High inflation, maniacal government policies, weird unemployment and job vacancy statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that are not easily explained. These represent just a few of the stressors that the average experiences trying to pay monthly household bills. A few of us out there have the added stress of trying to find ever more creative ways to make payroll.
If you have an entrepreneurial success mindset, you may not be as affected by the external turbulence. Others, however, may be driven to seek other sources of income. Many though are attracted to the possibilities of working for themselves online, or working for others in a virtual environment. If any of these descriptions are characteristics of the predicament for which you find yourself, you are not alone.
Small investors search for ways to earn more money
Forbes recently headlined with this article, 3 reasons why a recession is the best time to start a side hustle. The author suggests that small, retail investors seek advantages for which they can not currently find now in the stock market. Who are retail investors ( like you and me) ? Investopedia defines small investors as those who are “nonprofessionals who buy and sells” stocks through a “brokerage firm or savings account.” On the other hand, a professional or accredited investor, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is someone who meets these requirements:
- earns annual income of at least $200,000 individually or if living with a partner or spouse earns annually $300,000,
- holds a Series 7, 65 or 82 professional license,
- has a net worth of at least $1 million.
First steps to earn more as a part time business owner
Here are a few of the commonsensical recommendations I’ve summarized from the Forbes article:
- deposit savings into higher yield certificates of deposit (CDs)
- research pitch competitions held by venture capitalists and accelerator programs
- purchase or partner with existing small businesses who are currently struggling in this environment
- enter into these markets which, says Forbes, are recession proof
- book stores
- public relation agencies
- interior design services
- staffing agencies
- marketing consultancies
In reading all of the research, perhaps the best approach yesterday still remains true today. Bootstrap your way up. How?
Holding down a part time job. From that extra income, you can use it to propel your dream of financial independence. Some of you working part time or providing remote freelancer skills virtually. If you are smart, you are making these moves in addition to keeping a full-time job. Many of you are working on weekends or after your regular work hours. That takes a lot of dedication and good time management skills.
Others could be trying to build a part-time business because of other reasons. Maybe you don’t have enough hours in the day to pursue it full-time because you’re a caretaker, or home schooling your child(ren), or due to your own ill health.
Either way, it’s impressive to go after what you want – and the good news is, even building a business part-time, you should start to see good results quickly from your efforts if you plan it out properly. Knowing of the suggestions provided by Forbes, you may ask yourself, what’s the best online business for me? Before we get into the details, let’s discuss some precautionary measures.
Precautions when starting an online part time business
- part time business should be formerly established in the state, independently of the individual
- should not interfere with full time work (scheduling, business development, client overlap)
- part time business in a perfect world should be in a noncompetitive industry or field of your current place of full time employment
- part time business deals and details should be kept on a need to know basis
- part time business establishment should be discussed with the legal, compliance department of your current full time employer
- part time business owner should consider signing a non-compete agreement after the document has been reviewed by one’s own legal team
- part time business expenses should be kept separately from personal, family, and employer expense accounts
Which online business models work best for part timers?
There are so many options to choose from. Is one better than another for those who only work on their business part-time? Not necessarily. But sometimes it can interfere, depending on the business model and your schedule.
For example, you might not be able to pursue a service-oriented business life ghostwriting or graphics or web design if you never know exactly how much time you’ll have to work on your business.
It’s possible that your life is hectic and you’re pursuing this as a “when I have a few spare moments” goal. That’s perfectly okay, too! You just need to find something that fits your schedule so that you don’t wind up with angry clients and customers because you didn’t meet a deadline.
If you do have set hours and you know that you have exactly 2 hours a day to put into your business and that you can write 5 pages of content, then you can figure out a delivery schedule for ghostwriting, for example – and you wouldn’t be putting your business reputation at risk.
You also want to allow for physical and mental exhaustion. If you’re already stretched to the gills with work and life and trying to supplement your income with a part-time endeavor online, then you might want something where it comes easy to you – not something that you struggle to learn and master.
Top areas for consideration: Blogging, Success Coaching, De-clutter Organizer
There are three areas we have found that are worthy for consideration when seeking to start a new part time online business. Please see the details below.
Blogging
Blogging is a great business model because it enables remote freelancers to gain access to a number of ways for earning extra money. From just one platform. For example, your income can be derived on a blog from:
- Banner ad revenue
- AdSense links
- Tangible affiliate reviews
- Digital affiliate reviews
- Your own info product creations (like eBooks)
The great thing about schedules is that blogging allows you to schedule blogs ahead of time, so if you have more time on one day, you can queue up a few days’ worths of blog posts and let them automatically go live without you having to log in and publish them.
Success Coach and Life Coach
Harvard Business Review (HBR) contends that success coaching may offer considerable opportunities. In its recent article, “Leaders need professional coaching now more than ever,” these windows of opportunities were reviewed.
- Leaders are required to protect their people assets (some may lack the safety, compliance, health and legal knowledge from which to do so)
- Leaders are demanded to communicate effectively (some may lack communication, negotiation and interpersonal relationship skills)
- Leaders are looked upon to maintain continuity of work (many leaders may not have cyber security, safety and security, hazardous materials and infectious disease training)
- Leaders must continually assess workforce costs (most leaders are ineffective when asked to objectively evaluate job functions, departments, and divisions to renders sound strategic plans)
- Leaders should have the acumen to prepare for recovery (a few leaders may not have the physical, mental or psychological fortitude to lead others during the throes of a major catastrophe and need assistance in this area)
While success, life and leadership coaching may be a good fit for some. It may not be a good business model for others as it require the online business owner to be available at critical times of the day. If you work during the day and plan to work on your part-time business at night, that may not work for your clients – or it could be perfect timing! It depends on the niche and each individual’s needs.
A membership site based upon a coaching principle that you have developed can pull in quite a bit of money for you – and it doesn’t require you to be there daily except to make sure things are running smoothly. You can create an entire membership ahead of time that drip feeds to your customers when they sign up. Then you can spend the bulk of your work hours on marketing and promotion.
Things like affiliate marketing and info product development are all easy to pursue as a part-time work-at-home individual. You write when you can – even on your lunch hour at work – and publish whenever something is completed.
De-clutter Professional
Starting a part time business as a de-clutter organizer holds great promise. Entrepreneur magazine offers many reasons why professionals need to de-clutter their lives. The author cited an article appearing in the NYTimes discussing psychological research indicating that clutter can cause stress and lead to lower productivity and procrastination. What business executive wants to improve productivity? All. Which business leaders are desirous of the avoidance of procrastination? We all are.
So, in recessionary times, stress does not go away on its own. Many will pay their hard earned dollars to save keep their well-being. And you may provide just the service (blogging, coaching, de-clutter professional) to do it. And in so doing, creating greater financial security for yourself.
