Now that my 3K post biz plan is hopelessly out of date, it's time to give all of you globetrotting go-getters a new business idea that has a good chance of making you some serious riches. We're talking Forbes list money here.
Regardless of whether you think bitcoin is going to be the next major world currency or not, this business can make you quite rich in your preferred currency just by using Bitpay to convert your coins into USD in real time. All you really need to make this business model work and become incredibly rich from it is to find some good connections in your local big city and then travel a bit, or perhaps move to another country and set up a small office.
Any of you who have no desire to trade bitcoins nor travel outside of your home country often should stop reading now & GTFO; this plan is not for pussies.
I must preface this post with the fact that I have not tried this plan myself, simply because Thailand is one of the more hostile jurisdictions to bitcoin, and I already travel enough between the USSA and Bangkok. However, the plan is sound however, and the time for it to really start up well & reign supreme is most certainly going to come between now & 2015.
The problem:
Bitcoin would save Billions of dollars every year in fees paid to banks, Western Union and other remittance networks for migrant workers to send money back to their families in another country... But sadly, their families can't spend bitcoins on much at all yet back there... Some don't even have the internet! So bitcoins aren't viable for them to receive yet, despite all that promise.
The Solution:
You are going to set up shop Buying bitcoins from migrant workers' families on the other end, thus competing with WU & remittance networks! -But you'll have a very large advantage over them using bitcoins... You wouldn't charge any transmission fees; Just a currency conversion with a small fee on the other end. This would be a tiny fraction of the current fee structure that these people are currently getting charged, and you'll still bank uber-hard! We'll talk numbers more below; but it's quite a satisfying amount, with bonus income streams easily added.
Is this just for Murikans'??
What about us Ozzies/Canayjuns/Brits/Frenchies/Spaniards/etc?:
This business would work great anywhere a large-enough population of migrant workers comes from another single country. Your target market is a group of migrant workers in your country, hopefully numbering in the hundreds, that has families in the same city or nearby it, back in some other country. Find their bosses. That's all you need.
So what's the hard part?:
You'll need to find the networks on THIS side, and perhaps explain bitcoin to them. Speaking their native language would be extremely helpful, but if you had a partner on the other end and he spoke that language, that would really be all you need.
At least in the USSA, I've noticed that it's not hard at all finding the connection on this side... Minorities like the Hispanics here are very close-knit and usually always form a chamber of commerce in all of the big cities. You can go straight to one of these clubs or chambers, or failing that, go to a politician of that minority and he'll already know all the business leaders among his constituents, which is basically your main target... Those biz owners will be the ones telling their migrant workers about your service.
Either way, simply explain that you are launching a new remittance service offering everyone from the country you picked a brand new way to stop paying those huge WU fees... By buying bitcoins on the other side. They should want to throw you a parade for doing so, especially politicians, because that'll save his constituents hundreds or even thousands of dollars in WU/bank fees every year... Per worker!
All your networking is done on this side, where the wealth flows from. On the other side your job will be much easier. You simply need to have some sort of a tiny office in a decent location in the heart of the largest population there.
In Argentina, for instance, set up a tiny office in Buenos Ares, (the biggest, most central city in your target country) for your business address and get a local cellphone/website so that locals that don't know you can find you easily.
That's about it. No one need a license of any kind to trade bitcoins in any country at this time. The networking you've done on the sender's side will get the money flowing in bitcoins TO families in BA, and from there the receiving family will find you because of your connection on the other end, and sell you bitcoins at your published rate!
Put yourself on Localbitcoins.com too for some side business down there.
C'mon, isn't there a catch here?
Of course there is eventually the possibility of a legal catch; Local money transmission laws on the other side could be a question in some places down the road. Right now most countries don't consider bitcoin a money; so you're in the clear entirely for the time being, but like in the case of Argentina, they have pretty strict capital controls in some countries so you'll need to keep on top of the news to know if your business down there needs some kind of compliance certification or not...
Keep up with the bitcoin regulatory news and you'll likely be way ahead of the game. There are several trade mags free online, like Coindesk, to keep you up-to-the-minute on this stuff.
You could of course keep your entire earnings all under-the-table too, and not publish your business address down there at all, doing all business by word of mouth... That's up to you and your comfort level. If you are trying to build the firmest business possible, I recommend going to the most economically free country you can find a migrant population from... Brazil would be a sound choice, for instance. There you could set up a perfectly legit business and not have to worry about the hammer coming down on bitcoin, probably ever.
Alright, but how much can I earn?:
Well, Western Union alone has a daily volume of something like $216 Million, globally. They won't exist anymore, at all, once people set up shop doing this to most of the migrant worker populations. So for a ballpark number, divide up the 216 million by your guesstimate of customers in that country and then slap a 5% earnings from each trade of that volume.
So if you think Argentinian migrant workers are sending down $10 Million a day from the states, and you captured 1/50th of that market, then that's $200k daily you could make 5% of!
Not enough for you big boy? Bag more cities! Be the man that every Argentine in the USA sends his bitcoins to and earn that whole $500k daily.
Sweet! How about them bonus monies?:
Why not sell the migrant workers on the sending side the bitcoins in the first place? They probably don't have access to a coinbase account, so the easier you make it for both sides to partake in bitcoin, the more customers you'll have and the higher you can make your markup.
So 5% markup selling them bitcoins, and then 5% markup buying them back. Obviously, this takes a partner or employee on one end or the other, but the numbers should make it worthwhile.
Also, if you do get a nice storefront down there, another extra income stream that would dovetail in very easily would be to buy a Lammassu machine or similar and try to corner your local market bitcoin sales! Those puppies only cost about $5k right now and people drive from hundreds of miles away to stand in line in front of them still... And of course you get to set the currency fee there as well.
Again, this biz model is on the cutting edge & will take off between now and the end of 2015. It offers a lifestyle of travel & adventure, so I expect every one of you to send me a thank you note and your first bitcoin.
Seriously, Anyone who does this must invite me down to the store opening and I'll help get them some press in the bitcoin trade mags.
Good luck bros!
Luke
Regardless of whether you think bitcoin is going to be the next major world currency or not, this business can make you quite rich in your preferred currency just by using Bitpay to convert your coins into USD in real time. All you really need to make this business model work and become incredibly rich from it is to find some good connections in your local big city and then travel a bit, or perhaps move to another country and set up a small office.
Any of you who have no desire to trade bitcoins nor travel outside of your home country often should stop reading now & GTFO; this plan is not for pussies.
I must preface this post with the fact that I have not tried this plan myself, simply because Thailand is one of the more hostile jurisdictions to bitcoin, and I already travel enough between the USSA and Bangkok. However, the plan is sound however, and the time for it to really start up well & reign supreme is most certainly going to come between now & 2015.
The problem:
Bitcoin would save Billions of dollars every year in fees paid to banks, Western Union and other remittance networks for migrant workers to send money back to their families in another country... But sadly, their families can't spend bitcoins on much at all yet back there... Some don't even have the internet! So bitcoins aren't viable for them to receive yet, despite all that promise.
The Solution:
You are going to set up shop Buying bitcoins from migrant workers' families on the other end, thus competing with WU & remittance networks! -But you'll have a very large advantage over them using bitcoins... You wouldn't charge any transmission fees; Just a currency conversion with a small fee on the other end. This would be a tiny fraction of the current fee structure that these people are currently getting charged, and you'll still bank uber-hard! We'll talk numbers more below; but it's quite a satisfying amount, with bonus income streams easily added.
Is this just for Murikans'??
What about us Ozzies/Canayjuns/Brits/Frenchies/Spaniards/etc?:
This business would work great anywhere a large-enough population of migrant workers comes from another single country. Your target market is a group of migrant workers in your country, hopefully numbering in the hundreds, that has families in the same city or nearby it, back in some other country. Find their bosses. That's all you need.
So what's the hard part?:
You'll need to find the networks on THIS side, and perhaps explain bitcoin to them. Speaking their native language would be extremely helpful, but if you had a partner on the other end and he spoke that language, that would really be all you need.
At least in the USSA, I've noticed that it's not hard at all finding the connection on this side... Minorities like the Hispanics here are very close-knit and usually always form a chamber of commerce in all of the big cities. You can go straight to one of these clubs or chambers, or failing that, go to a politician of that minority and he'll already know all the business leaders among his constituents, which is basically your main target... Those biz owners will be the ones telling their migrant workers about your service.
Either way, simply explain that you are launching a new remittance service offering everyone from the country you picked a brand new way to stop paying those huge WU fees... By buying bitcoins on the other side. They should want to throw you a parade for doing so, especially politicians, because that'll save his constituents hundreds or even thousands of dollars in WU/bank fees every year... Per worker!
All your networking is done on this side, where the wealth flows from. On the other side your job will be much easier. You simply need to have some sort of a tiny office in a decent location in the heart of the largest population there.
In Argentina, for instance, set up a tiny office in Buenos Ares, (the biggest, most central city in your target country) for your business address and get a local cellphone/website so that locals that don't know you can find you easily.
That's about it. No one need a license of any kind to trade bitcoins in any country at this time. The networking you've done on the sender's side will get the money flowing in bitcoins TO families in BA, and from there the receiving family will find you because of your connection on the other end, and sell you bitcoins at your published rate!
Put yourself on Localbitcoins.com too for some side business down there.
C'mon, isn't there a catch here?
Of course there is eventually the possibility of a legal catch; Local money transmission laws on the other side could be a question in some places down the road. Right now most countries don't consider bitcoin a money; so you're in the clear entirely for the time being, but like in the case of Argentina, they have pretty strict capital controls in some countries so you'll need to keep on top of the news to know if your business down there needs some kind of compliance certification or not...
Keep up with the bitcoin regulatory news and you'll likely be way ahead of the game. There are several trade mags free online, like Coindesk, to keep you up-to-the-minute on this stuff.
You could of course keep your entire earnings all under-the-table too, and not publish your business address down there at all, doing all business by word of mouth... That's up to you and your comfort level. If you are trying to build the firmest business possible, I recommend going to the most economically free country you can find a migrant population from... Brazil would be a sound choice, for instance. There you could set up a perfectly legit business and not have to worry about the hammer coming down on bitcoin, probably ever.
Alright, but how much can I earn?:
Well, Western Union alone has a daily volume of something like $216 Million, globally. They won't exist anymore, at all, once people set up shop doing this to most of the migrant worker populations. So for a ballpark number, divide up the 216 million by your guesstimate of customers in that country and then slap a 5% earnings from each trade of that volume.
So if you think Argentinian migrant workers are sending down $10 Million a day from the states, and you captured 1/50th of that market, then that's $200k daily you could make 5% of!
Not enough for you big boy? Bag more cities! Be the man that every Argentine in the USA sends his bitcoins to and earn that whole $500k daily.
Sweet! How about them bonus monies?:
Why not sell the migrant workers on the sending side the bitcoins in the first place? They probably don't have access to a coinbase account, so the easier you make it for both sides to partake in bitcoin, the more customers you'll have and the higher you can make your markup.
So 5% markup selling them bitcoins, and then 5% markup buying them back. Obviously, this takes a partner or employee on one end or the other, but the numbers should make it worthwhile.
Also, if you do get a nice storefront down there, another extra income stream that would dovetail in very easily would be to buy a Lammassu machine or similar and try to corner your local market bitcoin sales! Those puppies only cost about $5k right now and people drive from hundreds of miles away to stand in line in front of them still... And of course you get to set the currency fee there as well.
Again, this biz model is on the cutting edge & will take off between now and the end of 2015. It offers a lifestyle of travel & adventure, so I expect every one of you to send me a thank you note and your first bitcoin.
Seriously, Anyone who does this must invite me down to the store opening and I'll help get them some press in the bitcoin trade mags.Good luck bros!
Luke
