As a project for my finance class, how would you legally make money starting from zero?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd start a TikTok account, become a MAGA influencer, get a job in the administration and skim taxpayers' money (in a legal way of course, just like the other ones in the administration).

This is close to the way. As a middle aged woman I'm not aure I could go the TikTok route given that starting from $0 would mean I couldn't get the hair style, plastic surgery, etc. But I think going the Susie Wiles route of being the competent operations person making the grift happen would work, and I suspect I could find a way in with a couple "liberal with liberal PhD converts to conservatism!!" fluff pieces. They're not hiring the best and brightest.

[Anonymous]

Don’t listen to people saying social media or OF. I’ve worked in both, unless you are extremely hot, it will take 2-3 years until you make $100k (and even then you’re spending 60+ hours a week on content creation).

The absolute fastest way to make money is sales. You have a couple options:

1. Get hired by a company to be a sales rep. They provide training and scripts to follow. You’ll likely be making 100+ calls a day. It’s hard but good money, I’ve worked for places where their sales reps made $300-400k a year literally at home in their PJs.

2. Sell your own service. I did this. I took a course on how to do email marketing, wrote up some spec pieces (basically “fake” emails for other companies I never worked for), then spent several hours a day pitching it to companies. This is harder in that you have to learn both a new skill plus how to sell, but easier in that you can literally get started right away instead of waiting to get hired.

Although, if you’re a good looking young white guy, you can absolutely BS your way into getting “investors” to give you money. I know a guy who would whip up a pitch deck, present to a bunch of old rich guys, and they’d literally throw money at him because he came across as intelligent and attractive. And I guess he was smart, he knew all these tricks to make his projects look legit.

[Anonymous]

I’d become a private college counselor and essay coach— I learned on dcum that some people make $200k doing this! I went to top schools and made my career as a writer (journalism, speechwriter, comms). Back in the day, I wrote winning grad school essays for friends, and never took payment. Come to think of it, I’m not sure why I don’t do this now… except my own junior doesn’t listen to my college advice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would sell homework papers to lazy high school students. Then I would ask people for free answers on internet forums.

In the age of ChatGPT?

Proofreading as a career

[Anonymous]

GoFundMe

[Anonymous]

Dog walking business or an after school babysitting service.

Kid down the street makes $60 a day watching dogs overnight and has up to 5 at any time. $60x5x7 days a week= $2100 a week.

[Anonymous]

Washing cars at a customer's home

Power washing houses/patios

Dog walking

House cleaning

No marketing costs needed, just solicit in your neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Tutor middle and high school students.

Write a book.

Take portraits.

(these are all things i've done for money).

[Anonymous]

lol to people who think they can write a book and make money

[Anonymous]

Adam Shepard did this. After graduating college, he started with $25 and took odd jobs. After 10 months, "he had moved into an apartment, bought a pickup truck, and had saved around $5,300."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scratch_Beginnings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd love to say I'd sew some tomato seeds and open a farm shop.
.

Do you mean "sow"?

No, I plan to use tomato seeds to sew decorations onto gardening clothes. Also tomato seed jewelry.

[Anonymous]

Be the live-in help providing night time elder care. Room and board covered plus salary. Use your savings from the first two years to train as a nurse.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s important to recognize that this is actually impossible if you’re truly starting from $0. I’m assuming that means you have no home, no computer, no phone, just the clothes on your back.

You’re going to have to go sleep in a homeless shelter. You can go maybe two days with no food - you’ve got to prioritize getting some food at the beginning. So that means going to a food pantry. But you have no money and no car, so you’re walking and thus can only take what you can carry back to the shelter. You need a source of income immediately to do things like wash your clothes. Even if you can get hired immediately as a waiter, you aren’t bringing money in for at LEAST two weeks and that’s if everything goes perfectly. You have to get hired, they probably at least do a background check, so your start date is generally a week away at the earliest, the first week is training so no tips and it’s takes a week to process your first paycheck. At least at the start of week two, you’d have some cash tips.

But how are you surviving those first two weeks? You need food, transport to and from work, probably a uniform, you need to wash your clothes (they’ll fire you if you come in dirty or smelly). I’m assuming you can at least shower for free at the homeless shelter.

You will have no choice but to beg/panhandle to survive for at least the first two weeks. And that’s assuming everything goes perfectly. You know how hard it is to get a job that fast? And how are people going to contact you to tell you you have the job if you have no phone? Good luck getting hired anywhere giving out the homeless shelter phone number on job applications.

Truly having nothing and starting from there is impossible without breaking the law.