0 Shares

Okay, so we’re walking the Shoestring101 Steps for thirty days. I’ve managed to do at least a little of each Step in the last few days, and I’ll be listing them all here today!

BTW, if you’re tuning in late to this station, on May 9 I posted that I’d start up a small Bizness… make it profitable to the tune of $1,000 PROFIT… do that in my spare time only… and do it in 30 days or less. Why just talk about doing the Shoestring Steps… Five Steps to Five Figures… when I could SHOW you every Step of the way instead? This post will catch you up to where I am now (so far) in the Thousand Bucks a Month Challenge.

There are two important elements to today’s post. First, accountability. I’ll talk about the activities I did with my son, and include the income and outgo associated with each move. This way you can follow the progress of our little Shoestring101 venture. The second element is mentorship. In a followup to this post I’ll explain the WHY behind each of the actions we’re taking and which of the Five Steps each of those activities represented. Everything you see in bold in the first segment will be expounded upon in the second segment tomorrow.

Ready as I am? Great! Here we go…

Stuff We Did

SO, last Wednesday, May 9, I did the following things:

Make the outrageous claim on my blog that I could not only start a small biz with very little capital, but that I’d be profitable to the tune of $1,000 in 30 days or less.
Decide on Service Bizness as the type of Shoestring101 Bizness I would use to demonstrate this feat. The particular Service Bizness I chose was screen repair.
Enlisted the help of my favorite 14 year old… my son Pierce.
Posted on Fixr and Craiglist, put out a tweet to followers and Facebook fans, also started a Facebook Fan Page called Colorado Springs Screen Repair.
Got signs from Bandit Signs.

Six 18″ X 24″ custom made signs with posts costs $48.97. Shipping to my zip code is $13.69. These are my expenses so far ($62.66 total); I’ll be keeping a running tab with you.

On the weekend, Pierce and I put out six signs with a picture of a big, hairy moth with an ‘X’ through it… we’re experiencing a HUGE amount of moths all of a sudden, making that the current ‘hot’ button for homeowners in this area… and included the following ad copy:

SCREEN REPAIR
Windows and Screen Doors
We come to YOU!
Call Kurt 555-1212

Of course, those signs had my real cell number 😉

By Saturday night, May 12 I had received three phone calls and set two appointments. I jotted down the names, addresses, phone numbers, and times (plus a penciled-in ‘maybe’ date and time for the third call) of all the customers in my day planner.

I’m doing this with my son to teach him about free enterprise and the Shoestring Steps. So haing him with me was important. On Sunday, May 13 I took him with me to pick up the following items at The Home Depot:

Two rolls 36″ X 25′ fiberglass screen mesh
Two rolls 48″ X 25′ fiberglass screen mesh
Three 48″ screen build kits

Two spline rollers
One utility knife

The total cost for the above, plus a couple of things I needed for the house, was $120.90.

The first call I got was to fix three patio screen doors. I got there at my appointed time of 8:00 am and noticed that they had two BEEEG dogs. I asked whether the screen doors needing repair was because of a doggie issue? They said yes. After a few moments of painting the value of ‘Petscreen’, they asked would I please roll that in the downstairs door only?

Yup. Back to the store I go, and pick up the following items:

One 48″ X 84″ roll of Petscreen
One Empty Spray Bottle

… for an additional expense of just under $25.

Now, a job that was s’posed to pay $117 ($39 per screen door, times three) was going to pay an extra thirty bucks. By upgrading one of the screen doors to Petscreen, I was able to charge $69 instead of $39. I used the spray bottle to moisten the Petscreen because it’s harder to roll in. A fine mist of water does wonders to help me get spline in the groove.

I paid extra for the Petscreen, but was able to leave the customer with a superior product where they really needed it. They tipped me an extra twenty bucks after seeing the extra effort I put in. So that’s $39 X 2 regular screens, plus $69 for a Petscreen, plus $20 tip for a total of $167 IN for this job. Even with the extra trip to The Home Depot I’ve spent only about two and a half hours.

During their phone call, I learned that this particular couple found out about me by way of the sign… but that their house was located in a totally different neighborhood than mine. Earlier in the day I picked up one of the six signs Pierce and I dropped in OUR neighborhood… and dropped it in the customer’s neighborhood as I was leaving it. I picked an intersection that was easy to see when you leave for the main traffic artery nearby.

So it’s off to lunch and a little internet surfing at the coffee shop… then I arrive at the second job. That’s also in a different neighborhood. I learned that THESE guys found out about me through Craiglist. They were far enough away that I didn’t bring a sign with me… from the size of the job they described, I was willing to make the trip but I didn’t want to be making scads of trips to this area, burning up my gas and time in the future.

Tally after job number TWO: three screen builds, one screen repair and one screen door later I shook hands with the homeowners and walked away $172 richer… and these guys paid CASH. Nice. At 2:30 pm I left the job and drove home to see my boy. Helped him get started on his math homework and motivating him to read To Kill A Mockingbird.

Total OUT so far in marketing, materials, and time: $62.66 plus $120.90 for my first ‘Depot’ trip plus about $25 for my second. Throw in ten bucks for gas and count ALL the time I spent away from home today… 7:45 am to 3:00 pm… that’s 7.25 hours and a rounded-up $219 in expenses. Set that against my $339 IN today and I’m already in the black by A HUNDRED AND TWENTY BUCKS!!

Check the math, but by my count I’ve been in business five days and have my capital investment paid off plus a good head start on my thousand bucks on the side in 30 days or less.

Assets I still have on hand: Craiglist, Fixr listings. Facebook page, five signs still out on the road. Yes, I checked. Also, in the car I’ve (still) got one 48″ X 25′ roll of screen, most of another, and one full 36″ X 25′ roll plus ALL the tools.

Liabilities: I’ve done two great jobs, but there is the risk of two callbacks in case my workmanship sucked. RARELY happens, but I should list it as a liability to be honest. I don’t have ANY debt, any partners outside the family to think about… and all my capital is back in pocket. Nice.

So it sounds like I’m finished with my work for the day, but I’ve actually not done the MOST important part. Seriously. Here’s what I’m gonna do right after this post: I’m going to write a brief, personalized heartfelt thank-you note and send it in a postcard that looks like it’s handwritten from me. First thing in the morning, the service I use (which has my actual handwriting recorded in their database) will be mailing that card to the homeowners. In a day or two they will get that added touch of class.

Okay, done. That cost .63 cents a post card (including postage) and each customer will get a personal note in their (actual, not email) mailbox, reminding them of our transaction and putting warm and fuzzies in their thoughts. The service I use has permanently recorded my customer’s addresses…. and the personal note I wrote them… so I can refer to it again later.

This last part, which cost me a grand total of $1.26 and ten minutes time, is the most effective investment I could possibly have made today.

Okay, tomorrow I’ll post WHY I took these particular actions. I think you’ll dig it. Until then,

Keep Stepping!

Kurt