Page 200 - The $100 Startup_ Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love

dumpster was completely out of commission, and customers received a notice:
“We regret to inform you that Copley Trash Services will not be open this
Friday. We will perform an extra pickup on Sunday instead. Have a great day!”
Another time, a leaky garbage bag created difficulties for ten-year-old Hannah,
so a customer notice went out titled “Important Things to Know about Your
Trash.”‡

Spencer and Hannah had created recurring income of $25 a week, a
substantial preteen wage that was spent in three ways: Ten percent went out as a
tithe to an orphanage they had been visiting on the weekends, and 40 percent
was put in reserve as a puppy saving fund for when they returned to their home
in Washington State. The remaining 50 percent was used for discretionary
purchases, often video games for sale on the local aftermarket and Snickers bars
at the snack bar.

The business hit a rough patch when Spencer and Hannah, along with their
parents, went home to Washington State on a three-month leave. They didn’t
want to lose their customer base while they were away, so they decided to turn
the business over to two other children also living on the ship. Unfortunately, the
new management was not nearly as diligent about the business as Spencer and
Hannah. Service was intermittent: Some days the trash would not be picked up at
all, with no notice or explanation. Many customers opted out of their weekly
subscription and returned to carrying out their own garbage again. Among the
customers who stayed, bill collection and revenue declined due to administrative
oversights. Without an active manager like Spencer and without a One-Page
Partnership Agreement, the business suffered greatly in the absence of its
founders.

Who says you’re just one person? You can hire an army of virtual assistants to
do your bidding. You can carefully pursue partnerships with the goal of having 1
+ 1 = 3 or more. You can grow the business by reaching more prospects with the
same message, or like Nathalie Lussier (the Raw Foods Witch), you can reach
out to a whole different crowd while retaining your existing business.

Just don’t open a sandwich shop with someone else’s name on it. A better way
is to franchise yourself.

KEY POINTS
By leveraging skills and contacts, you can be in more than one place at the

same time. Strategies to do this include outsourcing, affiliate recruitment,
and partnerships.
Use the hub-and-spoke model of maintaining one online home base while