How to Start A Furniture Upcycling Business

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Upcycling is all the rage these days, and for good reason. Upcycling furniture in particular, is a brilliant way to make a little extra money; it is easy to source cheap furniture in charity shops and as long as you find an affordable furniture paint supplier, your outgoings are minimal. It can be a very rewarding job if you enjoy being creative and it means you get to work for yourself which is always a plus. Here, we give you some advice on how to start a successful upcycling business.

Upcycling Techniques

Upcycling furniture isn’t quite as simple as throwing some paint on an old piece of furniture. Once you have found an attractive piece for a nice, low price, you need to prepare it before painting. This includes cleaning it thoroughly inside and out and sanding down any rough areas. You need to invest in some decent quality brushes as well as finding a paint brand you enjoy working with, as this will make all the difference when it comes to the overall finish of your work. Once you have painted the furniture thoroughly, make sure you apply a wax to keep the paint in place and give the furniture an attractive sheen. And finally, when it comes to selling the pieces make sure you present them expertly to highlight their potential to bring a burst of color and beauty to any room.

Organisation

You may enjoy the creative aspect of a business like this but don’t forget that sensible business practices are just as important. You will need to create an attractive and easy to use website as a communication platform for potential customers, and a way of advertising your products. This should have a section in which customers are able to make orders, which needs to be simple and easy to understand. You will also need to provide customer support in case anything goes wrong.
As well as having a competitive pricing strategy, keep your finances in order so that you can make sensible decisions which won’t lead to your business sinking before it can swim. Also, invest in a van so that you can make your own deliveries as this will save you money in the long run. And remember, insurance for your courier van is a legal requirement.

Marketing

As with any business, marketing is the key to your success. Once you have a brilliant product and a system in place for taking and delivering orders, you need to make as many people aware of your company’s existence as possible. Think about the kinds of places you could find your target market for example, homeware trade shows, home interior publications, and popular spots in busy public places, and make sure you have eye-catching adverts to get their attention.

Upcycling furniture can be a very lucrative business to start however, there are basic principles you must follow to ensure that you are successful. You need to learn the correct techniques for the decorating itself, as well as key business principles such as strong marketing and accounting. For more tips on how to make it on your own in the world of start-ups, take a look at diversifiedfinances.com.

The Tragedy of Trading Time For Money

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In our twenties, we don’t tend to worry so much about trading our time for money, as we feel it’s a somewhat unlimited commodity but in truth, life is short and unpredictable and the time we have on earth is so precious, indeed, it’s our most valuable commodity yet we give it away, at times, as if it’s worthless.

The challenge with making more money, is that the conventional way is to trade a unit of time for a unit of money, and as we get older (i.e. more experienced) the amount we are able to charge for our money usually increases.  Yet, this is not based on something as linear as age or experience – it’s based on the value you can create a third party, that is willing to pay you in accordance to the value of that unit of time.

The inherent problem, however, is that no matter much you charge for a unit of your time – from the shop assistant being paid very little to the brain surgeon being paid highly, there’s a limit to how many hours there are in each day or week, meaning there’s an inherent cap to your earning potential.

That’s the ultimate problem when it comes to trading your time for money; there’s only so many hours upon which you can trade – and even the brain surgeon has a limit to how much he or she can charge for each unit of their time.

In the alternative, when you shift your mindset to that of the investor or entrepreneur, you activate the concept of leverage – meaning, you start to leverage assets and systems in order to generate revenue that isn’t contingent on the linear path of trading time for money.

We all know how that if we had invested in bitcoin, a few years ago, using a site such as https://buyandtradecrypto.com that we would now be sitting on a small fortune, yet it’s not just investing in stocks, trades, and currencies that can generate passive income for us… there are a whole heap of opportunities to create an income that doesn’t depend on you trading your time for money, you just need to find them, and the only way to do that is to shift your mindset from the linear focus of trading time for money as an employee (or even self employed business owner).

See, school doesn’t teach us to be wealthy, it teaches quite the opposite – to be a cog in the wheel and “get by” as a worker rather than to make it in life as an entrepreneur.  

The book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki highlights some of the key differences between how the wealthy utilise their time and resources compared to those that are stuck on the treadmill known as the “rat race” where they are trapped trading their time for money.

The wealthy, on the other hand understand the need to take a longer term view and engage the principle of delayed gratification, in that they would prefer to invest in systems and strategies that are like fruit trees, eventually generating fruit in perpetuity, rather than the immediate term benefit of instant reward.

In summary, whilst trading time for money is not a “tragedy” per se, it is limited in terms of its ability to generate a good lifestyle whereas entrepreneurship and investing pave the way to a different financial destination.

Are You Unknowingly Sabotaging Your Credit Score? Here Are 7 Things That May Be Lowering It Without Your Even Knowing

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The credit score that follows your spendings habits follows you for a long time. As BusinessInsider says, “It is used as an indication of trustworthiness by lenders, who use the number as a way to help predict how you’ll treat their credit line based on your financial history.”

That credit score can influence lenders when you apply for a car loan, a home mortgage, a favorable interest rate, and more. You must be making mistakes that affect your score, so are you unknowingly sabotaging your credit score?

Here are 7 things that may be lowering it without your even knowing:

  1. No credit balance. You’d think that having no outstanding balance would be a favorable thing. But, without credit cards, you have no credit background.

If you worry about running up credit card debt that would affect your credit score, you can apply for secured credit card. You must put down some money as collateral for a secured credit card, but it will be convenient for shopping and build a credit record.

  1. Charge-Offs. If you owe money on a credit card and have not made payments for some time, the credit card will decide on a “charge-off” because they have given up on your making your payments.

Your credit score will drop with a charge-off, and the balance after the charge-off remains part of your credit score data.

  1. Co-Signing Loans. When you co-sign a loan for a friend or family member, your credit history is at the mercy of their good payment habits. You would do better to urge them to consider a “bad credit” loan.

Lenders offer “bad credit” loans without the fuss, process, and delays at banks. These type of loans should be taken out only for emergencies. When considering high-interest loans, you must make sure if you can pay back the loan on time.

  1. Nuisance Bills. There are those bills you just don’t think about as debts. For instance, libraries are using credit collection agencies to close in on people who have ignored their late fees.

This is also true of unpaid medical bills and traffic tickets. Any evidence that you do not honor your obligations may affect your credit history.

  1. Credit Card Usage. It’s no surprise that your credit card debt affects the credit record. But, how you use the credit cards and don’t use credit cards can change your score, too.

It might surprise you that trying to rent a car without a credit card will prompt a credit check. And, each credit check affects your score negatively.

Are you unknowingly sabotaging your credit score?

Writing for Forbes, Lauren Gensler says, “You know your credit score is important, but are you clued in on what you might inadvertently be doing to sabotage it?”

Now, everyone has occasionally missed a payment, and most people have been late on payments from time to time. Some people are careless about their obligations, but some simply fall into a credit bind because of unforeseen circumstances and things beyond their control.

Having a low credit score does not mean the end of your world. You can improve it with focus and discipline. But, you should understand what can happen without your even knowing it.