Aside from my normal job stuff, this is the first entrepreneurial test I did. I bought a curb painting kit, which included number and design templates, and lots of spray paint. I got a permit to go door-to-door, and took some kids with me to practice.
It was pretty cool to get the business we got. I think we painted about 30 curbs, although I don’t remember. At one point we were making between $40 and $60 an hour. It was fun with my kids, it was fun to meet neighbors, it was fun making some easy money, and it’s still fun to drive by the curbs I painted and see how good they look.
It wasn’t all peaches, though. One night we went out and got no sales. That sucked.
One time I was painting a curb and the sprinklers came on, so I couldn’t finish just then.
Another time I was painting and the neighbor’s sprinklers came on, which also caused a problem.
My kids got bored after a while, and they stopped wanting to go out (even though they were making money).
After a while I got busy with family responsibilities, and I had some business stuff to take care of with my day job, and I kind of put up the tools.
But heck, $40 – $60 an hour… that’s good money!
In the comments on this page you can see someone said they made 80k a year painting curbs! Crazy!
Jason -
I considered doing that a few years ago. Maybe now that my kids are older I’ll see if they want to do it. Could be a good way for them to learn sales and follow-through.