quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:
Collectibles mining aka garage sales/estate sales and selling on EBay or FB Marketplace.

One caveat, learn about and deal with things you aren’t interested in. That way you’re not reluctant to let go of the items.

On a similar note I built a custom home on SML about 10 years ago for a recently retired Mobil/Exon exec. He retired from M/E after a 30+ year successful career to take care of his dying mother.
While tending to her needs he found himself getting bored and started buying old Matel Hot wheels at estate sales and on line. He had obtained permission from Matel to recreate the wooden boxes with the slide tops that they originally came in and he then refurbished them and sold them on eBay.

When we designed his home we dedicated one room and transformed it into a sort of assembly room where the purchased toys came in at one end and the refurbished product was photographed and packaged at the other end.

After his mother passed he jumped into it full time and he told me he was netting about $5,000/week! He had clients from Hong Kong to Australia who would pay astronomical prices for a particular item that he paid less than a dollar for.

Bottom line find something that you enjoy doing and you’ll be much happier. (And please don’t become a home inspector, most of them, even though they may be “certified” don’t know shit about a building…).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: smlsig,

Interior painting (done correctly).

I have a friend who considered a pressure washing side business based on a quote he got from someone when he was looking to get his fence pressure washed. My friend is a successful entrepreneur himself. He is part owner of an HVAC company in northwest Florida and owner of a dog grooming salon.

I know a guy who has some machines you could probably go do some cleaning of gym mats with...

I know if three old farts that drive two days a week for medical services.
Two haul samples , documents, med equipment etc.
Mostly around the metro area sometimes inter city.

The third guy transports non emergency patients around the county.

All work 6 or 7 hours a day with company furnished vehicles.
And !

Two of them do it at their winter homes in AZ. For three months

One side hustle I've seen in my area is that Waste Management provides the 90 gallon wheeled trash cans and recycle bins. They get nasty and many in my neighborhood would rather pay someone to clean them rather than clean themselves.

On one end of the scale, there is the veteran owned business that has turned it into a full-time gig, and has a self-contained truck that does an excellent job and meets EPA discharge requirements. Obviously, they have more overhead and charge accordingly.

On the other end of the scale, there are the guys walking around the neighborhood pulling a wagon with a small $120 pressure washer, a thick extension cord, and short garden hose. They preadvertise on neighborhood FB page (I don't use NextDoor but guess another venue). They do a decent job cleaning the cans curbside, the liquid runs in the gutter, and they throw any chunks into a bag. Obviously, they charge less money as they have much lower overhead.

I have a friend that's a fireman, works 3-4 days straight then has 3-4 days off. He does lawn mowing on his days off. Started as a side hustle but it is paying almost as well as his full-time job.

Another friend, retired military, does the same, has a zero turn mower and a small tractor with rotary cutter. Some of his jobs pay $200-$300 each, and he can complete 2-3 a day. Customers are well satisfied.

I make birthday cakes, wedding cakes and other special occasion cakes for my family and they're always like "ohhhh, you ought to go into business doing this!"

Ummm...no. It's a labor of love and there would be NO money in it. I'd have to charge more than people would be willing to pay.

For the OP the only thing I can say is if you do decide to get into a side hustle, look also at what are the first things people will cut in a downturn or recession and avoid that because I'm pretty certain we are headed for a bad recession, all I keep hearing from friends and family and seeing news articles is talk of layoffs, layoffs, layoffs.

Just something to keep in mind so you don't end up starting something and then have to quit because people are cutting their spending.

I am not sure what the requirement's for training would be, however have you looked at the Idea of becoming a travel agent.

My old next door neighbor is a nurse. Several years ago she decided to become a travel agent while still doing her nursing job. This was to supplement he income.
It is a job she does from home. She also set her own hours. Most of her work with her clients is done by email.
It is a commission job so she gets paid when the customer completes their vacation. I am not sure if that is how all travel agency's work or that's the agreement she has with the one she works with.
It has taken her a few years but she has built up quite a business.

You would have to see if it would fit in with your current work and life style.

Going with bendable's idea. Elderly who cannot drive and wish to go to medical appointments and other places. Medicaid does provide this service to medical appointments. They, however have lots of drawbacks. Crowded vehicle honks the horn at seven am drops you off and picks you up about dusk.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

Going with bendable's idea. Elderly who cannot drive and wish to go to medical appointments and other places.

Your auto insurance company might have something to say about this, especially the liability potential.

quote:

Originally posted by cooger:

I’m looking at starting a side business <snip> Any ideas you’d like to throw out?

I had a small (mom & pop size) business for more than twenty years, supplying rental carpet cleaners ("steam cleaners") to retail stores, mostly Ace Hardware and a sprinkling of True Value Hardware stores. These stores would rent the equipment to do-it-yourself customers, the store acting as my rental agent on a commission basis. I also had machinery to label and bottle the chemicals (cleaning supplies) that were sold with the rentals.

I recently sold the business to a SIGforum member. He could set you up with some equipment, to start this business in your area, and he could even supply you with private-label cleaning chemicals.

It does not take a lot of time to handle this business, the equipment is out there, earning for you, while you do important stuff, like going to the range to shoot.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

Going with bendable's idea. Elderly who cannot drive and wish to go to medical appointments and other places.

Your auto insurance company might have something to say about this, especially the liability potential.

Would definitely need to have proper licensing and insurance for this.

When I started a small transportation company a couple years ago (which I could never get off the ground), one of the questions applying for a motor carrier number was whether I'd be transporting people. My assumption is the fees and insurance requirements would be different from transporting goods in value of less than $25,000 which I was doing.

Vehicles are provided and insured.

Cut up and split 40 cords of fire wood ,let it dry for 10 months,bundle some bag some and see if people will purchase it.

Or sell it by the face cord half cord or even full cord

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
I know if three old farts that drive two days a week for medical services.
Two haul samples , documents, med equipment etc.
Mostly around the metro area sometimes inter city.

The third guy transports non emergency patients around the county.

All work 6 or 7 hours a day with company furnished vehicles.
And !

Two of them do it at their winter homes in AZ. For three months

My college roommate's dad is a dealer trade drive for a local GM dealer.
Takes inventory trades between dealers. We had a half dozen for the Chevrolet store I worked in college, mostly older/retired folks.
One guy had to take a brand new Corvette from Conroe [N Houston] to Austin & bring a different one back.
Had one brought to us, a loaded Suburban in December one year. They picked up a Tahoe we had. Apparently the only LTZ Tahoe in the country, new in-stock, with a 2nd row bench seat instead of captain's chairs. For that one they trailered the Suburban down to us & took the Tahoe back on a trailer.

But, if you're working a full-time job, this likely isn't in the cards outside of Saturday runs.

Most ideas here would be better off having insurance to do them. What happens when you pressure wash and destroy the fence/shingles/paint? Search YouTube and see some of the damage people have done. Most things you do will take on a slight risk so keep that in mind.

Depending on location I have thought that a car washing business would be a real $ maker. Just wash at home if possible. Schedule and have people drop off their car. Once you establish a client base you would probably be doing repeat's every week or every other week. Nothing but $ coming in.

Ok, Onlyfans site is set up. I’m offering Sigforum members a 25% discount.

I'm seeing a huge demand lately in my area for home handyman type work.

It seems all the usual handymen decided they were contractors and to not do small jobs anymore. They only want to do big jobs that pay many thousands of $$$s. You can call and talk, leave messages, etc, and they won't even call back. I've experienced this. Finally got someone to redo my leaking shower. Guy showed up a few weeks later, took the job, smiled and made nicey nicey talk. He started, then would only show up once or twice a week at best. Always an excuse of "have an emergency". Took him 4 months to finish a relatively simple shower remodel. IMO and experience they take on all the jobs the can get even though they won't get them done in a timely manner.

All my neighbors agree if there was a local handyman who could do relatively simple things, such as hanging a new ceiling fan, a little paint work, change out a lock, change out a faucet or fix a leaking faucet, relace a light bulb in a tall ceiling room, new light fixture, porch light, paint a room, etc etc, they'd love it. A person that can reasonably quickly reply and get it done.

And before you say people as homeowners should be able to do these relatively minor things themselves, don't.

I know many people who want someone to do relatively simple things that they can't do. Some people are elderly and can't do it anymore. Some have injuries that prevent them from doing things. The list goes on.

If you can do these things you can make some really good money and people will be so thankful to you.

My neighbor just turned age 62 and he and his wife decided to retire now. He is very talented and has done a lot of remodeling, his work looks very nice to me. He was talking about needing to make extra money and I recommended he do this. Seems to be working out well for him.
.

quote:

I know many people who want someone to do relatively simple things that they can't do. Some people are elderly and can't do it anymore. Some have injuries that prevent them from doing things. The list goes on.

If you can do these things you can make some really good money and people will be so thankful to you.

^^^^^^^^^^^^
I suddenly developed balance issues six months ago and cannot do the things I used to do. Change a light bulb from a ladder,etc. GReat idea Gene.