Welcome to Ghost Business 👻 Your Tuesday & Friday email, where we turn $1 into thousands building these weird but simple side hustles

Be where the rich people are

Story Time

When I graduated from college I had:

• No plan

• No prospects

• No money

• No nothin 😢 

But there’s one thing someone told me that always stuck in my mind. And it’s this:

“Be where the rich people are”.

So I decided to work at the front desk at a high end gym and be where the rich folks were.

During this time, the gym was going through a remodel getting rid of some of the older equipment to buy new ones (smaller businesses typically don’t have staff to deal with getting rid of their old stuff so they usually pawn it off on their employees at a discount or hire an outside firm to assist.

One morning I get into the gym, open my email and see they are getting rid of a bunch of equipment. They say they will let it go for 50% to employees and if there’s anything left, they will sell it full price to the public.

Like seeing a hairy spider come out of your coffee mug first thing in the morning, I jumped immediately 🕷️

I replied “I’ll take everything”.

Now… if you recall… This is also coming from the same guy that said “I had no plan and no nothin”, so why was I signing up to acquire ten grand worth of equipment? (while also only making $12/hr)

I know a deal when I see one 😎 

So the first half of that day I went around taking pictures of all the equipment they were planning on selling. I posted them on craigslist (this is pre-facebook marketplace and offer up) for the full price and some witty captions. Something like:

“who needs a bakery with buns like these - professionally maintained stairmaster ($1200)”

I knew I had until the end of the day to come up with the money to pay for the equipment.

(I had a back up plan if I couldn’t find any buyers, I’ll share that later 😉 )

My co-workers had a field day - they couldn’t believe it.

By the end of the day, I hadn’t spent a dime and had $10k in cash. I gave $5k to the gym for my “discount” and pocketed the other $5k.

Easiest money I’ve ever made 🤷‍♂️

If you’ve made it this far, here’s the lessons from this little endeavor.

1. Ask for forgiveness. Co-workers were worried we weren’t allowed to do this. I didn’t ask for permission. I got the equipment off the gyms “to do list” and they got their cash.

2. Yes, risks exist. Every time I post ideas just like this people say “well, what about this thing or that thing” feeling like it should be 100% sure shot. Nothing is 100% and if it was, you’d probably think it was a scam.

3. Learn in flight. The best way to figure stuff out is when your back is against the wall and you have no other option. As long as the alternative is not death, you’ll probably be fine.

4. Have an escape plan. So you might be wondering “Mike, what would you do if you couldn’t find any buyers?”. Great question: I had a sob story in my back pocket ready for action. My friend/dog/car/aunt/big toe had a VERY sad accident and unfortunately I can’t come up with the funds needed. They would’ve only lost one day of not selling stuff and I burn my “get out of jail free” card.

Viability:

1 [building spaceships] 🚀 to 5 [easy peasy] 😊 

Just do it… Nike has a point here. Often, financial risks are not THAT bad. Take a risk and go for it. You’ll definitely learn something along the way and have the opportunity to make some money in your journey.

(As usual each business will have it’s own setbacks, and it’s all about the execution and consistency rather than just having the idea 😉)

It’s a great day to be great!

Love, Mike 👋