capitalize your new business. One advantage of this scheme is that you will most likely not increase your monthly payment by very much, perhaps it will not increase at all (although payments may extend for additional years at the distant end), and thus you will not have a heavy loan repayment schedule added to your obligations early on in the beginning of your business. Besides the possibility of refinancing the original mortgage on your house, there is another way of using the equity you may have in your house-you can get a second mortgage, either from a bank or from professional lenders. One reason why you might go the second mortgage route would be if your first mortgage was written at a very favorable rate of interest (such as 51/2 or 6 percent) which you would not be able to match (anywhere near) on your refinanced mortgage, and consequently, you would not want to refinance the larger principal amount.
Have you considered, while you're looking around for sources of cash, what you have right in your own home? Some of those heirlooms, paintings or other antiques which you or your wife may not care for, and which you may have stashed in the spare room or the attic, may be worth a lot of money, far more than you have ever imagined. Get them appraised, show them to a knowledgeable dealer or a friend who's an antiques buff, and find out if you're sitting on a goldmine that you never even knew existed!
Do you have some friends to whom you have loaned money in the past, and who have not yet paid you back? Or are you owed money for services rendered of one sort or another? Or does an ex-employer still owe you sick pay or vacation pay that he has not paid you? Don't let these things lie any longer unpaid-you need that money now! Put on the heat, make some urgent phone calls, write a few letters. For most collections, the Small Claims Court can be a great help. For collecting from your employer, your best bet is the U.S. Dept. of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, which will almost certainly have an office in your city. If your claim has merit, they will make sure that you receive what's due you.
All of the many suggestions contained in this Report should certainly get you the capital you need to start your business. Of course, you can combine two or more of the methods if no one alone will provide what you're looking for. And although we've not specifically mentioned it, don't forget that regular commercial banks (not savings banks, they're not allow to) will sometimes make loans for the establishment of new businesses, if they know the borrower from past experience, and see a potential in the proposed business. Don't assume they will say no, and so don't ask them. You'd be surprised, they may just say "yes." They're particularly likely to lend you some of the money you need if you've already proved that you can raise money and that you have the majority of the money you need. For example, if you've raised $10,000 already by other methods, they may come through with an additional $3,000 for working capital. It's a fact that in raising money, the more you seem to have, the more people will be willing to lend you, so once you've begun to make money based on your initial $10,000, you will find it easier to borrow more to keep your business or other new venture going. While not all of the ideas in this report can really be worked out overnight, once your foundations are laid, in credit, in relationships with relatives, friends, venture capital and government sources, it is easy to raise funds when you need them, from people who have learned from experience that you're a good businessman to lend to!
There's an old saying "a bank won't lend you money if you really need it," and it's really almost completely true. Banks prefer to lend money or extend credit to people who already have lots of money, and carry the top credit cards. If you've got bread, no problem for you. But if you haven't, what do you do? Well, the main idea is to look as if you're loaded, to appear as if you have it, and that's often almost as good as having it. Don't admit you're desperate, even if you are! Look like you couldn't care less whether they'll lend you the money, like you haven't got a care in the world. Dress really well, in your most impressive clothes, when you go to the bank. Allow plenty of time, so you don't have to rush in at the last minute, but can afford to saunter in, as if you're doing them a favor just considering borrowing money from their lousy institution. If it's a country bank, where you can be seen as approach the bank, drive up and park, be sure to arrive in a good car, squeaky-clean and highly-polished, even if you have to borrow your Aunt Martha's Cadillac just for the day. Arrive primed with all the information the bank wants to know in order to approve a loan (lease or mortgage) for you. If you know that you've got some points in your history over the last five years that will hurt your application (such as not long enough in your present job, not long enough in your present residence, inadequate salary, etc.) try to figure out how you can improve those areas before you go to see the loan officer (to find out what questions may give you trouble, try and get a blank form ahead of time...even from another bank, if you don't want to let your bank know what you're considering). If you've only been a few months on the job, but your company small and closely-knit, see if you can get the boss to agree to a little white lie, such as that you've been employed for two years. If you've only lived where you are now for a month, see if your mother's willing to have you list her address and telephone as the address where you've been living for the last three years. If your salary's not high enough, but you get paid overtime quite regularly, see if your company bookkeeper will allow you to list your salary at what it averages out to, including the overtime. If you've got an unexplained break in your job history, where you were actually out of work, don't list it that way--say you were working for yourself running a small business from your home (give it an impressive-sounding name, and list your best friend's name, address and phone number if they want to check with your employer at that time). In short, to get credit it isn't so important to have financial stability as it is to appear to have it. Follow this rule, and getting credit should be easy. Here are a few tips that may be of great help to you, it they fit your situation.
*If you're getting a lease, normally only a landlord is involved, and most landlords
who want to rent our their property will go along with you, even if your credit
rating's not so hot, providing you look O.K., speak in a decent and reasonable
manner with them, and have at least the first month's rent and the security
deposit.
Let's say you've decided it's time you got more space for your family. You don't have a lot of cash saved up, and you don't know your way around the housing market and complicated mortgage terms. What to do? You're probably already friendly with a banker who knows you from your previous loans. Start with him. Ask him questions. Get his best guess about the amount of money you would have to put down as a down payment on a conventional mortgage. If you can't meet that, you may be willing to put up with some red tape and get an FHA or VA mortgage if you qualify-lower down payments, lower closing costs (which have to be all cash, and can run over $1,000!), and a longer time to pay the loan off (30 years, compared with 15 or 20, or sometimes 25 years, on a conventional mortgage). For more information on these Government-guaranteed mortgages, write to: Further Reading FHA Mortgages: Federal Housing Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street S.W., Washington, D.C. 20410. VA Mortgages: Veterans Administration, Washington, D.C. 20420 (or your local VA Office).
If you've just seen your dream house, and three other couples are also trying to buy it, you may want to get the fastest possible mortgage. But don't rush! You can make a bid for the house even if all you have is the down payment, for then you have generally 60 to 90 days before the closing date in which to come up with the rest. (If you can't get a mortgage anywhere, you still get your down payment back, so you have nothing to lose!) Most people get their mortgages from banks, which we'll tell you about too, but don't overlook another, faster possibility-the real estate broker himself! Brokers often have friendly bankers or other mortgage lenders lined up just waiting for them to find buyers of the properties the brokers are selling. It's easier for a broker to close a sale if he can help you, the potential borrower, get the mortgage you need. So he'll help you. Aside from broker-arranged mortgages, "conventional" mortgages, (i.e., not backed by the Government: are usually the fastest kind to get. These are available from both commercial and savings banks and from savings and loan associations. Try the savings and loan associations first-savings institutions usually require lower down payments than commercial banks, for example, 20% down at an S&L, compared with 25%-40% down at a commercial bank. The rule of thumb for the amount of money that banks will lend toward a mortgage is usually the capital amount that would result in monthly payments which will not exceed about 25-30% of your before-tax income. If you're trying to buy a house that's too expensive for you, the bank will know that, by using their rule of thumb for what they will think you can afford: one month's housing costs (principal, interest, real estate taxes, and insurance) should not be more than one week's salary (after you deduct any other debt payments from your weekly salary figure). Know what the figures look like before you walk in asking for a mortgage-if you look like you know what you're doing, the bankers will be much more cooperative, and maybe stretch their requirements, especially if they know you as a person who has been a responsible borrower of theirs before!
Sellers sometimes help out potential housebuyers, even when the mortgage is financed by a bank. This can occur in two ways, first, if the mortgage lender (bank, S&L, other) adds "points" to the cost of the mortgage. Technically, these points are percentage points that the lender charges the seller, to make the interest rate higher. (Most States have usury laws, which make it illegal for mortgage and other interest rates to go above a certain level, like 81/2%. If interest rates in unregulated areas are higher, the bank is going to get that higher rate one way or another!). So the lender deducts, for example, five points or five percent from the amount he is really willing to lend to the borrower. Either the seller has to take a lower price for his property than he expected, or the buyer has to pay 5% more than he expected. Depending on how anxious the seller is to sell, and how many buyers there are for his property, he may take the lower price (pay the points himself) or split the cost with the person who wants to buy his house, or else insist that the buyer pay the points all by himself. In numbers, points work like this: 5 points charged on a $20,000 mortgage means that the lender is not really going to lend $20,000, but only 95% or $19,000. Since the seller wants $20,000 (in addition to the down payment) as his price, the buyer must pay the extra $1,000, which is about the same as adding an extra 1/2% to the rate of interest he is paying.
Sometimes sellers are anxious to sell their houses, but find it difficult to do so-either the banks aren't making many mortgages at that time, or the seller's price is too high, or the neighborhood is "transitional" and potential buyers are reluctant to invest. So the seller may offer a mortgage of his own to a buyer! This can be either a first or a second mortgage, (the second is in addition to and subordinate to the first that you got from the bank) especially if the bank won't lend you what you need. If your dream house costs $40,000, with a $10,000 down payment, but the bank will only lend you $20,000 to put with your ready $5,000 cash, don't despair. The seller might be willing to give you a so-called "Purchase Money" mortgage (money with which to purchase his house) for the missing $15,000, to be paid back to him over the next ten years in monthly installments. (Sellers sometimes like to do this as a way of getting an annuity, or annual income, for themselves or to reduce the taxes they would have to pay if they received all the cash in one year.) Real estate brokers won't always tell you about this angle, so you may have to do the footwork yourself, following up the ads that list owner or principal, not broker. But it could pay off!
Most people don't realize that they can get more out of their present job-by putting more into it! You may think that the only way to get a big money job is by going to another job somewhere, but the truth is that if the fault is in you, changing jobs won't help! So before you go looking for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, take a good look at yourself. Are you really doing all you could to help your employer right now? Or are you stuck in a rut, just doing whatever you have to do to get by? If the latter, it's no wonder the boss isn't giving you any raises, or only those token 5% raises that don't keep up with inflation. If you have the possibility to make a substantial difference in your output, whether of quality or quantity, then do it. NEVER take the attitude "well, why should I put out for what he's paying me?" because, that way, he never will pay you any more. You've got to take the first step. He's got to see that you're worth more. And don't think that you ought to get it because you've got five hungry kids at home, while Bill has only one skinny wife to take care of. That is totally irrelevant. You're not paid because you need it, but because the boss needs you. And if you ever do get more than Bill, it'll only be because you worked for it.
Now if your objective appraisal makes it clear to you that you are already doing a super job for your employer, and that you are vitally needed to do that job, then you may hold the cards in your hand right now to get a really good raise, a longer vacation, better medical coverage, etc., etc. But even if you hold the hand, don't overplay it. If you back the boss up against a wall, or are offensive about it, his natural defensive instincts will come into play immediately, and he may decide to get rid of you even though he knows you're good, and that your dismissal will cause him considerable loss, agony and delay. Make it easy for him to say "yes", but leave him a graceful way to say "no", at least temporarily, without severing relations. Both of you have got to "save face", in the oriental sense, which is more applicable to the U.S. than we usually realize or admit. Don't tell him you've got another job offer if you haven't (unless you're the kind of reckless poker player who likes to go for broke), because that doesn't leave you any way to retreat and keep your present job if your boss refuses to meet the theoretical new boss's offer. You just can't lose that much face-to grove in the dirt and admit you were bluffing.
If, on the other hand, you do have a new job offer at more money (and, we must assume, at better or equivalent benefits), then don't just quit your present job right off without notice or in any sort of impolite way. The only person you hurt by doing that is yourself. Because if you handle it properly, explain that you're leaving because you have a much better offer, and that you'll be glad to stick around until your replacement's hired, and help him get acquainted, etc., not only will you leave a pleasant taste in everyone's mouth, assure yourself of a good reference if you should need one later, and not screw up your final check or your accrued vacation pay and sick leave, etc., but, and this is the important but, your boss will have time to think it over without feeling threatened or blackmailed by you, and he may decide that you're just too valuable to lose, and make you a counter-offer of even more than the raise the new job offered you.
But if, on the other hand, your objective appraisal leads you to the conclusion that there isn't any future for you with your present employer, and assuming you don't have another job offer right in your hand, then don't sit back and wait to be offered one, because you know that won't happen in a thousand years-instead, go out and get one for yourself. Get moving! Start, of course, by reading the classified ads, not only in your hometown paper, but also in out-of-town papers from cities you wouldn't mind relocating to (these newspapers can always be purchased at some major downtown newsstand in your own city). If you don't see the job you want advertised, try placing your own ad, classified, or even, if you are ambitious, display. Tell them about yourself, not only your official and/or technical qualifications and/or achievements, but also the special qualities which make you especially good for the job you are seeking. Sell yourself-you're the only one that can do so.
And once you've considered what it is that you really like doing, think about creating your own job, uniquely suited to your skills or interests. You would be much happier selling model railroads to hobby shops if you're a model buff than you would be selling bathroom fixtures. Think about a niche that no one is filling, in an area that you know about or have worked in before. Then try to interest companies along those lines in your abilities. If they don't have a job opening...but you can show them how hiring you can save them money, double their sales, or dramatically improve a money-losing department, you may wind up doing what you like, and getting paid for it!
Early on in your job campaign, in fact the first thing before you start, is the preparation of a resume. Too few people know the proper way in which to set about this, or even that it is a desirable thing to have. But really, for any job but the most menial, it is almost a necessity. It is your representative when you apply for any position by mail, and it is a most useful aid to leave behind, as a summary and reminder, when you apply for a job in person. Always orient your resume to your future, not your past. Of course, however, you must include your education, your past work experience, and any special honors, awards, prizes or other trophies you may have won. Most importantly, you must list your job objective. Keep in mind that any future employer wants to know what you can do for him; not what he can do for you. This means that he will evaluate your past experience in view of his own future needs, so you should do that too. A list of your responsibilities in your past job might not mean anything to your future employer if he's in a different business, but your skills in managing people, or saving the company money, or creating a new product or selling method might be the most important thing you could put on your resume-even if those things were not part of your past job but things you come up with on your own time! You need not tell everything! What if parts of your background might not look good on your resume? You have a gap of one year when you were unemployed, for example, that you don't want your resume to include. There are several ways to deal with this, depending on how you want to orient your resume! If you want to stress your independence and go-getting ability, you might want to "invent" your own consulting firm, or neighborhood service company, or other business of your own that you "worked for" during that time gap. (But be prepared to have letterheads or business cards printed up to make this seem real, in case potential employers want proof.) Or if your uncle owns a company, ask him to give you a reference stating what a valuable employee you were for him during that period. Remember that the point of your resume is to present you in the best way possible, and unless you need to be bonded or get a security clearance for your new job, many companies don't check job histories very thoroughly, except for perhaps your most recent one.
Just as you want to look your best on your job interview, so too your resume must look its best. A carefully laid-out, typeset resume, with the most important information about you set up in easy-to-read blocks of space, is like a gift to a personnel director. Remember that as many as a hundred people may be applying for the same position that you seek, and a favorable remembered resume gives you a headstart over the other applicants. One point that I want to stress that is often omitted in manuals on the subject is that you should not let your local copy center or printer do the resumes on the cheapest lightest paper they have around, or have the original typed on an old beat-up manual typewriter. The presentation affects the reception given to your facts. Perhaps it should not, but, let's face it, it does. That's why manufacturers of consumer goods spend so much money on packaging! As the old proverb says, "Put your best foot forward!"
So put your best foot forward, and don't save $5 in printing your resume, it may cost you $2,000 in the salary you are offered (if indeed they want to hire you at all, after they see your "sleazy" resume).
Make looking for the new job a real challenge to your creativity. Come up with new and different way in which to present yourself and/or your qualifications. Lift yourself above the heap, let your resume be the one that attracts their attention, and gets you that job!
If you'd like to have a guaranteed job where you can't get fired, you have several ways of doing about this. The simplest, if you are really valuable to your boss (as we have discussed before), is to ask for an employment contract newt time you're negotiating with him over your salary and terms of employment. Time periods of two, three, or even five years are not uncommon. But remember, while the security may be something you want, you are giving up something too, your freedom to move around and or negotiate, and binding yourself to agreed salaries (whether escalating or remaining static) for those years, disregarding both potential inflation and possibly greater performance and productivity on your part. Another way of achieving that non-firing status, aside from being the boss, is being a partner in the business, or a major stockholder, with the clout to make your job firing-proof.
Introduction You're on the road to success-Congratulations! You bought this report because you want information on starting a business, part-time at first, without investing a lot of money, yet one that will quickly be a money-maker. You'll find a number of them here. In each one we give you the basic concept of the business, what product or service it provides to your customers, and how it is operated, and (if any are necessary) what equipment or facilities or help will be needed. But whatever business you choose, remember that no business can succeed without your
effort. Remember that determination and hard work are
the mother and father of success. If you supply those, and use the information we supply,
you can't miss. Good luck!
Lease a computer-printer and a video camera and a monitor screen that produces large-size, high contrast portraits of customers in 30 seconds, while they wait. You will find this a sure-fire crowd attracter, as the printer chatters away! Set up in a crowded resort area, charge at least $4 a picture, framed in a simple mat; almost all of which is gross profit. Net cost of all materials, about 8 cents.
Rent a small multilith offset-printing machine and a badge sealing machine, and using self adhesive Presstype for typesetting, design and set cute sayings for the badges. Sell as a custom service, making slogans to order, or make a wide range of far-out sayings in bulk quantities and sell them to local gift and novelty shops for resale.
It requires very little capital, and accepts goods for sale from members of the public and sells these items for them on a commission basis. You might try a wide variety of items at first, to see what sells best and most regularly.
Relatively inexpensive materials with a good sense of color and style and a reasonable ability with carpentry tools, will build a large custom-framing business, since people who spend money on art won't skimp on the frames, either, if they want a good-looking result.
Be the source of supplies for do-it-yourselfers. Working only Saturdays and Sundays when they do, you rent out power tools, such as circular saws, jigsaws, reciprocating saws, gasoline chain saws, electric drills, electric planers, belt and orbital sanders, routers, paint sprayers, wallpaper removal steamers, staple guns, pumps, home cleaning machines, toto-tillers, and other equipment for daily fees. Operate out of your garage.
Using local ads, or your own contacts, line up 10 to 20 local entertainers, magicians,
comics, puppeteers and other talents, and supply them for
parties, club meetings and other functions. Have a list of films you can also supply for
the same, or other groups which they can project
themselves, if they wish, or you will supply an operator.
Everyone loves to go to a party, and nowadays some smart operators make a mint running them for everybody who wants to attend. You can too! Hire a hall, and a band, plan to set up a bar (if you can get a temporary liquor permit), and promote the hell out of it with ads, handbills, bumper stickers and lamp-post posters. Special parties aimed at a particular group do best, such as singles, or under-thirties, or over-forties. This idea is especially good in college towns.
Make money on your unused space (and maybe the power tools you've already paid for!). Turn your basement into a woodworking center, your spare bedroom into a photo darkroom, and your garage into a pottery workshop with a wheel and a small kiln. Rent the space and equipment by the hour, expand into more hobbies as time and money permit, and charge additional fees for instruction in any of those fields you're good at.
One of the troubles most people find is that their baby-sitter is always busy just the night they want to go out. You set up a service, finding good reliable teenage girls and boys, middle-aged or older women, and act as a go-between, providing sitters whenever your customers want them, collecting the fees, and paying the sitters. Advertise your service, handbills house-to-house locally being a good way.
Are you an expert at something that you do at home for fun? Then make it pay off for you! If you're a gourmet cook, give cooking lessons in the haute cuisine If you're an accomplished painter in oils or water-color, offer a portrait-painting service. If you're a skilled carpenter, design and make custom cabinets to order. Almost any hobby you're good at can be turned to making a profit if you think about it carefully, and decide who could use your expertise-as a consultant in that field, if nothing else. All you really have to do is get started is to place an ad!
Get money from both ends in this sweetheart deal. Publish the weekly paper with classified ads from the public offering stuff for sale, arranged according to category, and charge the people for their ads (some operators let them pay only if and when they sell, but in that case, charge them a percentage of the selling price 5% for smaller items 2% or 3% for automobiles), and then sell the newspaper (suggested price: 25 cents) as well, through local newsstands and by subscription (in the mail). Once you have a fairly decent circulation, local merchants will also pay you for display ads, because they know people really read buy and swap newspapers religiously cover-to-cover.
Quality is essential, and speed is generally also required, although you can charge a premium for rush service. If you already have an elaborate darkroom set-up in your home, so much the better, but if not, it can be fitted in anywhere you have room, the basement being ideal, since windows are not a requirement. You must be able not only to develop and print every normal size of film from 35mm to 8"x10" but handle enlargements up to a minimum of 30"x40", and preferably 5'x 8' or more, and do copying both of opaque material and slides. An ability to offer retouching, restoration and coloring as well is helpful, even if you have to sent that specialized work out.
Make this a newsstand book, as well as offering it, with small ads, by mail order. List all the possible jobs people can get part-time, especially angling it at college kids on vacation, teachers after school hours, housewives with time on their hands, and moonlighters looking for part-time second jobs.
Take kids on Saturday and Sunday outings. Ten kids each day, to zoos, farms, theaters, children's shows and sports events. A small Micro-bus (rented and/or eventually bought) can be used to travel in. Many parents are delighted to have weekend days to themselves, even though it costs them some dough.
Teach whatever you know. Your trade, profession, cooking skills, a second language, wood-working, chess, photography, knitting, karate, bridge, auto repair, etc. People will pay for good lessons in these useful and enjoyable skills.
You but or (at first) rent a heavy duty machine, and do the cleaning and waxing of fine, hardwood floors. If the floors are in very bad condition, machine sand them and then completely refinish them with modern super-durable polyurethane finishes.
This is sort of a "boarding house" for kids while their parents go away for a week-end or two-week vacation. Requires a large house, and preferably, a large yard or grounds, swings, slides, and facilities useful for kids. Must be done very responsibly and carefully. Also, don't take very young children (less than 9 or 10, say) because they may require too much dressing, feeding, etc.
Write a booklet about something people really want to know about, print a few hundred copies, and place some small ads. You'd be surprised how much money you can make. Sell modern copies of out-of-print uncopyrighted material or books. Or sell something unusual you make at home, providing that it is something really useful to your prospective customers. Or sell some of our ideas such as #2 badges, #37 Genealogy, and others.
The secret of this is not just selling one or two copies of each original (although on a 300-page original manuscript, that can add up too), but using one of the latest high-speed high-quality mass production Xeroxes so that you can compete with the guys operating those quick-printing services, by turning out 100 or 200 resumes, letters, or circulars just as fast, and probably a great deal faster, for some (or potentially less if you want to be competitive) money as they charge. This way you have two kinds of work, giving you twice as many customers, and twice the profit opportunity, and with the right location, a chance to clean up. If you want to offer even more services, and have the space in your shop, as well as the potential customers, you can offer xerox reductions (New York Times-size page down to 81/2x11"), and Xerox copies in full-color, which are remarkably good. The color machine will also make color copies directly from 35mm color slides in one quick step. Of course, you can consider using other brands of xerographic copiers, such as IBM, Kodak, Savin, Canon, Minolta or others, but although you may theoretically save money, make sure of their service policies, and that they have field servicemen in your locality, or you may find yourself stuck with a copier on the fritz for a week, which could ruin your business.
For big city papers some distance from your town. When an event occurs in your area you write the story for those papers (they have correspondents in many big places but not in most small towns or isolated areas) and they pay you for it. This is known as being a "stringer." If you're good with a camera, take photos to accompany the story.
Use either a panel truck or a camper body on a pick-up truck chassis. Go to public park areas and campgrounds selling charcoal, paper plates, watermelon, ice cream, eggs, milk, bread, insect repellent, sunglasses, newspapers, etc.
Even in affluent America, not everyone has a car, and even those who do often prefer to leave long trips to a professional bus driver. And although there are bus tours offered to some familiar places, there are still so many interesting, even exciting, places people would like to go to, if they were offered the chance. Here's where you come in. You must be creative about it, and study all the six state area around your hometown, to discover some original and different places to travel to on day trips which will "turn on" your prospective customers, and get them to sign up. The rest is easy. You get competitive quotes (from commercial bus companies) for a quality bus to do the round-trip, with a suitable stopover at the destination point (enough to do the sights, shop, and maybe eat as well). Then you figure your tour price per person so you can make a profit even if the bus is only half-full or so. Then you have a safety margin-and if you sell every seat you will do very well indeed. Then all you have to do is sell. You put little ads in your local papers, paste up flyers wherever you can (supermarkets are good), contact local travel agents (of course, you give them a percentage on what they sell for you) local hotel clerks, etc., and you also contact women's clubs, religious groups, fraternal societies, factory social organizations, and so on (they may take a whole bus, or even two, and you give them a special price, naturally).
For dogs or cats or both. People will pay high fees to ensure high-quality care for the animal they love. Separate kennels for each animal is essential. Good food and adequate care and attention must be assured also. You can hire responsible teenagers to help you. Advertise with posters in pet shops, veterinarians' offices; and if they're cheaply available, get the mailing lists of local ASPCA groups and other animal welfare groups, as well as membership lists of dog and cat clubs.
Children usually outgrow their clothes rather than wearing them out. So many families have such clothing left around. You collect it, paying nothing or as little as possible. Then you resell it; you can do the selling by ads, handbills or through your church or community groups.
This requires only a moderate amount of space and a small investment in equipment. Properly done, it needs only a small amount of your time yet can make you a good profit. You can obtain your beginning stock from the large wholesale dealers. You can sell direct to consumers (the hobbyists) or to stores in your area.
All you need is a simple-to-operate machine that engraves lettering in various styles onto sheets of plastic of many colors, finishes and sizes. Perfect for signs for merchants, banks, doctors, dentists, schools and colleges, private front doors, and many other uses.
Seasonal, but if you have the time in the few weeks before Xmas, can be a good money maker. Find a vacant storefront or lot, or space inside a larger building where people pass by. But be sure to order a supply of trees enough in advance. And if you own country land that is not being used, consider growing the trees yourself. Your first crop can be ready in four years, with steady crops from then on.
Manufacture them in your basement. The materials needed are cheap, and the finished stamps can be sold to many people: storeowners, offices, individuals. You can market them by mail and through local merchants.
With urban living, the back-to-nature movement is growing and camping is becoming very popular. Rent out tents, sleeping bags, portable propane stoves, chairs, etc. Demand identification from customers and reliable security (keeping one of their credit cards is good).
Each customer is sold a special tag to put on his or her key ring. It says "Drop in any mailbox" and has the address of a post office box that you rent. (Don't use your home address for the same reason your customers shouldn't have their home address on their keys--dishonest people finding the keys will come prowling around). You assign each customer's tag a code number from a list that you deep. When someone's keys arrive at your post office box, you return them to him, for another fee.
With a knowledge of cars, plus the proper test equipment (for checking the engine, transmission, brakes, front-end alignment, and chassis), you go with your customer to check out the used car he is thinking of buying. Advertise your service next to the ads offering used cars for sale. After a while you will get to know people in this field and you can pick up more money by acting as a middleman in sales between private individuals.
This may sound contradictory but is isn't/ Supermarkets aren't the only ones who use loss leaders. A good mail-order idea is offering a cute item (worth much more) for $1 in women's magazines, giving prompt delivery and including with it stuffers (ads with order blanks) for half a dozen more expensive items. The repeat business on the other items makes the $1 offer profitable.
You rent everything needed for a baby's care, stroller, play pen, high chair, etc. When the customer's baby outgrows them, you rent to the next couple. Of course, you must advertise, and also send direct mail pieces to all couples with new births (get their names from hospitals and newspapers and list brokers).
You rent out everything needed for a party, tables, chairs punch bowls, table cloths, cutlery and napkins. You can also supply waitresses and bartenders, finding them through agencies that supply temporary help such as Manpower. But if you can find good workers yourself, you can save the agency fee and make more money.
In your basement (or wherever you can fit it) build a large and elaborate miniature slot car racing track (with at least 6 or 8 slots). Local kids, and often adults, pay you by the hour to race, using either your cars or theirs. To boost interest you can hold monthly contests with trophies.
You line up the specialists in fixing almost anything and take care of getting them customers by delivering handbills to homes and placing ads in supermarkets and local papers. They pay you 5% of every job you refer to them, which can soon add up.
You seek out the records in public or university libraries, county courthouses and elsewhere, as necessary, for a sliding fee, depending on the size of family, difficulties in getting information, geographic dispersion, and other factors.
If you have any charge accounts now, or have ever borrowed from the bank to buy a car, or if you are paying on a mortgage, there is credit information on you. Up until a few years ago, you could only guess at what your credit rating was, because the credit bureaus who keep track of borrowers wouldn't tell the borrowers anything! But that's changed through several laws, and now the bureaus have to send you your credit file when you request it. If you've been denied credit on the basis of their records, they will send you a copy of those records without charge, if you request it within 30 days of the credit denial. If you haven't been denied credit but just want to know what your file says, you must pay a small fee to find out.
It is well worth you trouble to obtain your report. You may well find (because thousands do) that there is a piece of misinformation that is injuring you without your knowing it, which you can straighten out by submitting copies of documentary proof (never mail originals of anything important-it may get lost in the mail) of bills paid, payments made, etc.
If, for one reason or another, you are not listed, or they have insufficient information on you to "rate" your suitability for credit, you must take steps to correct this.
If you have no record because you hold no cards and have no charge accounts, or because you have just come in from out-of-town, then you'd better start assembling one. It may sound a little ridiculous, but nobody will lend money to someone who's always paid cash! You have to have borrowed money or run up charges and paid them back to be able to borrow larger sums as time goes along. Start with the local merchants in your immediate area, the ones that already know you. Even if you don't need it right now, ask them if you can set up a charge account with them. In most cases they'll be glad to oblige you, they already know you're local, and that you patronize them regularly. When you get the credit, charge a few items each week, and pay your account promptly when presented. In this way, you'll build up a good credit record with these merchants in a short time.
Go to the bank where you keep your checking account, and ask to borrow a nominal sum (say $500), which they are unlikely to refuse you. Do this even if you don't need the money, because you do need the repayment record on their books. Repay the loan on a regular basis when due. Do not accelerate, and pay it all back the next month, strangely enough the banks do not like that, because to them that indicates a :feast or famine" situation, rather than a steady payer. The interest cost on this loan, even if you have no need for the money, will be well worth paying to build up your credit record. Besides, you can minimize this interest cost by depositing the money you have borrowed (assuming you do not immediately need it), in a savings account, and collecting the interest, which will defray a good part of the cost of the interest you are paying. Once these charge accounts and the loan have been operating for a while, proceed to stage two, and ask a large local department store for a charge account. Most likely they will be happy to give you their charge card. Build up your rating with them by occasional purchases and prompt payment, and then you can proceed to stage three, and apply for the less selective national credit cards, Master Charge and Bank Americard, which you should at this point be able to get without too much difficulty.
Once you have national bank credit, it's easy to get credit from all the oil companies, which makes traveling around a cash-free pleasure. Some gas stations take national cards like Master Charge but most only take their own credit cards, so you should not overlook these, just because you already have others.
Once you have all the other cards, a paid-up loan or two, and a fine record of promptly paying your bills, you may be able to get the most selective cards of all, the "travel and entertainment" cards. These are American Express, Diners' Club and Carte Blanche. These cards operate on a different system than ordinary retail store cards, or the national bank cards, both of which are revolving credit plans on which you pay a small amount each month, until your balance is all paid up. The store or bank hopes you will take a long time to pay, because they make their money on the 11/2% monthly which is 18% yearly) finance and or interest charges The T&E cards, however, expect you to pay your bills at the end of the month! Let your account get 60 days or more delinquent, and they'll cancel you out as fast as a flash of lightning. Although these cards do not charge interest, they do charge you a fee for membership.
So how do you get these marvelous bits of plastic that open up the doors of exotic nightspots in Tangiers as easily as your nearby Howard Johnson's? Your good credit record, that you have already established, will be the most help. Since the T&E people want you to pay your bills promptly each month, they want to know that you have a steady record of paying bills promptly to other people. So first American Express, or Carte Blanche, or Diners' Club, looks at your record. Then at your salary or other income. Most of them have cut-off points below which they will not grant their cards. But even if you earn more than their minimum requirements, they don't automatically okay you for their credit. They look at your stability! How do they measure
stability? How long have you worked on your present job? If you address? At your previous address? and do you rent an apartment, which means you could move tomorrow, or do you own your own house, which means you will probably still be in the same place next year. How stable is your livelihood? Do people in your field of work get laid off frequently?
Once you have all the major national credit cards in your wallet, you can live like the millionaires do even though you haven't yet become one. You can go into a fancy store, or call them on the telephone, and order those wonderful luxuries which make life so much more exciting, like furs and diamonds for your loved one, or new furniture or appliances for your living room, bedroom or kitchen. All of this can come true in the wonderful world of credit. Now in today's world you can charge almost anything on a credit card, from admission to a nudist camp in Yugoslavia, to medical care at a hospital in Atlanta, university courses in New York City, funerals in Los Angeles, and even the services of legal prostitutes in Las Vegas.
But what do you do if you haven't been able to pay your bills promptly, or you've run up more than you can handle or you don't have a very stable work history? Do you have to give up the dreams of credit-card living? Not entirely! Once you find out which credit conditions in your background are the most troublesome (from the credit report you have already sent for), you then start to create new conditions that you can then base your records on. If you were out of work, perhaps you can get a reference from someone you know who owns a business and is willing to say that you worked for him, if the credit card company checks your references. If your bills are too high, and you've missed a few payments, perhaps you should see one of the free consumer counseling services that are springing up in the larger cities which will enable you to consolidate your debts into a manageable amount. Remember that credit card companies don't care very much about the amount that you owe, but they care a lot about whether you pay steadily, every single month, even if the amount each month is small, and the entire debt will take years to pay off! Don't overlook ways to establish good credit without buying anything! For example, if you have telephone service in your own name, you have a record of paying bills to them which is then part of your credit record. These services, when they are in your name, will show prospective merchants that you do have a record of paying bills, even if you haven't yet established retail store or bank credit.
The world of credit has one more trick you should know about, this time one that actually saves you money right on the spot. All you have to do is carry your credit cards with you when you go out shopping, even if you intend to pay by cash. Then you have to keep an eye open for the smaller, personal service-type shops, where the boss himself, or one of the partners, is always present (you'll see why in a minute). As you walk in, check out the decals on the door to see which cards they accept. Then select your purchase in the way you normally would-taking your usual care to be sure you're getting the right item at the right price. When the deal's all set, produce your credit card (one of those you know he takes), and say "I'd like to charge it, please!" At this, the merchant's face will probably drop about six feet, but he'll take your card and walk over to the imprinting machine (or maybe to the telephone to check your credit status). He hasn't got much choice, he has to take the card if he uses their decal in the window. But the point is, he hates to because he has to pay the credit card company a percentage of the sale, usually somewhere between 6 and 10 percent. Now, while he's vulnerable, is the time to hit him with a casually-dropped remark like "say, how about knocking 5% off the price, and I'll pay cash instead?" The chances are he'll accept your offer, because it saves him the other part of the credit card company percentage, and because it saves him bookkeeping chores, and waiting from 3 to 7 days for his money to be credited to him by the credit card company. The reason why this gimmick doesn't work in big stores is that the clerk doesn't give a damn what it costs the boss, and has no authority to take an additional percentage off the price, so he'll just go ahead and write up your credit card invoice.
Hundreds, even thousands, of dollars can come to you through the mail, every day, when you build up a successful mail-order business, and we're going to show you how to do it! You don't need complicated equipment, a lot of capital, or an expensive office to start with. But you do need determination, a place to work (your home will do fine for a beginning), and a good product. Before you begin to sell anything, take a moment to think about the possibilities of mail order. In order to hit the real jackpot in terms of money, your mail order business, whatever it is that you will eventually sell, must be well planned, timely, and draw lots of repeat business. You are going to have to look at what other mail order operators are selling, to see what kinds of products sell well, week after week, in the kinds of publications that you too are thinking of running ads in. And don't forget to check back issues of these same publications-check out which ads stopped running, which products flopped! Remember that the better prepared you are before you actually place your first ad, the better able you will be to cope with buying, selling, shipping and all the other new responsibilities you will have. But don't let all this talk of responsibility scare you away-mail order is still one of the least complicated ways to get set on the road to financial independence, and possibly great wealth!
If you're contemplating starting a mail-order business, the first thing you have to decide is what you're going to sell. Both as to general category, and then specifically. Your wife's home-made candy; your own greenhouse raised plants; a small useful "novelty" item; racing tips; or what? Try and ask yourself a few questions about what you intend to sell. Is it exclusive? Or can your prospective customers get the same thing more easily right at their neighborhood store? Is it really appealing, can you point out something (or many things) about it that make it something the customer's just gotta have And does it have a really sufficient mark-up (of which more hereafter). More mail-order failures can be traced to the lack of the right product than any other source. Sure, it's important to promote it right, write appealing copy, be efficient in shipping, follow up with the sale, etc. etc., but if you haven't got what the people want, nothing else will help. So don't blunder into the business, plan it out. Think whether there is something about which you have some special expertise which you can bring to bear in the selection of what you're going to sell. Always try to fill a need. Try to appeal to basic human instincts, acquisitiveness, curiosity, avarice, sexuality, greed, and so on. But appeal subtly, on the subconscious level, don't let'em know you know what makes 'em tick. You've got to be a sort of amateur psychologist, to have a high percentage of successful items, or else you must just somehow sense what will sell.
If you haven't a specific field in mind, here are two suggestions for you. The first is sell information, or to put it another way, "sell paper." Think up some information you think many people would like to know, and try and assemble it for them in a handy form, using your own knowledge, or research you can do in books at your library. For instance, a list of hotels, by city and state, which agree to accept guests with pets-something very useful to animal-lovers traveling with their dogs and getting turned away by the majority of motels they try to stop at. The second is how you can find the one really special, really "cute" and exciting item that you can promote the hell out of and (we hope) sell tens of thousands of. In this area of mail-order, fortunes can be made overnight, if you "know how to pick 'em." It's a knack, a "feel," and it's usually inborn, and not a product of training. You may have it, and not know it! If you are one of those people who can sense the needs or desires of a large group, then before long you may locate an item that can bring you real money! How you can find your own special "hot item" before the public has even seen it anywhere is by attending trade shows, given every year, and sometimes twice a year, in major cities. New York, Chicago and San Francisco are the biggest centers, but local ones appear also in Miami, Houston, New Orleans, and many other cities. You can find out about these shows by calling your local convention bureau or exhibition hall, and inquiring about their schedule for the year. Very big hotels with exhibition facilities sometimes host them too. Or you can write to major exhibition managers and get their schedule for the next twelve months or more.
To start a mail-order business. we would suggest placing small display ads at first, rather than creating expensive mailing pieces and sending them out to a rented list. To create, print, insert and mail brochures is a costly and very skilled affair, and is not usually undertaken by beginners. Also it is generally necessary that the item(s) offered be relatively high-priced to assure a profitable rate of return-what with today's high cost of postage, not to mention paper and printing. A single $1.95 item, no matter how saleable, could never be profitable in a mailing-by the time you add up the cost of printing and postage you find there is nothing left for you! But if it is well-chosen, it could be a smash hit in a small ad, and make a lot of money for you, because, of course, if it works for you in one magazine very well, the chances are very good (though not certain) that it will be at least profitable, even if not as profitable, in other media.
Other than an unsuitable product, or one that people just don't want, the biggest other mistake you must avoid is having insufficient markup. You cannot afford to buy the same product that a retailer does, and expect to survive. Many retailers can do perfectly well with an average markup of 100% over cost, that is they buy the merchandise at 50% of it's retail price, or, to look at it another way, they sell at twice the net cost to them (this is a very rough approximation, retailers' margins vary all over the lot depending on the line of business they're in; for instance, grocery supermarkets operate on far less gross markup than that. But you cannot exist in mail-order with a two-times-cost markup (potentially you might be able to with a very high-ticket item selling for $500, but we're not concerned with that here). You need at least a three-times cost multiple, and, if you can get it, four, five, six or even ten times is far far better. The higher your markup-the greater your chance of success. Your costs are far higher than a retailer's. Advertising space cost is your biggest expense, and then you have to handle each order individually, pack it for shipping, provide a carton, take it to the post office, etc., as well as pay your general overhead expenses. Always remember that the higher the multiple, the smaller the number of items you have to sell to make an ad profitable.
You've chosen your "perfect product" for your first mail-order offering, and decided on the price you're asking, and now you are faced with making an ad! Unless you are a writer/artist, this is a formidable obstacle. But it can be surmounted. We don't suggest you call a big advertising agency. In short, they don't want you (you won't be spending enough), and you don't want them (you wouldn't be able to afford their production charges!). If you're handy with words, try writing the ad-after all the usual 1", 2"or 3" mail-order ad only contains 50 or 100 words of copy (look at what others are doing in your favorite magazine) and show it to some friends to get some criticism and ideas. If you get a thumbs-down reaction from your test audience, (or if you don't really feel that you want to tackle the writing in the first place), locate a copywriter to help you through the classified columns of your local newspaper. Place a very short minimum-space ad, in the "Help Wanted" section. You'll get plenty of calls, and this will enable you to select someone with whom you're compatible, and who won't charge you an arm and a leg!
The "look" of your ad is very important. Don't neglect it. Not only the picture of the product, whether that be a photograph or a drawing, but also the layout, choice and weight of typefaces used and so on. Unless you are an expert, don't try doing it yourself...you need a professional. It is simple to find one. Just proceed as above for the copywriter, but place an ad for an art director. He will take your basic thoughts, and transform them almost magically, into a really "pro" looking ad. He'll be able to "spec" the type for you, and recommend a typesetter who can set it for you (or he may quote you a flat price for preparing the ad which includes the type). I hope there's enough here to have whetted your appetite for a go at the mail-order business. If you want additional information, consult a full-length book on the fascinating mail-order business.
If you're afraid to answer the phone because your creditors have been calling every night; and you're worried that one of them is going to call your boss and tell him you're a deadbeat; and just trying to pay off your bills leaves you almost nothing for food--it's time you thought about bankruptcy! With a small amount of money, a lawyer (and even he's not necessary a lot of the time), and a careful evaluation of your assets (what you own) and your liabilities (what you owe), you too can make a new start with the help of the Federal and State bankruptcy laws. But don't rush into this without carefully determining which is the right way for you, for there are several different ways to stop your creditors cold, and choosing the wrong way can result in your losing much more than you might otherwise have to. Straight bankruptcy usually costs less, and it's quick! If you have very few assets, and a lot of debt, and not enough income to pay the debts off, even on an extended plan (more about that later), then you will probably have to file straight bankruptcy. You must file the proper forms (or "schedules") which you can purchase (and fill in yourself without a lawyer). You can also purchase such forms from any really good office supply stationery store in your nearest city, especially one in a district where there are lawyers' offices. Bankruptcy is not a very complicated court action, so don't be too afraid of it. You will need to know which district you live in for Federal Court purposes: look in the telephone book (white pages) under U.S. Government Courts, and locate the U.S. District Court in your nearest city. Probably that court has jurisdiction; but check this out by phoning the Clerk of the Court and asking him, giving him your home address. You will have to fill out several "schedules" or lists of your creditors: creditors having priority, creditors having security, and creditors having unsecured claims without priority. You must list every creditor, for any one that is not listed can still sue you and collect, even after the bankruptcy! If you don't know if a debt is secured (backed up by a related asset, like a refrigerator bought on an installment loan) or unsecured (made only on your personal reputation, with no related asset), ask the creditor. Include as a creditor the name of anyone for whom you co-signed a loan or note, and anyone who co-signed for you.
Will you be put out in the cold without food , clothing and a house to live in after your creditors get paid? Not at all--because most state bankruptcy laws allow some of your assets to be "exempt" from being used to pay your creditors! You must check the specific laws of your state, but usually, the house you live in, the tools of your trade, your personal clothes (within reasonable limits) and certain specific basic home furnishings are all not taken away from you. In fact, in this totally absurd world we live in, many states now permit you to also keep your TV set(!), because, apparently, they regard it as a necessity for life!
Once you have all the forms filled out and notarized, bring them to the Clerk of the U.S District Court in your district, along with $50. You don't have to notify your creditors-the Clerk does that, while also reminding them that now that you have filed bankruptcy papers, they may not press you for any more money, but may come to your hearing. Usually your creditors don't show up, since by the time you have filed bankruptcy, you have very few nonexempt assets left that they are interested in. Whatever assets you do have that are not exempt (if any) must be sold under the court's supervision. Any money thus realized is added to whatever cash you may have had at the time you filed (if any) and the total amount (which might be, and often is, as low as $50 or $75!) is divided up by the trustee appointed at your hearing and your creditors get paid on a pro rata (proportional) basis to the amount you owe them.. If your assets add up to an amount that, for example, only allows each creditor 31/2 cents for every dollar of debt you owe then, then that 31/2 cents is all he gets! About three months after you have filed, you are adjudged "bankrupt," and you can start over again to incur debt, pay bills and establish a new credit record. Be careful, however, about talking to your old creditors at this time. They may offer to help you out by extending new credit, and maneuver you into signing a "reaffirmation" of your old debt! Read anything you sign very closely, and don't agree to repay any debt that you have already discharged through your bankruptcy!
There are some people who should-definitely hire a lawyer to help them through their bankruptcies, especially people who have assets like real estate that they want, somehow, to keep. Aside from real estate, if you have been accused by any creditor of fraud, you should also have a lawyer handle your case. If you decide you don't need a lawyer to handle your bankruptcy, you are still responsible for filling out all the forms accurately and completely, and every bit as carefully as if a lawyer had done them. Leaving out a creditor's address from a schedule, or forgetting a loan you co-signed can bring on lawsuits against you even after your bankruptcy. So be careful, and if you find the bankruptcy process is too complicated, do see a lawyer!
If you've fallen behind in paying your bills, but you don't want to declare straight bankruptcy, you may want to clean up your financial mess instead through Chapter XIII of the Federal Bankruptcy Laws. Also known as the Wage Earner Plan, Chapter XIII differs from straight bankruptcy in two most important ways: You must pay off the entire amount of your debts (no 10 cents on the dollar hear), and within a 3 year period. But the good part is you are not declared "bankrupt," so no one ever knows that you needed relief under any part of the Federal Bankruptcy Act. The major advantage of the Wage Earner Plan, besides not being recorded permanently on your credit record, is that you get to keep all your assets, exempt and non-exempt alike (assuming you still have any left!). This is quite important, if, for example, you have a good paid-up car, or expensive household furnishings or a boat or other valuable assets that you want to keep. Under Chapter XIII, you can get your current debts "stretched out" to three years, which may well result in lower total monthly payments than you are currently paying, and as long as you pay off your debts in accordance with the agreement filed with the court, month by month, no creditor will be able to sue you to try to seize any other of your assets, and force their public sale at disadvantageous prices. Even if they have begun to sue you, once you file for relief under the Bankruptcy Act, either under Chapter XIII or under Chapter XI, straight voluntary bankruptcy, they can't touch you. They are immediately restricted to getting from you only what the referee or trustee will give them and that only after the court proceedings have been completed. Often, if a creditor threatens to sue you, the most effective thing you can do to stop him (besides paying the debt!) is to tell him frankly that, if he sues you, you have no other recourse than to declare bankruptcy. This will often make your creditor willing to negotiate the debt, and you may be able to satisfy him by paying the debt back, but over a longer period of time (with smaller monthly payments) that you originally contracted for. Creditors know well that if you file bankruptcy, the chance of their getting payment in full on their overdue accounts is very low, so it is in their interest to try to ease your credit burden at least for a while.
If a creditor goes ahead and sues you, and gets a judgment against you, he can then get a court order directing the sheriff to seize your personal property, sell it and pay the creditor the amount of your debt. However, if you have no valuable assets, there is nothing for the sheriff to seize, and you are what is generally called "judgment proof," or in other words, can't be made to pay the debt. Because they know this is likely to happen, street-smart debtors often hide their possessions, or move them out-of-state, before the sheriff (or marshal) arrives. This is, of course, illegal. The creditor's next move is to try to "garnishee" your wages, which he does by getting a court order directing your employer to set aside part of your wages or salary every pay period and turn the amount over to him. However, he can only do this if he knows, or can find out, where you work. But even if your wages are garnisheed, there are limits on what a creditor can take! Laws vary from state to state, for example, from Connecticut and Texas where wages cannot be garnisheed at all, to Rhode Island, where only $50 a week is exempt from garnishment. If you have no job, and no visible assets, or you live in a state where your wages cannot be garnisheed, your creditors actually have very few ways of ever collecting on that judgment!
Before your situation gets bad enough to need bankruptcy relief, and before your creditors actually sue you, they will try to make you pay up using informal techniques, rather than formal court orders as this is far less expensive and time-consuming. First among these informal attempts may be turning their bills over to a collection agency which may then begin harassment, by calling you often and at off house by telephone, by trying to talk to your employer about your debts, and/or by threatening you with legal actions, etc. Many of these technique that they use are illegal! Yes, a creditor or agency can write you letters, call once a day seeding payment, try to bring legal action against you, but he is forbidden by law to harass you or invade your privacy, or use deceptive means to get you to pay your bills. He may not use foul and abusive language over the telephone, tell anyone besides you the reason for his phone call, insist on payment for a product or service that you claim to have a legitimate grievance about, nor issue false treats (such as saying that he is going to drag you into court to collect $35, when in fact. his agency's policy is not to file suit on accounts of less than $100, because of the high legal cost involved). He may not inconvenience you (by calling you at work when you are not easily able to receive calls), or invade your privacy (telling your employer or your neighbor that he is trying to collect a debt from you). There are books that provide detailed additional information on personal bankruptcy, and include sample letters with which you can try to arrange "stretch-outs" on your own with your creditors before bankruptcy is necessary. Some include sample bankruptcy forms filled out that you can use as a model. Since the accurate filing of all your debts and assets is so important, it's a good idea to follow their detailed instructions closely, with or without a lawyer, so that once you get your creditors off your back, they stay off.
When the average guy thinks of enjoying himself he sees himself spending a lot of money to do it. He calls a travel agent to have a whole trip arranged and it cost him a fortune. If he desires to live in some kind of luxury housing, he either gets up the enormous rent payments or he just doesn't live there. Well, you can forget about doing things that way. We're going to tell you how to obtain gracious living accommodations which will cost you little or nothing, how to travel luxuriously and make a profit while doing it, and how to use every resource available to enjoy life and make money too.
Have you ever thought about house-sitting? That's where you reside in a mansion, in order to take care of it while the owner is away. And the way some wealthy people travel or spend time away from home, that mansion may be all yours, so to speak, for 8 to 9 months of the year. There is usually one car that goes along with the house and you may even be supervising a couple of people who do the everyday chores and maintenance.
If, however, you own your own home, but you would like it to be decorated more elaborately, you might try to arrange with an interior decorator and/or a furniture company to provide the decoration and furnishings in exchange for being allowed to bring potential customers to your house to show what a good job they do. The best prospect to approach for this kind of arrangement is a decorator or furniture dealer who has just started his business in your area, and is therefore eager to have a top-notch "real-life" display. There are other unusual and shrewd ways of arranging to have a very nice place to live when you're going to be traveling. For example, consider the following idea.
Would you like to live in France, or any other country, for business or for a long vacation? You may be able to exchange homes with a French family; they will live in your home here while you live in theirs in France. Of course, the locations, both here and there, must suit both parties, and the length of time involved must be coordinated also. But it's worth doing because it can give you a "home away from home." Contact the embassy of the country you'd like to live in and they'll probably be able to help you arrange it.
Whenever possible, make all your trips, even if they are really vacation trips, provably serve some aspect of your business so you can deduct the cost of them from your corporation's profits. The tax rate on corporation profits is 48%, so it makes good sense to deduct the cost of your trip from your overall profits. That could save you up to half the cost of the trip; Uncle Sam will, in effect, pay it for you! This can be done very often if you are in business in which traveling is a necessity, such as import/export. If you are a travel agent you will often be invited by airlines, cruises, hotels and resorts to travel or stay with them as their guest; they hope, of course, you will then send your travel agency customers to them. But this can work also if you're in a business or occupation, like advertising or public relations or writing, where you can give them free publicity in return. Or you might want to be the organizer of a charter tour. You then have an even wider choice of when and where to go, and you as the organizer travel free. You should even pick up a handsome profit besides, if you handle it right. First you must find people who want to go. Often the easiest way is to choose people who are already affiliated in some way; they work for the same company or belong to the same club or church. Then comes the choice of where to go. You might question them, giving them the choice of place or you may start to make some tentative preliminary enquiries about 3 or 4 places and have them choose one of those places. Get an advance deposit of at least 20%. You'll need this advance money to arrange the charter flight, places to stay, local transportation and sightseeing at the vacation spot, and so on. It also ensures that those who make the reservations will actually go because the deposit is not refundable (after a certain date).
Our government wants to help you do more business overseas. Before you go, therefore, contact the Department of Commerce. They will arrange for you to meet people in each country you visit who are in your industry and related fields. The Commerce Dept. won't guarantee it, of course, but if you play your cards right, these potential business associates will wine and dine you and act as warm hosts in their native countries. It not only costs you nothing; it promotes business and lets you meet people who can really show you the best of everything in their countries.
Have you ever thought of getting paid to travel--of living and working overseas? Uncle Sam now has over 230,000 of his citizens working for him abroad. And you don't have to be a scientist or technical specialist to be one of them. Persons with clerical and office skills, as well as those with administrative abilities, are needed. So are plumbers, machinists, woodworkers and painters.
Don't forget the huge corporations if you're thinking of a job abroad. Such companies as Citibank of New York, Johns-Manville, IBM, International Harvester, Westinghouse and many more, have Americans working for them overseas; and the pay scales in many of these companies are higher than for their workers in the same jobs at home. And there are jobs working for foreign governments or private foreign companies that often pay well and are quite interesting besides. For example, in those countries where oil is being produced in huge quantities (such as many of the Middle Eastern countries) there is a need for people with experience in this field. What's more, the general increase in wealth brought by the oil industry in those countries produces a huge growth in the construction of roads, buildings, factories, bridges, hotels and many more things. People are needed to build and operate all of these; if you've got the skills in demand, you can certainly land a job, what's more, being there at the time when things are growing may let you in on the ground floor of other moneymaking opportunities. In fact, if you're the adventurous type, you'll not only probably make more money abroad, but have a great time, too!
Generally people pay to go to a restaurant, sports event, theater performance or movie. But reviewers don't pay; that is, if you write about movies for any publication, no matter how small or hinky-dinky the paper or magazine is, you, the reviewer, see the movie free. The same goes for restaurants and other events,. But in order to keep this gimmick working time after time you should really be reviewing these places for some publication. This isn't as hard to arrange as you might think. Many small papers can't afford a large staff so they are looking for people who will write for them for little or no payment. But who should that non-payment bother you? After all, the genuine credentials they give you as their reviewer lets you enjoy all those great leisure activities for free. And with VIP treatment, too.
If you own the right kind of property, you can make money as an absentee owner. Owning an apartment building is a fairly uncomplicated process that can bring in good money. Your manager or superintendent runs the building but all the rents are sent directly to you. When any fuel oil is delivered, or anything else for that matter, the bills are sent to you. When the manager needs outside repairmen to work on the building, he has them send the bill to you. Thus, since you control all the cash flow (in from the rents, out to pay bills) you can be totally in charge yet you need only devote a few hours once in a while to actually go and look at the building to make sure your manager is taking good care of it.
Ok, let's face it; the above methods, good as they are, may not always be available to you. You may actually have to pay to travel and have a good time. Well, you can still travel in style yet pay very little. The trick is to know that high-quality, low-priced alternatives are available. For example, your airline fare will most likely be your biggest expense. So try not to take a scheduled airline flight at the height of the season leaving in daylight hours on a weekend. If you can, avoid the regular flights and get on a charter flight. Under recent law, charter flights are now freely available to individuals. You don't have to be part of a group. What you must do, though, is book your flight well in advance. And if you can't avoid taking a regular airline, then fly at night in the middle of the week. And even if your trip is really a vacation, try, nevertheless, to do something connected directly to your business while there. That's because airlines generally offer a better price to a vacationer who buys a round-trip ticket and stays on vacation for three weeks or more. Most business trips take only a few days and that round trip fare is higher. But if you take a 5 week vacation, say, and conduct business for 8 days during those 5 weeks, then you can deduct from your taxes your air fare and your expenses (hotel, food, etc.) for the 8 days you were conducting business. So go ahead and get your share of the good life; just remember it's even more fun if you can make a profit or save money. You didn't get the money you have by being wasteful or careless. Enjoy yourself, sure! Just watch what you're doing so you'll have plenty of money to keep on enjoying yourself.
Power is the ability to get things done--your way. Sometimes it's a direct order that you give, sometimes a suggestion you make, or a request or the asking of a favor; but the result (if you have power) is always that the other person acts and you derive a benefit from the other person's actions. One can have power in many different ways. You have it over your employees because you pay their salaries. If you are an expert in a special field, it's because you know the best way to handle matters. In a legal dispute, it's because you have the law on your side. If you have credit cards, it can be part of your life style to go into a store, hotel or restaurant, in any city, and order whatever you wish. In politics, it's because folks will give you their votes, hoping that you'll work and succeed in getting the government to serve them in their area. And there's the power that derives from being talented, charming and capable; of being up-to-the-minute and knowledgeable, so people know if they let you handle things for them or listen to your advice, they'll come out ahead. One more aspect of power. This concerns competition. If all the world were fair and equal, one would have no need for the upper hand, for the advantage, for power. But, of course, the world isn't. Which often means that in a competitive situation you cannot merely settle for an equal chance. You must keep your eyes and ears, and indeed all your faculties, open for any clue or other tips that will move the balance in your favor. Whenever possible, make sure you get more than an equal chance.
People are impressed by how a man looks. They are often not aware of exactly why they treat one man like a VIP and another gets the bum's rush. Their reactions maybe subliminal, below their conscious awareness. But take it from me, if you're well dressed, neatly groomed, hair trimmed, etc., and are driving a snazzy car, you'll be well received; while a guy who's wearing sloppy clothes, unshaven and unclean, and who's driving an old heap, will hardly get any attention at all. Look as good as you can; and back it up in other ways. Add the other elements of power image too. Clothing--it's worth investing some money to be well dressed. Buy suits on time payments if you can (a credit card is very useful for this). That way the clothes are helping to get power, and therefore money, for you while you are paying for them. Don't forget about the car you drive around in; if the one you have is not impressive then rent one that is. Rental cars don't cost that much and driving a good one pays dividends in the power sphere. Try to join clubs and organizations (business, social, political) that have important and influential members. If at first you can't become a member, then maneuver a member into taking you as his guest. Money and power beget money and power; the more they think you have, the more you'll get. We must repeat that, for most people, those who belong to the power elite are those that appear to belong to it. Unless recognized personally, a millionaire will be turned away from a class restaurant if he's not well dressed.
There's another extremely important factor in appearing to already have money and power beyond what I mentioned above and that is your own manner of doing things. You must move, speak and act power. Have you ever met the grandson of a man who amassed a fortune and wondered how a grandfather who did so much could have a grandson who seems like such a weakling? It's true; that grandson could never get rich on his own; if he hadn't inherited his family's money, he'd be poor because he's week and incompetent. And it shows. The men who, like yourself, are capable of making money now, are men who can act in a strong style that almost seems to draw money like a magnet. Language, and the way you speak, can say as much as the ideas in your words. Equally important, however, is your body language, that is the way you stand, walk, move and sit and the gestures you make.
Power isn't just you being able to call someone and tell him what to do; it's also other men calling you and asking for your business or wanting to associate with you. If you're a man who seems to possess a wide knowledge of the world, an awareness of trends, if you're the early-bird who catches sight of opportunities first, if you're the man who's capable of handling many different kinds of situations, then people will seek you out. They'll invite you to vacation at their country homes, to meet their influential associates, to join their social clubs and their business syndicates. And when they do, all of these will enhance your image of power, and widen your power base so you can zoom ahead even more.
Everything we've said so far will be useful in just about every situation; but when the struggle for power gets more intense, some other methods are needed. When the person(s) you're talking to has been open-minded and your powers of persuasion have been working from the moment you first stated talking, the usual techniques can be used. But what if you're dealing with someone whose mind is closed to your ideas and influence from the start, or who feels he is in direct competition with you? Then things must be handled somewhat differently. Most important, be in control of the situation at all times. If you feel your control is slipping, do something to regain it. You could do something vividly dramatic and totally bewildering to the other person, like suddenly shouting or pounding on your desk. Or you could press a secret buzzer to have someone rush in and interrupt when the other side is coming on too strong. Never ever get into a power struggle when you're at any kind of a disadvantage; if you're tired or if the discussion turns to a subject in which the other guy is an expert. Always focus your own mental energy and project your thoughts into his mind. Look him in the eyes, try to gain his confidence. Always have a picture in your mind of a victory over this person bigger than the victory you need to achieve your aims. And whatever you do don't lose; that is, if you realize that you can't beat him, then leave. It's better not to have a victory than to have a defeat.
Making a lot of money is largely a process of convincing people, of selling yourself, your service, your product. And the trick is to tell them what they want to hear. The problem is to find out what they want to hear. So you'll start out by giving them basic information about what you're selling. You then continue with your sales approach, always watching their reactions carefully. When you see their eyes light up and they then lean forward with interest, then continue on the topic that aroused that interest, no matter how odd it may seem to you. And do the opposite when you reach any of the usual parts of your presentation, if the prospect shows less than the normal amount of interest; that is, shorten that part and go on to the next.
You start out by telling them what the product or service is or does. The kinds of benefits people get from using it and some examples of ways, both usual and unusual, that other folks have used it. It often helps to mention that "Mr. Anderson, you know, the big shot, just bought two of them for his own use," or that "the XYZ Corporation recently bought seven of them for their executives." Or if you're selling a more heavy duty item, that "Smith's Construction Company has been using them for years." If it's almost a custom made item tell them they're one of the select few who will even get a chance to buy it. If you have an opportunity to talk to his wife or a friend of his, plan along with that other person and have them unknowingly hinting to the customer that "it certainly sounds like a good deal." If his kids are with him, get them to needle him into buying it. Use any method that works. Suppose the guy seems convinced buy he can't seem to make up his mind to actually hand over the money or sign the contract to make the purchase. Sometimes it helps to imply that he really can't afford it. He might buy it just to show you he isn't poor or a cheapskate. Another great strategy that sometimes works in desperation to close a sale is to make him feel guilty if he doesn't buy. Imply that he deliberately wasted your time and energy, that he's rotten and thoughtless, that he just wanted to make a phony impression on his wife or girl friend or anyone who is there with him. You might want to say all this very loudly, almost yelling, so that a crowd gathers and you shame him into buying. Or you can try another method to clinch the sale, offer him a "special bonus." Say you'll give him a longer time to pay, or a contract for "free" servicing or that you'll add on a bonus of another item "free". Actually he may have been entitled to this "extra" all along, but if you haven't yet mentioned it, then now's the time. Try to keep one or two things in reserve as your last pieces of ammunition.
In the power battle called life, victory will go to those who find the right weapons and use them. So keep your weapons handy; get a head start and don't lose it. Be alert for clues you can use to your advantage. Present yourself with confidence; broadcast your will power, speak and move with assurance, and, to make sure they get the message, have the clothes car, office and the other outer appearances of power and money. People tend to believe what they see, and if you look like you've got it made, then you will have it made.
When you start a business, like any venture in life, you want it to have the best chance for success. Starting one from your home has unique advantages. You won't be paying rent on a store or office. And probably you won't immediately need a separate phone with the charges for installation and monthly service. And you are already heating and lighting your home. Therefore, you avoid the burden of these additional monthly overhead costs. You'll be using many things you already own so you can save money by not buying a desk, lighting fixtures, a water cooler, or the other furnishings people generally buy to set up a separate business location. If you need help with the actual work that's involved, try to get members of your family to help you (more on this later). And you can start your business part-time while keeping your present job. Later as it grows you can make it your full-time occupation, and if you wish, move it out of your home into larger quarters...better suited to a business which may be growing by leaps and bounds.
A man's home is his castle--and it can also be his "gold mine." There are many people who make a very good living right from their home. It's comfortable, it's conveniently located (you can walk to work in about 15 seconds) and you can dress the way you like. You can arrange the furniture to make a work space that suits your exact needs and tastes. You can choose the hours you wish to work and, if you have the energy, initiative and ambition, you can even be in more than one kind of business! Working in your home has other advantages; you have no transportation expenses and you don't waste time or energy in crowds or rush hour traffic. You don't have to worry about getting along with a large group of co-workers or finding a decent place to eat lunch. And you don't have to go out in all weathers, sleet and snow or broiling sun. But there are some drawbacks to working at home and the largest of these is self-discipline. You must learn to discipline yourself. Everyone who is his own boss has the problem of utilizing his time and energy most effectively and not wasting time on pet projects that are not essential to the business. Self discipline is easier to attain if one goes each day to a separate place of business because most business premises do not have the comforts, conveniences and distractions that one has in one's own home. The danger in working at home is that the advantage of comfort and convenience can turn into a great disadvantage.
Later on we'll tell you some tips on how to conduct business in general. But let's first find a part of your house that you can use as your business or work area. It should be a spot that is comfortable but away from distractions. Your children deserve attention but not during your working hours (more on that later) So set yourself up far from where the kids usually play. Too close to the kitchen isn't wise because you are too close to the "food or drink" temptation. A quiet spare bedroom can be ideal as can a finished basement or garage if they aren't too hot or cold. You may need an extension phone put there and, indeed, after your business gets rolling you may want a separate line just for business. If you have a spare desk or table that's fine, but a card table can do for a starter. Adequate lighting is necessary and a filing cabinet also is a good thing to have on hand. You can add whatever other business devices and equipment you discover you'll need as time goes by.
It will be necessary to explain to your children that even though you are at home, you are, in a sense "not at home," that you are working. This does not apply to an emergency, of course, but for nearly all ordinary moments it means they are not allowed to disturb you. You may even have to lock the door that leads to your work area. On the other side, there is the situation regarding other adults in the household, from whom you might want some help from in running the business. This has been called the "honey-do" problem: honey, do this; honey, do that. It's best to come to some understanding with your spouse (and any other adult in your home) about just how you are going to handle this problem. It's quite sensible to desire the help of those other capable adults because they can take some of the burdens of the business off your shoulders. However, from both a business viewpoint and from the human relations viewpoint, it's best to have a clear understanding with each of them as to what kind of things they will and should do (answer the phone, open mail, pack and ship merchandise, etc.) and what they definitely are not to do make payments to people without your authorization, make agreements, deals or contracts without asking you). Such advance agreements can avoid a lot of aggravation and make everything go much more smoothly.
You must realize that there will be some (charming) complications to running a business from home and one of those complications is when a fairly small child answers the phone for a business call. "No, this isn't the Smith Company, this is my house" may throw a business associate calling your "office" for a loop, temporarily. Most people react quite graciously to this, but it does point up the advantage of having a business number that rings only in your work area.
There may be more work at times than you and your family can do yourselves. Your volume of business may be greater on certain days of the week, certain times of the month, certain seasons of the year. At those times you may need extra help to handle the work. Or you might need a bookkeeper or secretary or clerk one week a month to help you keep up-to-date on your record-keeping and paperwork. When you need such help, the most convenient way to get it is to hire someone through an agency that provides temporary workers. Manpower and Kelly Girl, for example, are two of the best known agencies in this field. Hiring though such an agency has these advantages: they will send a person who has the skills you require which means you won't waste time training the person. The worker they send understands that the job is temporary and won't make you uncomfortable by asking to be kept on permanently. And, because the worker is employed by the agency (not by you) the agency takes care of the worker's payroll records, tax deductions, insurance coverage, fringe benefits, and so on. You are free from those responsibilities.
When selecting a home business you should consider these factors: * Is the service or product you intend to provide already easily available in your area? If
You must, of course, choose the home business that is right for you. There are many books that will give you long lists of potentially money-making businesses for you to consider. A relatively short, but highly recommended, list of potential business ventures will be found in another of this series of reports entitled 37 Instant Moneymaking Part-time Businesses. Handwriting analysis by mail. A great little business to operate from home. First off, study up on the subject; it isn't too difficult to learn, and it's interesting. You will find lots of books on the subject at your local public library. Once you've started studying, you can start placing some small-space ads, in local papers, and in literary-type magazines, psychology magazines, and wherever else you think you can find the people interested in having their handwriting analyzed. Then you just sit back an wait for the letters (and checks, money orders and plain old cash ) to roll in. Be sure to keep a record of how much you get from which ad (by using a key, such as changing your middle initial in each ad), so you know which pull best. After you get more confidence in making rapid analyses, you can even give personal consultations in your home if you want to do this. Guaranteed lucky four-leaf clovers. It used to be that people thought they would be lucky if they found a four-leaf clover when they were walking in the fields. Now some smart farmer, who must also be a good businessman as well as a skilled plant biologist, has figured out a way to get exclusively mutants, so he can supply unlimited four-leaf clovers. You can cash in on this handsomely by buying a quantity of them and embedding them in clear plastic (casting resins and instructions can be obtained at any hobby shop), in the form of key rings, brooches and paperweights (or anything else you can create.) The real gimmick comes in the merchandising of them, because you should advertise them as guaranteed lucky genuine four-leaf clovers, with the slogan "If you don't get lucky in the next year with this genuine four-leaf clover, we'll give you your money back". Within a year most people have at least one good thing happen to them, so you will probably get very few requests for money back. Instead, you are likely to have lots of satisfied customers who feel that now they have finally gotten lucky, proving that the four-leaf clover worked! With this approach, and an attractive small-space ad, you ought to do well with four-leaf clovers.
|
|
A Richard Foxworth Publication
Copyright © 1997 all rights reserved!
|
|