I've been a business minded since high school and saving more money when I was in elementary. I just love money. Let us not deny the fact that all of us needs money and it is not the root of all evil.
This behavior makes me always think of a mini-business that I can do wherever I go.
From my previous blog post, I mentioned that I am already living in a dorm since I am also studying far from my hometown. And I find this opportunity to start a little business in my place.
You see, most of us here are students who are not working yet (as far as I know) hence, all of us are still dependent with our parents and needs a financial support from them.
I saw this as an opportunity to start a business which I will call as Gcash Padala.
Just a little background about Gcash
GCash is an internationally-acclaimed micropayment service that transforms the mobile phone into a virtual wallet for secure, fast, and convenient money transfer. GCash can be used to buy prepaid load, pay bills, send money, make donations, shop online, and even purchase goods without the need for any cash.
Source: CIMB Bank Services and Partners
In short, it is a digital wallet where everyone can send and receive money.
This is not new to every Filipino. So here's how it works.
If the student is lack of allowance, their parents will send the money to them. And how it is? Of course, using Gcash. But Philippines is not yet advanced, and still embracing the cash payment method. There are only big establishments who are accepting cashless and digital payment. Hence, students need the cash.
And here's how they need me.
The parents will send the money to my Gcash account, and I will give the cash to the students.
Now, you might be thinking, how I am making money from it?
Well, I am taking a charge for every transaction. And it is very profitable.
Here are the charges that I take for every transactions:
- For every ₱500.00, I take ₱10.00 as a charge.
- ₱1,000.00, I take ₱20.00.
And you can do the math.
I find the fee ridiculous and high, to be honest, but this business model is also used by other retail stores and I am not the only one who are doing this.
I even think of a strategy to save money for a transaction fee when I am withdrawing money from Gcash.
I will share it soon on my website, or maybe on my newsletter? You can actually subscribe now.
Now, the question is...
Am I getting a profit?
Hell yeah! Here's the breakdown:
I've been tracking the money in and out on my wallet and here are the gains that I got from this business.
And here are the fees that I spent when I withdraw money from my Gcash so I have a cash that I can give to the students.
I also spent ₱215.00 for the card that I can use for ATM.
Doing the math:
Gains: ₱1,250
Fee: ₱228.00
Card: ₱215.00
Profit: ₱807.00
I already have ₱807.00 profit since I started on January 2023. This is already reasonable since I am not exerting a lot of effort and work for this. I only sit and wait for the customers to tell me that they are going to cash in or out.
Looking for an opportunity wherever you are is one of the best skills that you can have. Start your business and make it profitable!
About the author
Mark Laurence, also known as Laurenceuuu and anonymous02 is a student who is currently taking a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He is expanding his knowledge and skills by blogging where he mostly writes about digital marketing, productivity, and making money online.
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