“You can not help everyone, some people simply have spending or personal finance habits that are unresolvable”
This is the very first instillment of the all new “outside the box thinking” concept that is brand new to Studenomics. Every week on Tuesday I will bring up an idea that many people have most likely not thought about and try to get an engaging conversation going. I am not saying that I agree with the idea, that it is ethically acceptable or that I have tried it. I am just stating an alternative idea that may not have been brought up before on other personal finance blogs.
This week the unique idea that I will discuss is Making Money Off Your Friends. I know that right off the bat this sounds like it could be unethical but hear the idea out. Chances are you have tried to help your friends out over the years by offering them solid personal finance advice, but they simply have decided to not accept it. Instead of trying to help improve your friends’ personal finance situation, try a totally different tactic. Try making money off your friends. After you do make sure that you let them know and hopefully they will open their eyes and realize how simple it could be to potentially earn money. Enough of the introduction, it is time to discuss the best methods for making money off your friends!
1. Sell stuff.
This may seem too simple but there are 3 easy ways to sell stuff to you friends:
a) Become a wholesaler. If any of your friends possess a financial weakness, such as smoking cigarettes, purchasing certain brands of clothing frequently, or purchasing junk food every day, then this method is for you. Whatever the product is go out and buy it in bulk. Once you have a huge quantity of this product convince your friend that you want to sell it to them. You could even offer a lower price if you would like to.
b) Become a middle man. If any of your friends is about to purchase a large item that they do not have all the money for at the moment then you could purchase the item. Assuming you have a decent sum of money and that you truly trust the person then go ahead and make the purchase. Once you make the set purchase you could sell it to your friend at a price that includes a profit.
c) Sell your old stuff. As simple as it sounds this often gets overlooked. Whether it be textbooks, a vehicle, lawn equipment, tools, etc. Why not sell your old stuff to someone that you know will take care of it?
2. Rent Property.
If you are an ambitious young person that has been able to save tons of money or just born into the right family, then you could invest in a condo or any rental property and then rent it out to one of your friends. Wouldn’t you rather know who the tenant is than some random person?
3. Sell your services.
No nothing unethical will be mentioned here for all of you young people with dirty minds. By services I am referring to anything that you are truly great at that your friends could benefit from. Some obvious ideas that come to mind are tutoring services, manual labour, repairs, consulting, or maybe even helping them set up a blog.
What do you think? Have you ever tried this or are you totally against involving friends with money?
Before I bought my house I rented from a friend. I’m an excellent tenant so that arrangement worked out well for both of us. I would imagine late payments and poor upkeep might tend to strain a friendship.
My primary client is one of my friends. Again, I do good work and they pay well so that works out well. Were the reverse true for either of us, I suspect the friendship would suffer.
I’m not to sure about the efficacy of the other suggestions!