I'm going to talk a little bit today about legality. Unfortunately, a MAJOR aspect of any business, is the laws governing it. Whether you are a major corporation who is subject to millions of rules, from the SEC, down to local laws, or you are a small entrepreneur who is not subject to nearly as many laws, how can you figure out what laws apply to you? Breaking a law can not only be expensive, it can shut you down.
First of all, a few resources you can use
Business.gov
Small Business Guide at Business.gov
Findlaw.com - Link to the small business section of Findlaw
Small Business laws at findanswers.com
So there are some resources for small businesses to find some laws that might apply to you. This is, however, DORMroombiz. We are all about dorm room businesses, and there is another level of laws that apply to you. You should definitely read any material available to you about the rules in your particular dorm complex. Please be sure you read this information, there may be some rules that you don't think make sense which are strictly enforced. I thought I would be allowed to have a harmless toaster oven, but they are strictly forbidden. This is a non-business example, but you get the point.
My dorm life contract DOES specify that I may not sell items from my room. I have interpreted that to mean I may not turn my room into a store, which I would definitely not do. If you choose to break these rules, you may get away with it, but if you get caught, it can be severe. Some have even been kicked out of the dorms. Remember, if you get kicked out, you VERY likely do not get a refund.
Showing posts with label college students. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college students. Show all posts
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
I'm still alive
Hey everyone. I am not dead, just very busy. I still don't have time to post. My internet has been on the fritz lately, so a repair guy is coming out tomorrow hopefully. I have 2 exams tomorrow, and a huge paper due friday, plus a job offer that expires Friday.
This is pretty indicative of the past month...oh yeah, I also have to figure out housing for next year; I'm busy. So, I'm not dead, I have not given up on this blog, I'm just very busy right now.
Wine Kit Update: I am still awaiting one product to put into the kits, then I can begin selling them. Exciting!
This is pretty indicative of the past month...oh yeah, I also have to figure out housing for next year; I'm busy. So, I'm not dead, I have not given up on this blog, I'm just very busy right now.
Wine Kit Update: I am still awaiting one product to put into the kits, then I can begin selling them. Exciting!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Quick Money Tip: Make Your Money Work for You
So even if you're broke, I still suggest making your money earn you some money. There are a few options out there. You can keep it in a savings account and earn about .000000000001% interest (come on, you know it's a lame interest rate) or another option is to get a checking account that earns interest. I think one of the best ideas is to open a money market account. The best one by the way, with absolutely no minimum is Paypal. I am earning 2.38% as of the writing of this blog. Not great, but better than my savings account.
I was earning 5+% but since the fed lowered rates, that number dropped. The great thing about paypal is it takes about 3-4 days to get your money into it, same amount of time to get it out, and there is no minimum (you need at least $1 to earn interest though) I put in extra money when I have it, and pull it out when I need it. You can even keep all your money in there, and use a paypal debit card (although I don't recommend this; I have no experience with this card, so I can't speak as to it's quality)
There are other options, but just remember, even if you don't have thousands of dollars, you can still earn better returns on your money. I would love to say more, but I'm very busy getting ready to go to England in 5 days.
I was earning 5+% but since the fed lowered rates, that number dropped. The great thing about paypal is it takes about 3-4 days to get your money into it, same amount of time to get it out, and there is no minimum (you need at least $1 to earn interest though) I put in extra money when I have it, and pull it out when I need it. You can even keep all your money in there, and use a paypal debit card (although I don't recommend this; I have no experience with this card, so I can't speak as to it's quality)
There are other options, but just remember, even if you don't have thousands of dollars, you can still earn better returns on your money. I would love to say more, but I'm very busy getting ready to go to England in 5 days.
Monday, June 30, 2008
College Preparation #2 : Don't drink away your college fund
Disclaimer: I do not condone underage drinking. In the United States it is illegal for any person under the age of 21 to possess or consume alcohol.
Ok, so one of the biggest non-school related expenses in college is alcohol. It's a fact of life, parents, you need to accept it, students, you need to understand it. Many many freshmen get to school and go NUTS. They can finally drink freely, and they do it. I'm not going to say not to drink the first week or two, don't skip classes because of it, but for the first month, most freshmen are drunk most of the weekend. I won't say not to, because you won't listen to me; it's kind of a right of passage I guess. Anyway, your first few weeks, you'll be at parties where you won't spend much on booze.
IF you decide to have someone buy alcohol for you, you will spend lots of money very quickly. Don't believe for a second that you will "buy a bottle of captain and make it last a month" You'll drink it in two days, or one night if other people are with you (drinking alone=alcoholic) If you are not careful, you'll be eating ramen for the rest of college. I had a couple of friends who the first week each got a bottle of Grey Goose Vodka...$30 each (good price) and after that they were drinking Popov Vodka...about $10 each. Grey Goose was for a 1/5th, popov for a handle; you do the math.
Drinking good stuff for a special occasion is ok; we celebrated many a birthday with a bottle of champagne and good liquor. You just cannot keep up the good stuff. You also can't keep up buying alcohol every weekend. I knew two kids who spent about $40 a weekend on alcohol alone; they had to explain to their parents why they were spending so much money.
Moral of the story; too much alcohol will make you go broke, but so will buying only the good stuff. Get good stuff every once in a while (everyone deserves to indulge) but learn to drink the sub-par quality alcohol. If you drink very rarely, you can get away with buying better stuff. The point is you need to keep your costs down; I have literally seen people drink away all their spending money.
Another hidden expense is the food you buy when you're drunk. Find the best pizza places with low costs. Also, find some Chinese, and make a little plan before you drink. I feel pizza and Chinese are the best foods while drunk. Go in with some other people and buy something in bulk; a large pizza, lots of Chinese, and split the costs, this will save you some money as well.
Just remember, with some careful budgeting and planning, you can have fun and save money.
Ok, so one of the biggest non-school related expenses in college is alcohol. It's a fact of life, parents, you need to accept it, students, you need to understand it. Many many freshmen get to school and go NUTS. They can finally drink freely, and they do it. I'm not going to say not to drink the first week or two, don't skip classes because of it, but for the first month, most freshmen are drunk most of the weekend. I won't say not to, because you won't listen to me; it's kind of a right of passage I guess. Anyway, your first few weeks, you'll be at parties where you won't spend much on booze.
IF you decide to have someone buy alcohol for you, you will spend lots of money very quickly. Don't believe for a second that you will "buy a bottle of captain and make it last a month" You'll drink it in two days, or one night if other people are with you (drinking alone=alcoholic) If you are not careful, you'll be eating ramen for the rest of college. I had a couple of friends who the first week each got a bottle of Grey Goose Vodka...$30 each (good price) and after that they were drinking Popov Vodka...about $10 each. Grey Goose was for a 1/5th, popov for a handle; you do the math.
Drinking good stuff for a special occasion is ok; we celebrated many a birthday with a bottle of champagne and good liquor. You just cannot keep up the good stuff. You also can't keep up buying alcohol every weekend. I knew two kids who spent about $40 a weekend on alcohol alone; they had to explain to their parents why they were spending so much money.
Moral of the story; too much alcohol will make you go broke, but so will buying only the good stuff. Get good stuff every once in a while (everyone deserves to indulge) but learn to drink the sub-par quality alcohol. If you drink very rarely, you can get away with buying better stuff. The point is you need to keep your costs down; I have literally seen people drink away all their spending money.
Another hidden expense is the food you buy when you're drunk. Find the best pizza places with low costs. Also, find some Chinese, and make a little plan before you drink. I feel pizza and Chinese are the best foods while drunk. Go in with some other people and buy something in bulk; a large pizza, lots of Chinese, and split the costs, this will save you some money as well.
Just remember, with some careful budgeting and planning, you can have fun and save money.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
College Preparation #1: Complete a Dorm Roommate Contract
Well, for those of you who are reading this who are not in college yet, but whom are preparing for school, I am going to put some tips on here that I think you could use.
Preparing for college is one of the most exciting things I have ever done, and the most "exciting" aspect of it is of course the roommate gamble; I HIGHLY recommend taking a random roommate. If you have a friend you think you would like to room with, I recommend rooming in the same building...NOT the same dorm. There is no better way to ruin a friendship than by rooming with someone. If you have known someone as something besided a roommate, it can ruin a friendship; however, if you meet someone new and become friends with them while they are your roommate, you will be able to deal with it, and you will be good friends/roommates.
My roommate and I are friends now, and are rooming together again next year. My roommate and I from my freshman year did not get along so well. We weren't hostile to each other, but we definitely didn't click. If I had roomed with my best friend from before school, I promise you I would not be friends with him today.
If you are taking the plunge and taking a roommate blindly (which, as stated before, I highly recommend this) I also will tell you: you WANT a roommate contract. If you don't want to tell your roommate you want to do a roommate contract, talk to your floor RA and ask them to require a roommate contract. It might sound dorky, but trust me, I promise you won't need to bring it up, it is helpful because it forces you to bring up issues before they become issues (ex: I wake up at 6 and go to sleep at 9 every night, or...I take naps during the day from 2-4, or I will not allow partying in the room while I am trying to study/sleep) You can also get over the issues like whether or not members of the opposite sex will be allowed in the room at certain times. I am trying to find a copy of the contract we had.
Another nice aspect was we ranked the following by which gets priority use of the room: Socializing, sleep, studying. We had sleep first, then socializing, then studying (you can go to a study lounge to study, you can't do the same to socialize)
Anyway, I will continue trying to find a good roommate contract you can use, and post a link here. If possible, I will find the one that we used, because it worked well.
Note: If you and your roommate are comfortable talking about this without filling out a contract, still use one, it brings up issues like "can I eat your food? And under what circumstances may I?"
As well as many other issues
Preparing for college is one of the most exciting things I have ever done, and the most "exciting" aspect of it is of course the roommate gamble; I HIGHLY recommend taking a random roommate. If you have a friend you think you would like to room with, I recommend rooming in the same building...NOT the same dorm. There is no better way to ruin a friendship than by rooming with someone. If you have known someone as something besided a roommate, it can ruin a friendship; however, if you meet someone new and become friends with them while they are your roommate, you will be able to deal with it, and you will be good friends/roommates.
My roommate and I are friends now, and are rooming together again next year. My roommate and I from my freshman year did not get along so well. We weren't hostile to each other, but we definitely didn't click. If I had roomed with my best friend from before school, I promise you I would not be friends with him today.
If you are taking the plunge and taking a roommate blindly (which, as stated before, I highly recommend this) I also will tell you: you WANT a roommate contract. If you don't want to tell your roommate you want to do a roommate contract, talk to your floor RA and ask them to require a roommate contract. It might sound dorky, but trust me, I promise you won't need to bring it up, it is helpful because it forces you to bring up issues before they become issues (ex: I wake up at 6 and go to sleep at 9 every night, or...I take naps during the day from 2-4, or I will not allow partying in the room while I am trying to study/sleep) You can also get over the issues like whether or not members of the opposite sex will be allowed in the room at certain times. I am trying to find a copy of the contract we had.
Another nice aspect was we ranked the following by which gets priority use of the room: Socializing, sleep, studying. We had sleep first, then socializing, then studying (you can go to a study lounge to study, you can't do the same to socialize)
Anyway, I will continue trying to find a good roommate contract you can use, and post a link here. If possible, I will find the one that we used, because it worked well.
Note: If you and your roommate are comfortable talking about this without filling out a contract, still use one, it brings up issues like "can I eat your food? And under what circumstances may I?"
As well as many other issues
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Summer Projects YOU can do
Well, if you're anything like me, you're in the summer, and you need money. I plan on spending lots of money when I go to England this summer on my study abroad, unfortunately, as the dollar is dying out against the pound, that is going to be difficult. It means I must either spend TONS of money, or just not buy much. I would rather have the option of spending TONS of money (wouldn't we all)
I need to come up with some projects to do, so I thought I would post some of my ideas.
1. Sell stuff on e-Bay
There are lots of things out there you can sell on e-Bay, and even more places you can find that will tell you how to do it. I am currently selling some old Yu-Gi-Oh cards I found. I bought them as a gift for my cousins, then lost them. My cousins are no longer into these cards, but other people are, and I will sell some stuff to them.
It's actually possible to make LOTS of money from projects like this: I used to make a couple hundred a week from selling Trading cards (back when I was 12ish) There's lots of money in it, but you have to do some homework. Learn the best ways to procure, repack, sell, and ship the cards. I had good suppliers (usually other sellers on e-bay selling boxes of cards) I sold the individuals that were good, shipped them in the bubble envelopes, and turned good profits. You'll also have to learn the game a little so you know which cards are good to sell, and which ones can be either trashed, given away to someone who plays, or sold in "grab bag lots" (a trick I actually created on e-Bay...they have been around in real life for some time, but I was the first to implement them with trading cards on e-Bay)
2. Mow Lawns
I will not be doing this, since my knees are bad from football, but you can! It does not have to be lawn mowing, it can be any physical labor people don't like to do. It sounds simple, but there really can be BOATLOADS of money in this. The best things you can do is first figure out what other companies in the area charge to mow the lawn; you will need to beat these prices. You will then need to decide who you would like to service. If you are mowing lawns, it will be houses near yours since you won't want to lug your lawn mower across town. If it is something with lighter equipment, you can expand more fully. You will also need to advertise. You can post on bulletin boards, send out mailers, even go door to door to tell people about your products (make sure this is all allowed before you do it) There are many opportunities out there: you can clean pools, do gardening, paint outside or inside, mow lawns, change peoples oil, anything you feel you can do well, someone will probably pay you to do. I once had a business managing other kids businesses, since I felt that was my strong point.
3. Get a plain old job
There are many good paying jobs out there that you can get. I am not one for getting jobs, since I like to be my own boss, but if you want one, here are some tips...work in a restaurant, or an office building. If you are a server, you can make BANK on tips (chili's around here, servers make about $100 a night) office buildings you will also get better wages/salary. Don't work somewhere like a grocery store, you make minimum wage with no opportunity for more.
4. Steal it
Just kidding
5. Have a garage sale
If you are anything like me, you have old crap in your room and house that you don't use anymore because you're at college. Talk to your parents and have a garage sale. You can get others involved and make a real event. Advertise in local papers, and be prepared to sit outside all day. You can probably make a couple of hundred bucks from your old crap.
6. Sell stuff online
You can use a website like ecrater.com to create a store for free, and you can sell some of your wares online. This is similar to e-Bay, but you would simply have your own store. It's very easy to set up, and you can even buy a domain name to mask it.
7. Invest what you DO have
If you want, you can even start investing in the stock market (provided you have enough money to cover the commissions with your returns) I highly suggest doing lots of homework before you buy a stock, and for your own benefit, read up on how to invest. My dad is very involved with reading Jim Cramer and watching his show, Mad Money. He's entertaining at least, and I believe he has some good tips. My biggest tip, don't buy stuff simply at market price, set a price, otherwise you could end up selling your stock for $0.01 or buying a share for thousands. Trust me on that one. Cramer's show is on at 6pm and 11pm Eastern on Weeknights.
I hope some of these ideas either provided you with a good idea, or helped you to come up with a good idea of your own. I hope you all make lots of money this summer. Just remember, the best way to stimulate the economy is to spend the money you make. Don't spend MORE than you make, but keep that money moving through the economy.
I need to come up with some projects to do, so I thought I would post some of my ideas.
1. Sell stuff on e-Bay
There are lots of things out there you can sell on e-Bay, and even more places you can find that will tell you how to do it. I am currently selling some old Yu-Gi-Oh cards I found. I bought them as a gift for my cousins, then lost them. My cousins are no longer into these cards, but other people are, and I will sell some stuff to them.
It's actually possible to make LOTS of money from projects like this: I used to make a couple hundred a week from selling Trading cards (back when I was 12ish) There's lots of money in it, but you have to do some homework. Learn the best ways to procure, repack, sell, and ship the cards. I had good suppliers (usually other sellers on e-bay selling boxes of cards) I sold the individuals that were good, shipped them in the bubble envelopes, and turned good profits. You'll also have to learn the game a little so you know which cards are good to sell, and which ones can be either trashed, given away to someone who plays, or sold in "grab bag lots" (a trick I actually created on e-Bay...they have been around in real life for some time, but I was the first to implement them with trading cards on e-Bay)
2. Mow Lawns
I will not be doing this, since my knees are bad from football, but you can! It does not have to be lawn mowing, it can be any physical labor people don't like to do. It sounds simple, but there really can be BOATLOADS of money in this. The best things you can do is first figure out what other companies in the area charge to mow the lawn; you will need to beat these prices. You will then need to decide who you would like to service. If you are mowing lawns, it will be houses near yours since you won't want to lug your lawn mower across town. If it is something with lighter equipment, you can expand more fully. You will also need to advertise. You can post on bulletin boards, send out mailers, even go door to door to tell people about your products (make sure this is all allowed before you do it) There are many opportunities out there: you can clean pools, do gardening, paint outside or inside, mow lawns, change peoples oil, anything you feel you can do well, someone will probably pay you to do. I once had a business managing other kids businesses, since I felt that was my strong point.
3. Get a plain old job
There are many good paying jobs out there that you can get. I am not one for getting jobs, since I like to be my own boss, but if you want one, here are some tips...work in a restaurant, or an office building. If you are a server, you can make BANK on tips (chili's around here, servers make about $100 a night) office buildings you will also get better wages/salary. Don't work somewhere like a grocery store, you make minimum wage with no opportunity for more.
4. Steal it
Just kidding
5. Have a garage sale
If you are anything like me, you have old crap in your room and house that you don't use anymore because you're at college. Talk to your parents and have a garage sale. You can get others involved and make a real event. Advertise in local papers, and be prepared to sit outside all day. You can probably make a couple of hundred bucks from your old crap.
6. Sell stuff online
You can use a website like ecrater.com to create a store for free, and you can sell some of your wares online. This is similar to e-Bay, but you would simply have your own store. It's very easy to set up, and you can even buy a domain name to mask it.
7. Invest what you DO have
If you want, you can even start investing in the stock market (provided you have enough money to cover the commissions with your returns) I highly suggest doing lots of homework before you buy a stock, and for your own benefit, read up on how to invest. My dad is very involved with reading Jim Cramer and watching his show, Mad Money. He's entertaining at least, and I believe he has some good tips. My biggest tip, don't buy stuff simply at market price, set a price, otherwise you could end up selling your stock for $0.01 or buying a share for thousands. Trust me on that one. Cramer's show is on at 6pm and 11pm Eastern on Weeknights.
I hope some of these ideas either provided you with a good idea, or helped you to come up with a good idea of your own. I hope you all make lots of money this summer. Just remember, the best way to stimulate the economy is to spend the money you make. Don't spend MORE than you make, but keep that money moving through the economy.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Store Updated
All of my inventory is now available on my store (dorm-gear.com) I finally got it all updated, and I'm very excited, I think I can finally start some advertising. I know I'm going to put up signs around campus; I feel that will be the best advertising. If you have any ideas, I would LOVE to hear them.
I have also begun work on an access database to manage my orders, products, and inventory. As it turns out, this is a bigger project than I had expected; I guess I know less about access than I had previously thought. I finally figured out how to do some things, like automatically add one to my highest invoice number, so they are sequential, but I will not have gaps in the data. I want to build it using mostly forms, so I can have a very simple method of adding data to the database.
I think what I'll do is just take my time trying to get this system up and running, I don't think it has to be rushed, but it's also a great learning experience. It doesn't help that I'm really sick right now, so I'm not doing much of anything right now. I thought since I slept through all my classes, I would go ahead and do something a little beneficial.
Anyway, again, check the store at dorm-gear.com, I'd appreciate it.
Stay Safe!
I have also begun work on an access database to manage my orders, products, and inventory. As it turns out, this is a bigger project than I had expected; I guess I know less about access than I had previously thought. I finally figured out how to do some things, like automatically add one to my highest invoice number, so they are sequential, but I will not have gaps in the data. I want to build it using mostly forms, so I can have a very simple method of adding data to the database.
I think what I'll do is just take my time trying to get this system up and running, I don't think it has to be rushed, but it's also a great learning experience. It doesn't help that I'm really sick right now, so I'm not doing much of anything right now. I thought since I slept through all my classes, I would go ahead and do something a little beneficial.
Anyway, again, check the store at dorm-gear.com, I'd appreciate it.
Stay Safe!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Do business ideas help all businesses
As I've been slowly getting this store going, I've been trying to apply some concepts from the business classes I'm taking. I am trying to set up an inventory system, a customer database, an order database, as well as a table of product information, and supplier information. I got to wondering, is this overkill? I mean, yeah, a small business should have these systems in place, but this is a small business, run out of my dorm room. My inventory is probably less than $250, and I'm just not sure if I have the type of business that requires this kind of organization. I've thought about it a lot, ever since I took my Managerial Marketing class. I used to apply those concepts to different businesses I've run in the past, not actually applied them, just thought about how those concepts could have helped it more.
I guess these systems are good to have, just in case this thing does blow up and I need a management system, it would be better to have than to not have. Also, this does provide good practice for when I need to do this in the real world. I'm simply creating an Access database, which doesn't require much (but man, if you mess up Access, it just doesn't work) but I'm also thinking it's powerful enough to run a small business. the more I type the more I think this probably is a good idea, since this could ultimately help me to run forecasts and produce some effective charts, so I can see how my business is running.
My ITM group is working on this project right now, where we have to take our "grandfather coffee shop" that we "inherited" and write about how we could use a few aspects to technologically advance it. We talked about a biometric payment system and it seems pretty cool. I wish Michigan State would use this kind of technology. You set up a central account, and can link a credit card to it, as well as your address, phone number, and a username and password. You then set up your fingerprint next time you come in, by putting in your password and recording your fingerprint. Then, each time you come in, you place an order, scan your fingerprint, and it automatically charges your credit card. I thought that would be nice for state. You could use your spartan cash (campus cash account, lets your swipe your ID to spend your money) and even get into the cafeterias with it. You could also use it to provide access to different buildings, say Student A has clearance to use the chemistry labs, he can use his fingerprint to open the door. It just seems like that could be a fun technology to work with. Of course there are some security issues, like what if someone loses their finger, or entire hands, they wouldn't be able to use the system. Also, let's say some unsavory characters wanted access to your stuff, they might do something you wouldn't want to happen to you. I know that's one reason they dont' do this with ATM's, same with retinal scanning; those are body parts, but their not exactly body parts you can't lose.
This weekend, the rest of the shot glasses are definitely going up, as well as the temporary tattoos. I figure the tattoos are good add-ons, I just hope people don't only buy those, because then they'll be paying $5.50 for shipping a little $0.50 tattoo. I should include that in the description. I wonder if ecrater will allow you to do something like that, where it costs $1.00 shipping if they buy it alone, but nothing if they buy it with something else. My shipping tables are specific enough, and they can't be made specific enough. Anyway, keep reading, I'm back into posting.
Check out the store:
www.dorm-gear.com
I guess these systems are good to have, just in case this thing does blow up and I need a management system, it would be better to have than to not have. Also, this does provide good practice for when I need to do this in the real world. I'm simply creating an Access database, which doesn't require much (but man, if you mess up Access, it just doesn't work) but I'm also thinking it's powerful enough to run a small business. the more I type the more I think this probably is a good idea, since this could ultimately help me to run forecasts and produce some effective charts, so I can see how my business is running.
My ITM group is working on this project right now, where we have to take our "grandfather coffee shop" that we "inherited" and write about how we could use a few aspects to technologically advance it. We talked about a biometric payment system and it seems pretty cool. I wish Michigan State would use this kind of technology. You set up a central account, and can link a credit card to it, as well as your address, phone number, and a username and password. You then set up your fingerprint next time you come in, by putting in your password and recording your fingerprint. Then, each time you come in, you place an order, scan your fingerprint, and it automatically charges your credit card. I thought that would be nice for state. You could use your spartan cash (campus cash account, lets your swipe your ID to spend your money) and even get into the cafeterias with it. You could also use it to provide access to different buildings, say Student A has clearance to use the chemistry labs, he can use his fingerprint to open the door. It just seems like that could be a fun technology to work with. Of course there are some security issues, like what if someone loses their finger, or entire hands, they wouldn't be able to use the system. Also, let's say some unsavory characters wanted access to your stuff, they might do something you wouldn't want to happen to you. I know that's one reason they dont' do this with ATM's, same with retinal scanning; those are body parts, but their not exactly body parts you can't lose.
This weekend, the rest of the shot glasses are definitely going up, as well as the temporary tattoos. I figure the tattoos are good add-ons, I just hope people don't only buy those, because then they'll be paying $5.50 for shipping a little $0.50 tattoo. I should include that in the description. I wonder if ecrater will allow you to do something like that, where it costs $1.00 shipping if they buy it alone, but nothing if they buy it with something else. My shipping tables are specific enough, and they can't be made specific enough. Anyway, keep reading, I'm back into posting.
Check out the store:
www.dorm-gear.com
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Is Dorm Room Business Legal
Here's something everyone should consider before trying to run a business out of your dorm room: Is it even legal? I don't mean as far as the actual laws go, but read your housing contract, see if you're allowed to run any sort of business. I just read an article about an NYU student who sold beer paraphernalia out of his dorm room; he was kicked out of student housing. You can find it here: Click Here
I think some businesses should definitely be allowed in dorm rooms, provided they don't get out of hand. This is an example where the University may have been justified in their actions, seeing as he was apparently over-running the mail room with boxes of merchandise. I encourage everyone to read that article, it's a good one.
I would love to hear about any dorm businesses any of you have started out there! Small or big, anything would be great to hear about. Click on the submit a guest post on the right hand navigation bar and send an e-mail detailing your dorm room business. If you would like to keep it confidential just let me know and I won't post it online.
Well, it's tax season! I was thinking about volunteering with an organization on campus that helps low income and foreign students with their income taxes. It's a community service, and it seems it would help with my interests. I figure it would be a good experience, and it's a good looking community service. Any thoughts?
This is going to be a short one, I just thought I would throw out a few thoughts for today. Looks like my e-Bay auction didn't so well...I didn't really expect it to, just taking a little gamble.
Have a safe and wonderful day.
As usual, if you are reading this on my imported facebook blog, you can find my full blog at wwww.dormroombiz.com
I think some businesses should definitely be allowed in dorm rooms, provided they don't get out of hand. This is an example where the University may have been justified in their actions, seeing as he was apparently over-running the mail room with boxes of merchandise. I encourage everyone to read that article, it's a good one.
I would love to hear about any dorm businesses any of you have started out there! Small or big, anything would be great to hear about. Click on the submit a guest post on the right hand navigation bar and send an e-mail detailing your dorm room business. If you would like to keep it confidential just let me know and I won't post it online.
Well, it's tax season! I was thinking about volunteering with an organization on campus that helps low income and foreign students with their income taxes. It's a community service, and it seems it would help with my interests. I figure it would be a good experience, and it's a good looking community service. Any thoughts?
This is going to be a short one, I just thought I would throw out a few thoughts for today. Looks like my e-Bay auction didn't so well...I didn't really expect it to, just taking a little gamble.
Have a safe and wonderful day.
As usual, if you are reading this on my imported facebook blog, you can find my full blog at wwww.dormroombiz.com
Thursday, January 24, 2008
I'd like to talk about Debt
I was watching a commercial for one of those debt consolidation services, and I began to think, "This service shouldn't even have to exist," The amount of unnecessary debt out there sickens me. I understand taking out a loan to pay for a house, or car, but when people go into debt on their credit cards, well that's just sickening.
Based on what I hear from these commercials, 6 out of 10 Americans are in some sort of debt. There are somewhere around 40 million Americans under the age of 19 (US Census 2000) so if our population is around 300 million, that means 260 million Americans are of legal age to own a credit card and take out a loan. 260,000,000 x 0.6 = 156,000,000 Americans in debt...approximately. If you ask me, this is 100% unacceptable. If you can't afford the new shoes that are $80...DON'T BUY THEM! I know this could weaken our consumer economy, but we can survive it.
What is the point of owning someone money? So you can owe them more money? With the rates on credit cards rising to near extortion levels, why would you want to owe someone money. If you have a 12% credit card (college student cards can rise to near 30%) then using the rule of 72, in 6 years, your debt will double. That sounds like a long time, but so many people are simply sitting on their debt, and allowing this to happen. It's a record boom for the Credit Card industries, the only loan industry that's hurting right now is the Home Mortgage industry (and it is hurting BAD)
American Express made $3.7 Billion last year. Some of that profit comes from charges retailers incur when you make a purchase with your AmEx, but a lot of that is probably finance charges and fees. MasterCard made $3.3 Billion last year for many of the same reasons. Discover is sitting pretty at $561 Million for...you guessed it, the same reason. Do you realize that when you don't pay a credit card in full, you are simply giving up your money for a frivolous purchase?
Now, let's set some things straight, I don't dislike credit cards, I think they're great; they can give you an advance when you don't have your cash yet, and the rewards can be great. The issue people run in to is simply paying the minimum each month. The credit card companies would like you to do no more than simply pay the minimum each month; that is their optimal customer. Why? Because you will rack up finance charges like crazy. For the rewards alone, credit cards are worth it, airline miles, cash back on Discover, hotel rewards, but in order to get these rewards, you will have a higher APY, which means higher finance charges, which means it costs more to buy things than it should. I pay EVERY credit card I have in full every month, and I have NEVER had to pay more than anything is worth.
This takes a little more work than simply buying on a whim and worrying about it later, but it saves a lot of money too. I spend around $400 a month on my credit cards probably. If I simply paid the minimums, that would be $325 a month that gets charged. With an Average Daily balance, and an APR of 12,%, that comes out to 325(1+.033)^30 = 358.76 for the first month. After the second month, with another $325 of purchases, it comes out to $754.80. I am now paying $904.80 total on only $800 worth of stuff. Do you see how much difference paying off your cards in full makes?
The ultimate idea to take away from this is: If you don't have the money to spend...DON'T SPEND IT. Our country spends more money than it makes, which means someone has 6 out of 10 of us by the balls. Don't overspend. Don't go into debt, and don't overindulge. It's simple common sense.
I didn't even get into our national debt, which is ultimately a good thing, just not at it's current levels. I'll talk about that at a later date.
As always, comments are greatly appreciated. If you're reading this on the imported facebook note, you can see my full blog at www.dormroombiz.com
I have my auction still up on e-Bay, if you are interested at all, view the auction.
You can view the image by going here. If you mention that you went there from my blog, get $2.00 off shipping!!!
Again, just click here to see the item.
If those links didn't work, copy the following URL into your address bar and hit enter.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290200159125
Based on what I hear from these commercials, 6 out of 10 Americans are in some sort of debt. There are somewhere around 40 million Americans under the age of 19 (US Census 2000) so if our population is around 300 million, that means 260 million Americans are of legal age to own a credit card and take out a loan. 260,000,000 x 0.6 = 156,000,000 Americans in debt...approximately. If you ask me, this is 100% unacceptable. If you can't afford the new shoes that are $80...DON'T BUY THEM! I know this could weaken our consumer economy, but we can survive it.
What is the point of owning someone money? So you can owe them more money? With the rates on credit cards rising to near extortion levels, why would you want to owe someone money. If you have a 12% credit card (college student cards can rise to near 30%) then using the rule of 72, in 6 years, your debt will double. That sounds like a long time, but so many people are simply sitting on their debt, and allowing this to happen. It's a record boom for the Credit Card industries, the only loan industry that's hurting right now is the Home Mortgage industry (and it is hurting BAD)
American Express made $3.7 Billion last year. Some of that profit comes from charges retailers incur when you make a purchase with your AmEx, but a lot of that is probably finance charges and fees. MasterCard made $3.3 Billion last year for many of the same reasons. Discover is sitting pretty at $561 Million for...you guessed it, the same reason. Do you realize that when you don't pay a credit card in full, you are simply giving up your money for a frivolous purchase?
Now, let's set some things straight, I don't dislike credit cards, I think they're great; they can give you an advance when you don't have your cash yet, and the rewards can be great. The issue people run in to is simply paying the minimum each month. The credit card companies would like you to do no more than simply pay the minimum each month; that is their optimal customer. Why? Because you will rack up finance charges like crazy. For the rewards alone, credit cards are worth it, airline miles, cash back on Discover, hotel rewards, but in order to get these rewards, you will have a higher APY, which means higher finance charges, which means it costs more to buy things than it should. I pay EVERY credit card I have in full every month, and I have NEVER had to pay more than anything is worth.
This takes a little more work than simply buying on a whim and worrying about it later, but it saves a lot of money too. I spend around $400 a month on my credit cards probably. If I simply paid the minimums, that would be $325 a month that gets charged. With an Average Daily balance, and an APR of 12,%, that comes out to 325(1+.033)^30 = 358.76 for the first month. After the second month, with another $325 of purchases, it comes out to $754.80. I am now paying $904.80 total on only $800 worth of stuff. Do you see how much difference paying off your cards in full makes?
The ultimate idea to take away from this is: If you don't have the money to spend...DON'T SPEND IT. Our country spends more money than it makes, which means someone has 6 out of 10 of us by the balls. Don't overspend. Don't go into debt, and don't overindulge. It's simple common sense.
I didn't even get into our national debt, which is ultimately a good thing, just not at it's current levels. I'll talk about that at a later date.
As always, comments are greatly appreciated. If you're reading this on the imported facebook note, you can see my full blog at www.dormroombiz.com
I have my auction still up on e-Bay, if you are interested at all, view the auction.
You can view the image by going here. If you mention that you went there from my blog, get $2.00 off shipping!!!Again, just click here to see the item.
If those links didn't work, copy the following URL into your address bar and hit enter.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290200159125
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Sorry For The Lack of Posts
I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while (15 days to be exact) I've been quite busy. I had a paper and two tough quizzes on Thursday; an incredibly difficult mid-term yesterday, and a final for a half semester class today. I think I performed decently well on all of them, but it still wasn't fun; it also required quite a bit of studying. My marketing professor is very proud of the fact that no one has gotten a perfect score on his midterm in 6 years, I wanted to kill that statistic...I don't think I did.
With better news, I'm getting a new phone and I am absolutely psyched about it. It has built in GPS, a full keyboard, and too many features to count. It's an HTC TyTn II (AT&T Tilt). It has everything I want, and then much more. I hear a Google phone might actually be on the horizon, but I don't want to wait for it, so I'll just get this now :) I'll post pictures when I get it, and I can even blog from it if I want to. No one knows how excited I am about this.
Also, I'm pretty fed up at HP right now. I bought an ink cartridge last year, and when I used it, it didn't work; it was a defective cartridge. I went ahead and contacted them, and was told I would receive a new ink cartridge. I never did, so I contacted them again, tried the troubleshooting steps again, and was told I would be shipped a replacement. I still have not. HP is a few days from losing a VERY loyal customer, and that is NEVER good. When you lose a loyal customer, that is not just future revenues lost, but all other revenues lost by my friends potentially. Why is that bad? That's terrible. We'll see if they step it up in the next few days. I'm also sick of the Indian customer service representatives who speak "English" but are just copying and pasting from a script. I'll let you know how it goes.
During the writing of this post, I learned that my new phone has been ordered already; WOOT!
For those of you reading on Facebook: the full blog is available at www.dormroombiz.com
With better news, I'm getting a new phone and I am absolutely psyched about it. It has built in GPS, a full keyboard, and too many features to count. It's an HTC TyTn II (AT&T Tilt). It has everything I want, and then much more. I hear a Google phone might actually be on the horizon, but I don't want to wait for it, so I'll just get this now :) I'll post pictures when I get it, and I can even blog from it if I want to. No one knows how excited I am about this.
Also, I'm pretty fed up at HP right now. I bought an ink cartridge last year, and when I used it, it didn't work; it was a defective cartridge. I went ahead and contacted them, and was told I would receive a new ink cartridge. I never did, so I contacted them again, tried the troubleshooting steps again, and was told I would be shipped a replacement. I still have not. HP is a few days from losing a VERY loyal customer, and that is NEVER good. When you lose a loyal customer, that is not just future revenues lost, but all other revenues lost by my friends potentially. Why is that bad? That's terrible. We'll see if they step it up in the next few days. I'm also sick of the Indian customer service representatives who speak "English" but are just copying and pasting from a script. I'll let you know how it goes.
During the writing of this post, I learned that my new phone has been ordered already; WOOT!
For those of you reading on Facebook: the full blog is available at www.dormroombiz.com
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
New Business Idea
So while I was looking for some wholesale DVDs I had a business idea that I can't really pursue, but many people out there probably could. It takes a small investment, but it could pay off. If you bought a bunch of movies wholesale, then rented them out of your room, you could make some good money. I figure you can get most DVDs for $10 somewhere. If you rented them out for like $1 a day, you could easily make the money back. Start with the movies you already have, and maybe buy a couple real popular ones.
You could make a list for people to see what you have, and you could even find a way to mark whether it's in stock or not. The main issues would be dorm rules. You would need to make sure there's no stores with really cheap rental fees. The dorm just to the south of mine rents out DVDs to students for free. Is this the norm at most colleges? If not, you might be able to make a fair buck. Make sure you write down who has what DVD, DON'T rely on your memory, that is futile, you'll forget, and someone might steal your DVD. Also write down what room they live in, in case you need to go get them. You might also have a policy in case someone breaks a DVD (ex: you break it, pay $15 to buy it)
Beyond that, you could offer to sell the DVDs to the people for like $13 after they rent it (SPECIAL: Buy the movie and get your rental fee back!) You still make a profit, and have enough to get a new DVD to replace that one.
Well, just a thought; I wanted to get it out there before I forgot the specifics I had cooked up in my head.
You could make a list for people to see what you have, and you could even find a way to mark whether it's in stock or not. The main issues would be dorm rules. You would need to make sure there's no stores with really cheap rental fees. The dorm just to the south of mine rents out DVDs to students for free. Is this the norm at most colleges? If not, you might be able to make a fair buck. Make sure you write down who has what DVD, DON'T rely on your memory, that is futile, you'll forget, and someone might steal your DVD. Also write down what room they live in, in case you need to go get them. You might also have a policy in case someone breaks a DVD (ex: you break it, pay $15 to buy it)
Beyond that, you could offer to sell the DVDs to the people for like $13 after they rent it (SPECIAL: Buy the movie and get your rental fee back!) You still make a profit, and have enough to get a new DVD to replace that one.
Well, just a thought; I wanted to get it out there before I forgot the specifics I had cooked up in my head.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Roommate, part 2, plus much much more
My roommate seems like he'll be really cool. I checked out his facebook, and he likes most of the same shows I do, and quite a few of the same bands. We're pretty similar. He's also pretty chill, which is good, and it means he'll probably be laid back a bout these little money making experiments.
I just today changed my schedule, instead of taking Financial Bank and Money Markets, I'm taking racquetball I. I want to take the Econ class, but I looked up the professor, and he has a crazy hard curve. This way, I have 12 credits, which means easier 4.0, and I save like $600 when you factor in the book I don't have to buy. I'm pretty excited about this, it means I will be starting every morning Monday-Thursday with exercise...awesome!
I go back the 23rd, and move in the 24th. I'm pretty psyched because my grandma is making my mom and I food on Thursday...WOOT! I love the breaded chicken, I can't freaking wait. I'll miss my friends here, but it's time to go back. Hopefully all my friends stay friends while I'm gone, so I don't have to split myself up between them...I also need to find a way to start making money soon. I'm gonna spend around $1500 on school fees/expenses I think, just when I get back.
My Professor I'm working with on research already contacted me so we can make a time to meet and start working again. I think it was easier when we hadn't made contact yet last year, and I got paid for august for doing nothing :) I guess I don't get that luxury this year. I get paid the 15th, plus I still have like $100 from my summer job at LISD, which NEEDS to hit my account soon.
Anyway, I've kept you for a while, so I'll be gone.
I just today changed my schedule, instead of taking Financial Bank and Money Markets, I'm taking racquetball I. I want to take the Econ class, but I looked up the professor, and he has a crazy hard curve. This way, I have 12 credits, which means easier 4.0, and I save like $600 when you factor in the book I don't have to buy. I'm pretty excited about this, it means I will be starting every morning Monday-Thursday with exercise...awesome!
I go back the 23rd, and move in the 24th. I'm pretty psyched because my grandma is making my mom and I food on Thursday...WOOT! I love the breaded chicken, I can't freaking wait. I'll miss my friends here, but it's time to go back. Hopefully all my friends stay friends while I'm gone, so I don't have to split myself up between them...I also need to find a way to start making money soon. I'm gonna spend around $1500 on school fees/expenses I think, just when I get back.
My Professor I'm working with on research already contacted me so we can make a time to meet and start working again. I think it was easier when we hadn't made contact yet last year, and I got paid for august for doing nothing :) I guess I don't get that luxury this year. I get paid the 15th, plus I still have like $100 from my summer job at LISD, which NEEDS to hit my account soon.
Anyway, I've kept you for a while, so I'll be gone.
Friday, August 3, 2007
e-Bay Forex Arbritage
I noticed something recently when trying to figure out a way to make money on e-bay. It's another idea that requires some capital, but it looks to have fairly consistent gains.
When I was coming home from Austria/Italy last year on a choir trip, I looked on e-bay to see if maybe people on e-bay would pay more than the exchange rate I could get anywhere else (and with astronomically lower fees). I discovered that they did purchase euros for about $0.05 more per euro than at the services. This number varied based on the denomination. Unfortunately, I used all my Euros to buy chocolate and other duty free items.
I have thought about this for some time, and have looked again, only to find that e-Bay buyers are willing to pay about $1.43 per euro, whereas the accepted change rate was only $1.37 at the time I checked it. So...if you found some low commmission currency converters, you could theoretically make a pretty penny selling euros on e-Bay.
One tip I would have is to charge a handling charge; you will have to go to the post office to buy insurance, you need to go to your currency conversion agency to get the currency, and you have to put up some currency to start. I would suggest getting the Euros in fives, and then charge around $1-$2 more than shipping for a handling charge. This way, you will likely make up your money you pay in commission fees.
I want to try this, but I can't do that until I have all my fees paid for fall semester. I'm looking at about $2000 in fees/books after all my scholarships are used. I should be able to do this, with about forty-seven cents left over for other things.
When I was coming home from Austria/Italy last year on a choir trip, I looked on e-bay to see if maybe people on e-bay would pay more than the exchange rate I could get anywhere else (and with astronomically lower fees). I discovered that they did purchase euros for about $0.05 more per euro than at the services. This number varied based on the denomination. Unfortunately, I used all my Euros to buy chocolate and other duty free items.
I have thought about this for some time, and have looked again, only to find that e-Bay buyers are willing to pay about $1.43 per euro, whereas the accepted change rate was only $1.37 at the time I checked it. So...if you found some low commmission currency converters, you could theoretically make a pretty penny selling euros on e-Bay.
One tip I would have is to charge a handling charge; you will have to go to the post office to buy insurance, you need to go to your currency conversion agency to get the currency, and you have to put up some currency to start. I would suggest getting the Euros in fives, and then charge around $1-$2 more than shipping for a handling charge. This way, you will likely make up your money you pay in commission fees.
I want to try this, but I can't do that until I have all my fees paid for fall semester. I'm looking at about $2000 in fees/books after all my scholarships are used. I should be able to do this, with about forty-seven cents left over for other things.
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