Greetings, Steppers!

Today’s exciting post is about YOU… picking out the next 30 Day, $1,000 Challenge for yours truly.

The idea of the 30/1000 challenge is to start with less capital than you might take out of the first hour of a garage sale… and with part-time effort make it into $1,000 in 30 days or less.

I did this challenge with my 14 year old son and we managed a $1195 profit while you were looking over our shoulders.

Check out the deets on how we made $1,000 on the side in my landmark post, “We MADE It[30-Day, Thousand Dollar Challenge]!“

After making $1195 in 30 days on the side, the most logical thing to do would be to continue, right? Heh… this business later became a REAL mover when we ended up having a few +$500 profit DAYS. For the follow up read  “Case Study: Five Steps to Five Figures a Month“.

Ready for Another 30 Day, $1,000 Challenge

If you’ve been following Shoestring101 for any length of time you know that I make a RIDICULOUS claim here… that all you really need to be in business are two things:

1. Access to a thing of value and
2. A way to communicate with folks that value that thing!

…that’s all.

$1,000 a month side hustle… starting with less capital than you might take out of a garage sale

True to the thought of “self-funding”… the principle that The Lean Startup and other similar movements profess… we’ve been able to start dozens of successful, but very different businesses.

Right now I’m running:

• a local martial arts studio (a “sticks and bricks” location)
• a global information product (internet- makes sales in 38 countries)
• the screen repair biz I started as a 30/1000 Challenge (service biz, also local)

All of these businesses were started with less capital than you could take out of a garage sale. Using a Step-by-Step SYSTEM that’s simple to follow and succeed.

I’m kind of an addict… maybe need a 12-step program to quit starting businesses 😉

But until a cure is found..! YOU can help me pick the next venue to demonstrate these principles again.

Announcing the Side Money Blueprint

My next project is “Side Money Blueprint“. This is a video course to help budding entrepreneurs get a good, solid side income while they’re doing other things… like:

a job…

getting a college education…

being a single parent…

building a ministry…

or even just growing up.

My 14 year old, for example, learned entrepreneurship principles hands-on… because he was too young to work for “the Man”.

😉

Anyway, the Side Money Blueprint project is under way now. And what we need for it is a coupla case studies, including another real-time Challenge.

Use Surveys to Know Your Customers’ Needs

I’ve built a number of small bizzes. This time I wanted to leave it up to you.

Call me crazy, but I’m thinking the reason you follow Shoestring101 is to get insights on starting and/or marketing your business idea. Without risking a lot of money.

SO I figured if YOU have biz ideas of your own… maybe I oughtta start a similar one (not in direct competition, mind you…) but to demonstrate the SS101 ideas and thought processes in real time.

So in my last post about business systems and automation, I posted a quick and dirty SurveyMonkey link. Also emailed my list and put the survey out on Twitter.

The results that have come back so far have been as surprising as they’ve been enlightening.

Here are the results so far…

What Kind Of Business Would You Like Shoestring101 to Start Next?

The first question in the survey was what kind of biz should this next startup be. “Service” product just barely edged out “Physical” product. There was a pretty big amount of folks that wanted a physical product though, so I figure we should do one of those later on.

“Service” product barely edged out “Physical” product. We’ll do both at one point or other, but start with “Service”.

The next Q was, “Who should this business serve?” By that we meant where they are located physically. Only 22% said Local geographical area, where the rest either said Global area or “doesn’t matter”.

Your choice for the 30 day, $1,000 Challenge. So far we’re up to “Service Biz” and “Global”.

And since we’ve already showed how a local service business could be started locally in one of the 30 Day, $1000 Challenges with a screen repair company. So Global wins.

Next up: “Can you think of a niche for this business?” Middle Class won out, BIG TIME.

Overwhelmingly, you chose Middle Class as the Target market. But there were other insights in the “Specific Group” category that I may yet use.

Narrowing it down now. I’m going to definitely target Middle Class clients for my Global, Service oriented biz.

LOTS of rich input in the “Specific Group” category… I may yet use one of these

But the Specific Group category came in a very close second place… and there were a NUMBER of insightful ideas for who group this should be, including:

Dog Trainers

Hair Stylists

Massage Therapists

Jewelry Makers

Visually Impaired People

Urban Farmers (people with small pieces of land who have beekeeping equipment, a few chickens, a goat or two, etc.)

The ol’ gears are turning in my brain right now…

…but here’s where the rubber truly meets the road.

I’m NOT doing this next 30Day, $1,000 Challenge just to show that I can do it… but rather to add to the roadmap that the Side Money Blueprint is intended to provide for its users.

SO THIS question is the one that will ultimately make the most difference:

If I Make $1,000 in a Month Using an Idea YOU Provide, Would You Copy the Steps For Yourself?

This Challenge wil be more than an exercise. I want it to provide a checklist for YOU to follow.

The most important outcome that this Challenge could have is that it’s USEFUL and ACTIONABLE.

If you would genuinely be interested to follow the Steps I lay out, this Challenge will be meaningful to YOU.

If not, I’m just showing off.

And that just isn’t very interesting, is it?

Help Us Narrow it DOWN, Reader!

So far, it looks like a 30 Day, $1,000 Challenge that will serve the most “Steppers”… Shoestring101 Readers… will be:

1. A Service business that’s
2. Global,
3. Serves the Middle Class niche, and is
4. USEFUL  for YOU to follow if you wanted to go out and grab the same results or better.

We on track so far? GOOD…

SO this is what I could use next from you, dear Reader:

Some input on what specific service to offer my globally located, middle class clients.

I have a couple of ideas. For example, I know how to:

• Write ad copy
• Write blog posts
• Construct sales funnels
• Make simple videos to teach subjects online
• Help with local search and SEO

… and a few other things that folks might find useful.

Maybe YOU can suggest a niche as well?

If you figure out something I haven’t thought of, you could win $101. I’m going to send $101 to a randomly chosen participant in my survey above already, but another $101 is up for grabs if’n you think of a specific profitable service (that I’m capable of rendering, or that I can find someone that is).

Put your suggestions and your reason for suggesting it in the comments below!

The 30 Day, $1,000 Challenge will commence on January 1, 2015. I’ll keep ya posted along the way, and 30 days later expect to report an income of $1,000 or more to ya!

Remember to put your service suggestion in the comments. Think of something that YOU need, and that you wish someone else could just do FOR ya that you’d be willing to pay for. If I can make a business out of it, I’ll not only render the service for you free, but pay you $101 to boot.

Keep Stepping,

Kurt