Award Ticket Booking Service

I am going to start a service where I use your miles to help you book the flights you want. There are other services out there so I know there is a demand for it. Through my extensive studying of points and miles I feel I can offer a valuable service to the public.

After some research I am going to take a slight different approach. Instead of a fixed price service I am going to offer a "pay what you feel like" price tag. This takes the pressure off and allows the customer to pay what they feel is fair for the services rendered.

We shall see how this turns out. I am still in the planning stages of this service.

Anyone want to be my first customer?

Moving Forward: Starting a side business!

I decided today that I am going to take a small leap of faith and see if I can get a successful side business running. I am willing to invest up to $1,000 in the idea to see where it goes. I have evaluated the risks and potential return and think it will be a good long term source of side income.

A friend and I are going to start a small mobile phone software company. We have some ideas for apps already and he has some people asking him to build some apps. He is a programmer by trade. Between his programming and my project management/business skills we can make this work. We are going to get started tomorrow when a new mac mini shows up for a coding workstation and discuss ideas, numbers, and timelines to get the apps to market.

My worst case scenario is that I take some loss on the computer and software I buy. I won't be using all $1,000 right off the bat. The computer is $600 and software $100. That leaves me $300 for other needs if they arise. Most of the investment will be time programming and testing ideas and getting them to market. To start with we are going to rely on word of mouth advertising and luck to get going.

The money earned will go towards paying back the $1,000 invested. Once it has been paid back we will split profits down the middle. We are going to develop for Apple iOS and Android so we have exposure to both markets and even more income possibilities. It will be a slow process before seeing "real" returns but I believe a worthwhile venture. Every extra dollar I make is another dollar towards financial freedom. I am at step 0 right now with many to come!

Vending side business update

It has been a while since I have reported on my vending side business. For those who forgot I own a three-head quarter candy machine on my office building. It sells M&M's, Peanut M&M's, and gumballs. It does pretty well!

Since my last update I have had $78 in gross sales. I am still in red since my original gumball machine was stolen and now I have to recoup costs on 2 machines ($400). Sales have slowed down a bit due to less tenants in the building. I am still making money which is the important thing.

There is a company that trains security guards in the building. They are my number one customer with a high turnover of people who seem to like my candy! The classes have become less frequent and therefore my sales slowed as a result.

I also now have a bit of competition. Another tenant has installed a big snack vending machine that is also popular. He keeps it well stocked and does well too. My main advantage is price. I am 25 cents and he is .55 and up. We sell different things too so we don't have too much direct competition.

At this point I just want to break even but profit is always nice too!