Read on Twitter
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Getting rich recycling cardboard boxes.
@samsesin, @RussellLowery10, @girdley, @johnwelter, @veronikathejoy
Getting rich recycling cardboard boxes.
@samsesin, @RussellLowery10, @girdley, @johnwelter, @veronikathejoy
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I guess you’d call this a @sweatystartup before it was cool.
My wife’s aunt got rich by starting and selling two cardboard box re-selling businesses. Here’s who she was and how she did it.
A little about her aunt.
I guess you’d call this a @sweatystartup before it was cool.
My wife’s aunt got rich by starting and selling two cardboard box re-selling businesses. Here’s who she was and how she did it.
A little about her aunt.
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She had a tough childhood. Broken family. Moved frequently. High school dropout. GED. No college education. Several marriages and what you’d call “a colorful life.”
She is also whip smart. The first to call BS on anyone and she laughed generously and loud.
She had a tough childhood. Broken family. Moved frequently. High school dropout. GED. No college education. Several marriages and what you’d call “a colorful life.”
She is also whip smart. The first to call BS on anyone and she laughed generously and loud.
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She’s lived most of her whole life on the West Coast - first in CA and then in WA.
One day in the mid-80s she and her husband needed boxes to move and she was outraged by how expensive they were.
She’s lived most of her whole life on the West Coast - first in CA and then in WA.
One day in the mid-80s she and her husband needed boxes to move and she was outraged by how expensive they were.
So instead they drove to the back of the local grocery store and grabbed the broken down boxes that were there.
Instead of taking the few boxes they needed, they filled their car because what she saw piled by the trash was money.
Instead of taking the few boxes they needed, they filled their car because what she saw piled by the trash was money.
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She brought the boxes home, sorted and cleaned them up, and then looked for buyers for what they had.
She quickly found buyers who had no need for pristine boxes and were happy to pay 1/2 retail. Most were single use users so the reduced input cost was pure profit for them.
She brought the boxes home, sorted and cleaned them up, and then looked for buyers for what they had.
She quickly found buyers who had no need for pristine boxes and were happy to pay 1/2 retail. Most were single use users so the reduced input cost was pure profit for them.
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Next she scaled her inventory by contacting every area business offering to take the used boxes. This was pre-recycling days. They thought she was crazy but for her it was like finding money on ground that everyone could see but no one was bending down to pick up.
Next she scaled her inventory by contacting every area business offering to take the used boxes. This was pre-recycling days. They thought she was crazy but for her it was like finding money on ground that everyone could see but no one was bending down to pick up.
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She learned the corrugated CB business. The most profitable sizes. Who need double sided. Who had the largest weekly churn, etc.
She filled her garage, then rented part of a small warehouse. Before long she had a huge warehouse piled 17 ft high what she called stacks of cash.
She learned the corrugated CB business. The most profitable sizes. Who need double sided. Who had the largest weekly churn, etc.
She filled her garage, then rented part of a small warehouse. Before long she had a huge warehouse piled 17 ft high what she called stacks of cash.
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The key to the business was playing middleman. She built accounts by filling need with the supply she knew she could gather. Through trial and error she learned what everyone needed and no one wanted.
And she learned that quickly turning her inventory was like printing money.
The key to the business was playing middleman. She built accounts by filling need with the supply she knew she could gather. Through trial and error she learned what everyone needed and no one wanted.
And she learned that quickly turning her inventory was like printing money.
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Her inventory was free but sorting, cleaning, storing and distributing required capital, workers, fork lifts, and chutzpah which she had it droves.
Business was booming but she had two children at home. So when she was approached to sell she did.
Her inventory was free but sorting, cleaning, storing and distributing required capital, workers, fork lifts, and chutzpah which she had it droves.
Business was booming but she had two children at home. So when she was approached to sell she did.
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It wasn't a massive amount of money by today's standards but more than she ever thought she'd have. She and her husband decided to put a big chunk of the money into a local company getting a ton of press, Microsoft. This wasn't IPO MSFT but not long after they went public.
It wasn't a massive amount of money by today's standards but more than she ever thought she'd have. She and her husband decided to put a big chunk of the money into a local company getting a ton of press, Microsoft. This wasn't IPO MSFT but not long after they went public.
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Fast forward 10 yrs and my wife's aunt and husband were bored. They wanted to start working again. She looked into her old company and saw there was more opportunity in the market so she started the business all over again. Same business plan. Same grind. Same profit margin.
Fast forward 10 yrs and my wife's aunt and husband were bored. They wanted to start working again. She looked into her old company and saw there was more opportunity in the market so she started the business all over again. Same business plan. Same grind. Same profit margin.
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This time around she was doing it for fun and for the challenge. They had the capital so they rented a warehouse and grew the business but the they didn't have the same hunger and from day one she knew she was building it for an exit.
So she maximized for that.
This time around she was doing it for fun and for the challenge. They had the capital so they rented a warehouse and grew the business but the they didn't have the same hunger and from day one she knew she was building it for an exit.
So she maximized for that.
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Fast forward 5 years and she exited again. Happy as a clam and bragging that she just might do it again.
Fin.
Hope you enjoyed this thread. Please follow me if you want to have more content like this and real estate stuff.
Fast forward 5 years and she exited again. Happy as a clam and bragging that she just might do it again.
Fin.
Hope you enjoyed this thread. Please follow me if you want to have more content like this and real estate stuff.
