Give me your ideas

[paradoxparadigm7]

Ok, so here's the situation. I want to make an income stream. I'll have (hopefully soon) about 40-50K to invest in something. What would give me a good income stream? I'm tolerant of some risk and can devote about 20 hrs/week to the potential endeavor. The income has to be somewhat liquid. Ideas?

 

[Alias]

What do you want to invest in? How do you plan on getting the money? Are you just willing to do any job?

Specify what you have in mind (unless you just want a get-rich-quick scheme) and I'll be able to think of something.

I'd suggest maybe spending all the money you have on Tom Jones memorabilia, then wait for him to die. Once he dies, everything you have will spike in value.

 

[paradoxparadigm7]

Tom Jones memorabilia is not a liquid investment. What do I want to invest in? That was my question to the forum. I want ideas to look into and my parameters are something to generate income with the ability to get at the funds without much penalty. This is my own money through the sale of one of my assets. I'm willing to learn and put in time (about 20 hrs/week) to make whatever investment work for me.

 

[Cognisant]

Import crap from China (http://www.aliexpress.com/) and sell it to the ignorant masses for multiple times the price you paid for it.

Welcome to the horrifying world of retail

 

[Rook]

^

 

[crippli]

I had about 25k 2 years ago. Took up 8x that amount as a loan with the 25k as security and bought an apartment. Took a value check from a real estate person 6months ago. The value had increased with about 50k(tax free). That was the minimun price. No cost if he couldn't sell for that price. I intend to make some changes that should increase the value with another 50k at a cost of about 15k.

I'm also in the process, if they accept my bid, to buy a place for 25k. Rather large, by a lake. The buildings are crap. But it should be interesting to set in order. I may have to use 25k on the process. But I expect a 100-150k in return when finished.

My point isn't really to make money. But have it somewhere else then the bank that is somewhat safe. If it doubles in a few years, I'm usually satisfied.

Stocks is tempting. But requires more knowledge. + 30% tax and various expenses. So I imagine it's not as easy to double the money with little risk.

 

[Inquisitor]

Ok, so here's the situation. I want to make an income stream. I'll have (hopefully soon) about 40-50K to invest in something. What would give me a good income stream? I'm tolerant of some risk and can devote about 20 hrs/week to the potential endeavor. The income has to be somewhat liquid. Ideas?

I would buy a cheap house/apartment and renovate it, then rent it out or flip it. Property is gold. Alternatively, playing the market might be fun for an INTP. You'd have to learn the ropes though. I hear it's possible to make some dough in commodities trading.

If neither of those appeals, then finding some niche product and building a website around it/selling through Amazon could work. Again, requires gaining expertise in one thing though.

Maybe starting a low-cost, low-risk business like an espresso cart/food cart. Might be boring in the beginning, but if done right, could be expanded/cloned. Organic food is all the rage these days. Healthy breakfast/lunch options are extremely hard to find. Selling organic burritos with local farm fresh vegetables from a cart would be very popular. Find a place with a lot of hipsters and park on a busy street. The biggest problem is licensing I hear. Depends where you live.

 

[Grayman]

damn you inquisitor... I just wrote the same thing... <DELETED>


I was going to suggest a condo though instead of a house/apartment and try to get one near a college. The small size is attractive to college students. The 50k would be a substantial down payment for a cheap condo and would make the payments small enough that you might actually make more than you are paying out to the bank. Evtually it will be a much larger income when paid off. You won't have to do much either.

It would also be helpful if the condo was in a more touristy area...

 

[Brontosaurie]

a porn service where models are searchable by body measurements (visualized as a customizable wireframe much like in MMORPG's) and then later genes, marketed as a no-nonsense porn for the true connoisseur of sexual arousal. this means more sophisticated and less taboo.

the concept is scalable in terms of sensory modality. smell and touch may be included as commercially viable VR emerges. sound is of course already included in the medium and may very soon be analyzed and operationalized into searchable metadata based on voice characteristics. the USP is the focus on bodies and their desirability to the consumer - rather than humiliation narratives, hyperbolic or perverse fetishizations etc... these stylistic constraints are borne out of constraints imposed by the motion picture medium. this business seeks to break them and to assert porn as a natural frontier in VR revolution. the rape prevention angle is probably exploitable as well. this business means a complete rehaul of sexual economy, of core humanity. this is what the manosphere wants, and this is what the feminists want. we'll be bringing peace, closing the gap, composting history into the soil of pure cyber-reason. no more trench flamewars, all logic and discovery.

i want a 25 % share of profits if you go through with it but there's no legal obligation.

 

[paradoxparadigm7]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I've actually thought about buying a rental property. And doing a food cart. Just the kind of ideas I'm looking for.

Crippli, what has been your experience renting the apartment?

Grayman, why a condo? I was thinking a 4 unit (big enough to give me potential of 10K/yr. Do you think I should start small to get a feel for it or dive in?

The other thought I had which would take very little of my time is an index mutual fund. Fidelity NASDAQ has a Morning Star rating of 5 stars and has historically returned over 18% in the last 3 yrs.

Inquisitor, I like the idea of a food cart but worry about the food laws but I guess I just need to see how much a cart would be and what it would take to be in compliance. Pricing and finding the right items along with getting the goods for a lesser price seems to be a key art of this idea.

Cog and Rook, like the idea but I'm afraid I would be a speck in the online retail space and be totally eclipsed by those who know what they are doing.

Blarraun, I'm going to look into debt collections stocks (I've not heard of them) and thanks for the link!

 

[Inquisitor]

The other thought I had which would take very little of my time is an index mutual fund. Fidelity NASDAQ has a Morning Star rating of 5 stars and has historically returned over 18% in the last 3 yrs.

If you're gonna dive into mutual funds and don't want to do much work, the only option is Vanguard. Everyone else is a blood-sucking parasite. I've had my money with them now for many years. The website is awesome. You can invest in funds that automatically readjust stock/bond allocation based on projected retirement. If you make less than $114k a year, maxing out the Roth IRA is the best bet. You can do that too with Vanguard. Get one of their all-in-one funds. It's by far the cheapest index fund out there. Compare Charles "Chuck" Schwab the billionaire with Jon Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, who's worth $80 million. Nuff said.

Inquisitor, I like the idea of a food cart but worry about the food laws but I guess I just need to see how much a cart would be and what it would take to be in compliance. Pricing and finding the right items along with getting the goods for a lesser price seems to be a key art of this idea.

One way might be to negotiate directly with local farmers during the warmer months and just buy a CSA share and then prepare food with that. Organic, local, cheap. They sell organic corn tortillas at Whole Foods where I live for a few bucks a pack. Again, the big concern is licensing. Food trucks are making a comeback, but there's lots of competition in that sector for parking spots.

 

[paradoxparadigm7]

a porn service where models are searchable by body measurements (visualized as a customizable wireframe much like in MMORPG's) and then later genes, marketed as a no-nonsense porn for the true connoisseur of sexual arousal. this means more sophisticated and less taboo.

the concept is scalable in terms of sensory modality. smell and touch may be included as commercially viable VR emerges. sound is of course already included in the medium and may very soon be analyzed and operationalized into searchable metadata based on voice characteristics. the USP is the focus on bodies and their desirability to the consumer - rather than humiliation narratives, hyperbolic or perverse fetishizations etc... these stylistic constraints are borne out of constraints imposed by the motion picture medium. this business seeks to break them and to assert porn as a natural frontier in VR revolution. the rape prevention angle is probably exploitable as well. this business means a complete rehaul of sexual economy, of core humanity. this is what the manosphere wants, and this is what the feminists want. we'll be bringing peace, closing the gap, composting history into the soil of pure cyber-reason. no more trench flamewars, all logic and discovery.

i want a 25 % share of profits if you go through with it but there's no legal obligation.

Wow! I actually thought of some fetish site but discarded that because I'm really repulsed by shear exploitation but this has a decided flip to the typical porn industry. This idea has some merit but would still take quite a bit of investment in equipment (video, lights etc) people and marketing. You're hitting the right note however-a niche that hasn't been put out there that I'm aware of.

Let's negotiate Bronto

 

[onesteptwostep]

Investing in promising hotels might be worth a shot, although you'd have to research quite a bit. Here's an example. The returns would depend on the hotel, but I imagine some of the developing ones would be worth a while.

From what I understanding buying cheap houses in rich neighborhoods is the best thing though. Buy one, renovate, sell. Rinse and repeat. But it's something you'll have to put a lot of effort into. California's your best bet for those, there's always some Chinese client wanting a good house.

edit: or if you feel like being charitable you can always donate to some international school in some developing country *guilt-tripping* :P

 

[crippli]

Crippli, what has been your experience renting the apartment?

I use it myself on occasion. Considering to rent it out after new year. Will see. It's by the sea. 3 min walk to the boat. So I found out I might as well use it myself when I need time to relax. It's been a good investment. High risk initially, as there was a lot of problems, that could have gone either way.

If I rent it out it should be about 1500$ a month. Expenses should be around 750$ a month. Then subtract 27% tax on profit. Not that much to be made, but it will pay itself down. And I presume continue to go up in price, while the loan gets eaten up by deflation. It's when or if I sell I will get the real profit. The loan was 90% of the value. Now it's around 70% and haven't down paid anything yet. As I found out I could get better profit investing those money in something else instead.

Suppose, just need to be a bit careful, so not playing the game too far. Get rid of the loan at some point is probably a good idea.

 

[Grayman]

Grayman, why a condo? I was thinking a 4 unit (big enough to give me potential of 10K/yr. Do you think I should start small to get a feel for it or dive in?

Well I was guessing at what you wanted but let me draw it out...

Customer Base:

Tourist- Cleaning after each renter, Maintenance is fully on you, More income in the summer and less in the winter. A lot of time in advertising and finding renters. (Limited Locations) (Possible cost in having a management company deal with the renting/maint of the building)

Single (Young/College)- Small building so small maintenance, More risk chance but less risk cost, More effort in advertising and finding new renters. Harder time of finding renters in some summers if near a college.

Family (House)- Large building more maintenance, Less need to find new renters all the time, Less advertising. Land costs also.


Type of building:

House- If you are good at maintence and can do repairs you can for this but if not maint will be near twice as much paying people to do it. Hidden maint costs include, roof cleaning/replacing, Painting periodically, Deck Replacement/staining, plumbing, heating, trees and shrub removal, pest control, gutter cleaning, larger carpet replacement and floor staining, insulation replacement (if infestation or heating issues)...etc 50K may not cut it but I guess that depends on the area and the cost of houses. You will probably have an easier time of renting out a building in a higher cost area because less people can afford them, but the downside is that you will have a harder time of affording one also.

Condo- They are cheaper and your down payment goes further for a few reasons... less initial maintenance costs to get it ready for renting and less cost of the unit itself and realtor fees because the unit is cheaper than a house with land. There is probably association dues but amenities might be a selling point to counter that. Pets are not usually allowed so you won't have to worry as much about people sneaking pets in when you stated no pets in the contract. Less tax costs because condos are usually cheaper. I am more inclined to suggest this because of maintenance costs but more so if you cannot or do not want to do a lot of the maintenance yourself.

 

[Architect]

I don't think you should do anything with it. Your problem statement contains a contradiction. You have only $40k, and are only willing to invest 20 hours a week and take on some (a little) risk. There's little chance that those three things add up to a decent income stream. You need to up the game on at least one, or better two of those parameters to get the result you want.

For example, increase the capital by 10X and you can get a decent small income for working up to 20 hours/week, by becoming an investor.

Or, you can use that capital to seed a business (take your pick) and work 40-60 hours per week.

Or, you can take on 100% risk and put the money on the roulette wheel and win big, or lose it all.

Without changing any parameters all you can do is draw an income from the capital until it's gone, or invest in some special opportunity that only you see and that you have experience enough to win at. But then if you have that, why ask us?

 

[Brontosaurie]

what happens if you go on crowdfunder and fraud people? are there laws? is there a mob? will i get mail from anon?

 

[Cognisant]

Cog and Rook, like the idea but I'm afraid I would be a speck in the online retail space and be totally eclipsed by those who know what they are doing.

Don't set up an online store, anyone that buys stuff online is too savvy to pay more than cost price and shipping so unless you're importing in bulk you're not going to be making any money, rather you want to sell stuff through a market stall (low upfront cost, impulsive buyers) as setting up a permanent physical store will take too much of your time.

If your sales-fu is good you can make a decent return this way but it's not something you can invest 40-50k in, a few hundred dollars worth of stock should be more than enough, a couple thousand at most.

what happens if you go on crowdfunder and fraud people? are there laws? is there a mob? will i get mail from anon?

All of the above, I'll be hunting you too.
Good luck~

 

[Brontosaurie]

All of the above, I'll be hunting you too.
Good luck~

what laws govern the crowdfunder? how much do i need to "try" for it to be a legit sad failure?

 

[Cognisant]

You fail and you don't get the money, that's how it works.

I've heard the developers of Axent Wear were screwed over by their manufacturers but there's an ongoing breach-of-contract lawsuit over it, believe me the only people making money out of that are Indiegogo's lawyers.

The crowd-sourcing company handles the money, you approach them with what you need to spend it on and they spend it for you if they agree, you're given nothing, only once the campaign is successful and you deliver what you promised to your backers do you get what money remains, after the company takes its cut.

Edit: Looks like Indiegogo won the lawsuit.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/axent-wear-cat-ear-headphones#/story

 

[Brontosaurie]

You fail and you don't get the money, that's how it works.

I've heard the developers of Axent Wear were screwed over by their manufacturers but there's an ongoing breach-of-contract lawsuit over it, believe me the only people making money out of that are Indiegogo's lawyers.

The crowd-sourcing company handles the money, you approach them with what you need to spend it on and they spend it for you if they agree, you're given nothing, only once the campaign is successful and you deliver what you promised to your backers do you get what money remains, after the company takes its cut.

Edit: Looks like Indiegogo won the lawsuit.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/axent-wear-cat-ear-headphones#/story

wow that sounds boring.

how did sarkeesian get her money then?

 

[Cognisant]

Zack Brown got $55,492 to make a potato salad, for himself.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/324283889/potato-salad

If you had 40-50K you could start a campaign to do any random thing, lend the money to people you trust to back you with it so it looks like your campaign is really successful and if the thing you're doing is sufficiently stupid/random/entertaining others will back it just to be in on the joke, indeed that's probably what happened with the potato salad campaign, 90% of the money came from 2-3 people and a few thousand people donated a dollar or two.

Edit: Hey paradox how about it?
I do something stupid, you "pay" me 40-50K to do it, I give you that money back plus half of whatever money it attracts, of course we'd need to talk to a solicitor or something first so I'm beholden to contract to give you the money back + 1/2 profit.

 

[Grayman]

I heard something on the radio about healthy vending machine franchise looking for people....

 

[onesteptwostep]

OH I know another good one. Look at this. A pizza vending machine.

 

[Reluctantly]

Couple things that seem doable to me:

start a trucking business. goods always need to be transported.

develop smart batteries that last a long time.

save your money and invest in stocks when the market crashes to a bottom

houses as people mentioned. but you need to know how to fix things or you could potentially lose money and you'd be on-call 24/7 in order to do a good job for your renters. It's also somewhat risky given that you'd rely on renter's to pay off the house/apartment and if you suddenly can't make a monthly payment...it's all gone. no one ever mentions that part.

you can buy a garage and fix cars/motorcycles that have serious problems and then sell them for a nice profit. you wouldn't be fixing for a client though as a mechanic, but buying cars from people for almost nothing and fixing them yourself. this would be a lot of work, but you'd work for yourself and there's always a market for vehicles.

if you have any artist skills, you could consider buying tools to make special items and sell them on etsy. some people make a lot of money selling homemade jewelry and such.

could invest that cash into a nice vehicle and drive for Uber on your own time. you'd be your own boss.

invest in nice recording equipment/studio and make youtube videos doing funny things with other people in video games.

find locations where setting up a food cart for certain times of the day would give a nice profit...and do it as you want, no retarded bosses.

could use the money to get certified in something and use that to increase your ability to make money. for example, truck drivers that are hazmat certified make a lot more hauling hazmat.

you could always try being an author, but I don't think you need money for that.



I don't know, that's all I got.

 

[Cognisant]

develop smart batteries that last a long time.

There's billions being spent on that, a better battery is a better smartphone, a better laptop, a better drone, a better pacemaker, a better car, whoever makes the next big breakthrough in battery technology is going to make tens of billions.

Do it

 

[Reluctantly]

Do it

God, I wish I was brilliant enough to do it. But I'm not.

It would be cool though to add some kind of encasement that harnesses electrical energy from movement and heat and adds that to the battery's power output to make them more efficient. This could be done on a small scale. We could also add nano fibers in our clothing that conduct based on our movement and the sunlight to charge devices wirelessly. That would help a bit. For cars, it's probably better to design automated cars; then we could save money by not stopping at red lights, but letting the computers calculate when we pass by without hitting each other. I suppose it wouldn't hurt either to design some type of cheap solar panel body for cars. It doesn't have to be perfect. And if they are sitting for a long time, we could design them to plug into the grid and give power back.

Maybe the best thing to do is figure out how to efficiently catalyze chemical reactions that use abandunt gases, such as hydrogen from water and harness that energy. I think they are still having trouble with that. It seems like we know very little when it comes to atomic structures and how to manipulate them.

 

[Cognisant]

For cars, it's probably better to design automated cars; then we could save money by not stopping at red lights, but letting the computers calculate when we pass by without hitting each other.

Trust me I'm an engineer~