BEATING THE RECESSION: 6 Ways to Make More Money in this Hard Times
Prayers alone can’t save you; at least, not from the harsh realities of the current economic recession. Companies are winding up, jobs are disappearing, and to make matters worse, the cost of living has skyrocketed. What this means is that more persons would become ‘corporate beggars’ unless they roll up their sleeves and work to set up their own businesses.
I can sense the ‘realist’ inside of you aching to flip this page to the next. But wait a minute; I too know how hard it is to raise the kind of substantial capital you might require for that dream business of yours. So, this piece intends to show you how you can create a profitable service-reselling business with little or no capital. Read along and, who knows, you might soon be an employer of labour.
Reselling Service
A service reseller acts as an intermediary between an established service provider and its potential customers, providing expanded marketing for the provider and convenience for the customer. As one, you would be a middleman who facilitates commerce between a service provider of choice and the marketplace.
For example, seeing that most working class people hardly find time to do their laundry by themselves, you could become a reseller for laundry services in your community, offering pickup and delivery. To do this, you simply need to sign up dry-cleaning businesses in the area, bargain discounted rates, distribute fliers which stress your unique offerings, and, ‘gbam’, you’re in business. Once you’ve made some money, it would be wise to create your own brand, cresting delivery bags and even securing a shared office space.
The reselling model can also be deployed for almost every other service. What really matters is that you’re adding some new value to the regular process. Now, let’s briefly discuss some other services that you might like to offer as a reseller.
- Hair Making/Cutting (Home Service): All this would take is to sign up talented salon operators and home-based hair care specialists, structure your records – based on location (e.g. Ikeja), specialty (e.g. braiding) and availability (e.g. 9am-5pm, weekends only) – printing business cards, and advertising your home-serviced hair care business to adult males and females in your community. When you receive an order, get the necessary information and conclude price negotiation and then assign a hair specialist based on specialty and proximity to the client. Call the client later to review the service (and confirm the business was completed). Then, send an invoice SMS to the hair specialist and arrange to collect your accumulated payment at the end of the month.
- Home Tutoring Service: Home tutoring has become a method of bolstering traditional learning. It offers you the opportunity to join the recession-resistant education industry. Simply sign up and manage a team of professional tutors, offering at-home one-on-one tutoring service to students of all ages. You could get recent graduates to teach secondary school students and O’level holders to teach primary school pupils.
- Travel Referral Service: If you're in Nigeria, for instance, you can become a home-based travel professional with WakaNow, Nigeria’s biggest travel booking platform. Build a travel business with any travel affiliate programme in your country. Nigerian based WakaNow Affiliate Programme offers great commissions on more than 500,000 domestic and international hotels and airlines, visa processing services and holiday packages. I believe others would be offering likewise.
- Estate Agency Service: In America, over 70% of realtors work from home. Who says it can’t be so in Africa? You can approach established real estate agencies, offering to refer leads for agreed sales commission. With the ever-increasing African population shooting to over 1.2 billion, there’s a steady need for affordable housing. By promoting deals on Social Media and asking friends for referrals, you might just be the next real estate mogul.
- Events Management: Africans party hard every weekend. You can sign up DJs, Masters of Ceremonies, Photographers, Videographers, Ushers, Decorators, Bakers, Caterers and event venue owners, and provide them with clients at agreed discounts.
- Laundry Service: Yeah, I mentioned it before as an example. So? Did you think that was a bonus point? Make a list of all the laundry services around you and visit each to see which would offer you a special discount for bringing new businesses. Then begin your promotions by distributing and pasting simple photocopied notices.
Note that these aren’t all the resalable services there are. Try coming up with your own list and settle for a service that appeals to you. Whatever service you choose to resell, you can take it a yard further by employing commission-based field marketers to canvass for new clients while you continue to cater for old ones. In this way, you would get leads for free and only pay for completed sales. Now, with social media within everyone’s reach, it’s even easier, than ever, to promote your brand for free.
Additional Notes:
- Business Plan: Write your own simple, practical business plan. Prepare it yourself. Make it short, fluid and flexible, reviewing it often and revising it frequently. A four-page plan, summarizing your service offerings, marketing plans, organizational/management structure, and realistic financial projections would do.
- Integrity: Never compromise integrity. You’re going to succeed or fail based on your reputation. Don’t cut corners with credibility. Always offer the highest quality of service and be honest with customers.
- Learn from Mistakes: Expect to make some mistakes. Your assumptions on demand might be wrong and your pricing decisions might cause a negative cash flow, but mistakes like these should make you a better entrepreneur. Acknowledge and learn from them and the sky will be your stepping stone.
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