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Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

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Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#521

Post by ynac »

cmonnow wrote: post #492
ynac wrote: post #109

* Act as a standby for dish pits at the local restaurants - filling in only when someone doesn't show since I don't want to take what could be a lifeline job for someone AND having a standby like me means they can keep their job instead of just being a no-show * Write articles for other people - usually on topics I really don't have a lot of knowledge or feeling about to start. * Mow lawns - I'm allergic to grass. Bu…

> Labor - the harder the better how/where do you find such work ?

Just walking or driving around town. I've helped a couple get a refrigerator in their house - somehow the delivery service left it in their driveway. Weeded without asking - parking strips, or other parts of property not near the windows or house. I'm always on the lookout in winter for a stuck car that needs shoving.

Since it's Spring, offer to help older folks get their garden going. Once things are planted they can usually manage well enough.

If you live where people dig pools often, sometimes it's easier to shovel than Bobcat - noise issues with neighbors, restricted space, etc. Excellent work if you can get it.

Neighborhood websites around here usually have someone asking for some sort of physically demanding help. Today, for example, someone is asking for help clearing their 10 acre property of limbs that fell off during the winter storms. One could not only pile them up but also bow saw them into kindling.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#522

Post by muzani »

jacknews wrote: post #8
muzani wrote: post #2

I did a coffee kiosk once. It went well, but required a large amount of energy and focus. We did a little twist on the business model. Starbucks sells nice places to sit down. We sold drugs. The model, from logo design to promotions, was designed to create a habit loop where people would get their morning coffee from us. It was so profitable that I seriously considered making it my full time career, expanding cafes a…

It was hugely profitable but you had problems with people you were paying minimum wage?

Note that I mean profitable comparing to a developing country tech job, not to Silicon Valley standards. Also most of the profit is if you scale it to multiple spots.

One cup made about $3* unit profit. We sold 75-300 cups a day. $5k to $20k of profit a month to start with, 5 days a week. Rent is about $1k. So let's say $4k-$19k, with it more likely being around $6k/month.

Peak hours were 6-7 AM, 12 noon, 7 PM and it takes an hour to open and close. We can't miss any of these periods, and often have lines too long to manage. But that's a 14 hour shift or two 7-8 hour shifts.

To sell 100-200 cups, the minimum team size is two, because people get sick, go to the bathroom, pick up kids, etc.

If someone wants to do an 8 hour shift, that boils down to an average value of $1500/month. If they can do 14 hour shifts, we could pay them $3000 instead, but we lose some benefits of redundancy. I'd be paying 2x for a 1.8x gain or so.

Scaling the company means more quantity. If I had 5 kiosks, I could negotiate 10% better prices and push the 20% margin to 30%. My $3 profit margin becomes $4.50. I can give raises, but not double salary.

Let's say salary and rent totals $5000/month. At 1 kiosk, we'd take home about $1000 on an average month, lose $1000 on a bad month, take $10000 on a good month. If I paid them 20% more, that makes it $-2k/$0/$9k. There's a huge incentive to pay as little as possible.

If we expand to 5 coffee spots, it becomes more like $1.5k/$4k/$9k per kiosk because of economy of scale. Multiplied it would be $4.5k per month pessimistically, $20k realistically, $45k per month optimistically. Scale to 20 or 200 spots, and it does become hugely profitable.

In the tech world, if you pay 2x, you'll often bag a 3x programmer. Quality scales very well with salary. The output also scales.

With coffee, not so much - we sold great coffee at low wages, the kind that people come in skeptical and end up buying two cups a day, or take a bus from the other faculties just to buy. If we improved quality by a lot more, I doubt they would buy three cups a day instead.

* not actual dollar value, just normalized for simplicity

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#523

Post by 55555 »

iamleppert wrote: post #468

Probably going to be downvoted, but I do adult webcam stuff, mostly with private already established regular clients. My net profit can be as high as $1200 per week, $800 on the low side, for a few hours of “work”. I generally use it as a fall-back income when I’m in-between tech jobs but I do it if I’m employed or not to keep my paying client list fresh for when I need it. I could make a lot more, I have a “cam frie…

You are a guy? Does most of your revenue come from men? Are you gay or bi? Just clarifying for others that this may not be a realistic or enjoyable option for them, lol...

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#524

Post by muzani »

danvoell wrote: post #18
muzani wrote: post #2

I did a coffee kiosk once. It went well, but required a large amount of energy and focus. We did a little twist on the business model. Starbucks sells nice places to sit down. We sold drugs. The model, from logo design to promotions, was designed to create a habit loop where people would get their morning coffee from us. It was so profitable that I seriously considered making it my full time career, expanding cafes a…

Are you willing to share more about successful strategies or process? Email in profile.

I'd be happy to share. But your email address doesn't seem to be in profile. If my responses in the other comments haven't answered your questions, feel free to email me.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#525

Post by jimmydddd »

RaceWon wrote: post #496
fabricexpert wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seems a tad unethical

Take a close look at the USA Hospital (/Healthcare) business model. No payment of property taxes ("Hey, we're a non-profit--nothing to see here"). They get all kinds of Free labor ("Volunteering is good for the community"). They solicit and receive Every manner of donation under the Sun ("We're a Non-Profit; please help us out"). They Make Billions and Billions of dollars... just sayin

All true. Which makes it hard to understand how so many hospitals are in financial trouble. Like you said, low taxes, volunteers, donations, and charging $600 for an aspirin -- and many can't stay afloat. Strange.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#527

Post by ausjke »

dplgk wrote: post #88
october_sky wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clever. Do you have the intention to make more replacement parts for other products?

The hard part is finding appliances that need fixing. This is super easy if you happen to own a lot do things that break. If not, it becomes quite boring and tedious to scout out things that are breaking for other people, that you have no personal motivation to fix, to get the broken appliance and then figure out the 3d model for the bad part.

someone needs to make wheels for those luggage suitcases, some wheels broke while the case is still good.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#528

Post by conductr »

aiisjustanif wrote: post #210
abakker wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are certainly allowed to buy a car, fix it, and sell it.

Not at a profit, iirc correctly. Taxes and dealer license comes into play.

You can call the profit your labor cost and break even in the governments eyes.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#529

Post by greyskull »

agumonkey wrote: post #362
heywire wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use a super cheap hand grinder I bought off amazon (the stainless steel one that there are 100 different variations of on amazon). There is a plastic part that breaks after about 6 months of usage. Someone modeled and uploaded a replacement piece to Thingiverse. The grinder is cheap enough that it is disposable, but since it is so easy to print a replacement piece with my $179 3D printer, I haven’t needed to throw…

Anecodte: Bought an old one for my aunt, but it was dirty and rusty. Polished it, but I just learned some parts might be Cadmium coated. What a bore.

Out of curiosity and ignorance, why is cadmium significant?

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#530

Post by skypather »

sidcool wrote: post #501

My core money making project is to learn literate investing . Some good long term investments in liquid, equity bonds can result in upto 18% annualized returns. I am not very well versed with direct stock investing. The risks are just too great for me.

Would you mind share some resources you learned about the investment?
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