Running your own business/Self Employment good alt for Aspi?

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I can attest that a good self employment field for aspies is Vending machines. There is some personal interaction, but Its pretty straight forward.

Order of events.
1. buy a machine.
2. buy stock for it.
--Buy whatever seems to sell lots. If its soda pop, just go to a store and see what rows in the cooler are mostly empty. If its candy, same deal. look at the bulk packages on the shelves and select what seems popular. You can also use radio and television advertizing as a guide line. You can also just ask people.
3. find a place for your machine(if you didnt buy it with a location. buy with a location if AT ALL POSSIBLE!)
--a good location has lots of people coming and going, 24 hours a day if possible. A bad location is just the opposite, or a place sells what you want to sell. A great place is where you already work.
4. convince the owner to let you place the machine.
-- yikes! the scary part! Not really. Ask if you may put the machine there to try it out. tell them if it doesnt work out, you will remove the machine. Its that easy.
--If they say yes, then do it, right then, or ask soon as possible.
--If they say no, ask what you must do to convince them to allow it. This is a magical question, gauranteed to make any NT speak literally. You can use a variation of that
--ANYWHERE. the generic question is "what must I do to get you to....<whatever you want done>." amazingly, people will tell you outright. about just about anything.
--Its not like a job interview. you are selling the services of the machine, not your own.

5. Fill the machine, and ask the staff members to write their favourite treats on a LIST. make a point to get these items, the very next day.
6. come back the next day with the staff favourites.
7. check back a few days later, like 3-4 days and make sure everything is working right. Bring more supplies.
8. make notes, charts, lists, lists, LISTS!... regarding what sells, how much, how often... GREAT FUN!
9. once you get a feel for it, you want to return to the machine once a week, maybe every two weeks depending on usage, style of the machine...
10 leave contact information. a phone number and an email address.
11. have fun counting and rolling the coins. THis is much like a coffee break for us. It was my favourite part.
12. save the coins, take them to the bank,
13. buy another machine
14. return to step one.


Notes on pricing items. If its about 30 cents to buy, you can often sell it for a dollar. Gumballs might range from under 1 cent to about 5 cents each, and can be sold for 25 cents for a small handful, or 25 cents for a single large gumball. Larger items will be double or triple their wholesale price(soda pop, potato chips, licorice, chocolate, et al).

Its possible to start on less than 100 dollars.

Reply with questions as always...

Well, I was diagnosed with AS last year. I currently run my own business as a writer/editor. Between maybe 1998 and 2004, I was a freelance journalist.

I found it not very difficult, and, in some ways, more preferable to work on my own as a single-source proprietor (non-incorporated). I find I can manage my work a lot better this way. I can do my work in my PJs -- nobody would know. I can start work at 10 a.m. Nobody would know. I can listen to music as I write away. And nobody knows.

However, it comes with risks. And it is something I would recommend researching before setting out upon. I had a lot of bravado, and even though I suppose I can have difficult interacting with people, I ultimately saved myself by being pretty good with money and FORCING myself to work even on those days I was timid or paranoid. I guess once one learns to relax and take the moral high road, and think positively, a lot of the AS type things that would have held me back gradually fell away. But maybe my AS is pretty mild. I dunno.

On your own, though, you have to know when to spend money to make money and when to conserve funding. Sometimes this is hard, but that's OK! In business, you make mistakes. Then, you learn from them. So long as the Mafia ain't after you -- or the government -- it's all good! (Also, many with Asperger's reportedly are INTP on the Myers-Briggs. So despite being perhaps mind-blind and autistic to a degree, if you are INTP, it means that you are intuitive! This is a good trait for risk management and decision making.)

One more thing: have a "board of directors" or people you can turn to when you need advice: whether it be financial or just day-to-day, "how do I read this?" type of advice. For instance, I hired a Life Coach to keep my focus on things, stay happy, and help me read the tea leaves a bit better as I get back into the self-employment world after working in a crappy day job last year.

Another key option some of you might want to keep in mind: telecommuting. It is very possible to have a 9 to 5 job, but work at that job, with full benefits and all, from home. Especially as the boomers retire and attitudes about work liberalize.