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How can I help my granny make money?

  • 15-12-2011 9:54pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 356 ✭✭


    My grannies 81 and too old to work a normal job. Her pension is barely enough for her to survive. I wanna help her out but I don't know how. I'm a college student and I don't know how to make money for myself, let alone other people. While shes too old to work, she likes painting and stuff like that so I'm thinking maybe I can help her setup a business selling stuff. I have a fair bit of web building experience so I can setup a professional looking website for her no problem. I have absolutely no business experience though. I don't really know what she can sell either. Can anyone here give me some advice? Shes actually pretty good at painting, I think people would buy her paintings but how would I go about getting customers? I can show her how to make other crafts like pottery and stuff too. Also, she is good at baking cakes and stuff like that. Would there be any money in selling baked goods online? Are there shops that would buy paintings and crafts and stuff from me? This would be killing 2 birds with the one stone because another one of my grannies major problems is she doesn't have much to do and this makes her depressed. It would be brilliant if she could make money selling stuff that she likes making. Can anyone give me some advice on how to go about getting something like this started or suggestions on different things I can do to help my granny start make money? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 489 ✭✭mlumley


    Why not write articals for her local newspaper about her life years ago? What changes she has seen over the times. They way that they used to live. Just an idea.


  • Registered Users Posts: 968 ✭✭✭Chet Zar


    It's nice to be trying to help her out.

    Loads of options. You could sell paintings at craft fairs, local markets, etc. Set up a simple site as you mention and get friends and families to like its Facebook page and spread the word. Word of mouth is great. Also check out a new site called thedesignbasket.com.

    You could post 'gigs' on the likes of QuidsIn.ie - 'I will get my granny to paint you 'x' type of picture - could be novel.

    Loads of options.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,130 ✭✭✭The Apprentice


    Before i even read this post i thought of baking and fresh baking products.. make the woman a brand through hard work and country fairs etc.. If she can crack the local farmers markets and spars centras in the locality she can profit from this bigtime. Altough the latter 2 might be a bit harder, the local farmers markets are easy and a GREAT way to do some market research.. If the product is good you have good income, just keep your costs down and i cant see how you can fail to make a profit..

    Granny smiths Apple pie... etc Get her some fantastic images, logo and you can really work this. It is a workable idea i was dreaming of doing some day to do something like this..

    Uncle bens rice.. Doesnt exist
    Colonol in the Kfc doesnt exist .. both are strong brands..

    I dont see why granny smith cant be a true real life brand with a bit of substance behind it..


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,130 ✭✭✭The Apprentice


    Oh and by the way..

    Even if it wasnt a great money spinner and she broke even or perhpas made €50 on the sat morning for creating 20 pies.. it would be a fantastic business experience/opportunity for you and it gives granny a fantastic sense of achievement.

    It would be a good to bond with her and have a bit of fun doing this also .. even if you dont happen to take over Mr Kiplings business !!

    Fair play.. have fun m8


  • Registered Users Posts: 4 chionle


    Hi,
    There are actually a couple of ways to make money online and offline. You can get her to do some paintings which you can sell over the net or through a brick and mortar shop.

    But you both need to articulate your talents, hobbies, interests and narrow the list down to just a few that inspires you the most.

    You can even write an information product or a downloadable eBook on your area of specialisation and sell it offline or online. This is actually one of the best and cost effective ways to start an online business in particular.

    Next you can create a simple website with a payment solution to enable you collect sales.

    Afterwhich, you start promoting your interests and products by writing articles, google adwords, word of mouth etc.

    Hope you find this useful and regards.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 293 ✭✭YouBuyLocal


    Etsy.com, Zibbet.com, Fondelifair.ie, Artfire.com, etc, etc

    Good luck, if you can sell her paintings for her online or at local craft markets fair play :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 356 ✭✭BogMonkey


    Thanks for the replies.
    mlumley wrote: »
    Why not write articals for her local newspaper about her life years ago? What changes she has seen over the times. They way that they used to live. Just an idea.
    She wanted to write a book on her life a while ago but shes dyslexic so she was gonna get me to type it for. I'm gonna look into it and see if my local newspaper will buy articles like this.
    Chet Zar wrote: »
    You could sell paintings at craft fairs, local markets, etc. Set up a simple site as you mention and get friends and families to like its Facebook page and spread the word. Word of mouth is great. Also check out a new site called thedesignbasket.com. You could post 'gigs' on the likes of QuidsIn.ie - 'I will get my granny to paint you 'x' type of picture - could be novel.
    I'm gonna look into craft fairs, thanks. Ireland is a tourist hotspot so I'm wondering if I should suggest that she start making Irish/Celtic style crafts which tourists would be likely to want as souvenirs. I'd say tourists would prefer a handmade craft to a cheap, factory made item that can be bought anywhere in the world (such as the kind of things they sell in the souvenir shops in Dublin). Thanks for the links, I'd say my granny would gladly paint (or mold) things requested by people.
    If she can crack the local farmers markets and spars centras in the locality she can profit from this bigtime. Altough the latter 2 might be a bit harder, the local farmers markets are easy and a GREAT way to do some market research.. If the product is good you have good income, just keep your costs down and i cant see how you can fail to make a profit..
    The local farmers market happens to be a 2 minute walk from her house. I suggested this idea to her but she is pessimistic about it, she thinks that because there is already a person who sells baked goods there, nobody else can do it. I'm gonna just do it anyway and see how it goes. In fact, she makes this biscuit cake that everyone loves (I'm getting cravings for it just thinking about it), I'm gonna get her the supplies and ask her to make a large batch of it and I'll bring it down to the farmers market and see if anyone buys it. I probably need a license or some kind of permission to do this though so I'll have to figure that out first.
    chionle wrote: »
    But you both need to articulate your talents, hobbies, interests and narrow the list down to just a few that inspires you the most. You can even write an information product or a downloadable eBook on your area of specialisation and sell it offline or online. This is actually one of the best and cost effective ways to start an online business in particular.
    Brilliant idea. I have loads of hobbies and know that some of them are hard to practice in Ireland without ordering the materials from overseas websites. The one I have in mind is soap making. Since I'm a chemistry student, I have a deep understanding of the science behind it so I could easily write an informative guide on it and come across as an authority on the subject. There are plenty of other hobby/craft type fields I could get into and would have a huge headstart due to my knowledge of chemistry. I've wanted to do something like this myself for a while. This is perfect. Its win win for everyone. My granny would be real happy that shes doing something productive and since I'd be working with her, that would solve (partially at least) her loneliness problem (she told me a while ago that she gets very lonely since her husband is dead and all other family members have moved out of her house) and I will be gaining some business experience as well as using my chemistry knowledge to do something that would be far more difficult without it. My granny says she'll get into pottery and clay modeling and since both of those fields involve chemistry, I'll be happy to learn all about them and start some kind of business involving these fields. Most people who practice these hobbies aren't chemists, so if I write informative articles on them, I'll provide in depth info that can't be found elsewhere. Thanks for all the advice, I have loads of good ideas to get something going now.


  • Registered Users Posts: 952 ✭✭✭shangri la


    Put an offer up on groupon/city deal/living social

    send in a photograph and she will paint it


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,849 ✭✭✭condra


    She could make one minute endorsement videos on Fiverr, promoting anything at all for 5 dollars a pop.

    Her profile name could be “Irish Granny”, and people would love her.

    Once she got busy, she could do 10 videos an hour easy. She might need a bit of help uploading the vids, but I guarentee she would be mad popular on Fiverr, especially with people promoting risqué products and services.

    Prerequsites:
    She has a sense of humour, a good poker face, and a webcam.

    I would gladly be her first client.


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