How to get rich with credit card debt
July 2, 2006 | Filed Under credit cards, You've gone to the finest schools allright, Start ups, Entrepreneurship, Practical tips | 10 Comments
I attended a class of “Entrepreneurship” a few years ago. The lecturer mentioned some untraditional ways of funding your start-up. When traditional ways of acquiring capital like bank loans, angel investors or venture capital failed there are always opportunities for the creative entrepreneur. He told us that he knew a few entrepreneurs that started their companies with the help of credit card debt.
Examples of credit card money making ideas you can use straight away
Get started in the world of credit card debt start ups with these examples:
Idea #1: Selling on E-bay
Buy cheap goods from China. Pay with your credit card. Get the goods. Unload it on eBay. Pay credit card debt. Repeat.
Idea #2: Early bird, buy airline tickets from low cost airlines
There are a few times every year when low cost airlines release new routes and tickets. Subscribe to their e-mail lists and you will get informed when this is happening. Then you pull out your card, buy all the cheap tickets available. You wait a few weeks or months and start selling them with a healthy profit. A ticket that costs £10/$18 6 months in advance may cost £50/$90 a few weeks before departure. Your price must be a bit below the cost of buying it directly from the airline in order to attract buyers to “unknown you” instead of big safe low cost airline. It is a matter of trust, but price can compensate.
The window of opportunity for this idea is closing fast due to increasingly hefty fees from airlines for changing the names on the tickets.
Word of warning: Only use credit cards to buy money making assets
If you are using credit cards you are likely to get an annual interest on the debt of 15-25%. It is essential to buy money making assets that have the potential to create a profit, so that you can pay back your debt as fast as possible. Keep the fancy cars or computers to a minimum.
Boring politically correct people
June 29, 2006 | Filed Under You've gone to the finest schools allright, Practical tips | Leave a Comment
The job interview. Usually no way to get filthy rich, but we all have experienced it.
I want to add something about “political correctness.” In some jobs (marketing for example) you may get questions where it is tempting to give the boring political correct answer. If you have strong opinions on a matter I would not like to keep those opinions down. Explain your position, even if you may be a minority.
Honest people stand out, there is enough of bland people out there.
Other interesting posts to look at:
Excellent blog post about non bullshit ways to impress at the interview
How to fail properly?
June 25, 2006 | Filed Under You've gone to the finest schools allright | Leave a Comment
Memories from University days:
- Ohh… I am so busy.. got a lot of things to do.. I can not cope with all my assignments..
- Why?
- I got the part time job, my interview next week.. need to prepare.. also, I need time to sleep as well!
Lack of determination and poor time management skills seem to be all around you when you are at University. But not everything is as depressing as it seems. Students tend to talk about it like other people talk about the weather.
If you are going to do something, do it properly, or do not bother at all. This story from a Professor sums it up beautifully: “The student finished the class with a high 50 out of 100. An F. A waste of time in my opinion. If you are going to fail, then fail with a 20 or 30.”