subject: Discovering The Best Extra Income Source For Your Situation [print this page] The best extra income techniques for a down economy are founded on using your gifts in your own location or using the Internet. Think about how many people who live within driving distance of you. If you live in a large city, there might be a huge number of people and thousands of potential customers living within a few miles of you. If you live in a small town, you will have to attract customers to your location, or deliver your offering to your customers. This used to be trickier to get right, but the Internet allows you to reach out and deliver your goods or services to hundreds of million of potential buyers across the country.
How do you select the likeliest business, with the highest likelihood of success, that matches your capabilities the best? Here's a framework to help you decide:
Identify the pastimes you want to do and really spend time doing on a regular basis. These are things that you are usually capable and ready to do, which means you have the tools, knowledge, physical environment and capabilities already. You already do them! As an example, if you love to perfect your own hair and makeup, or love to fix and wax the family vehicle, these two are good starts to a business.
Get rid of the things you want to do but cannot because of money, time, or pure wishing. This might be becoming a fashion model (unless you are already beautiful) or something fanciful. This is something you can't turn into a revenue-generating startup right now without significant freedom, huge cash investment, or gifts that you do not possess. These ones are errors waiting to happen.
For the activities you love and actually do, reduce them down to a key group of the ones with the most potential customers in your location. Make sure to include all types of customers -- babies, elderly, mothers, fathers, adolescents, etc. Almost everybody does her hairdo and makeup. Most adults have a vehicle. Not a whole lot of people do gymnastics or make sculptures from bronze in any typical location, so these wouldn't be good local businesses to start up (although they could be decent Internet businesses).
If you want to start a Web business, the volume of potential customers isn't the issue. There could be millions of them, even in the narrowest of special markets. For an Internet business, you must pick products or services that can be easily delivered without extra costs, either digitally (like an computer file or educational course subscription) or physically using a delivery service (such as a fishing rod, t-shirt, or bottle of wine). Trying to sell Chevrolet engine blocks stored in your garage using the Internet likely won't work.
You also want to narrow it down to products or services that are usually consumable or offer repetitive cash flow, or both. Hair treatments are consumed repeatedly, and they offer recurring revenue because customers develop a relationship with their barber or hair dresser. Vitamin supplements are consumed repeatedly. Gym memberships offer repetitive income.
In a difficult economy, it's always better to narrow it down to products or services which are value priced and people cannot do without. A local emergency locksmith service is a good idea. So is curriculum vitae composition, or pet sitting, or home snow blowing services. These are proof of where your best extra income sources are expected to be.
There are many of promising opportunities to earn extra income doing what you savor. Many of them will make money relatively fast, too -- this is what you're looking for! The confusing part is finding and choosing them, and understanding the potential income you might make, how much resources it will take, and when the revenue will probably arrive. These are important considerations before starting up your new home-based enterprise -- they can help or undermine your success!
