MINIMUM   $50,000.00 ANNUAL   INCOME AVAILABLE FOR ALL IMMEDIATELY

  

In this chapter, I want to get straight to the point – some real talk here. There is absolutely no excuse for any American living in the greatest country on the planet to not own his or her own business.  Now this includes being apart of a partnership, closely held corporation, informal investment group, and/or multi-level marketing organization.  I understand we may make $250K a year or so on our respective jobs and are doing well for ourselves, but we’re missing the point. That’s just enough to take care of our individual households.  What about helping someone other than ourselves? What about leaving a legacy or inheritances?  What are we going to bequeath?  These terms are absolutely foreign to some of us and we assume that I’m speaking in tongues when I talk about these things. To many, it is an unknown language – but it should not be so.

There is absolutely no justification why any healthy American living in this great country is not earning at least $50,000.00 per year.  That’s right – that means there is no excuse for poverty.  You see, I can talk a little rough now that I’m embarking upon the conclusion of the book. Again, there is no excuse for anyone to be earning anywhere near what the US Department of Health and Human Services classifies as poverty level.

I am a strong advocate of being proactive in creating our own wealth and opportunities opposed to waiting for others to do so for us.  Creating and building a small business is one of the best vehicles to accomplish this.  And now that we have learned about the different methods of producing income, we can now center our business models around the more efficient ones.

Before learning about Passive and Residual Incomes, we may have started a business without regard to how many times we could get paid off of performing a task once.  Now we have a different prospective altogether and are equipped with the proper information to make much wiser choices in deciding which direction to go in or industry to pursue.

For an example, before now we may have been considering opening an auto repair shop where, of course, we would be the master technician. But now we realize that although we love to fix cars, we will be signing up for spending the next 20 to 30 years trading time for dollars.  It is certain that auto technicians can earn very good incomes – I have some good friends who run their own shops. We could clearly net $50,000.00 a year.  But again, if we don’t go in to work, we don’t get paid. There are no paid vacations and more importantly when we die, so does the income we were producing.  Now our sons have to step up and do it all over again.  We will be bequeathing more hard work for very little return considering how we could have better invested that precious time.

Many would say, “But Warren, you don’t understand.  I love fixing on cars. It’s my life’s passion.”  What I’d reply to that person is this – “Okay, well go spend the valuable 8 hours that you’d work so diligently at the service center creating an insurance client base of 158 clients for a year – or two years even.  This will pay you $75,000.00 annually without you having to get out of bed like the insurance agent we discussed previously.  Then, once you have established this income stream in about a year or two, repair cars for free for the next 10 to 20.  And again, another disclaimer – the language used in this segment is not meant to discredit in any way the auto repair industry or degrade those who are currently shop owners or those who endeavor to be. Hear my heart here.  We just have to approach this money thing a little smarter.

Here is a list of businesses that one may consider which will produce residual or passive income.

  1. Life Insurance Agency
  2. Automobile Insurance Agency
  3. Health Insurance Agency
  4. Multi-Level Marketing Sales
  5. Phone Service Sales
  6. Utility Service Sales

As I promised earlier in the book, I want to take this time to identify two different businesses that any regular person earning poverty level income can start and earn $50,000.00 or more their first twelve months in business.  Keep in mind now, these businesses do not necessarily represent the highest and best use of one’s time but they will transform personal income statements almost immediately.

I strongly believe that it is vitally important to offer various solutions that people can take advantage of immediately.  It is very easy to just offer the businesses that bring residual and passive income, but I understand that many of those businesses may not be an option for many as some require state and federal licensing.  And some people want to just keep it very simple – they don’t mind hard work, but just want a simple idea to earn more money coupled with the execution of the other strategies of this book such as saving, budgeting and not being a classic consumer.  That’s fine and I applaud that – we all have to start somewhere.

The problem I have is with precious people working on a long term basis for minimum wage up to $10.00 an hour.  We do not have to do that – not in America.  That is third-world country money when considering the wealth and economy that we enjoy here in the states.  We have to change our thinking.  There are literally millions of good people in this country who earn below $30,000.00 a year and my goal is to change that and offer real attainable solutions that will transfigure those circumstances – like immediately. I will say it again – nobody living in the United States of America in the 21st century who is reasonably healthy should be earning less than $50,000.00 – Period!

Speaking of being healthy, I met a young man the other day as I pulled into a convenient store parking lot who was deaf and holding a sign.  The sign read, “I am deaf and need help. Please give a quarter.” I took note as I passed him while entering the store to get directions. I couldn’t help but notice that he was slim, dressed normal, appeared to be about 38 to 40 years old, about 6 feet tall and from what I could see, seemed to be in good physical health.  He was sitting on a stoop in front of the store when I pulled up, but got up to approach me as I was returning to my car.  He had some pep in his step while coming to me, but I did notice that he had a speech impediment as he was attempting to read his sign to me.

Now I went ahead and gave the guy the quarter as the sign requested.  I would have given much more.  However, I couldn’t help but wonder why his sign read like it did. I am certain that he probably collected $15 to $20 easy per day working the patrons of the convenient store. However, if I were him, my sign would read something like this – “ I am deaf and am looking for work; please hire me!”  I don’t mean to be cruel at all, but my thought concerning this young man was, “Okay, I understand you’re deaf and are unable to speak and I am sorry about that. But you’re not LAME! Cut some grass, wash some cars, trim some hedges, sweep the parking lot, pick up some trash, mop some floors, wash some windows. . .” Instead of getting the quarters totaling $15 to $20 a day, he could be getting $100.00 or more.

I told of that account not to pick on the gentleman, but to demonstrate the attitude and mindset that many of us display.  We often times focus on everything that is wrong with us or on the areas where we are lacking opposed to appreciating and utilizing what is right and focusing on our strengths.  We are quick to say, “I can never do that.  I can’t sell insurance.  I can’t do multi-level marketing. I am afraid to talk to people. I’m afraid of being rejected.”  We go on and on and on about what we cannot do instead of making a list and focusing on what we can do.

Therefore for those of us who find ourselves in this category, I am gonna go down a road that we rarely find motivational and self-help authors going down.  I would like to introduce to you 2 simple businesses that absolutely anybody and everybody can start and earn at least $50,000.00 per year.  What’s more, launching either of these two businesses would require start-up money of less than $200.00 and can be done in your spare time after you get off from the plantation – I mean job.  Now if the person earning $30,000.00 a year or less examines each of these businesses which can be started for under $200.00 and admits that they can in fact do them successfully, but makes the decision to not get started immediately, then I would recommend he or she seek psychiatric help promptly.

AUTO DETAILING

The first small business that I would like to introduce is one that every one can partake in and one that will never go out of style.  Sophisticated people may refer to it as automobile detailing, but the bottom line is that it’s “washing cars” – only professionally.  Now I know that many of us may feel that we could never do a business like this because it is too labor intensive and somehow beneath us.  “I’m a professional,” we might say.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen professional, P.O.O.R. individuals who earn $18,000.00 a year who Pass Over Opportunities Repeatedly.  For those of us who don’t know it, $18,000.00 a year is about $9.00 an hour and is not nearly enough to run a household. We’re in a lot of trouble if this is the situation we are in and we need to seriously consider an auto-detail business and put our egos to the side.

Auto-detailing is a craft that anyone can learn in a relatively short period of time.  Please understand that washing a car professionally is a whole lot different than just washing our own cars at home.  Many of us, especially ladies, think we’ve done something magnificent when all we really did was sprayed the car down, dried it off, and put some Armor All on the tires. Folks, nobody’s gonna pay us to do that- at least not more than once.

Almost everyone I know owns at least one car, many of which are fairly new and many pretty fancy.  In this day and age, it’s all about image and prestige and the average cost for a new car is hovering right around $28,000.00. That’s a lot of cheese!  Most people who make the decision to pay that kind of money for a car are interested in how they look and keeping that car clean is definitely something they are interested in.  Keep in mind we are talking about the average priced car and haven’t even gotten into the luxury cars that range from $40,000 to well over $100k.  These guys may start out washing the cars when they first get them, but the task gets old after about 30 days.

The concept of this business is so simple and income possibilities are so astounding that I am truly amazed that more individuals have not tapped into it.  We can really earn $50,000 a year by washing cars.  Here’s the formula which is not very complex. In fact, I have been trying to think of a way to make it sound more difficult than what it really is and only because I know the mind set that many of us have.  If it’s too easy, then it can’t be real.  Anyway, all a person needs to do is find 40 customers who will agree to allow them to professionally clean their car every week. Or, if every week is too frequent, then 80 people twice per month.  That’s it!

Once again, it all boils down to simple mathematics. If you take 40 customers at $25.00 per wash, that’s $1,000.00 per week. Come on, Man! A grand a week working my own schedule and not having the stress of the work place? You’ve gotta be kidding me!

It gets even simpler than that. We are well aware that most families have more than one nice automobile.  The wife would have a nice Acura MDX while the husband would sport an S Class Mercedes – come on, you know the deal.  Everybody knows they would love to have someone show up at their home every week to keep those bad boys looking brand new.  For one thing, the prestige they’d get from neighbors is worth 50 bucks by itself.  Therefore, if you can find just 20 select customers who agree to get both cars professionally cleaned once a week, it’s a wrap. We’ve just created a $50,000.00 a year business in our very own neighborhood.  Do the math – 20 customers X 2 vehicles X $25 per vehicle = $1,000.00 per week X 50 weeks a year figuring in a two week vacation = $50,000.00.

This is America, Baby! It is the greatest country on planet earth. Now I don’t know if this will work in Africa because they may not be as big on spending or consuming as we are over here.  But everybody knows I’m right.  Blacks, Whites, and Indians alike will pay me $25.00 per car every week to keep their prized possessions looking brand new.  It’s a no-brainer!  I don’t even need a brain for this!  I don’t need a high school diploma, G.E.D., PhD, or law degree to make this happen for me and my family.

Just a few things to keep in mind – this is a business and it has to be ran as such.  I do not recommend that anyone go out and try to wash anybody’s car professionally without some basic training first.  I realize that many are excited and feel that anybody can wash a car, but that’s not true.  Hear me out now. This is important and will make things hard on us needlessly if we don’t get it right from the start.  Keep in mind, I’ve already experienced it – only I didn’t have anyone to advise me of how to avoid costly mistakes.

Take the time to learn from a professional how to properly clean or detail a car first.  Cleaning and detailing are two different animals.  See there, most people think they are the same, but they are very different – about a $75 difference in cost.  I advise anyone seriously looking to engage in this business to take a minimum of a couple of days to a week to just observe and learn from someone who does it professionally. Go to a professional detail shop and talk to some of the guys who are really good and get some pointers.  Invest $25.00 in getting your car washed or $100.00 to get your car detailed.  Watch how it’s done and you will find that you didn’t know as much as you thought, nor were you anywhere near as thorough as you thought. But make sure you learn from a true professional who takes pride in his work as there are plenty of sloppy employees who work at these shops who call themselves detailers, but are far from it.  This is so important because you rarely get a second chance once you do a poor job on somebody’s car.  Trust me.

STANDARD CAR WASH  $25 to $35

  1. Thoroughly wash (with liquid soap) the entire car with a sponge including fender wells, tires, and rims.
  2. Thoroughly dry entire car with chamois or “shammy.”
  3. Windows (inside and out) must be streak-free and careful attention should be paid to them. This is where most fail.  Use windex and newspaper, or windex and paper towels for best results.
  4. Thoroughly remove and discard all obvious trash and wipe down dashboard along with gear console ensuring they are free of dust and other particles. Try to refrain from applying chemical cleaners to vinyls as they could potentially cause damage. Some customers want a vinyl protectant such as armor all applied to dashes for the shine, but I never did it unless requested to do so. Any papers or other items that are perceived to have even the least value should be placed neatly in a pile.
  5. Vacuum interior thoroughly. Trunk is not vacuumed or cleaned unless directed by customer. Take the time to actually look under each seat front and back. Gather spare change that you are almost certain to find. Remember, quarters and dimes are not your tip but here’s one – place the change in an obvious place like a cup-holder near armrest.
  6. Spray a neutral air freshener on carpet front and rear. This is optional and it should be noted that some customers dislike certain fragrances and some are allergic to others. It may be wise to ask and learn each customer’s preference.
  7. Apply Armor All or other effective protectants to outside of tires and any black moldings made of plastic. Professionals differ on methods of application. Some prefer spraying it on and allowing it to drip dry. Others prefer to apply it with an applicator or sponge. I prefer the latter method because it eliminates for the most part the problem of armor all blowing back on the lower body of the car when driving at 45 mph or more. I admit that the drip dry method tends to offer the best shine and I use this method in certain instances, such as when applying to large tires with letters on them. I never spray when chrome wheels are involved, as the spray gets on the chrome and quells the radiance of the wheel. Either way, when I choose to spray, I always use my applicator to lightly smooth down the tire just a touch. This minimizes blow back as well. Also, I generally spray the black material under fender wells.
  8. Wipe down door jams. Every jack leg car cleaner misses this small step, but it makes a difference as it is the first thing a customer sees when they open the car door.
  9. Go back over the car thoroughly inspecting it to make sure it’s perfect – that is, if you ever want to get to wash it again! Don’t leave any trash or other debris in the customer’s yard or around the car. Make sure the water is turned off and everything is put back the way you found it.

 

 FULL AUTO-DETAIL

  1. Complete all steps to the standard car wash.
  2. Complete Wax. Use applicator pad instead of cloth. Keep wax off of plastic moldings and other rubber items. Open hood, doors, and trunk where wax tends to build up and remove excess wax.
  3. Meticulously clean interior (much more detailed than just dusting dash and console). Watch a professional perform this task.

Now tell me, who can’t learn to perfect this art in a relatively short period of time?  All it takes is a little practice.  A person can practice on their own car or next door neighbor’s for free and pick up their first customer in the process.

I want to point out just a few more things before anyone gets started that will certainly streamline success.  The key here is to try to maximize efficiency as it is obvious that time is a limited commodity. Therefore, I would recommend that the overall goal be to build a solid client base comprised of the least amount of customers and – if possible – all in the same or nearby subdivisions.  And I would prefer to focus on clients who are interested and willing to commit to having at least two cars cleaned every single week.

So notice what just happened here – to affect a $50,000.00 a year salary, we have just cut a significant amount of time, travel, and uncertainty. This is not a realistic expectation to start, but once a professional detailer is established and known for impeccable work, he’ll have more work than time available in a day to perform it.  It is at this point where he would notify his clients that he will be only able to service those who are on an automatic weekly schedule. They will understand this once it is communicated that this business now represents his livelihood. I also recommend giving hints from inception and in conversations in between that this is your ultimate goal so it won’t be such a surprise when it is finally announced.

However, the detailer is to be no fool, though. If he gets the impression that the majority of his client base is not receptive to the idea and will likely stop catering to him altogether, then of course he needs to govern himself accordingly and just work more numbers. This is just the goal, not the iron fist rule.  I can hear some detailers complaining, “Warren, I tried to do that move you said and lost all of my clients and now I’m back at the local supermarket!” Hey, we’ve gotta use our noggin here!

 

Start –Up Kit

  1. A chamois or “shammy”             $15.00
  2. 100 Ft water hose w/spray nozzle              30.00
  3. Bottle of liquid wash-n-wax concentrate  10.00
  4. Soft Sponge     4.00
  5. 5 Gallon bucket     3.00
  6. Bottle of windex     3.00
  7. Bottle of good liquid wax     8.00
  8. 6 pack of cotton applicator pads     5.00
  9. Bottle of neutral air freshener    5.00
  10. Swiss broom     5.00
  11. Portable Vacuum (shop vacuum preferred)    20.00

Be careful about using a customer’s lighter.  $108.00

There we have it.  Man, I’m excited all over again!  I wanted to go out in a nearby subdivision and build me a client base of 20 real quick.  I know I could have 20 signed up in a week or less.  That’s amazing to me – $50,000.00 a year just like that!  It really is as easy as that, but the key is performing a professional job every single time. And whatever you do, please, please, please don’t go asking the customers to use their bucket, dish detergent, towels, shammy and vacuum cleaner.  It’s okay to request to use their water, to start.

Remember though, without the financial principles suggested earlier in the book, a person would do just as well to continue working down at the Burger Doodle.  We have to remember that we cannot consume it all.  We know that 35% is gone right off the top. Then there are taxes to think about and supplies. I encourage anyone starting out on this journey to get it right from the start. And please don’t quit the regular job until you have gotten well established.  Trust me, if it’s done right, it won’t be long.  But wisdom is justified of her children.

I can honestly say that I will never live near or beneath the poverty level because if all else fails business wise with me, I can always revert to this auto detailing business. That’s a $50,000.00 a year business all day long.  Actually for me, at this stage, it would be at least double that because I’d hire or partner with two other people to work two other neighborhoods duplicating what I was doing.  I’d drum up the business myself, split in half the profits with each partner, which would yield $25,000.00 a year each additional partner for a total of an additional $50,000.00 to the one I was earning myself.

The sad part about all this is that a lot of our mind sets are so distorted that there are hundreds of thousands of poor individuals who will read this book and be enlightened by this comprehensive plan along with others that I have laid out, but will make the decision to reject these solutions and continue working a minimum wage job.  And it will not be because anyone believes it is unrealistic or feels they can’t do it – in fact they’ll know they can do it.  It’s just that it is so much easier to simply go to work and punch the clock everyday, opposed to actually applying thought to a simple plan that will almost quadruple their income.

Keep in mind that I still say that the Car Washing business – even at an impressive $50,000.00 a year – is not the highest and best use of one’s time and efforts as it relates to producing income.  It is still unilateral or linear in nature – trading time for dollars and performing a task once and getting paid only once.

It’s only because I’ve been on the bottom that I know that sometimes it’s hard for those of us who are there to grasp the larger picture of what successful self-help authors are trying to get across.  A lot of times we are found to be very inspiring to those who subscribe to our concepts, but we fail to meet people where they are right now. I have become very sensitive to these concerns and realize that lots of people are simply looking for a life line right this minute and it would be a miracle for them to just get stabilized financially – like in a solution to income that will enable them to just cover rent, utilities, and groceries.  For many of us, a simple plan to merely get our heads above water would be major.  Then, we could see clearly to take the next step.  That is my purpose for laying out these two simple business plans, but we have to remember that more income alone will not solve our financial problems. The other principles we discussed earlier are essential because there are those who earn over $200,000.00 who are still suffering like the poor and are in financial crisis.

Again, I want to reiterate that anyone and everyone can do this business and there is a great demand for it.  I challenge everyone who is earning $30,000.00 a year or less to make a decision to double your income.  Just do it on the side and use about half of proceeds to get your finances in line and put aside the other half (don’t consume it all). I’m not trying to sell franchises here.  I’m not getting anything out of anybody doing this business besides the satisfaction that I was successful in pulling someone free from the grips of poverty and financial turmoil. It gives me no greater satisfaction than to know that I have been apart of the transformation of a real family’s life. I’d be satisfied to know that I have been apart of the financial rescue team that launches families who were once poor and in despair into wealth so that they, too, can help bring another family up.

THE LAWN CARE BUSINESS

The other business that I would offer for consideration is the Lawn Care business.  There are a lot of fancy terms for this business, but for fear of confusing anyone like me who likes to keep things simple, we’re talking about “cutting grass” here.  Now I realize many of us are too cute for this and others have already skipped the car washing section as well as this one thinking to themselves, “There ain’t no way in the world I’m washing no cars and I’m certainly not cutting nobody’s grass – I hope this guy has got more $50,000.00 a year options than these!”

Well, I am gonna have to go ahead and apologize to those pretty people in this category now because while I know of many other businesses that we could earn and profit good income, these are two that I personally know are fool-proof, if my protocol is followed.  I used to be one of those guys who wanted to dress up all the time and be clean cut and professional as it related to my livelihood. I remember not wanting to get dirty and being concerned about my professional image.  I don’t think anything is wrong with that as long as a person is already producing the income they need to produce dressing in business attire.

Nevertheless, earning $10.00 an hour ($20K a year) and being broke all the time in a tailor made suit is not what I would consider a position that I’d feel comfortable boasting about. I’d much rather get dirty during the day and count triple the money in cash in the evening – then come home take a bath and put on my executive clothes and look important amongst my peers. That is, if impressing them is what was meaningful to me.

Besides, we are not really fooling anybody anyhow.  Everybody has sense enough to know what kind of pay scale we’re on anyway by our positions and the companies we work for.  If our friends are earning $60,000.00 a year working at a major corporation and we think that us having a shirt and tie on after 6:00 P.M. causes them to believe that we are earning the same, we are sadly mistaken.  As soon as we disclose to them that we are a concierge, it doesn’t matter what kind of business suit we have on, they know we are earning a modest income somewhere in the mid twenties – $30,000.00 tops.  A $1,000.00 business suit is not gonna change that.  That’s just what your average concierge earns.

Notwithstanding, our families are suffering financially and socially because we are too concerned about what others think about us.  We should be more concerned with attaining financial independence and positioning ourselves to provide the best life we can for our children and others we care about.

Anyway, the lawn care business is one that anyone can be successful in.  It doesn’t cost a great deal to get started with lawn care but much like auto detailing, it is a craft that must be performed with professionalism.  Everybody thinks they can cut grass and they can – but at home on their own lawns.  Now there are some people who manicure their own lawns better than professional landscapers. For those of us who may fall into this category, I say start immediately.  However, for everyone else, I recommend we take the time to learn from a true professional before butchering somebody’s lawn and causing enemies.  I’m not playing here. People are serious about their lawns and won’t take too kindly to some bootleg grass cutter messing it up.

This business should be taken very seriously even though many might feel that it is just a medial task which cannot be done wrong.  Those of us who have and maintain beautiful lawns and have had bad experiences with lawn care businesses know exactly what I’m talking about.

Take a week or two to learn from a professional lawn care provider and offer to work for free to learn.  He might not let you do much to start for fear that you will mess up something, but nobody turns down free help as long as we’re serious about actually helping them and learning the trade.

The first thing I want to point out with this business is that it is for the most part a seasonal business, if it were not already apparent to everyone. Depending on which part of the country we live and the climate that goes along with it, professional lawn care providers have about a six to seven month run usually ranging from Mid-April to about Mid-October.  It is important for those of us who are starting this business to be aware of this.

Let’s look at the math.  To professionally cut and trim the average yard on a ¼ of an acre lot costs about $40.00.  To earn $50,000.00 annually in this business, we would have to divide that amount by the actual number of months we would be expecting work to be available which is only six months (26 weeks). Therefore, dividing $50,000.00 by approximately 26 weeks equals $1,924 a week in income that has to be generated over the 6 months. So if we take the round number of $2,000.00 a week and divide it by $40.00 per lawn, we find that we need a total client base of 50 customers who agree to receive our lawn care services once per week.  I’ll be the first to tell you that acquiring a customer base of 50 customers is not a difficult task provided we can meet or exceed the customers’ expectations.

Not only is getting 50 customers a reasonable reality, but also the fact that once we get really good at managing them and reach the level of full efficiency, we will find that all 50 customers can be serviced in two to a maximum of 3 days out each week.  Thursdays thru Saturdays are usually the days preferred by lawn care providers and home owners alike.

“So wait a minute here – you mean to tell me that a person can earn $50,000.00 a year working only six months out of the year and only three days out of the week?”  You’ve got it!  There are professionals who do it effortlessly every year and we look at them as if they were somehow beneath us because they seem to be dirty and working hard every time we encounter them.  Well, if we see them working every day all day long, there is one thing we can count on – and that is they are making a whole lot more than $50,000.00 a year.  Also, we know that it is impossible that they are working all year round because 90% of all customers do not maintain winter grass.  This means that anywhere from 4 to 6 months out of the year, these lawn care providers are off.  While many employees are working their socks off in corporate America year round for peanuts, these guys have made enough cheddar over the summer to hibernate for the winter.  This sounds better than the previous business, as the auto detailer doesn’t have such luxuries.

Pretty impressive right?  While we are feeling sorry for them, they are feeling sorry for us that we have no better sense than to work twice as long for a half or third of the pay.  But keep in mind, though, we do at least get to dress up every day and “LOOK” like we’re prosperous.  You’ve gotta be kidding me!

The Basic Lawn Cut__

  1. Cut grass by push mower or riding mower. Most patrons have come to expect riding mowers, but the results are what ultimately matters.
  1. Trim sidewalks, curbs, and driveways with weed eater and/or edger. Trim around hedges, trees and any lawn furniture.
  1. Blow sidewalks, curbs, and driveways with a blower.

EXTRAS Not Included In Basic Lawn Cut

 

  1. Trimming hedges $20 to $$35
  2. Planting flowers (labor only) $50
  3. Cleaning flower beds             $25 to $50
  4. Spreading mulch                 $25 to $50

The method of building a customer base with this business is much like that of the Auto Detailer. I recommend approaching it strategically with maximum efficiency.  Of course, we would want to choose a neighborhood or subdivision that boasted 200 or more homes in it to try to concentrate our efforts in one general locale instead of having to run all over the city.  Trust me, this can be accomplished between two to three local subdivisions if properly targeted.

Keep in mind though, unlike the mobile detailing business many customers may already have a provider that they have been patronizing.  The key here is the results that we are ultimately gonna be able to display.  Customers are willing to change if they are given a reason to.  Moreover, lawn care providers tend to get complacent, especially after about two seasons and they get used to the money.  A lot of customers become dissatisfied, but stay with them simply because they’ve been solicited by no one else. We just have to make sure that we don’t fall into this unfortunate group and get cut off as well.

To start this lucrative endeavor, all one would need is the following equipment:

Start Up Equipment 

  1. Used Push Mower     $50.00
  2. Used Weed Eater (A good one)                         $75.00
  3. Used Blower     $60.00

Note: Finding these items at a good                              $185.00                 yard sale will cut this figure in half.

Wow! Indeed, this is the greatest country in the world!  Now please tell me who could not do this business immediately? And don’t say that $185.00 is the hold up.  Okay, here’s how to handle that.  Be creative.  Let’s use our noggin!  Tell a friend, neighbor, or family member what we are endeavoring to do and ask to borrow their equipment for two days.  Offer to give them half of the profits – let’s not ask them to do it for nothing!

If nobody likes us and we can’t get that done, let’s line up 3 or 4 yards and go rent a push mower and weed eater for $50.00. With this, we can make $120.00 and then go buy a used push mower with the difference.  The next day go rent the weed eater for $25.00 and make another $120.00 – in case we didn’t pick up on it, we don’t need a blower at this point because a broom will do the same job, though we may not look as cute or professional as we do it.  Bottom line here is we’re in business.

A homeless person can do this business.  Come on everybody – we’re in America!  It is no excuse for anybody healthy to be poor in this country.  We need to introduce these businesses to our teenagers, our nieces and nephews.  I bet you the young drug dealers on the street never considered they could make this kind of money cutting grass.  In fact, most street-level drug dealers work more than 40 hours a week and risk years in prison and still don’t make this type of money.  Instead of just criticizing and ostracizing our youth, present them with some options and alternatives to crime and complacency.  Let’s get out there and help them establish these businesses and get them off to a good start. They’ll take pride in themselves and the business and take it to new heights.  We may be too pretty or too dignified for the profession, but let’s give someone else a chance.

Better yet, buy them the book and let them read it and get inspired themselves. Every at risk youth should be introduced to the businesses and principles in this book.  Every individual in prison or on parole should be exposed to these concepts immediately. I strongly feel that this is a book that needs to be in the library of every American, young and old – but especially in the house of every African American.