This business model is one that I personally used for a long time.

The simplicity of this method of earning money and the fact that you are extremely mobile makes it a great business for someone than needs to start up a small business.

What this business idea is.

You use a very fine pointed pen to write someone’s name onto a grain of rice.

Then you place that grain of rice into a small glass tube, fill it with oil and then glue a plug into the top.

Finally you fit a metal cap and hang it onto a leather thong or chain.

You would place some samples on a table or display board for visitors to your stall to see and choose from.

There are very often glass blowers that will make up very high quality glass forms to give you variety to offer the buyers. I had some brilliant shapes, like dolphins, crosses, round balls and teardrop type styles. You were able to charge more for the patterned ones like putting two names of lovers into a heart shaped holder.

Now that is the very basic outline of the business model.

The fun starts here, as I am not a very normal business marketer, and I feel that there is always scope for tweaking and growth.

So the very first thing that I did was to offer a second style where I also did full designs onto a bigger grain of pasta rice. Because this grain was bigger it allowed me to do a huge amount more onto the surface of the grain. Naturally the novelty of the grain of rice being written on made a big impact, but when faced with a “novelty” option or a more detailed picture option, the colorful one was always the winner.

Now this gives you a huge amount more scope to develop your product. You can do examples with multiple intertwined hearts with the names inside. You can place different items into the oil to complement the grain. A good example was a mustard seed with a religious quote placed together. Another example would be a picture of an elephant on the grain with a small piece of veldt grass added.

Over time I thought up hundreds of good examples. What I would then do was to prepare stock before hand, and then when visitors appear at your stall you will have a stand on display with a couple of hundred of prewritten samples. You can write the popular bands and stars that are popular, you can write popular name brands and big iconic things.

Crafter | Flea Markets | work from home moms

The options will keep coming to you because guests will spend time looking through your stock and then they will get an idea and tell you about it.

Creating a vibe around your stall is a skill all on its own that can double your sales, and done correctly you can easily earn a living from this business model.

Crafter | Flea Markets | work from home moms

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rob@designsmith.co.za