How to earn money when you are not employed #2
Yesterday I talked about starting a business where you pick up and deliver food from local restaurants and fast-food joints for residents and workers in your neighborhood. Today’s idea is similar but offers more than just picking up breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
#2
Help your neighbors who are homebound due to illness, recovery, age, and/or lack of transportation by offering to run errands in town for them – NOT with them! (Driving senior citizens and “almost-strangers” in your car requires a lot more responsibility and risk.)
Again, if you are home all day anyway and have access to a car, know that there are lots of people right in your own neighborhood who, for whatever reason, cannot leave their home.
To get started, there are several things you ought to do:
1) Come up with a clever name for your business and, if you plan to do this for a while, get business cards and flyers made with your name and contact number on them. (Be sure to change your voice mail message so that callers aren’t confused when they call !) I’ve personally ordered a ton of products from Overnightprints and they are TOP SHELF printers! The cool thing is, you can go on line at 2 in the morning, pick out whatever designs, colors, and fonts you want to use for your postcards or business cards, see what it will look like, and then order it immediately and receive it even quicker! I’ve worked with a lot of printers throughout the years and this company really offers outstanding products at very affordable prices!
2) Create and distribute a list of the types of errands you will run for people. (Pick up medications, go grocery shopping, drop off clothes at the dry cleaners, run to the store to get milk, etc.)
3) Figure out one consistent fee you are comfortable working for. $5 is a fair fee to charge to drive to the corner store and pick up some aspirin. Granted, there may come a time when the client needs you to go grocery shopping - which may take up to an hour, but that consistent $5 fee will pay off when you only need to run to the corner and still get paid $5. The point here is, you want repeat business. Earning $5 once from one client is not the goal. Establishing a trustworthy, dependable rapport with your neighbors-in-need will keep them calling you to run simple errands.
4) You might want to focus on distributing your flyers to people just in your immediate area - this way, when the weather gets bad, you aren't driving miles to pick and deliver something. It all depends on your time, your vehicle, and your ambition. How much, how hard, and what are you willing to do to help others while earning an income?
5) Also, you might want to offer one "free" delivery for any established clients who refer you to someone else in the neighborhood in need!
Let me know your thoughts on this idea, if you have other ideas in your community, and if you need help designing your flyers or getting started! Stay tuned for more great ideas!
