I received a customer today at my workshop who needed a simcard tray for her Spark 5 phone after she lost hers yesterday night while interchanging the simcards with another phone. As usual when I don't have an item a customer wants, I tell them to come later in the day after purchasing the item or sending someone to buy it for me. In this case I had to go myself to buy a simcard tray. The customer agreed to come back in the evening.
The building in the city where I purchase phone parts.
I set off at midday to the city(the only place I could get a simcard tray) to buy it. The city is 30km away, a journey which lasts 3 to 4hrs to and fro because of traffic jam. So I got the item I needed which cost me Ugx5000($1.5) and traveled back to my workshop.
The simcard tray with the receipt for it.
The customer came later in the day to pick her item and I charged her Ugx20000($5.2). I earned a profit of Ugx10000($2.4) after deducting the transport costs as well.
$2.4 for what it's worth is slightly above the average income of most of the households here in Uganda. And since it's an average income, it gets you to live an average life.. what you can call hand-to-mouth.
But while I take 4 hours and a tiresome journey to earn $2.4, I earn slightly above that after 30 minutes of forex trading with an equity of $10. An activity which only calls for you to sit with your phone or computer and study the market to have the best entries you can have.
That is a big difference when you compare what is required to make each money respectively; One requires much more effort than the other.
That is how much the internet has to offer for the people in developing countries. There is a lot to earn when you exploit just a few opportunities on internet. Say for example this Hive platform, which only requires your daily activity in commenting and writing posts to grow and earn some good income.
Welcome to the community.
it's an interesting comparison. Sometimes it happens that there is work that brings money and there is work that brings pleasure. in your case you have done a good deed for your client. Some things are considered priceless. such as kindness, honesty and decency.
Yeah. Business is about service.