What outside the box idea could you invest in today that could start generating income within the next 60 days?

• I’m creative!  I can come up with a million of those outside of the box ideas!  Realistically I should be promoting my coaching services a lot right now.  I could have more webinars and live streaming Q & A’s that would attract attention.

• When I launched this business, we were told there are tons of money; I’ve always thought if it’s a good business, we would get the funding and we did.

• Right now, I am isolating, staying in my lane, and figuring out how this pandemic could be an opportunity.  I’m also looking at incorporating operational consulting and updating my marketing.

• I’m trying to take advantage of webinars, digital learning, and communication.  We’re working with essential businesses and other entities.

• Focus on our specialization – find the one or two things we can talk about that would help our customers sustain themselves.

• Our impact is in being loyal.  We build a wall of loyalty – add value at every impact.

• Embrace the new normal that could leverage the disruption our customers are dealing with.

• I have three product lines that I could bring in and launch.  It’s all about mitigating risk.  It would cost $8,000 to $10,000 to launch each of them.

• Our machines are extremely specific: there’s nothing different we could do.

• Don’t think we haven’t been thinking about it because we have.  How do we open with the social distancing and keep players safe?  We’d need some extra time to get our golf materials online.  It’s all over the map as far as what people are doing with their golfers.  We’ve been talking with everyone in the country about what might be possible.

• We’ve even been talking about classes to teach people how to maintain their yards!

• People are going to be thinking differently about their careers in the future.  They may be asking themselves, now that the hamster wheel has stopped, do I really want to get back on?

• I think it is time for consulting!  People are thinking more about careers.  If you go back to the basics; people need advice in all areas.
  • How to dress for getting a job.
  • How to dress for applying for a promotion.
  • How to dress for working from home and still and still feel like a professional.

• Make ourselves likable and easy to work with.

• Execute our process flawlessly, make sure we are not a hindrance to the process.

• We use a tool that looks at what we do and how many touches it takes to make a sale on both ends.  When the pandemic ends, businesses are going to be cautiously looking at ways to rebuild.

• We’re on the front end of the decline and it will take a while to dig out.

• Always be looking for that back burner idea, always be asking what you can do for people you touch: family, friends, customers, employees.  That will often result in more work.

• Be creative – those that get most creative get most recognized.

• We run a recycling center – so people come to us.  We also service companies with roll-off bins.

• Right now, we don’t take composting, but we could put a bin on the side of the driveway with a $5.00 (best estimate) on-your-honor fee that might pay for itself, especially if people bring in other items.

• Throw out the idea of hedging for certain materials.

• This would take longer than 60 days, but in the future, we might consider smaller memorials for pets that could be ordered online.

• It’s not as clever as the topless curbside servers for take-out delivery.  We’ve considered doing our classes online instead of in person.

• We’re super busy right now, it’s like drinking out of a firehose.  Our clients want to use this time to build their social media presence.

• We’re in grocery stores and convenience stores all the time.  These businesses are super busy and struggling to keep shelves clean and stocked.  We’ve kicked around the idea of cleaning their refrigerated cases.  We would come in after hours, while they’re restocking and do the cleaning.  We’d also do some preventative maintenance, making sure all the fans are working, etc.

• A couple of engineers are experimenting with a 3-D printer that would allow people to open doors with an arm rather than a hand.  We have some prototype designs that are being tested.

• One is real and immediate.  On March 10^th, my wife and I looked at what was going on in the world.  She’s a fitness instructor.  We purchased lighting, a video camera, mixers, and a software platform that she uploaded to her website.  She’s started giving classes online and has increased her income!  More people than ever are viewing her classes virtually.

• In the past, our company has made targets.  Guns, ammunition, and ballistic targets are selling like hotcakes today.  We could scale that business up.

• We have the ability to powder coat with antimicrobial powder.  With everything going on, I believe there are doorknobs and handles as well as other medical equipment that could be coated with an antimicrobial finish.  People are scared and this might help.  Anything that can be powder coated could be coated with this finish.

• We can look at a product for people who are shuttered at home and for the elderly: some type of social network for people who want to have fun.

• I didn’t know a thing about personal protective equipment (PPE) before this pandemic started, but I’ve been learning a lot about hand sanitizers, masks, and gloves.  I’ve stepped away from my business of selling only scrubs and uniforms.  Now I’m working primarily on the personal protection equipment and trying to find smaller quantities for some of my clients.

• My outside the box isn’t too outside the box.  I’ve decided to offer one-on-one coaching and see if anyone wants to do group coaching.  I could also do online technical coaching training (How to use Zoom, how to use your Microsoft software more effectively.)  There are tools and information that people could learn to access that would make them more productive.  It’s not outside the box but it’s different than I do now.

• We’re already in a lot of industries that are less prone to sinking in a recession.  We work in the water treatment industry and we’re looking at expanding that.

• My wife is a wedding coordinator and her business has tanked.  However, her uncle has a flower business and she’s started an online flower company offering delivery.

• For the first time, we’re using online brokers to sell our craft cheese.  We’re working with a couple of services and have already acquired two customers.

• We sell in Farmer’s Markets.  We’ve been delivering orders to some customers in the Cities.  They order on the website and we get it to them at their homes.

• We’ve been getting the word out to our clients: carriers are offering all kinds of new services and we’re educating on what they mean to businesses.  We have a webcast software that we’ve been thinking of offering to our clients.

• We implemented a white-glove install on – every single sight to do a professional installation.  If we can’t go on-site, we use a Remote Guided Tour we have developed for smaller customers.  We walk them through the install with the help of videos.

• We have been exploring different ways to walk couples through their wedding planning.
  • If a wedding is postponed or must scale down: what can we make an offer that’s a good value, so they don’t drop it altogether?

• Funerals are not being held now; they are normally a big part of our business.  What can we do?  Will they still order flowers?  We are looking at options such as a subscription – sending the family flowers each month in memory of their loved one.

• As a consultant, doing training and meetings on Zoom is not quite the same as doing them in person, but people may adapt, they may even find reducing travel time is a big advantage.

• We have started doing virtual estimating on damaged cars.  We have a program that enables people to send in pictures of the damage to their cars.  From that, we can create an estimate to send to the insurance company.

• We think there’s a market in disinfecting cars.  Insurance companies are already open to the idea of paying to have a preliminary disinfectant done.  The next step would be to go to rental companies and offer to disinfect their cars after rental.  At present, we’re not able to get rental cars because of the pandemic.

• Historically I go to a coffee shop and meet with clients or go to their businesses.  The future may be doing Zoom meetings, which have a great time and gas-saving advantage for both parties.

• We need to put together a brochure to send out to treatment centers.  It would include who is open, who is accepting new clients, and who is not available.  We are open to taking in COVID 19 clients.

• We are working on collecting past due insurance claims to bring in extra money.

• I want to work with businesses doing on-the-job training to find places for our clients to work.  We need to develop relationships with more employers.

• I want to invest more in our client’s lives and perhaps work with rental agents to find them housing.

The road is easier together,