70 WAYS TO BE YOUR OWN BOSS
(1) SELLING INFORMATIONAL PRODUCTS ONLINE
Learn from one of the top sellers on ebay. For further information, click here.
(2) ADDRESSING AND MAILING SERVICE
This work can be obtained by writing or telephoning department stores,
retail and mail order firms, addressing bureaux, and direct mail
services listed in the telephone directory. You can advertise your
service under "Employment" in local newspapers and in the telephone book.
(3) COLLECT AND SELL COINS
Coin collecting is booming. Supplying collectors is a profitable
home business. Get to know values by reading books and catalogues.
Buy carefully from reputable dealers and from private sources through
classified ads in local papers. Sell through private contacts and
mail order advertisments in "Coins" and other collectors' and hobby
magazines, and in "Exchange & Mart " Weekly, under "Coins". See No
113 on Home Mail Order Business .
(4) CORRESPONDENCE CLUB
Your income is from fees charged for people to join the club to receive
the names of others who wish to correspond. In this home mail order
business you cater for some special interest: hobbyists, coin or stamp
collectors, booklovers, prize contest enthusiasts, writers. Place
classified ads in writers', hobby, mechnics and women's magazines.
(5) RENTAL BUSINESS
This has mushroomed into an attractive new business opportunity.
People like to borrow, do-it-yourselfers rent professional equipment.
Many men are doing well these days by acting as rental agents for all
manner of things - power tools, trucks, cars, electric generators, etc.
There is no capital investment because you act as middleman between the
person owning the equipment and the person renting it. Advertise in local
newspapers.
(6) ANIMAL BREEDING
Pedigree dogs and other pets command high prices today. It is important
to start with the right stock and keep to the instructions given in
handbooks available at local public libraries. Two females mated at
different times of the year could prove profitable. People in all walks
of life make a good income from breeding not only dogs but cats, canaries,
budgerigars, etc., but dog breeding is particularly profitable. Whatever
type of animal you choose to breed, it pays to go in for unusual ones,
such as Papillon dogs, Persian cats, Chinese hamsters, etc. Sell through
classified advertisement in local newspapers and "Sunday Times".
(7) BASKETRY AND CANE WORK
can be successful if you keep a good standard of workmanship.
Use bright enamel paints for finishing and keep to standard designs
and articles. Study the market and offer your products on sale or
return to gift and novelty shops, stores, women's exchanges etc.
Basketry and other wickerwork with raffia, needs, etc...,appeals
to many people. Popular items are lamp shades, baskets, mats, trays,
footstools, hats, chair seats and backs.
(8) RESEARCH SERVICE
Writers, lecturers, business companies and others need free-lance
specialists to look up information which can be found in public and
special libraries, museums and trade associations. Get work through
classified ads in literary and writers' magazines. Home operators can
earn $7.00 per hour. Your local reference libraries will help.
(9) BUYING AND SELLING ON COMMISSION
Start with an outbuilding or store room until you can take a small shop.
No knowledge of your goods is necessary. Take a commission of 15% to 25%
on everything you sell. Suppose a customer brings in a table, chair, or
camera for which he asks a certain price. When you have found a buyer
you notify your client, who collects the cash and pays your commission.
Your only expenses are for the space, and classified ads. Furniture, T.V.
sets, cameras, typewriters, prams, sell well.
(10) IDEAS FOR CARTOONISTS
Cartoonists pay well for ideas and gags that suit their style.
Write to cartoonists care of the magazines in which their cartoons appear.
(11) AT-HOME BABY SITTING
is an increasing in-demand spare-time activity. Mothers bring their
child to the baby-sitter's home, some taking seven or eight at once,
charging by the hour, plus something extra if a meal is given.
(12) RUG AND FURNITURE CLEANING
is a growing business. In America especially, more and more people own
and operate an 'on location' rug and furniture cleaning franchise,
such as Service-master, Chicago, Illinis.
(13) SELL MAGAZINES
This requires no office and it can be evening work. Write to publishers
requesting the right to get subscritions. Approach schools, hospitals,
offices and private people in their home and at their business. Solicit
orders by telephone and direct mail advertising. Or concentrate on
back numbers which can be bought and sold through advertisements in
"Excange & Mart". Old boys' weeklies such as "Magnet" and "Gem" sell well.
(14) HOME MANUFACTURING
Many saleable products can easily be made at home, and sold through
gift shops and other retailers.
(15) USED CORRESPONDENCE COURSES
at reasonable prices are in demand. You can sell via internet auctions
or by mail order. Generally, $9.95 is the ideal price, whether or not
competitors sell for cheaper. I personally offer coaching on how to do
this on a large level.
(16) UPHOLSTERING AND FURNITURE REMODELLING
Once you have learned the "know-how" this can pay well. Public libraries
have some good books on the subject and a lot can be learned from craft
and hobby magazines. Many start with just a box of hand tools and some
special equipment. They call in a specialist for extra difficult jobs
and get discount prices on their work. Advertise in local papers.
(17) DANCING LESSONS
Needs skill and a gift for teaching. Local classified ads bring pupils.
Teach in your own home at first. Special classes for middle-aged
people pay well.
(18) RAISING RABBITS
has the advantage of three markets: selling fur, breeding stock,
and meat. This project can be started in a large backyard free from
local restrictions against raising animals. Get "know-how" from local
library.
(19) ENTERTAINING
in the form of singing, recitations, magic, dancing, doing a comedy
act etc., calls for skill in your particular line, and a "way" with
an audience. To get bookings it is necessary to become well known in
your area by giving benefit performances for charitable affairs,
hospitals and orphanages. These can lead to paid bookings at clubs,
social gatherings, night clubs.
(20) EMBROIDERING
beautifully decorated cigarette cases, velvet compacts, pin cushions,
baby dresses etc., is profitable. Sales are through gift shops.
(21) DRAW CARTOONS FOR MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS
Cartoons are well paid today and there are some excellent handbooks
and correspondence courses on the subject. Some cartoonists do well
by specialising in supplying industrial magazines with cartoons.
Markets are listed in "Writers and Artist Year Book".
(22) PART-TIME PUBLICITY WORK
You supply public relations help to small businesses in your area,
arranging press parties, preparing news releases, arranging interviews,
etc. Know-how can be obtained from handbooks on public relations at
your public library.
(23) MAKING & SELLING HANDMADE SHELL DECORATED JEWELERY
For this home business you need artistic ability, finger dexterity
and knowledge of the market. Handbooks give full information. Sell
through friends, neighbours, church groups, members of women's clubs,
gift and novelty shops, dress shops and beauty salons.
(24) DOG TRAINING
If you have the gift for it and the necessary know-how from books on
dog training you can get this kind of profitable work with regular
advertising in the local press. This can be combined with the sale
of dog requisites.
(25) MANUFACTURER'S REPRESENTATIVE AT HOME
This means calling in independent and chain retail stores of all kinds
and soliciting volume orders. You handle no merchandise but send the
orders to the factory which then ships the order direct to the retailer.
There is no selling door-to-door to consumers. You need no office,
only a telephone and some stationery. Ask your reference librarian
for books.
(26) WOODWORKING
using 3/8" or 1/2" plywood, is profitable if you can make such items
as attractive bedside cabinets and kitchen fixtures, and charge not
more than 100% above the cost of the materials. Consult your local
library for books.
(27) RAISING CANARIES, BUDGERIGARS AND PARAKEETS
You need a sunny room, starting with one or two pairs of birds. Sell
the offspring to friends, neighbours and local pet stores.
(28) MAKING AND SELLING FOODS
This pays handsomely. Items in demand are cakes, jams, jellies,
maple syrup, apple cider, cheese, cookies, candies, etc. Sell through
gift shops, tea rooms, hotels, grocers, and by small classified
advertisements in national Sunday newspapers and women's magazines.
It is usual to fix prices by doubling the cost of ingredients.
(29) MODELING
Photographers, art schools, advertising agencies, moving picture
agencies, department stores, T.V. stations, want women, men and boys
as models for advretising, illustrations for clothes and other products,
magazine illustrations.
(30) NURSERY SCHOOL
Many women with the necessary experience with children earn good
money operating a nursery school simply by making their services
known through local classified advertisements.
(31) NOVELTY, TOY AND BRIC-A-BRAC SHOP
Interesting if you can make articles in demand that also sell
to wholesalers, mail order houses, stores, souvenir shops, gift shops.
Typical items: paperweights, desk sets, book-ends.
(32) DEMONSTRATIONS
Details of an attractive range of luxury skin care products for
demonstrating from your own home at generous profits are obtainable
from various companies, such as Mary Kay & Quixtar.
(33) SELLING SHIRTS
to friends and workmates at actual wholesale prices is a popular
spare time activity.
(34) COLLECTING AND SELLING SCRAP METAL
is profitable. If you have transport you can start by collecting scrap
in your locality. Your local library will have a book on metal
identification that will tell you how to identify steel, lead, zinc,
bronze, brass, iron, etc. Your librarian will help you to track
down buyers.
(35) SELL PRINTED STATIONERY
There are many outlets, stationers, friends, and by mail order.
Books giving the know-how are obtainable from your public library
and new and secondhand printed machinery is advertised weekly in
the "Exchange & Mart". Profits are good and reliable work much in
demand. Start spare-time and develop into full-time.
(36) A FILM DEVELOPING SERVICE
can be a very profitable occupation, especially in the summer.
You can work from home and get business by offering chemists 25%
commission to act as agents.
(37) CHILDREN'S PLAYROOM
Some women have developed a profitable second income by turning one
of their rooms into children's playroom, fixing it up with bright
walls, games, puzzles, toys and books. They take in neighbours'
children aged from 4 to 10 for an agreed rate per afternoon,
leaving parents ree for shopping etc.
(38) CURIOS AND NOVELTIES
Made at home, these items can be sold directly to the public or
through retail outlets such as gift shops, novelty and curio shops.
(39) COLLECT AND SELL AUTOGRAPHS
These can be picked up, often cheaply, from estate sales and
secondhand bookshops, also by writing to famous people telling
them how much you appreciate something they have done or written
(such letters often bring a thank you note). Sell by mail order
through classified ads in the literary magazines.
(40) BABY SITTING AGENCY
A baby sitting (and invalid sitting) agency is well worthwhile.
Operators advertise for baby sitters in the local newspaper and
check their suitability. The agency mails postcards to parents,
women's groups and church groups making known its service. Fees
to parents range from $6 to $8 per hour (more after midnight).
The agency takes 20 per cent to 40 per cent of the sitter's fee.
A one-woman or one-man agency can handle 35 to 40 sitters.
(41) BUYING AND SELLING OLD CHINA AND GLASS
It is possible to make good profits by buying certain types of old
china and glass from secondhand stores, auction sales, etc., and
selling them privately and to antique dealers. It is necessary to
get to know the subject and which items are in demand; this can be
done by studying books in the public library.
(42) FURNITURE AND APPLIANCE REPAIRING
If you have the ability there is good scope in this field because
everywhere people like to be able to call in someone to salvage old
furniture, remodel lamps, fix chairs and sofas, etc.
(43) MANAGING BLOCKS OF FLATS
Owners of apartment houses are often glad to pay 5% of the rent to
someone who will collect monthly rents, place income in the bank,
superintend maintenance and show people over vacant flats. Some
people make a good income of this, managing several blocks of flats.
Books on the subject are likely to be found in local libraries.
A classified advertisement offering your services in the local
paper could be tried.
(44) FELT CRAFT
it is quite easy and often highly lucrative. Home operators obtain
low-priced kits from supply houses, scraps from departent stores,
milliners and mills, and make toy animals, table mats, handbags,
holders, hot dish pads, slippers, hats, belts glass cases, felt
flowers, purses. Sell to gift shops.
(45) WRITING FOR MONEY
Thousands of magazines pay well for articles and stories that suit
their public. Many beginners get into print with the help of manuals
such as "Write for Money" (from your authorised distributor). Markets
are listed in "Writers and Artists Year Book".
(46) A HOME REPAIR SHOP
for toys, dolls and household items is appreciated in most towns.
Such a service can be made known with announcements on notice boards,
a sign in your window and with classified advertisements in local
newspapers.
(47) DRESSMAKING FOR OFF-SIZED FOLK
Because so many people cannot wear the standard-sized costumes sold
in shops, this is an excellent speciality.
(48) WRITING COMPUTER SOTWARE
Children love novel computer games thus creating a constant demand
for new and better arcade quality software. If you have programming
skills (or these skills can be acquired through local college courses)
then writing these games using computer language could prove a very
profitable venture. Companies marketing these games (Commodore, Atari,
Amstrad, Sega, etc) either buy them outright or pay royalties on all
copies of your game sold.
(49) HOME IMPORT-EXPORT BUSINESS
This field bristles with opportunities and involves only very modest
expenditure to start. One operator claims to make an average of $40,000
to $50,000 a year and he started with very little capital. The necessary
know-how is easily acquired; there are reliable manuals on world trade,
showing how to start, how to get government help, how and where to buy,
how to sell locally and by mail, etc. There is a good deal of useful
information and a wealth of source addreses in "Export-Import without
Capital" (from your authorised distributor).
(50) PRINTING SERVICE
Selling printed items (letterheads, envelopes, forms etc.,) through
local solicitation involves no equipment, no stock, no financial
investment, no figuring. You find a wholesaler printer who will
supply a catalogue and samples; these do the main job. This idea can
be extended to a mail order printing service, operated through
classified advertisements in such periodicals as "Exchange & Mart",
and "The Trader". Many people are getting 20% to 30% discount on
jobs they feed to their printer - a quick and easy sideline income
that combines well with a mimeographing service.
(51) PART -TIME TAXI DRIVING
It is necessary to be over 21 years of age and to possess a driver's
licence. Apply to local taxicab companies.
(52) DEALING IN POSTAGE STAMPS
gives plenty of scope today with the ever-increasing interest in stamp
collecting for pleasure and profit. There are about 12 million throughout the world.
Even if you confine yourself to supplying collectors,
you can make a good income. Many people are earning $150 to $300 weekly
(and much more) selling postage stamps by mail order from home.
You can get started without investment as a number of suppliers
"drop ship" direct to your ctomers, so that you do not have to carry
a lot of stock. Some leading mail order stamp dealers, now making
thoands of dollars a year, started on the kitchen table. Offer the
right stamps in the right manner and you cannot fail to make this
absorbing hobby profitable. Nor do you need experience and knowledge
of stamps if you follow the simple method given in Stanley Green's
"Profitable Stamp Dealing" (from your authorised distributor) which
shows exactly how to start and reveals tested money-making and
money-saving techniques.
(53) THERE IS MONEY IN CARS
first in selling used or new cars, second in running a motor insurance
agency. You can buy used cars cheaply at weekly auctions and sell
for excellent profits from home. Advertise in your local paper under
cars for sale. Details of a motor insurance agency are obtainabe from
Gambles and Childs Ltd., Quebec Street, Leeds.
(54) PART-TIME SECRETARY
Many women do secretarial work at home for dentists, doctors and
lawyers who do not require a secretary all day. They call for the
client's recordings from a dictation machine and perform the work
at home, at a considerable saving for the client. Other likely
customers; ministers, associations, mail order frims, stores,
restaurants, gas and electric companies. Freelance secretarial
vacancies are dealt with by Freelance Secretaries, 36 Cavendish Road,
Chesham, Bucks. (Tel. Chesham 2620). Enclose a stamped addressed
envelope when writing.
(55) PROFITS FROM PLASTIC LAMINATING
There is a demand for this service because so many people have
documents and papers they want to preserve from deterioration by
having them covered with a layer of plastic that is airtight.
Business firms want photos, cards, maps, charts, clippings, etc.,
protected. Firms that show you how to get started advertise in
"Exchange & Mart".
(56) PET OWNER SERVICE
Shampooing and boarding pets is a sought-after service in
higher-income areas. Poodle clipping is also in demand. Your local
public library probably has books on dogs and clipping. Cards
displayed at newsagents and classified advertisements in local
newspapers bring this kind of business.
(57) A LIST BROKING SERVICE
can provide a good income, spare-time or full-time. List Broking
is big business in America and is a fast growing field in the U.K.
It is the use of one firm's mailing list by another non-competing firm.
Operating such a Mailing List Exchange is easy and profits are high
. Instruction manuals on the subject are advertised in the various
websites.
(58) CHINCHILLA BREEDING
is equally profitable. This can be undertaken at home since most people
have a spare corner or cupboard under the stairs to keep the cages.
Chinchillas are becoming extremely popular animals hence this can
become a very profitable croft business.
(59) WEDDING VIDEO SERVICE
offering a personal video of this special occasion is a profitable
usage of a "camcorder". Many young brides want a living momento of
their wedding-day. $50-$70 per copy can be realised for 1-2 hours work.
Up to a dozen copies can be sold from each ceremony. Advertise in
your local paper. A "camcorder" can be purchased as cheaply as $300.
(60) ELECTRONICS (TV, GAME CONSOLE, ETC) REPAIR SERVICE
is a good spare-time business. There are useful manuals on the subject.
(61) SELLING INSURANCE
This is growing enormously and the future market is very great.
Most insurance companies have training facilities. Men and Women act
as sole proprietor, operating their own business in their own time.
See No. 82.
(62) SIGHT-SEEING GUIDANCE AND LECTURING
is usually seasonal work. It is necessary to be a fluent talker and
know how to handle people. Become familiar with the points of
interest you will talk about from handbooks at your public library.
Apply to sight-seeing companies in your area.
(63) SECOND HAND BOOK SERVICE
Books can often be bought cheaply at private sales, from markets and
side-street secondhand bookshops, and through classified advertisements
in "Book Market" and "Exchange & Mart" (under books). They can be sold
to specialist booksellers and through classified advertisement under
"Books" in "Exchange & Mart". A list of books to look for worth $6 to
$1500 per volume, is given in the manual "Money from Old Books", available
from the distributor of this manual.
(64) MONEY FROM YOUR CAMERA
Sizeable incomes are being made by free-lance photographers.
Clubs often want group shots of the membership. Home portraiture
pays well. Local business firms buy pictures of their products.
Retail stores want photographic show cards. Picture postcards of
your town may sell well through local newsagents, stationers and
gift shops. Many find it profitable to contact business firms offering
to photograph merchandise for illustration in their sales literature.
"The Writers' and Artist' Year Book" contains a detailed list of firms
wishing to buy all types of photographs. Correspondence courses are
advertised in "Amateur Photographer".
(65) HANDYMAN SERVICE
Profitable odd jobs for local householders include furniture repairing,
patching up cement, simple plumbing, washing cars, sharpening lawn
mowers, garden tidying, fixing labour-saving devices, shelves, etc.
With the help of the popular manuals available anyone can give first
aid for the metal fitting and utencils in the house. It is often
possible to pick up commission through work obtained for paper hangers,
plasterers, carpenters, etc.
(66) 'TRAINING VIDEO' MAKING
Many small and medium sized companies place much emphasis on group
training. This is very time consuming in terms of staff employed
on training tasks. Offering a 'training video' service will attract
such customers. A training session is 'video recorded' and the company
use this to impart the required skills to groups of their employees.
(67) COLLECTION SERVICE
Many people with the ability to write good letters have done well
helping business firms with their overdue accounts. Sample collection
letters given in handbooks from public libraries can be adapted to
suit various types of businesses. Charge customers from 10% on all
money brought in.
(68) HOME MAIL ORDER BUSINESS
You can start and operate a profitable mail order business at home
with limited capital if you go the right way about it. Starting with
almost no capital it is possible to make $200 a week part-time and $1400
(and much more) full time. "I've found mail order a wonderful, a proven
way to make high profits in spare time, at home. I think it is the finest
spare-time business of all", writes James Carr, author of a well known
Mail Order Course. "You can start anywhere", he writes, "using your kitchen
table for an office. You do no personal selling. You can start with a
modest amount of savings and grow big. Possibilities are practically
unlimited if you use these techniques (described in his course).
A home mail order business changed my whole life".
Fortunes have been made by selling books, manuals, folios and
correspondence courses by mail. Other sound lines are selling gifts,
novelties, kitchen gadgets, stamps to collectors, running an envelope
addressing service, list broking service or print agency. Mail order
know-how is essential and obtainable from such courses as those
described on the LIBRARY page of this DISC.
(69) SELLING SELF-HELP AN 'HOW' BOOKS BY MAIL
This is the most satisfactory type of mail order business. Easy,
pleasant and profitable, it is an ideal spare-time or full-time activity,
especially suitable for the beginner in mail order. We do not know of
anything else that can be sold as easily and with as little capital as
books. They bring continual repeat business for related books. No
licence is needed to sell books. Bookselling by post in the way we
recommend provides the easiest, most inexpensive way to get mail order
experience. Certain types of books are not easily available in local
shops - such as self-help and 'how' books. Your prospective customers
run into millions. People buy more books of this type every year.
We specialize in such books which sell well by post: manuals on additional
income, spare-time earning, practical reference books, popular
psychology guides, health manuals and occult books. Typical classified
advertisements you can insert are "INCREASE YOUR INCOME! Free list
of money-making manuals" (Your name and address). Manuals on Spare-time
earning, Mail Order etc., List Free"
"Moneymaking Opportunities for Homeworkers. Details free".
These advertisements costing under $25 each are suitable for the
"Employment: Various' section of "Exchange & Mart", "Homemaker", "Reveille",
"Do-It-Yourself", "The Trader", etc., You can start in this field on a shoe
string - just the cost of your first few classified ads and a
supply of circulars and manuals from us. Tested circulars such
as "Money-Making Manuals" can be supplied.
(70) SELLING INFORMATIONAL PRODUCTS ON EBAY/WEBSITE
Learn from one of the top sellers on ebay. For further information, click here.
