Great ideas to earn money part-time
The
lists below will help inspire you with a home job idea that you
can make some extra money with. All these things can be carried
out in your spare time, evenings and weekends,and many have formed
the basis of successful part-time home businesses.
Don't forget that if you need cash to pay
off some bills, in addition to all the 'micro business' ideas
listed below, there are also seasonal jobs in the retail and leisure
industries at various times of the year. Many of these can be
carried out on an evening and weekend basis or part-time during
the day if you have spare time during the week.
But coming back to working from home as
your own boss, the secret to having a successful home business
or making easy money in your spare time is to choose a project
that you will enjoy doing.
This kind of business works best if you
have a hobby or interest that you can build on. Gardening is an
obvious example but there are loads of others that are suitable
as the basis of a work at home job or small business. If you enjoy
what you're doing, you'll find the job will be easy to do and
you'll make more money!
If
you're practical then you can consider things like offering
a handyman service,
putting up shelves, assembling flat-pack furniture, painting,
plumbing and decorating.
If you get on well with people,
how about party plan or direct sales, disk jockeying or even learning
how to become a toastmaster!
If you're fond of animals,
then there's a whole range of earning opportunities ranging through
dog grooming, looking after horses, pet sitting, and supplying
pet accessories.
People even make a living producing designer
clothes for dogs! Still on the canine theme, dog walking is a
service that's much in demand and is easy to fit around your current
lifestyle.
As always, the secret to success is to
carry out research first to determine what kind of market exists
for your product or services. Ask around, talk to friends, relatives
and potential customers.
Look at who's in the market already, who
will your competitors be, can you be better, cheaper, faster,
friendlier than them or can you fill a niche market?
Easy ways to make money from home
Become a Business
Advisor or Consultant
If
you've had experience in running a business, or expertise in specialised
areas, why not pass the knowledge on? Many businesses have a requirement
for expert input on a whole range of issues from Health and Safety
through raising funds and expanding to setting up an E-business.
Small and Medium businesses in particular, may be reluctant
to take someone on full-time or enter into long-term consultancy
contracts, but they are likely to welcome someone with experience
or specific knowledge who can give input on an ad-hoc or daily
basis.
Many advisors have started successful second careers after redundancy
or retirement and find helping to resolve problems or improve
efficiency in a business is very rewarding on more than just a
financial level.
Contact your local authority, development agency or chamber of
commerce for more information.
Work
as a Children's Entertainer
If you get on great with kids, and have a talent to entertain
then why not earn some cash by doing your magic show, ventriloquism,
balloon sculpting, clowning, puppeteering or juggling at kid's
parties. You can brush up on your skills or learn new ones by
joining a magic club or taking drama lessons.
If you aren't up to putting on a performance, how about Bear
Making or running a bouncy castle. Don't forget face painting
at events, sports meetings, football and rugby matches - this
can range from complex hand-painted designs for kids through to
a quick stencilled team logo on each cheek for sports fans. Henna
tattoos for older kids are another popular option as well.
You'll need to ensure that you have public liability insurance
and also that any electrical equipment such as amplifiers or pumps
has a valid test certificate. It's worth getting CRB checked as
well as this gives parents added confidence.
Make money Cooking
If you can cook, you can make extra cash. Make cakes for birthdays
and weddings. Cater for events such as anniversaries, birthdays,
weddings, christenings and other celebrations. Create bespoke
picnic hampers. Sell sandwiches around offices. Sell hot dogs
at events. Buy a burger van and cater for events or at the roadside.
Sell healthy snacks and smoothies. Cater for other peoples dinner
parties. Run a guerilla restaurant in your home - in a warehouse.
You'll need to register your premises with your local authority's
environmental health service and they'll be inspected to make
sure that they reach the required standard. You'll also need a
licence to sell or supply alcohol, sell hot food after 11pm, sell
food from a stall or van on the public highway.
The environmental health department will be able to help you
with this but a good starting point is to look at the Food Standard
Agency's website which has loads of useful information for the
budding caterer.
First
steps to running a catering business
How
to work as a Disk Jockey
If you love music, working as a DJ can be a poptastic way to
earn a living at weddings, parties and events of all kinds - 'ladies
and gentlemen, the buffet is now open'.
The mobile DJ is always in demand and it needn't be too expensive
to get started - If you want to try it out first, you can even
rent the equipment and see how you get on.
You'll need to be personable and chatty and able to deal with
mothers of brides, drunken uncles who want more Elvis and kids
who want hard house at granny's birthday party. Or you could strut
your stuff at clubs and bars, if you can talk and mix at the same
time, you could be on your way to the big time.
Don't forget Karaoke is also popular at events and social gatherings
either as a stand-alone event or as part of a disco evening.
Work
as a Doorman
The door supervisor's role is now regulated by the Security Industry
Authority and it's illegal to work as a door supervisor on licensed
premises without holding the appropriate SIA licence. As of 2012,
it costs £245 for a three year period and you'll need to
supply full background details and details of any criminal convictions.
Door supervision is about much more than the public perception
of the old fashioned 'bouncer' and requires knowledge of Civil
and criminal law, Searching, Drugs awareness, Licensing law, Equal
opportunities and the Health and Safety at Work Act.
There are many companies offering training courses on the different
skills you need so take a little time to do some research and
shop around to find the price and type of course that suits.
You'll need to be physically fit and most importantly, be able
to deal calmly and professionally with a wide variety of people
in sometimes stressful or difficult situations.
Female Door Supervisors
The amount of women working as door supervisors has increased
over recent years. As well as dealing with drug and weapon searches
on female customers, women door supervisors have often been able
to take a successful 'softly, softly' approach with agressive
and potentially violent males and defuse a situation before it
'kicks off'. Find
out more. (external site, opens in new window)
Door-to-door sales
If you're not fazed by knocking on doors and trying to sell
stuff, you could try selling door-to-door on a commission-only
basis. Besides the ever-popular home improvements and double glazing
options, you could look at selling energy, solar power, phone
packages and catalogue goods. Look at wholesale suppliers online
for cheap stuff you can sell door-to-door, try selling secuity
and safety items door-to-door such as peephole door viewers, security
chains and smoke detectors - all can be good sellers as long as
you keep the price low. Sell low-value items where possible as
this will overcome customers objections to lack of come-back in
the event of problems.
With the costs of printing as low as they are, how about approaching
local businessess and selling advertising space on a calendar,
planner or list of useful contacts which you then distribute door-to-door
for free.
See also catalogue and party plan sales.
Energy Assessor
Jobs
An Energy Performance Certificate is required whenever a domestic
property is built or put up for sale in England and Wales. The
energy assessor inspects the property and ascertains the dimensions,
type of construction, heating and hot water provision of the premises.
Assessors use a bespoke software program to produce the Energy
Performance Certificate which will inform potential buyers of
the energy efficiency (or otherwise!) of the property.
Training courses are available, using running over two (Domestic
Energy Assessors) to five days (Non-Domestic Energy Assessors).
Distance learning is also available - all the courses should lead
to accreditation - the energy assessor needs to be accredited
and be a fit and proper person to hold the post.
Find
out more (external site, opens in new window)
Work
as an Entertainer
If you can sing, tell jokes, play the banjo, strip, or escape
from a straitjacket while whistling 'dixie' you could make a living
or at least beer money by doing it in public. Try pub talent nights,
comedy clubs, or busking - check with your local council to see
if you need permission before you start performing on the street.
You might get away with playing a guitar without a permit, but
it's not so easy to get away with a circus act without being moved
on or fined!
Who knows, the big time might be just around the corner. Close
up magicians have had something of a resurgence lately with many
clubs and restaurants paying to keep their customers entertained
between courses. Approach the venue owner and ask for a try-out,
do the first gigs free if that's what it takes to get started.
There are also full-time and seasonal jobs for entertainers in
holiday camps, leisure parks and cruise ships.
The Stage Newspaper carries vacancies and contacts for Jobs
for entertainers (external site, opens in new window)
Escort Jobs
Don't - unless you know what you're getting into...google it
and read some experiences! Escort work for women will almost always
involve providing sexual 'extras' .
If you are looking for a job as a male escort, the object will
be for the 'agency' to separate you from your money as quickly
as possible. You'll be asked to call a premium rate phone number
to find out more and/or pay a (non-refundable) registration fee
before you are given any work. The work then fails to appear.
Adverts looking for male escorts are virtually guaranteed
to be nothing more than a quick way of losing your money.
Find out more about escort scams
Working
as a Film Extra
It's not as glamorous as it sounds but you can earn 50-100 GB
pounds a day and get to see your favourite TV and film stars.
There are opportunities for people of all ages, you don't need
acting skills or have to be particularly attractive either! If
you specialise in a particular type of role such as period drama
and have your own equipment and clothing, you can earn a higher
daily rate. Many re-enactors of everything from the English Civil
War to World War 2 have appeared in films.
You'll need to be registered with an agency ( There's a list
of agents who deal with film and TV extras on
nasaa.org.uk ) as TV and film producers will always work via
agents. It's usual to have to pay a registration fee but take
a little time to research the agency which might suit you and
don't hand over the fee untill you find out exactly what you're
getting in return and how often you're likely to get work.
Read more about a film
extra's life in the Daily Telegraph
Financial
Services Sales Jobs
The 'Financial Services' description covers a wide range of jobs
such as selling insurance or loans that you can carry out at home
or on a part-time basis. As much of the work is carried out in
the evening and weekends, it can work well as a second income
generator on top of your day job.
Bear in mind though, that this sector is strictly regulated and
it's essential that you have the requisite licences,
training and knowledge before you start work.
If you're working as an agent or introducer for an existing company,
they should be able to advise you further and you can find out
more about financial products from the FSA and Office of Fair
Trading.
Foster Parent
Foster carers usually look after kids on a short to medium term
basis and are paid for this by the local authority. Types of fostering
can vary from short-term, short-notice, emergency fostering for
a day or two ( such as when a single parent is taken ill) through
to periods of weeks months and even years. Other options are looking
after a child for a few hours now and again to give the family
a break or specialising - for example looking after handicapped
children or helping young mothers with babies.
If you like kids and have bags of understanding and patience,
you could consider this. You'd need to have suitable accommodation
and undergo a criminal record check as well as a series in-depth
interviews during the application process. Although you'll receive
payment for fostering, it's not something you should consider
doing on a purely financial basis - you genuinely need to love
working with kids who can often have significant problems.
Find
out more
Waiter / Bar staff
/ Promotions
This
is a useful part-time and seasonal earner. Ask around at your
local pub, cafe, restaurant, hotel, function room, golf club,
masonic hall etc. or do a google search for 'event staff' in your
area and contact the agencies that appear.
The catering and hospitality industry has a huge demand for part-time
and casual staff and once you have a little experience, you'll
find that the work will come your way with increasing regularity.
If you can do silver service, you'll always be in demand for
functions and there is always a need for experienced bar staff.
There are no specific qualifications to get started but you should
be presentable, reliable and polite.
Waiting can also be a suitable part -time job for 16 year olds
but do check the legislation in your area.
If you're the outgoing and friendly type, maybe being a toastmaster
would suit. You need to be a good public speaker and cool under
pressure but the job is extremely rewarding when you've helped
a major function or wedding run smoothly. Courses are available
from english
toastmasters.
If that's a bit full-on but you like meeting and talking to
the public, you could consider promotional or PR work - this covers
everything from walking the streets handing out leaflets to demonstrating
products in stores or exhibitions.
Seasonal
work at holiday camps and leisure parks (external site, opens
in new window)
Work as a Wedding Photographer
See under photography jobs
Window Cleaning
Jobs
'Turned
out nice again' - as long as you've got a ladder and a head for
heights, you can always make money with a window cleaning round.
This can be great if you enjoy working outside, meeting lots of
different people and have got plenty of 'elbow grease' - it will
keep you fit as well as earn you money!
You do need to be prepared to push your skills by actively door-to-door
calling, placing an advert in the local paper, and leaving a contact
card in the local PO or shops.
You also need transport, which is another way you can advertise
your business with your telephone or web details on the car or
van. When you're working wear a shirt with your details on it,
so if passersby spot your gleaming windows they'll know who to
call!
If you are good at your job and reliable, word will soon spread
and then you will be off - as the best advert is a recommendation
from a friend or neighbour.
When you see a house sold in your area pop your details through
the door, so the new owners know who to call. Don't just think
houses and flats, try smaller shops and businesses which may not
have contract cleaners.
More
Home Jobs
Insurance - We strongly advise
that you take out the appproriate insurance to cover your activities.
A good independent broker will be able to advise you on what cover
you need.
