5 Ideas for Starting a Part-Time Business
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Starting a part-time business, while working full-time, allows you to make extra income, turn a hobby into a business, and test the waters for a possible career change. All kinds of people start home businesses—from high school students to stay-at-home moms to mid-lifers looking to turn their passions into profits. And a lot of these business ideas don’t require a lot of money or take your entire weekend to develop.
1 – An Online Entrepreneur – What’s your expertise? Is it collecting baseball cards, fishing, or music? Turn any of these ideas into content for your own website. First, you need to buy a domain name and create a website. Then, you start filling the site with blogs and links related to your niche. You get paid by adding advertising onto your site or by having people pay for content.
Skill Set: You should like researching and writing, and you should enjoy working online. Additionally, you should be able to build your own website or hire someone to do it. Since affiliate marketing will be one avenue to bringing in income, you should learn a bit about that kind of marketing tool too.
Typical job duties include updating content, getting rid of dead links, and learning how to draw and keep followers. A little social media savvy wouldn’t hurt either.
2 – Consultant – A consultant works with businesses, training them in certain skills, or completing projects that a company doesn’t have time to learn or manage. Again, take the area where you have knowledge and experience. Then, plan to target businesses or people who could use your services.
Skills Set: You should prefer working with people, be able to execute contracts, and have customer service skills. To be successful, you should be able to go beyond the basic and be willing to get “your hands dirty” to help your clients. You should also have a passion for teaching and coaching clients.
3 – Professional organizer – Do you love to clean out closets? Do you know how to get rid of clutter? Then, a professional organizer may be a perfect fit for you.
An organizer goes into people’s homes or storage units to help them sort through their personal belongings. An organizer teaches people how to get rid of excess clutter and how to keep their homes organized.
Skill Set: Depending on where you live, you may need to clarify that you’re not a cleaning person but an organizer. However, if you like to clean and organize, you can sell two services for one price. Check out the National Association of Professional Organizers (www.napo.net) for more information.
4 – EBay seller – Do you find the following fun to do on your spare time: going to yard sales, flea markets, and estate sales to find vintage clothing, shabby chic furniture, and children’s toys? Did you ever think about taking this talent a step further and selling your items on eBay (www.ebay.com)? If so, you could be an eBay seller.
Skill Set: For this business to succeed, you need an eye for salability. You need excellent customer service skills, and you should be able to take photographs of the things that you buy; as well as know how to upload pictures to your storefront.
5 – Notary Public – This side business is great for people who take an interest in overseeing basic legal and clerical functions, such as witnessing signatures and taking depositions.
Skill Set: A notary public works with people. Many times, you need to fill out an application for notary and pay a fee. Each state has their own guidelines that they require for people to be a notary public. Contact the National Notary Association (http://nationalnotary.org/) to learn about your state requirements and how you can obtain an application for notary.
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The above is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many other part-time businesses that you can start in your home and on your own time. You just need to think about what you’re good at and what you desire doing the most. Then, go for it.
