Last week an old acquaintance made contact with the chance that he could land our logistics business account for his employer. he has been out of work for over 2 years and want to show his value. This was not going to happen as loyalty is something I believe in along with if it's not broken there is no need for change. I took months getting the right service providers on board and if here is going to be any change it would have to be a very good reason besides a small savings. y daughter will open an account and test them out so we know they are a decent back up if required.
What I did instead was sound them out whether they would consider being an agent selling our pallet wrap. Having someone onboard who has 30 years experience in the logistics business means they know many people and these are possibly future clients. Getting your foot through the door is hard enough and knowing someone is always far easier.
Cutting a long story short this person phoned for pricing and has requested a sample which will be ready for collection tomorrow. He knows the company where he works how much they pay and as long as he makes them a decent saving everyone is happy. As it turns out he would save them roughly $800 monthly, but also earn himself in the region of $400 from the commission.
Once he realized the numbers involved on a personal level I knew the conversation was going to change and become far more serious. This is a genuine side hustle that could easily become his main earner each month. The reality is if you put in the effort when selling a product that is widely used the chances are you will do rather well.
Having 30 years worth of contacts in the logistics industry and being unemployed for over 24 months you can understand the brain processing this information. He is keen to get things off the ground because he has commitments to his family each month. His son is going to PGA school next year which will cost him roughly $5K and he does not have the funds.
It seems very few people have any extras lying around and whatever he had he used when unemployed. I explained he needs to start the side hustle slowly as I would like to see him keep his new job. If he can add 10 clients from now until next year March the chances are he will be earning more on the side than what his monthly take home wage pays. We know working for yourself is far more lucrative than working for someone else, but there are risks involved and why having a permanent job is less stressful.
If he does well which we hope and think he will this benefits our packaging company through increased sales that would not have cost us anything except paying a commission. Normally my business partner and I keep things simple and do not openly add on extra people, but in this case it helps everyone earn more.