115 Ways to Be Your Own Boss
(1) HAND DECORATING
of ordinary objects pays well. Their value is often quadrupled. Prepared stencils and designs are available from hobby shops. You can work in attic or basement and need invest very little in supplies. Saleable items are initialled tumblers, stools, trays, jugs, boxes, waste-baskets, greeting cards, toys. Sell your work to gift shops on a sale or return basis.
(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 advertisements in “Coins” and other collectors’ and hobby magazines, and in “Exchange & Mart ” Weekly, under “Coins”. See No 113 on Home Mail Order Business . Combine with No 79.
(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. (5) PROFITABLE SEWING AT HOME
There is money in a home dressmaking service. It often pays to specialise. Some do well re-modelling old dresses, or making novelties or children’s wear. A sign in your window, a card on Y.W.C.A. notice boards and students’ bulletins, classified ads in the local newspaper and calls on dress shops and gift stores bring business.
(6) MAKING LAMPS AND SHADES
at home pays well, as they often sell for many times the material costs. Lamp shades can be made in home workshops from linen, plastics, silk, paper and parchment. Local public libraries have manuals on the subject. Outlets are gift shops and department stores. Co-operate with interior designers.
(7) 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.
(8) 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. (9) 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.
(10) LOCAL NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENT
Suitable if you are a good ‘mixer’ and have good local knowledge and write plain English. Start by sending local editors specimen reports.
(11) CRITICISM OF WRITERS’ MANUSCRIPTS
Profitable if you are keen, have some flair, and study writers’ manuals. Advertise in “The Writer”, “Writer’s Review”, and “Writing”.
(12) 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 oe2.50 to oe3.00 per hour. Your local reference libraries will help.
(13) 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.
(14) 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.
(15) 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. Combine with No 92.
(16) AGENCY SUPERVISORS
working from home are wanted by Buying Protection Services, 20 Gorham, Rottingdean, Brighton. BN2 7DP.
(17) INVISIBLE RE-WEAVING
This service is popular and rewarding because it salvages costly garments at considerably less cost than would be needed to replace them. There is particularly good scope in small community neighbourhoods.
(18) HANDBILL DISTRIBUTION
for business firms and other advertisers can be profitable. Door-to-door delivery can be arranged with senior school-children. Sales letters sent to department stores and other local advertisers can bring good results, also advertisements in “The Trader”.
(19) 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, 2117 North Wayne Ave., Chicago 14, Illinis. In England similar firms advertise in “Exchange & Mart”, “Sunday Times”, and “The Observer”.
(20) 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
(21) HOME MANUFACTURING
Many saleable products can easily be made at home, and sold through gift shops and other retailers.
(22) USED CRRESPONDENCE COURSES
at reasonable prices are in demand and several people in America are running this type of mail order business. They include second-hand instruction manuals and self-improvement books in their lists. Advertise under “Educational” in “Exchange & Mart”. Combine with NO 114.
(23) 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.
(24) WINDOW DRESSING
calls for, of course, artistic ability and skill with tools, plus imagination. It is advisable to get tuition in the subject at evening classes.
(25) MAKE PLYWOOD NOVELTIES
and sell through gift shops. Popular items: weather vanes, ships, squirrels, dogs, birds, row-boats, name and address backgroungs, picture puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, jewel boxes, comic plaques, doll furniture.
(26) JUVENILE CLOTHING EXCHANGE
Many women in the suburbs of London and other cities run a children’s clothing exchange, where mothers exchange children’s unwanted, out-grown garments for others and pay an exchange fee. This project can be combined with the sale of boys’ and youths’ wear such as shorts, T-shirts etc., of your own make, or from wholesale suppliers listed in “The Trader”.
(27) BOOK INDEXING Indexing books for non-fiction publishers is pleasant, profitable work. The technique can be learned from handbooks in public libraries. Work is obtained by writing to non-fiction publishers listed in the “Writers and Artists Year Book”.
(28) 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.
(29) HANDWRITING ANALYSIS
This is a service which can be profitably advertised with classified ads in magazines and newspapers. The skill can be acquired from manuals on graphology.
(30) REMINDER BUREAU
With such a service you undertake for an annual fee to remind people of birthdays, wedding anniversaries, dates for payments, etc. You get your customers through “Personal” ads in “Sunday Times” and “Observer”.
(31) 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.
(32) ENTERTINING 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. (33) EMBROIDERING
beautifully decorated cigarette cases, velvet compacts, pin cushions, baby dresses etc., is profitable. Sales are through gift shops. Get “Embroidery” magazine which advertises opportunities and a correspondence course from Embroiderers Guild, 73 Wimpole Street, London W.1.
(34) 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”.
(35) DECORATED CANDLES
These are good sellers to gift shops. Study craft magazines, visit gift shops, and try to turn out something different.
(36) 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.
(37) MAKING & SELLING HANDMADE SHELL DECORATED JEWELLERY
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.
(38) 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.
(39) BOOK-KEEPING SERVICE
Local newspapers often contain part-time vacancies, or you can approach grocers, service stations, clubs, public houses and various retailers who may need a home book-keeping service, rather than a more expensive firm of accountants, to help prepare and maintain tax forms and records.
(40) 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.
(41) 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.
(42) A MENDING SERVICE
for single men, business girls, school-teachers, professional people and over-worked housewives can pay well. Advertise at week-ends in the classified section of your local newspaper. This work can be combined with some other sewing.
(43) 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.
(44) 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.
(45) MODELLING
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.
(46) PROFITS IN KNITTING
This is a home activity that pays well. Women buy sweaters, dresses and two and three-piece suits; men need mufflers, gloves, socks, jackets, sweaters; and children’s knitted wear is also in demand at good prices. Sell privately through local babywear shops, gift shops and other suitable retail outlets; by mail order; also by approaching suitable firms.
(47) 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. :FORTYEIGHT (48) 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.
(49) DEMONSTRATIONS
Details of an attractive range of luxury skin care products for demonstrating from your own home at generous profits are obtainable from B & G Delaney, 18 Wellington Square, Chelsea, London SW3. Agents to sell beauty preparations are wanted by Avon Cosmetics Ltd., 84 Baker Street, London W.1.
(50) SELLING SHIRTS
to friends and workmates at actual wholesale prices is a popular spare time activity. A free starting outfit of actual shirting samples, coloured illustration, etc., is offered by K.L.Shirts, 349 Edgware Road, London W2.
(51) HOOKED AND BRAIDED RUGS
and novelties made at home sell well in local shops. Lamp and vase mats, handbags, hot dish mats, seat covers, toilet seat covers, backrests and slippers are in demand. Rugmaking kits are obtainable from Winwood Textiles, Kidderminster, Worcs.
(52) 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.
(53) 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.
(54) MUSHROOM GROWING
This can be conducted in a shed or basement. A thorough knowledge of the subject is essential. Sales can be made through a sign in your window; through local newspaper advertisements or a roadside stand; and to local greengrocers, restaurants and hotels. (55) MAKING CURTAINS AND RUGS
is a pleasant home occupation. Many people are glad of such a money-saving service. Get business through telephone and personal calls, letters and classified advertisements in local newspaper, sell privately and through gift shops. Get supplies at trade rates through wholesalers listed in the telephone book and in craft journals.
(56) 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.
(57) 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. (58) 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.
(59) 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).
(60) 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.
(61) 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. (62) 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. :(63) 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.
(64) 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.
(65) OPERATE A SPARETIME AGENCY ROM HOME
Details of various agencies from Wessex First Aid Co., 6a Royal Parade, Kew Gardens, Richmond, Surrey; Progressive Insurance Brokers, 7 Judd Street, London W.C.1; Garden Estate Nurseries Ltd., 4 Station Road, Wytleaf, Surrey.
(66) 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”.
(67) 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.
(68) PREPARING CURRICULUM VITAE (C.V.’s)
on your home P.C. and printing out on daisy-wheel or laser printer. Very prestigious results are achieved thus materially assisting job candidates. Fees of £25 – £50 can be collected for the finished product. Advertise your service in local/national newspapers.
(69) WORDPROCESSING SERVICE
from home using P.C. appropriate software as ‘Wordstar’ and a daisy-wheel printer. Reports, special letters, quotations, invoices can easily be produced using state-of-the-art peripherals. Customers will be small businesses such as builders, doctors, accountants. Demand will be regular.
(70) DRESSMAKING FOR OFF-SIZED FOLK
Because so many people cannot wear the standard-sized costumes sold in shops, this is an excellent speciality.
(71) 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.
(72) ILLUSTRATED LECTURES
There is money in this. Build up a collection of colour slides on two or three popular subjects. Read up these subjects over a period. Then write offering to give illustrated talks to clubs, civic organisations, educational institutions and employees of business firms. Projectors can be hired.
(73) HAT RENOVATING
A number of women in small and larger towns add to their income by giving ‘new life’ to hats, changing the style to make them look new and different.
(74) POULTRY BREEDING
If you have the inclination and the space, plus some ability for buying and selling you could look into this possibility, studying the journals and manuals on the subject at the local library.
(75) 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 oe15,000 to oe20,000 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. (76) 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.
(77) PREPARING SPEECHES
If you have the ability to prepare speeches there is well paid work to be obtained from persons active in trade associations, literary clubs, political groups and social clubs. A letter, with your business card, sent to the secretaries of such associations may well lead to interesting work. Payment can be quite high according to the type of speech and the amount of research needed .
(78) 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.
(79) DEALING IN POSTAGE STAMPS
gives plenty of scope today with the ever-increasing interest in stamp collecting for pleasure and profit. There are over 3 million collectors of stamps in the British Isles and about 12 million throughout the world. Even if you confine yourself to supplying collectors in Great Britain, you can make a good income.
(80) PAPER HANGING
if you can do it well, is a wanted service. Insert classified ads saying you will decorate houses at low rates (get the know-how from library books). Request a discount of 20% on wallpaper supplied by retailers.
(81) PLASTIC CRAFTWORK
can be carried out on a card table at home. Manuals are readily obtainable showing how to make jewel boxes, paperweights, candleholders, pen-holders, cigarette boxes, costume jewellery and ornamental plaques for gift shop outlets.
(82) 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.
(83) 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. (84) POTTERY CRAFT PRODUCTS
can now be made at home at low expenditure on kits and clays from craft supply houses. There is a good market for gaily-decorated tiles for hanging on walls, decoration of fireplaces, etc., small pitchers and mugs, vases and flower bowls.
(85) 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”.
(86) 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.
(87) LOCATE OUT-OF-PRINT BOOKS
This pays well. You place two-line classified ads in literary periodicals such as “Books and Bookman”, “Times Literary Supplement”, “Time and Tide”, offering to find scarce books a “free search service”. You insert other ads indicating specific titles wanted in “The Clique”.
(88) TELEPHONE ANSWERING SERVICE
Such services are used by lawyers, doctors, repair men, contractos and others who are not always able to have someone to answer ‘phone calls’. Many housewives, shut-ins, married couples and others find that a telephone answering service pays well. A monthly fee is charged.
(89) COMPUTERISED BOOK-KEEPING/ACCOUNTING SERVICE
Using a home P.C. and software such as “Sage” or “Pegasus” accounting packages you are able to offer a fully computerised book-keeping and accounting service including; purchase ledger, profit and loss accounts, sales ledger, nominal ledger, profit forecasting.
(90) TOY MAKING
calls for a keen interest, market study and initiative; in demand are: tricks, games, game boards, masks, educational toys, models, puppets and any other types. Felt for soft toy-making is obtainable at low prices from Griffiiths & Co., 6 Hanover Street, Merthyr Tydfil
(91) TEACH TYPEWRITING
Many stenographers take a typing class at home in the evening, using rented typewriters and ads in local papers.
(92) 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.
(93) 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.
(94) WEDDING VIDEO SERVICE
offering a personal video of this special occasion is a profitable usage of a “camcorder”. Many young brides want a living memento of their wedding-day. oe20-oe30 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 oe450.
(95) TYPEWRITER REPAIRS
A home typewriter repair service can pay well. Get business through office supply stores and small classified advertisements in local papers at weekends.
(96) WATCH REPAIRING
can be highly profitable. A watch repairing course is offered by Watchcraft, 121 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London S.W.15.
(97) STENCIL CUTTING
for churches, clubs and business firms pays well. It is simply typing on to a wax stencil (without the typewriter ribbon). Erasures and corrections are made with a liquid which may be bought at any office stationery shop. (98) SELLING OCCULT AND METAPHYSICAL BOOKS BY MAIL
is interesting and can be profitable. In England a reliable advertising medium for such books is “Prediction”; in America “Fate”.
(99) SILK SCREEN PRINTING
can be excellent home business. The process is used for greeting cards, posters, show cards, personalised place cards, etc. This method of printing by stencils through tautly stretched silk in a frame is easy to learn and there is no scarcity of manuals.
(100) T.V. REPAIR SERVICE
is a good spare-time business. There are useful manuals on the subject.
(101) 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.
(102) 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.
(103) 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”.
(104) DESK TOP PUBLISHING
Armed with an Apple Macintosh computer and software such as “Pagemaker” and a laser printer (total outlay for second-hand equipment ….see ‘Computer for Sale’ in “Exchange & Mart”….as little as oe3500) and a few hours home training from the ‘user friendly’ manuals accompanying this equipment you have the basis for a ready made business. Charge oe25 – oe40 per hour for preparing the artwork for letterheads, manuals, business cards, etc. Customers will be small printers, large printers with overspill, mail-order dealers.
(105) 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.
(106) 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.
(107) ‘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.
(108) WRITING SHORT PARAGRAPHS
Most people can write tips on household management, cookery, child care, etc. Jokes, anecdotes, children’s sayings, business-building gimmicks, etc., are in demand. Many such items receive sizeable cheques from magazines. (109) MAKE AND SELL COSTUME JEWELLERY
Home-made costume jewellery sell well to jewellery outlets, gift shops, hairdressers shops, clothes boutiques, and by direct mail. It is possible to start with limited capital. Read books borrowed from the local library, study trade journals, and literature issued by manufacturers of fittings and supplies. Catalogues from Leisurecrafts Ltd., Romford Road, London E.12. Write also to Gemcraft, 96 Grove Vale, London S.E.22.
(110) HOME TYPING
pays well if the right techniques are followed. Business firms, professional people and associations in your area need typing done by free-lance typists. Authors need novels, short stories, plays, non-fiction books and articles typed and they are easily reached through classified ads in writers’ and literary magazines. T
(111) 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.
(112) TELEX/FAX/PHOTOCOPYING SERVICE
Communication and fast coying are vital requirements of modern businesses and executive professionals. Second-hand fascimile and photocopiers are cheaply available. You can charge 10p per photocopy, oe1.00 per minute for fax transmission and oe1.50 per min for telexing. Advertise your service in classified sections of local newsapapers.
(113) 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 oe100 a week part-time and oe700 (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.
(114) 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.
(115) CRAFT WORK
Because good craftsmanship is scarce today home craftsmen can readily sell attractive work through gift shops, furniture stores and other retailers, also privately. Unusual bookshelves, bookracks, bookends, novelties, wireworks, marquetry, leatherwork, etc. Addresses of handicraft materials and hobby kit suppliers are usually obtainable at local public libraries.