Entrepreneurship... Want to play a Game?

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   In college my favorite class I took was an elective called entrepreneurship. This class was amazing as it really opened the students minds to making money in an unconventional way. Typically if you want to buy something you have to go get a job... Save up, and when you have enough then go buy it. So people wait to chase their dreams as they think they have to have _______ before they can start...  

This class changed the way many of the participants think about money as it forced them to realize that money isn't just something that allows you to buy something. It can also be viewed as seeds. 

And the more seeds you plant, the more money you can get back as you harvest those seeds. 

I have always been interested in buying and selling stuff (I've had the "Free Enterprise" moniker since I was 16). I used to dumpster dive in grade school for stuff to sell in class. I went to Woodward BMX camp with a worn out bike, two bags of homemade cookies and $30. I left two weeks later with a brand new top of the line bike, tons of stickers (currency in the BMX world) and $300... All from trades I had made. One trade involved over 30 people and I had the entire trade figured out before I started the first deal. I did the whole trade with everyone involved in under 4 hours. (it took about a week to plan it all, and get verbal agreements with all parties)

I always had some money making project going. When I was 8 I was selling about $30 a week in toothpicks... that I would soak in flavors at home and sell in class. Cinnamon, wintergreen, and spearment. 3 for $.25 or 15 for $1.00. Just about every kid in school could be seen with a toothpick hanging out of their mouths. 

I also started a lawn mowing service, painted numbers on curbs, sold candy, and was designing and printing t-shirts to pay for my "fun" money in college. 

My birthday was a few weeks ago, and I got cash... Like most people who instantly think, "what can I buy". I thought the same thing, except my thought had a little more...

"What can I buy that I can sell, and double this money"!

So I turned that $60 into $90 in the two two weeks since, and I got to thinking. The reason that class was so good, was that we were forced into taking some of our own money and figuring a way to make money from it... 

The teacher turned it into a contest. Whoever got the highest return won, and would have bragging rights. 

And, man was everyone competitive to see who could "make" the most in the next two months. 

Each person had to keep track of their expenses, and their profits. You were allowed to use investors, as long as you paid them back what they put in, with their promised profit. 

Who ever made the most cash by the end won. 

Does the T&O forum want to play?

If you want in, just post on this thread. Personally, I am going to start with $30. Because everyone can come up with $30 to mess with pretty easily. I plan on trying to make a minimum of $300 off of this $30 in the next two months. I have some idea's and I will be watching craigslist for deals that I can "turn" for a quick profit. 

Nothing illegal, and keep track of all your expenses, as they come out of your profit. (just like the real world). 

Some ideas are...

make and sell some artwork, food, candy, detail auto's, cut grass, paint, make a product and sell it, find something you know about on craigslist and sell it, or offer your fixing services to your friends, wash windows... The key is to make a profit and do the work yourself, or hire people to do it for you.

but, you have to document on this thread, each purchase and what you did to it. If you purchased something years ago, and now you want to sell it, you can, but the original cost goes against your profit... unless you got it for free. 

Shoot, look at the garbage on the side of the road... I've found all kinds of stuff that I have sold there over the years. 

So, I bring you the T&O CASH challenge.

Who is in?