The Profitable Lunch Hour

by John Passmore

You don’t want to know about my morning. It was full. It was mundane. It was the sort of morning that makes people tell you they don’t have the time for this business.

But then came lunchtime.

I went and filled up the Mini at Sainsburys – and then decided to experiment. I drove around looking for a small parade of shops within five minutes’s drive. I found a small convenience store and stood outside with my Win-a-Mini forms.

Nobody came

So I went into the store and asked the man behind the counter if he wanted to win a mini. It turned out he owned not only the convenience store but also the Subway next door – and several other businesses as well. But he was adamant he didn’t want one more. Never mind, one down.

Meanwhile outside, three heating engineers had pulled up for their Subs.

“Is this your business?” I asked the driver. He pointed to the far side of the cab. I went round: “The reason I’ve come to talk to you is because I’m always on the lookout for heating engineers. Tell me, would you like to make a second income alongside the one you get from the heating business?”

And off we went. He’s now looking at it.

All very well but these people all lived somewhere else. I wanted people who had Sainsburys on their doorstep. I got back into the car and drove a bit further to the next parade. Within 15 minutes, I had another three forms filled out.

The first was a young woman whose Mum spent a lot at Sainsburys but, during the subsequent phone call, Mum insisted she didn’t want to save any money.

Number two was the man who owned the computer repair shop. He had heard about the Utility Warehouse but nobody had ever explained how he could make money with it. Now they have and I expect he is still nodding sagely and saying: “Hmm, that might work.”

Just as long as he comes to the COP…

And the third was a man who said his wife spent £200 a week in Sainsburys. I wasn’t sure whether to believe this so I phoned her. Did she want to save about £500 a year on her shopping?

“Just tell me how!” Was what she said.

So now I have an appointment to do just that.

And I was home within the hour.

If you have been counting, you will have worked out that I was still one short of my six. Never mind, no sooner did I get in than the customer care department at the garage rang to ask I rated their service. I gave them seven out of ten - just to put the young man in a good mood. In fact this was was generous when you consider they cracked a wheel when they changed the tyre.

Never mind: “May I just congratulate you on your phone manner,” I asked him. “You’re really good. Has anyone ever told you that? Well I hope they pay you well.”

And on I went: “Actually I’m always on the lookout for people who are good on the phone. Now I’m not suggesting you should give up your current job – but how would you like to earn an extra income alongside it? If you like I could tell you how. It takes about 30 seconds. Would you like me to do that?”

And he said yes and so I did – and that was six and one appointment.

And then back to the rest of the day.