Small Business Opportunities for FT Professionals

Salaams,

I have been thinking about starting a small business. I started brainstorming and in the process we have formed a local brainstorming group. I though why not I open a thread here so interested guppies can post their ideas, interests, and suggestions here. This way we can come-up with some great ideas and perhaps help eachother out.

Some of the ideas I have are as follows:

Selling on eBay
Online store
Cell phones?
Import/Export
Technical contracting company with all kinds of outsourcing services
Product development (hadrware, software etc)

Please share any idea you may have and give your suggestions as to what really sells best on eBay or where a person can find more information such as obtaining an insurance agent or real estate license etc.

There is no idea good or bad so share anything you like. I am sure there are many guppies who are interested. Since we are all from different geographical locations, there is a great prospect for import/export as well so share anything you like.

Saqib

wsalam

i think selling on ebay is a good idea, i know someone who does that and she makes decent money too and its not tough. u shud do a survey of ebay for some days to see what sells most.

import export is a cool idea...from pak ppl export clothes, and natural food products and stuff usually...i know some ladies take shalwaar kameez from here n sell it in western countries..other ppl export other stuff like rice n hmmm a lot of stuff

offshore development is really big in pak these days too, all big companies have dvlpmt officers here...labor here is much cheaper

Irem you have great ideas. Thanks for sharing them with everyone.

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*Originally posted by irem: *
wsalam

i think selling on ebay is a good idea, i know someone who does that and she makes decent money too and its not tough.
[/QUOTE]

Would you like to share info on hot selling products on eBay?

I am also looking into importing leather products, art & crafts. So if there is anyone who has contacts in Pakistan or India please let me know. My fellow Alumni and I are working on small IT project outsourcing biz and looking for contacts or partners in Pakistan and India.

W'Salam Saqib,

I will state a little of what I have experienced and give you some of my ideas here.

Selling on eBay is a great idea. However you should learn the basics of it including how to avoid scammers before you even partake in any sales. Best to read up whatever eBay says on this. My brother sold on eBay for a year and managed to sustain himself, without any other job, mash'Allah.

Online stores are a good idea if you can manage them. I work for a company right now that is based solely online. They sell on eBay and through their store, and most of the income comes from eBay although with my marketing the site is now getting more exposure (Alhumdulillah). If you are going to do online stores, pick a product that has forum marketing ability. Like we sell tires and rims, and there are literally thousands of forums with thousands or hundreds of members, where I can post and people will gain visibility to the site. Some are free, some are paid, but you can do a paid trial for a month and see the response, and its usually worth it.

Cell phones. You know I used to sell them, hehe. Too cut-throat, and unless you carry the higher end cellphones, and have a contact that gets them in before others do, its going to be difficult to have large profit margins if you dont have a retail outlet. The problem with cellphones is they dont have much staying power, as its an ever evolving technology, that moves very quickly. And price drops are simply huge, and a lot of money can be lost with this. I had three friends with online stores of cellphones. Only one was successful because he lists over 300 cellphones on his site, which most people cant/dont do. The other two dropped out of business. I know another guy, he has a very good contact in China where he gets the newest stuff in first, so he makes a killing on eBay. If you have the right contact, then you can make a lot. I personally would suggest another product.

Import/Export, great idea if you have the right product and reliable contacts. I have good contacts depending on what country it is you would like to import from, and what product. And my contacts also have contacts. My contacts are in Singapore, Dubai, Germany and India.

Product development is a good idea if you have the financial backing. If not, start with other peoples products.

Those are my two cents. Let me know if you have any questions for me.

I myself have started working on another side business, but its something that many people probably wouldnt want to try. Can tell you in PM. PM me with any questions if you have any.

Saqib my friend was selling clothes but thats coz she's a girl and she is more into those things.

Other than that I think there is a thread in Baz section about ebay, infact more than one thread, chek em out

I could point you in some direction [from whatever little i know] about how to gather offshore developers in pak...the risk with that is that you need someone who is reliable and professional...its good to have a small office in pak where u have an incharge whom u know personally who can oversee things...everything can be managed on the net...the thing is though, do u have a market in the us where u can sell the product?