How does a DJ have/start a thriving career in this economy?

[Scars]

It's bad enough that the economy is sh!t, it's even worst for me being a convicted felon. It's impossible for me to find a job right now, and it's so frustrating. I am charismatic, hard-working, and intelligent. I can land phone interviews, and face to face interviews, I don't meet too many people that don't like me, but my background is a huge problem. It's something I can't hide from, and it's biting me in the ass, hard.

I'm living off unemployment right now, and money is tight. I'm starting to think maybe an at home business start up is the way to go. The problem is, I don't have a lot of money to invest, but I'm willing to gamble if it seems worth it. I also have no idea what to start or do. I don't feel that any of my hobbies are money makers. I'm interested in a lot of stuff, and I dabble in a lot, but I get bored pretty easily and never really stick with anything. The hobbies I am good at it/actually like, I don't feel I'm skilled enough to charge people for my services. I know basic html, but I couldn't code a whole business website. I play guitar, but I'm not good enough to actually compose my OWN music. I like to draw/sketch, but I'm not good enough to sell a picture that people might actually want. You get where I'm going here?

I don't want to be filthy rich, but I want to be somewhat wealthy. I want to feel comfortable about my financial situation, and I want to build something I'm proud of. I just have no idea what it is yet.

Are there any entrepreneur/self-starters here? How'd you do it?

-Scars

 

[PrettyBoyAJ]

Get your hustle on and make sure your applying for any jobs you see available.

You got to treat looking for a job like High School. You should dedicate 8 hours of your day getting your resume and cover letter right. You should be also be applying and looking for jobs.

Heres some good websites for jobs:

Careerbuilder
Indeed
Monster
USA Jobs
Internship

Make sure to also call places and asks if their hiring. Make sure to talk to a hiring manager or something.

Also you might want to get out on the streets. I'm not advocating you do anything illegal but it could be good money if done correctly.

What did you get a felony for?

 

[Warrior74]

I'm self starting in marketing and design services. It's just a lot of hardwork involved.

I'd get a job if I were you until you have an idea of what you want to do. At least get some revenue in the door, bootstrapping sucks without a few dollars to help.

 

[disgustipated]

My boy was a felon, but he would just lie on his apps. These were just blue collar jobs so I don't think they really put too much effort into background check. One time, a temp service did and questioned him on it...he just said it was close to being expunged and they gave him a job anyway.

 

[Bible_Belt]

I feel your pain. I have about $50k in defaulted government debt, from taking an Army scholarship for my undergrad degree, but then never going into the Army. I think I'd rather be a convicted felon. I can't get any professional license, like cpa, attorney, or stockbroker. Plus, anything I make over about $8/hr, the government is just going to garnish anyway. I have sympathy for illegal immigrants, because I feel like one of them. Although I'm honestly not especially worried about any of these things; I'll just go create wealth that is in the name of someone else or a corp/llc.

A blue-collar trade would be your fastest ticket to a decent income, which is really what you need before you start your own business, so that your living expenses don't kill the business. A good friend of mine is an ex-con who went to jail in Phoenix for driving on a suspended license. But he's a metal worker with a legitimate skill, so none of his employers ever care. He does lathe work, but he told me that welders can always get a job, too. They are notorious for partying like mad for that very reason - getting fired is no big deal.

 

[sodbuster]

A hard worker could make it on the oil rigs around Williston[sp],N.D. They will work you like a dog,but pay you well. A space to live could be a problem.

My brother in law started an upholstery business[he's a felon]. The bigger problem I see is the boredom aspect... in any business, life will get boring-about the time you start making money. You'll need to deal with it or you'll be in the same shape in 5 years

 

[guru1000]

Depending on the conviction, you are going to have a tough time obtaining most professional licenses. And yes, life will be challenging, but if you persevere, you will finish financially stronger than most for having endured what most cannot fathom.

I recommend building your sales acumen and studying the art of the sale diligently. Once you are a proficient salesman, you can market most products/services, and most business models will acquiesce in your favor while your competitors collapse.

If you wish to build a multi-million dollar business, be prepared for 12-14 hour days, 6-7 days a week for the first five years minimum. Service and treat your clients like gold. Burn all exit and back-up plans; and never, never, never accept failure. You must be willing, ready, and able to sacrifice your life for the business. This is how you succeed.

 

[ebracer05]

It's bad enough that the economy is sh!t, it's even worst for me being a convicted felon.

Deal with this. If you want a job or to do anything in your life besides running your own business, it will be much easier if you can get this expunged. I assumed you had some kind of counsel during your court case. If you did, get in touch with them and find out how long you need to wait to file for expungement. If not, find a lawyer and ask them (or PM Brad).

I'm living off unemployment right now, and money is tight. I'm starting to think maybe an at home business start up is the way to go. The problem is, I don't have a lot of money to invest, but I'm willing to gamble if it seems worth it.

You're telling me you can't get a job anywhere? I guess I can relate because I had to apply to about 80 places before I got a job and couldn't even land one in fast food... and I don't have a felony record. But since you're on unemployment and you want extra capital and presumably have a lot of extra free time, your job should be finding a source of income.

I also have no idea what to start or do.

Only you can figure this out. Guys may be able to give you direction, but only you can find the path. You will need to do some serious thinking/soul searching in order to figure this out.

I don't feel that any of my hobbies are money makers. I'm interested in a lot of stuff, and I dabble in a lot, but I get bored pretty easily and never really stick with anything. The hobbies I am good at it/actually like, I don't feel I'm skilled enough to charge people for my services. I know basic html, but I couldn't code a whole business website. I play guitar, but I'm not good enough to actually compose my OWN music. I like to draw/sketch, but I'm not good enough to sell a picture that people might actually want. You get where I'm going here?

This sounds like a big red flag to me, especially what I underlined. Entrepreneurship is consistency. You can't expect to be successful with a start up business and not be consistent. You have to learn how to manage yourself through the boredom and keep making it happen.

I can relate to a lot of what you're saying here. But man, I keep thinking to myself since you're on unemployment, you probably don't have anything to do during the day. Why aren't you cultivating some skill? HTML will not get you a sh*t job these days. You need to know a lot more than you needed to in the past to design websites, including scripting languages and basic graphic design (or know someone who does that). Have you ever thought about teaching guitar lessons? If you are the charismatic person you described, that could be a huge money maker. I was making 600-800 dollars per week off of music lessons, but I had a pretty sophisticated business established.

It sounds like you are disqualifying yourself from everything. I heard a guy say once that we need to be rivers, not floods. Floods are wide and they destroy things. Rivers are narrow and chisel things. You are all over the place man. You need to find a focus and stick with it. You are probably a smart guy, and that's probably your downfall. You are interested in so many different things and are able to understand so many different things that it's hard to find a focus. Well, you need to do it. You will not stop floundering until you do.

I don't want to be filthy rich, but I want to be somewhat wealthy. I want to feel comfortable about my financial situation, and I want to build something I'm proud of. I just have no idea what it is yet.

Everything I said above

Are there any entrepreneur/self-starters here? How'd you do it?

-Scars

You will probably read this in any self help book you pick up about how to run a business. The most important thing, IMO, is getting SPECIFIC about what you want to do. You have to find your niche. You have to be able to look at the market around you objectively and determine whether what you want to do has the potential for solvency. You can't become ego invested to the point to where you can't handle having a bad idea.

You also have to do something you're passionate about. What you are looking for is the intersection of a passion and a niche. You sound like you might also be ADHD or have some sort of attention problem. If you can't stay focused, you will never succeed in a venture like this. I would seriously evaluate myself if I were you and think about whether it would be worth your time to talk to a doctor about ADHD and whether he thinks you should see a psychiatrist about it. The shrinks get a bad rep in society but they specialize in pathologies in the mind. If you do have some sort of focus problem that has roots in a medical indication, you want someone who specialized in that field helping you out, not a general practitioner who would be more reluctant to rx you the drugs you would need anyways.

I have loved so many different thing... I played music, I got in to amateur chemistry, I wrote, I built furniture, I grew plants, I cooked, and every single one of those things and probably more were things I considered leveraging in to a business. Starting a catering business, opening a restaurant, growing culinary herbs and exotic vegetables supplying them to local food industries, building furniture and selling it, writing a book and going on a speaking tour, starting an online sales business, trying to make my band professional. The list goes on man.

What I eventually did however was get very serious about what I wanted to do and thought very seriously about my passions and where I could establish a niche. And I found that intersection. I started up a music lessons franchise... I charged a fee for a music lesson, hired a teacher (usually a college student majoring in music at the university who was already really good and had college credentials... better than that drug addict at the music store) and paid them less than the cost of the lesson. I kept the difference. Usually I think it was $15 per 30 minute lesson and I kept $5 and gave the teachers $10. They made $20 per hour, which is awesome money when you're in college and I made $10 per hour x 1/2 of my total student population. That added up quickly as I developed a large base of students. Like I said I was making 600-800 dollars a week. There was a f*cking lot more than that that went in to it, I had to become a marketing pimp... it was hard work, but it did work.

Right now though, don't worry about the business dude. Worry about developing your focus and concentrate on discovering your passions. Find the intersection of your passion and your niche. Then worry about the business.

If you have the time on your hands I suspect, there is no reason you can't do this. If you'd like, I can give you some book suggestions that helped me develop the right perspective for business.

 

[drak_ool]

I am charismatic, hard-working, and intelligent. I can land phone interviews, and face to face interviews,

Networking is the name of the game. Since the beginning of this year I have been trying really hard to put all of my DJing skills into meeting new people who might, or might not, help me either land a client, a project or a job. It works on everybody, not just women.

I know it might be a little too early in the game for you as you're not even sure of what you want to do, but I find business cards to be the key. Personally I've passed around 100 of them in the last few months. People will call you out of the blue when they need you. And you can get a set of basic ones for free.

Good luck!

 

[taiyuu_otoko]

I second Guru. Learn sales. That will take you far.

Also, check out some of the many freelance sites online. Lot of people making good money doing that stuff (programming, writing, graphic design, etc), and nobody cares about background.

Check it out and see if anything would be worth learning enough to do for other people.

If you combine a couple of online skills with sales, you can do pretty well without every worrying about a background check.

Most importantly, get good at sales, however you can. If you can close consistently, people will hire you even if if you're a convicted murderer.