Five Ways I’d Spend $100 and be an Entrepreneur by This Years’ End

So many people bemoan the desire to start a small business but delay or avoid taking the first step. But if they are not motivated by energy and enthusiasm for the idea, they can’t really inform the project properly anyway. It’s time to stop watching TV and start being the owner of your own startup enterprise and add quality to the beginning stages instead of rushing into something you aren’t ready for.

Looking for an entrepreneurial resolution? Today’s commerce markets allow vending from online stores, weekend craft markets, office counter displays via yourself or other representatives, Here are five ideas that should get the creative juices flowing and the trep in every person going good. The cost? A few dinners out while you are bored. Get some traction into a trep career instead.

1. Ceramic Collectibles

See those people buying imported ceramic goods form import shops with big brands? They invite people to dinner who see the “Made in Taiwan” or “Made in Czechoslovakia” label pinned on the back and shrug. Individual thinking hostesses want something unique and one of a kind wrapped around their napkins for entertaining and sitting as a ceramic centerpiece. Magazines and design publications are full of ideas for up-to-the-minute colors and trends. Think of a brunch with takeaway coffee mugs in fun custom colors, or with a name on it.

But take the idea in another direction. What if there were special napkin rings made out of salt-and-water dough clay for a kid’s birthday with their name on it. Every charity function I’ve ever seen has the members fighting over the centerpieces. Hostesses need not only to be able to order these in custom amounts, but control over the color and even a ceramic accent can make an entire table special. Anything from ashtrays to ring holders to vases can become collectible. That office coffee cup just became a talking point.

And this can work for weddings too. And the teen market can be really interested in custom glazes and effects. Forget about gift bags, make your attendees fight over collecting the napkin rings, or give them a commemorative keepsake that doesn’t break the bank. An anniversary dinner table, for example, decorated with legacy napkin rings or a continuation style that shows finesse and originality. Could you be the secret source  wedding planners in your area? The $100 would go toward clay, tools, a potters wheel and/or kiln drying time and glazes.

2. Promotions Materials

One of the things I’ve seen in countless organizations is that,  being a profit or nonprofit, come holiday time or party time they spend a bomb of money of one of a kind things. The choices are usually limited because party planners and marketeers can only deliver based on spurious turn times, ridiculous rice points that feature volume over quality and cut off flexibility at the knees. being able to deliver ANY kind of promotional bulk deal, any finite small gross,

Don’t have a banking infrastructure? Sell via Ebay. The tax burden to pay on income generated via one-time Ebay sales can reduce overhead and be taxed as personal income versus an entire business entity that doesn’t exist yet. This goes for job lots of materials as well. Bought in the off season, the trep can save a fortune. A stamping machine, T-shirt press, or silk screen kit would be an example of the chosen medium.

Working the green route or scouting Freecycle for materials could mean clear profit margins to the horizon. Found objects make fantastic mixed media art supplies. Selling items on an exploratory basis can be termed  a hobby until a formal decision to start a business occurs. But being available to execute a gross of anything becomes valuable to an administrator when time is of the essence and a calendar date governs all else.

3. Jewelry Making

Both a luxury market and a hobby, jewelry today is everything from ceramics, sanded wood, cut and burned ink and silk string necklaces. Uniqueness is the key, and whatever you make is guaranteed to be one of a kind. The biggest mistake treps in this market make is to produce the same kind f jewelry sen in catalogs and in other crafter’s baskets. This time next year the naysayer will have no inventory but the trep will have a solid product range to vend. And tools and online How-To videos could light the way to growth of skills.

Distribution to key retailers from the trep vendor is critical. Subgenres like religious jewelry, gothic jewelry, and organic and botanical concepts can be inspirational and welcome for themed boutiques and gift lines. Men and teens, children and women markets can be plotted by gender. Seasonal fashion themes, nautical themes, any kind of imaginary or artistic expression can become jewelry, Even making keyrings can be one of a kind jewelry, using popular or niche charms or motifs. Investing in marketing, a logo, a website, and initial materials can make $100 go a long, long way.

4. Graphic Novels

The graphic novel is no longer a comic book. It is a business tool, end product, and sales instrument. Believe it or not, self publishing and graphic novels are the market movers in online
commerce today. Transporting an idea to a set of animated strips, to a full fledged graphic novel ether online or in a real bound form can be exciting and inexpensive. Pricing the job is one end of the continuum, beginning the storyline can be the project origination.

A business concept, an educational idea, a biography, a religious story, a company SOP manual, anything can be the context for a graphic novel. Templates, “Dummies” books and online forums can make it a breeze to grow at your own speed, take steps when you are ready. The $100 could go toward a first, partial, or demo sample printing. Bonus: after learning the ropes, you can resell the service with your input bundled in.

Online publishers like Tate.com are looking for new authors and any kind of creative endeavor that is successfully executed can make a stunning Christmas gift to your personal and business contacts. Furthermore, think about the reader feedback when distributed and the mobile app accessibility for online readers. Print on demand can take it from there.

5. Start a Volunteer Effort

Volunteerism has never been needed so much and dried up so fast. Every area of the public sector is hitting the bottom of the barrel, and the power of any donation of contributed effort is tenfold when given just in time. In an era when nobody has time for anything, one hand raised to do the job is a Godsend. Creating value isn’t just about making a buck.

Helping deliver local Meals on wheels, helping physically challenged people find Access rides, dog-walking for sick seniors and providing baked goods for neighborhood volunteers or counseling individuals or groups about how to access need programs can be incredibly valuable. Just bringing a crossword puzzle book to someone lying in bed with nothing to do can pep them up.

Use your imagination to find a need and fill it. In downtown Los Angeles in the toy district, knit scarves, hats and gloves can be had for $1 apiece. For $100, that’s about 30 people living on the street that could be warmer (and feeling good about having new things) in cold weather. Dollar stores can supply sunglasses, sunscreen, and a cold drink. Or any combination might be dropped off at a local shelter or Salvatian Army location.

Good volunteer efforts starts with the phrase “Someone should…”. Think about bringing flowers and comic books to a children’s hospital, or magazines and books to long term patients in county hospitals. Sourcing materials might be as proximate as the nearest library or garage sale for low cost things to bring. Finding out what shelters need and then negotiating for donations might be your new enterprise. Then fundraising can become part of the plan.