HARD TIMES CALL FOR HARD DECISIONS

If high gas prices several months back and a struggling economy have you frightened you are not alone. Many people are facing hard times ahead. We don’t know how bad the economy may get or how long tight money or hard times may last. It is time to make some hard decisions and take some positive action. Seniors are the most variable and next are single moms or those who have been laid off. If you have ever considered starting your own business now might be the right time.

You might ask yourself if times are tough, companies are laying off people and money is tight why would Carl Wheeler think it is the right time to start a business? Precisely because of those conditions. If more people are laid off and there are fewer jobs available that means there will be more people competing for those fewer jobs that are left. Ask yourself this question. Who usually makes the most money in a good business? Answer…the owner.

Keep in mind I am not trying to talk you into anything. I am merely pointing out the fact that most people walk by more opportunity on their way to work than they see when they get to their work. Most people spend more time planning their summer vacation than they spend planning their financial future. If you have an entrepreneur’s heart (and only if you have an entrepreneur’s heart) it may be time to start that first business. Yes, the economy looks shaky but often out of adversity comes opportunity. If you have an idea, a plan or the sincere dream of owning your own business you might want to peruse that dream now.

If you have read my book you know I have started from scratch over a dozen businesses several of which have generated millions of dollars in sales. If you have read my book you also know that I believe you should not start a business with borrowed money and you should grow the business out of the profits it generates. Don’t take any unnecessary risks.

Seniors are the people I am the most concerned about. Technically I am a junior senior citizen but I am one of the blessed ones that is debt free, have a paid for home and hopefully enough retirement to survive another thirty years. A few months back when gas prices were in the four dollar a gallon range I heard an elderly couple say that if gas continues go up they were going to have to decide to cut back on medication or food. I heard a single mother on television say about the same thing. I found that to be very disturbing and all of this was before the big economic downturn and the giant bail outs.

If you are a senior obviously living on a fixed income signs up for my newsletter and let’s keeps in touch with each other. If you have a little capital to start a small business there are many little businesses you may not have thought of that might make you an extra $500 to $1,000 a month. Some retirees just need an extra $3,000 to $6,000 a year to help make ends meet or to make life a little more comfortable. I don’t want to get you all pumped up chasing some rainbow dream that may be unrealistic. I have no hidden agenda here, no multi level marketing scheme, no midnight get rich quick deal I am just willing to share my experiences with you. As a matter of fact every business I ever started took longer to start than I thought it should and was much tougher than I thought it should be.

Let me tell you about a few businesses I have seen started for less than a $1,000. In my book I tell you about a young fellow from Brazil that did not speak English when he arrived here in the USA that turned $1,000 into a net $10,000 a month business. With a great attitude and hard work after six months working for a landscape company he started his own landscaping company. He said “God brought me to this wonderful country the United States of America, the land of opportunity, where anyone can become a success.” He started the company with an $800 dollar truck, a lawnmower, an edger, business cards and a few handbills. A woman owned the landscape business he started to work for so you can see a senior or a woman could also start this kind of business. You don’t necessarily have to do the physical work yourself.

I knew someone that’s father was retired and had a business of selling wood handles for shovels, hammers, axes and picks at flea markets. His daughter told me he netted between $6,000 and $10,000 a year.

Another person sold gold costume jewelry at home shows, fairs and large companies like AT & T and American Airlines. Original investment $3,500, cost for booth space at a home show between $400 and $500, net for Friday, Saturday and Sunday show about $1,000. Another person sold sun glasses and another sold ladies handbags the same way.

Some retired people sell things on E-Bay. You pick the product. There is a guy that specializes in selling golf clubs on E-Bay that is reportedly making a small fortune. He buys used golf clubs from retired people that shop for golf clubs at estate sales and garage sales. I know of a lady that remodeled her kitchen with the money she made selling broken mosaic tile for hobbyists on E-Bay.

I know of a fellow that goes to auctions of Self Storage units. When people do not pay for their storage unit the storage company auctions off the entire content of the unit. Some time the whole content of a storage unit will sell for a dollar. You could sell some of the items on E-Bay.

Some of the above businesses almost sound like more of a hobby than a business but I know people that do quite well even with a hobby business. One person I know makes western or cowboy items welded together and sells them at shows. Another person I know makes motorcycles out of wood that would sell in very upscale stores. These are full sized items. I don’t know if they would be sold to the very rich as toys or display item. Another person makes and sells bird houses. A lady in Florida makes flower arrangements out of sea shells glued together and sells them to upscale department stores.

You might come up with a single great food item like Newman’s Own salad dressing, or a chip dip or a great snack item. Even if you are a senior don’t give up. Colonel Sanders didn’t start selling his secret KFC chicken recipe until he was sixty six and went on to make three million dollars.

Experts agree, often hard times are the best time to start a business. Many people are unemployed (labor rates are low); retail space is cheap and getting cheaper. If you come up with a good product you may be able to get people to work on straight commission (providing you pay a good fair high commission.) If you have the right attitude opportunity is everywhere.

Just the other day I heard of a man that went to a foreclosure auction to buy a hundred thousand dollar house. The mortgage company would not let his bid of fifty thousand dollars buy the house. Instead, the mortgage paid sixty seven thousand for the outstanding mortgage on the court house steps. Two weeks later the same man offered the mortgage company thirty thousand for the same house and they took the deal. With thinking like that no wonder the banks are in trouble.

Just be creative and succeed by trying hard enough. Be very careful; however, remember fortunes are made in hard times like this. Southwest Airlines and Microsoft both started in recessions. Lets all pray this is only a recession.

by Carl Wheeler

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