Be Your Own Boss And Work At Home

Start a Business and Work at Home

The idea of being your own boss, setting your own deadlines and arranging your own workload is hugely appealing to many people. More and more of us are considering either taking on another part time self-employed role in addition to our main job, or switching from a more traditional job so we can work at home.

It is of specific appeal to parents of young children or people who have retired from a full time job but who aren’t ready to be put out to pasture just yet. But what sort of job opportunities are out there and which are worth the effort to explore?

Scams

Given that the idea of working for yourself from home is so appealing, there are a huge number of scams out there, promising huge returns for little effort. There are two basic rules to remember. If it appears too good to be true, it probably is. Secondly, never pay money to an employer to become registered with them or for your first batch of work; if there genuinely is work then they should be paying you and not the other way around.

Selling

Ever since the days of the first Tupperware parties, the party plan method has been popular as a way to generate some extra income. Now everything from cosmetics to children’s toys is sold through party plan. It can offer lucrative earnings if you are lucky enough to get in at the beginning of an idea which takes off and you end up managing a network of other sellers too.

For most people though it takes a lot of hard work to build up a network of contacts and people to sell to. Also, as most of these parties take place at the evening and at weekends, it can ruin your social life too.

Secretarial and Admin

Many of the scam job offers around are in the admin or secretarial market, so steer clear of any companies claiming to have jobs stuffing envelopes or doing data entry. If however you have skills such as audio typing or web design, you can find freelance work fairly easy through many of the big websites catering to homeworkers.

Be prepared to compete against other workers for the best contracts, and it can take a while to build up feedback from satisfied customers too. If you live in a University town or close to a large hospital, it can be worth putting up posters or handing out flyers offering to transcribe lecture notes, type up dissertations or write medical reports.

Driving

There are many opportunities for delivery or courier driving which are based from home. Many mail order companies use homes based workers to deliver packages, and you will be able to work at a time and pace which suits you. If you are planning on using your own car for making deliveries, it is wise to take out special insurance for couriers which will cover you when working, normal car insurance is not sufficient.

Ensure that any insurance for couriers policy covers damage to your own vehicle as well as any third party. If you are working for a salary rather than on a per packet rate, you may be covered under your employer’s insurance for couriers policy.

Crafts

If you have a talent for card making, knitting, jewellery making or any other craft, it is simple to turn your hobby into a small home business. Start off by selling to friends and family, and then explore craft fairs in your local area. There are also numerous websites where you can showcase your wares to a wider audience too.