Ken Gold

Last week I wrote about making money by selling themes and templates for open source programs. If you have missed that article, here is the idea: There are hundreds of excellent open source programs that are used by millions of people. Even though these programs are rich in features and efficient in execution, they don't have good user interface. These user interfaces are known as skins, templates or themes. If you have good color sense and an eye for design, you can learn how to create themes in a matter of a few weeks, create designs and sell them online.

"I am good in arts, drawing and colors. But, I don't have any income. If I were a man, at least I could go out and draw the images of politicians and cinema actors on the walls and earn a few hundred Rupees a month," said Indira in a bitter voice.

Sam Wharton is a webmaster in his late forties. I met him in a café, when I attended a webmasters conference. I requested him to tell me his success story so that I could share it with 'Money Spinners' column readers.

"I have been doing an online business for the past six years but I don't think I am so successful that my story will inspire your readers," he said, "But perhaps my twelve year old son's success story may be appropriate."

"I am all ears to hear your son's story," I moved a little closer to him so that I did not miss even a single word from Sam.

Any entrepreneur, whether new or experienced, needs help from time to time. As money is a scarce commodity for most beginners, it makes sense to take refuge in free resources. The Internet is full of such useful, professional grade free resources.

Fishing out useful resources from the information sea is a daunting, time-consuming and at times fruitless activity. To make your life a bit easier, I am giving you a list of resources that I always find quite useful.

A regular reader of the New Indian Express has sent this email: "I invested in stock market and earned some quick money. Though the returns look attractive and invest consultants say the index will soon cross 20,000 mark, I don't want to speculate any more. I would like to diversify some of my profits to the Internet based self-employment projects. My best friend tells me that it is easy to make a lot of money by registering domain names and selling them. I am ready to invest in this project " I have received similar mails in the past too.

"I am a mother of two teen-aged girls. A few years ago I worked in a private school as an English teacher. I don't have any technical skills. But, I am in need of money. Is there a way to make a few thousand rupees a month working from home? I have thought about it for months and I have come to the conclusion that I would never be able to make money as I don't see any income opportunity around me. My husband and parents-in-law think I am not fit to do anything other than cooking and housekeeping." Kamala said.

Ganesh, a young man in his early twenties, was angry with his grandfather. "The old gentleman lives in the past. He believes his mission in life is to trouble me. Even though most families in our cities do not follow joint family system, my parents still cling to it and make my life miserable."

"My husband is a Chartered Accountant in practice. I am a housewife and would like to take up some home-based, Internet-based project," said Vadana, a B.Com., graduate from Bangalore.

"Many Chartered Accountants advise their clients to subscribe to Life Insurance Policies to avail tax benefits. They would see that these clients would take policies through their relatives, who are Insurance agents. Both the clients and relatives are benefitted. You can offer autoresponder service to your husband's business clients and create a profitable self-employment project," I told her.

"I have clearly understood the power of the Internet and I am sure that I can make a decent living if I start an Internet based business," Vasant said. "Tens of thousands of people are making money online. You too can do it. What is your business idea?" I asked him.

"I would like to start a website like Amazon.com and sell books online," he said. "Has any venture capital company offered to invest two hundred million dollars in your company?" I was disappointed with his idea.

When I was walking in a calm street in a South Indian city, a small signboard - The Puzzle Shop - caught my attention. Even though it looked like the entrance of a house, it was a shop. Intrigued by the name and the look, I decided to check it out. It was neat, tidy and well organized. There were dozens of steel cupboards that were full of square shaped boxes.