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5 WAYS TO GENERATE QUICK CASH YOU NEED BY RUNNING A MINI-BUSINESS, PART 2 of 5

Continuing from part one of a five part series:

MINI-BUSINESSES

There are countless businesses you could run as a quick cash producer. I’ll go into a few that I think are the best ideas for most people. Come of these may sound minor league, but that’s what they’re meant to be: easy-to-run, low time and expense businesses you can use to up your income.

CURB NUMBER PAINTING

Here is a great opportunity that can work for anyone in any sort of community. What you will be doing is painting address numbers on curbs for a fee. Why would anyone want this service? Answer this question in your marketing and you’ll find great success with this.

If your house number is painted on the curb in front of your house, it is easier for emergency vehicles (police, ambulance) to find the house, as well as friends and family who aren’t familiar with the area. I’m sure you’ve tried to find someone’s house at night before, but had trouble seeing the numbers on the house. I’ve seen some house numbers that I couldn’t see during the day, much less at night!

Anyway, you should be able to start this business for less than $50. Here are the supplies you’ll need for this service: reflective white highway spray paint (available from paint supply houses), black highway paint, 3″ tall number stencils, wide masking tape, a few old rags, and flyers. The flyers should read something like this:

(Your business name, address, and phone, centered at top of page)

If the police or an ambulance had to find your house at night, would they be able to see your house numbers? If friends or family were trying to find your house for the first time, would they get lost?

Not if you have curb numbers!

Curb numbers are 3″ tall address numbers painted with high-quality, long-lasting reflective white highway paint on a black background. They are highly visible both day and night. You can have professional quality curb numbers by (business name) for only (insert your price).

If you would like this valuable and helpful safety measure, please fill out the coupon at the bottom of this flyer and leave it, along with a check for (price), made out to (business name), in your mailbox. We will be painting numbers tomorrow, starting at (insert time). Thank you!

NOTE: Our service is 100% guaranteed! If you are not satisfied with the quality of our service, call us and we will repaint your numbers or refund your money, no questions asked! (Business name, address, phone)

——————————————-
Name: _____________________________________

Address: __________________________________

Phone (Optional): _________________________

Please leave this coupon, along with a check for (price), in an envelope in your mailbox before (insert time) tomorrow. THANK YOU!

Prepare a batch of these flyers on your computer, or produce an original and photocopy it. It is crucial that it look professional. Take your time, and don’t handwrite it! If you can’t produce a quality original yourself, paying someone else to do it right will pay off in increased business.

Be realistic when setting your price. This is a very low cost service for you to offer, so there will be a good profit margin built in. I would say the price range for this service would be between $3 and $10, with $5 being the most likely for success.

The best neighborhoods for this business are newer, middle to upper income developments, though almost any neighborhood will produce orders, if the price is right. Drive through the neighborhoods in your area and look for those with house numbers that are hard to see.

When you find a neighborhood that looks good, go door-to-door with your flyers. It’s not necessary to knock on doors and do a sales pitch. Rubber band the flyers to door handles, or put them in newspaper boxes. DO NOT put them in mailboxes, as this is illegal. It should only take two or three hours to blanket an average size neighborhood area. The best time to do your distribution is on a Saturday morning, so you can do your painting on Sunday afternoon. This leaves the week untouched for your main business.

The day after you distribute the flyers, return to the neighborhoods you hit. Go to each mailbox and, when you find one with an order, use your masking tape to outline a rectangular area on the curb that is big enough to contain the house numbers. Then, paint the black background. Paint all the backgrounds for the neighborhood before painting any numbers. This will give the black paint time to dry.

When painting the numbers, take your time, make sure your stencils are straight and securely taped in place with your masking tape, and spray your white paint evenly and generously. Wipe up any drips, and touch up as necessary to make your job look flawless.

If you get any calls from dissatisfied customers offer to repaint their numbers or refund their money. Don’t argue and don’t have hard feelings. You might get one or two people who take advantage of you, but that’s a worthwhile chance to take. You see, the guarantee will help to sway any people who are undecided about your service. Offering a no-questions-asked guarantee can greatly increase your business, so why not offer it? If you’ve done a good job, and offered true value for your customer’s money, you shouldn’t get many calls.

Get more orders easily by visiting the same neighborhood 2 to 3 weeks later. Leave flyers at the houses that didn’t get numbers last time. You should get new orders from those who saw your previous work.

A good idea for building order volume is to offer a neighborhood volume discount. For example, if you’ll distribute 200 flyers in a neighborhood, offer 10% off on everyone’s orders if 50 or more people participate. This can help entice people to do a little sales work on their neighbors for you! Note this offer boldly on your flyers.

My final word of advice is to practice before you do any actual painting. Pick up an inexpensive patio block and practice on it. Only an hour or two of practice should be necessary.

A side benefit of this business, besides the income it will generate, is that it will get you out of your office for a few hours each week. Enjoy the fresh air! Plus, the exercise can’t hurt anyone. Good luck!

NOTE: There is a kit for curb numbering that includes interlocking brass number stencils, 2 cans of black paint, 2 cans of white paint and instructions for $39.95 plus $4.95 for shipping. Order from Magic Systems, Inc., Order Dept., P.O. Box 23888, Tampa, FL 33623-3888, or call (800)237-9106 with your credit card.

This is part two of a five part series.  Click to read part one, three, four, or five.