When the economy is slow and there is no end in sight in the near future, there are ways to make a living. Additional income can be made fairly easy, depending on how much energy you have and your desire to survive. And it can be accomplished with almost no overhead.
Working for yourself or with your family doing odd jobs, so to speak, can add additional income, which just might get you over the hump every month, and also could turn into a great living. Everyone can do certain things and many have specialties that they do not realize can be profitable outside the workplace or in place of a lost job. I am not talking about making $100 an hour, but additional income that could help ease the pain of making ends meet.
I know a man and his wife with two boys, ages 10 and 12 that go out when they have spare time and rake leaves and pick up debris from yards. They simply went door to door in areas that had lots of leaves, and always was able to get a few jobs. They started asking $20 for an average front yard, which most people are happy to pay, especially the elderly. With word of mouth from their clients, they eventually became so busy that the family no longer had any spare time. Even though $20 dollars does not sound like much, with four people it would only take them an hour. A few of them on a weekend would add up quickly.
What happens when a person does odd jobs like that is that most homeowners are not handy with tools. Once there my friend would be asked if they could paint a fence, trim some dead branches off of a tree, clean out a storage building, and the list goes on and on. As long as a person does not get into the professional areas where licenses are required, small jobs can add up quickly. Best of all, you will find that it will not take very long before you are so busy that it may be profitable to quit your day job and work full time at your new profession.
Raking leaves are not the only thing. Use your head and imagine things that people would pay money to have done because they do not want to do things themselves. Don’t look at trying to make your mortgage on one job. Give a client a good price, do a good job, and most of all show up when you say you will. Once you are deemed dependable, your business will grow fairly rapidly.
This is a very small list of odd jobs that one could do to add income. Remember you can find many things that pay well. A couple of people used to go around and scoop up dog poop from yards of dog owners. It now is a franchise that turned very profitable.
The idea is to keep overhead down. Limit driving to save on gas and vehicle expense. Try and find jobs that require no license other than a local occupational license, and above all report your income to the IRS. Doing this allows you to deduct expenses and mileage. Doing it right is very important. So think about things that people would pay to have done and go out and make some money.
