BOOTSTRAP BUSINESSES

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My first week on the job was pretty rough going, because I really didn't know what to look for or where to look for it. However, I kept referring to MOTHER's article ... and before long I began to get the hang of my new trade. Soon I was specializing in nonferrous metals (such as copper, brass, lead, and aluminum) ... since my hauling vehicle was a car rather than a heavy-duty pickup truck. (Nonferrous metals sell for an average of 20¢ to 50¢ per pound, in contrast to their ferrous counterparts ... which usually pay only about 2¢ per pound. It would take a few thousand pounds of Iron scrap to equal the profits I can make hauling several hundred pounds of the lightweight materials.)

In addition, I learned to scan hillsides ... follow clean-up and pick-up routes ... and frequent garages, filling stations and dumping locations In my searches. In no time I was averaging $10 to $12 per hour ($14 to $16 during the warmer weather) and on several occasions I've pulled In as much as $50 per hour!

In the summers my nine-year-old son accompanies me on my excursions ... and helps me to detect metals with his trusty magnet. (My rule of thumb: If it doesn't stick to the magnet, grab it and throw it into the trunk.)

One of the nicest things about my bootstrap business is that the entire family can take part in it. But even better still, it's an inflation-proof operation. The price of scrap metal just keeps on rising!

L. Eugene Humphrey
Pittsburgh, Pa.

I'm a Navy man with five years left to go before my retirement. . . and I've been planning for those "years of leisure" with dreams of buying a small farm in Tennessee. As a result, my wife and I decided that we should set up a part time business to build a nest egg for our future ... so we turned to MOTHER.

Three articles helped pave the way toward our new endeavor-"I Wash Windows ... and Live Like a King" and "Clean Up With a Window Washing Business" in MOTHER NO. 40, page 62 ... and "You Can 'Chan Up' as a Freelance House-cleaner" in MOTHER NO. 47, page 46—as well as a piece called "The House Painting Business" in THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS® Handbook of Home Business Ideas and Plans. Those four write-ups were more than enough to put us to work cleaning and repairing homes!

Our initial investment was only $35, to have business cards and billing statements printed. Then we began advertising—by distributing the cards to all the real estate agencies, paint stores, hardware stores, and lumberyards in our neighborhood—and two days later we had our first job.

Our working tools—for both cleaning and repairing-turned out to be many and varied ... but for the most part they were implements that we (like most do-it-yourselfers) already had on hand. We never bought a special tool unless we'd already been commissioned to do a job that required it ... and then, we would purchase the device and charge it to "material" on the billing statement.

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