Need Help!!

[tryinhard]

Hello all,

I am in desperate need of a business or occupation I can do from home. My wife and I are expecting our 3rd child and frankly I am getting tired of the dumb stuff at my 9-5 job. She has babysitted since our 4 yo was born so it would have to be something that wouldn't take up the whole house and that I could do anytime. I keep thinking my ideal job would be some kind of retail business. You have seen the little containers on the convience store counters? That is what I have been thinking about. I put them out and keep them stocked then go collect my money. Anyone ever do this? If so how well did it work?

Thanks,
TH

[springvalley]

Think this one through. If you're talking about selling do-dads at another store, you've got to figure in all your expenses. What is the cut that the store gets from the sale? How much does it cost for your inventory, whether you're purchasing it wholesale or making it? How much is it going to cost you to drive around to all these stores to 'go collect your money'? Then take whatever you have left after all your expenses and divide that by the amount of time you've spent. Is it still worth it?
-Catherine

[tryinhard]

Don't know. That is why I am asking. Just tired of working for the man. Would like to be working for myself for a change. Have wanted a dairy since I graduated school but at36 I really don't think that is going to happen.

[phrogpharmer]

Perhaps you could find work at a dairy to see if you like that type of work. Some of the dairies even provide housing.
It would probably be best to find your new job before quitting your present job.
There are a lot of people who would love to find a job working for the man.

[calicoty]

At 36 you may never have seen mom&pop stores like grocery, hardware, etc. etc. as big businesses have forced many of them out of business because they can afford to make big volume deals with China and other low cost producers on the international market. They used to exist and thrive. Not to be totally negative here but I believe that in the near future that our "world" is going to get a lot smaller due to the cost of oil which will make it profitable for the small businesses to once again compete locally with the big box companies.

I believe the time is now to begin preparing for this upcoming opportunity. It will no longer be affordable to ship raw materials to China to manufacture and ship back to us due to outrageous transportation costs.

My hope and belief is that it will be best to find things that are locally made and sell them locally to avoid the (upcoming) high cost of shipping goods. Can you make things from locally available materials? Fantastic! Work toward this goal. They have to be things that people will want and/or need to sell as money will get increasingly tight.

Think... anything that requires long distance transportation will incur big $$$ cost over current costs. Buying that new car or refrigerator. Repairing things that will be too expensive to buy new. (Yes, that could happen again). Auto service should do very very well in the new economy I see coming.

They days of making money reselling cheap Chinese junk on ebay (or anywhere) are about to be over. It may be 6 months or 3 years but we are definately headed toward some very real paradigm changes in life as we know it today.

Blessings in your endeavors...

[Cornhusker]

Find something you love to do, do it well.
The money will follow.

[steff bugielski]

I agree with cornhusker.
What is it that you are passionate about?

For me it is animals, I now have a real working raw goat dairy about to expand into cheese.
I am 49. I started slow with a few goats, saw the potential and kept working at it.

Once you do what it is you love, that is what you are supposed to do , you will find a way to make it pay the bills.
So what is your 'thing'

[msdaisy]

I was just reading this a little while ago, maybe it'll help?

http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-arti...from_home-1323

[motomom]

My DH and I started our retail store from scratch in January of 2003. We have a music store that specializes in renting musical instruments to kids who are going to be in school band. We both had many, many years of experience in the field, so it was an easy choice for us.

Whatever it is you decide to do, I will tell you just like my Dad told me for many years.

"You will never succeed working for someone else. If you really want to have a good life with enough money, you need to work for yourself."

Now, he was a stubborn old coot, and that probably had much to do with him not liking to work for anyone else, but he raised all of us with a fairly good living all my childhood days.

As for a business to choose, you need to think about what people NEED. The economy is in the toilet, so nobody has very much dough. You must provide what either other people or other small businesses NEED.

Right now, I would very quickly pay someone to come and clean my retail location on a regular basis. It would have to be someone who is very diligent, and very dependable, very reliable.

One of my employees has a sideline business that he does at night, he cleans retail/office buildings. He has been doing this for years, and tells me that he makes such good money that he just can't give it up. He is now 68.

All that is required of that business is a vacuum cleaner and some cleaning supplies, and a reliable car. If I had to start a business right now, that would be the one I would choose. It has been nearly impossible to find someone to do it for my business, and my employee who is in that business is so busy he can't take on anyone else.

Hope this helps.

[lmnde]

Let me play the devils advocate here - so you have 2 kids and one more on the way, plus your wife is babysitting [so anywhere from 5-6+ kids plus your own in the home if she is state licensed?]. I had a homedaycare for nearly 10 years when my son was small - so by previous experience let me say this...

A: you owe your preggy wife a break - and not make her the primary income provider in a trying time like this. This is NOT the time to quit your fulltime job. If you want to do something else, be sure to keep your current fulltime job, and do whatever else you decide to do on the side in your off hours until you are established and it can replace your current income...

B: if you happen to think that you will have peace and quiet in a home with infants, toddlers, pre-schoolers and schoolage kids day for day to come up with some quality thinking time, creative endeavors, and a wife that is working her butt off keeping the kids in line while you are being underfoot too - pls kindly think again. Not happening unless you have a big enough home with a seperate area or seperate workshop.

C: you might actually jeopardize her business by being underfoot and distracting her by messing up her daily [already busy] routine with your presence or requests, especially if she is state licensed.

D: like someone above mentioned - ppl right now are not spending $$$ on unneccessary items - if you're selling low to mid priced "must haves", you might do well. Forget cheap doodads that break as soon as you use them once, and medium to high end luxury items are currently not a necessity for the greater majority of working class folks. You would probably do well if you are working in a service type of business - HVAC, tile + carpeting, anything repairs, minor house renovations, repairs etc are always needed.

[Divot]

Originally Posted by calicoty

At 36 you may never have seen mom&pop stores like grocery, hardware, etc. etc. as big businesses have forced many of them out of business because they can afford to make big volume deals with China and other low cost producers on the international market. They used to exist and thrive. Not to be totally negative here but I believe that in the near future that our "world" is going to get a lot smaller due to the cost of oil which will make it profitable for the small businesses to once again compete locally with the big box companies.

I believe the time is now to begin preparing for this upcoming opportunity. It will no longer be affordable to ship raw materials to China to manufacture and ship back to us due to outrageous transportation costs.

My hope and belief is that it will be best to find things that are locally made and sell them locally to avoid the (upcoming) high cost of shipping goods. Can you make things from locally available materials? Fantastic! Work toward this goal. They have to be things that people will want and/or need to sell as money will get increasingly tight.

Think... anything that requires long distance transportation will incur big $$$ cost over current costs. Buying that new car or refrigerator. Repairing things that will be too expensive to buy new. (Yes, that could happen again). Auto service should do very very well in the new economy I see coming.

They days of making money reselling cheap Chinese junk on ebay (or anywhere) are about to be over. It may be 6 months or 3 years but we are definately headed toward some very real paradigm changes in life as we know it today.

Blessings in your endeavors...

I agree with this! I work in China extensivly and understand how hard it is for the little mom and pops to compete with the large companies. It's only going to get harder.

I am seeing an amazing trend right now. Many US companies went to China over the past 20 years for cheap labor. They laid off their US factory workers and moved. The Chinese factories learned, worked hard, and saved. They now have quite a bit of money.

Now, Chinese companies that used to make products for USA companies are now trying to start their own brands and compete with them.

I am contacted at least once a month by Chinese companies that were/are vendors for the company I do the most work for. They would like me to work directly for them so they can cut out the middle man and go directly to the USA customer.

If this keeps up, many USA companies will fold. Jobs will be harder to find.

Long reply I know, but my point it that we could be in for a long slow squeeze. If the USA doesn't do something soon, a lot more US companies will go under.

I hope that something is done about cheap imports. If so, then you will see a rush to start building things in the USA again! That's what I'm hoping for anyway, and I make most of my money from China!

Good luck no matter what!

[rean]

How big of a yard do you have? Enough to put up an outbuilding? Have you thought of small engine repair? People aren't buying new as often, they are fixing what they have.

[ldc]

To second rean's response above, I took my mower in last summer to the local place to be worked on - they were 4 months backed up! Folks are desparate to keep their mowers and weed eaters going, here at least. I think fixing small engines is a great idea for a business. ldc