Creative Self-Employed jobs you can start today
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There are a ton of jobs you can start now with little to no upfront costs. Whether your looking to quit your day job and make it a full time gig or just make extra cash on the side. I’ve put together a list of some jobs that you could start now to get you to that goal.
I really don’t like working for other people; I mean who does really right, and it has always been a goal of mine to be able to make up my own schedule and have more control over my cash flow, and I think most people feel the same way.
Before I give you the list, I will say that if you are planning on making any of these your full-time gig and plan to completely quit your current job, it will most likely take a bit longer before you can completely replace your income.
That being said I always believe that the amount of work that is put into goals is what determines your success and how fast you become successful.
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So if this is truly what you want to do you need to put in some initial elbow grease and hustle, but you can TOTALLY do it!!
Without further adu, here is a list of jobs that will allow you to quit your day job and work for your self!
- Start A Blog
Of course this had to be number one! Starting a blog will cost a little money up front, at least starting a blog that has the potential to make you money will.
However you can totally start a free blog at first and transfer to a paid blog when you have the money, but almost every blogger will highly discourage this approach for good reason… including me.
If you decide to make the investment in starting a paid blog, this is where my first statement about hard work correlating to success is REALLY important.
You may hear a lot of people saying it will take a long time to start making money blogging, but I’m telling you guys that doesn’t have to be the case.
The statement that you can’t make money fairly quickly from blogging is not a fact it’s just the experience of a lot of people.
Just like everything in life that has potential, it also takes a lot of work to get the ball rolling. But if you are motivated and committed to making your blog successful in the beginning, you could reap the benefits even in the first month.
I’ve read several blogs that were able to make hundreds of dollars in their first month of launching.
I have spent more hours than I can remember on researching and taking notes from bloggers who launched their blogs and became successful in a matter on months.
I made sure to take tons of notes as I researched. There are so many helpful resources out there on starting and building a blog business, but I will say that none of the information is really in one place at least none of the free information is.
Instead it’s scattered over TONS of sites and I have spent a lot of time piecing the information together. So I thought it would be helpful for me to share some of that stuff with you guys in later posts.
I’m not going to pretend I’m an expert, to be honest I’m learning and adjusting my tactics everyday as well. Having a blog is not a science and there will always be trial and error. But I do think I can provide some helpful insight on the topic, and I would love to share it with you guys!
- Dog Walking and House Sitting
So there are these apps out now like Rover and Wag, which are handy because you don’t have to build a client base or go out and find people who need walkers or sitters. The downfall to using a provider like this though is that they take a percentage of everything you earn.
It may not sound like a huge percentage at first but when you think about the fact that an owner is paying $20 or $30 for a 30-minute walk you’re providing, but only receive $12 of that fee that’s a good chunk of money you’re missing out on.
I personally think that it’s worth the little extra work to put together a flyer and solid strategy yourself and keep every penny for yourself.
Here’s how I would approach this. Pick an apartment complex near you, go to the leasing office ask for permission to put up some flyers, so that you don’t get into trouble later down the road. Ask them if it would be ok if you put up some flyers around the complex advertising your dog walking/sitting services and if they’re ok with it put them up in the mailbox areas, on apartment doors get creative. A lot of complexes now have dog parks, maybe post some at the doggie stations.
If the people at the leasing office seem hesitant of the idea, approach it like a business proposal.
Explain it to them like this; tenants who live in apartments don’t have a yard to let their fur-babies out regularly and most likely many of them don’t work from home and can’t let them out during the day or give them exercise.
This can cause accidents in the apartment or destruction to the unit due to the boredom of the animal. You would be helping not only the owner of the pup and the pup its self, but you’d also be helping the employees cut down on damages to the complex.
If you take that approach, who knows maybe the leasing office would be willing to recommend your services to new tenants or anybody coming into the office for that matter.
If that complex still doesn’t go for it, go to another one and try it again.
I would also recommend putting together a standard contract for any new client wanting to use your services, just in case of emergencies or if anything bad were to happen you wouldn’t be legally responsible.
If you have a house consider making it a doggy daycare, pups could run around in the backyard and play with other pups. If you’re near the complex clients could easily be dropped off in the morning OR you could even offer to pick their dogs up for them.
Again be sure to cover your legal bases. Make sure that all dogs have their necessary vaccinations and you’re aware of any dogs special quirks.
This strategy could work for babysitting or nannying too, though for that I’d still use a site like Care.com they don’t take a percentage of anything and it’s easy to set up and use.
- Rehab Furniture
Rehabbing furniture is a hobby of mine, and this also has a low-cost commitment. Find pieces of abandoned furniture in alleyways and next to dumpsters.
I frequently check the free section of Craigslist for pieces. You have to be quick but I have found some great pieces on Craigslist that I couldn’t believe were being given away. Also, check thrift stores, the Salvation Army often does auctions one day a week where you can get some great pieces for super cheap too.
Then when you find a piece you like, you may have to give it a quick little sand down and paint it maybe change out the existing hardware and resell it on Craigslist!
When looking for furniture there are some tips I recommend when rehabbing, if you’re interested in those I wrote a post on some top tips I recommend when rehabbing furniture you can take a look at.
If flipping furniture is something that appeals to you I’d recommend getting a spray painter to accelerate the process.
Amazon has some great ones I’ve read a few good reviews on this Critter Spray Siphon Gun
, that’s pretty cheap, or this Tacklife Electric Spray Gun
looks like a good choice as well.
Investing in a paint sprayer would take a couple hour job into a 20 minute one, a real time saver if trying to pump out projects quickly, and in my opinion worth the little extra cash.
The guns usually require thinning the paint as well so it would also save you on paint costs, which can get pretty expensive.
Something I always do when purchasing paint is the discount rack at Home Depot in the paint section, Home Depot usually has a decent selection of paints that were returned or not the right color for someone.
I’ve spent as little as .50c on pain before! Craigslist sometimes has people giving away free paint too.
- Drive for Lyft or Uber
I actually did this for 2 years while I was prepping for school, and I really liked it. It put a lot of miles on my car but the people were really nice and it was such an easy job. I could work when I wanted and could run errands in between rides.
Usually, when I mention this to women they say that they wouldn’t feel safe. I drove for 2 years full time, sometimes even more than 40 hours a week and usually the late nights when people were getting out of the bars and I never felt unsafe.
If you don’t have a car Lyft has a rental car program too. In some cases, you could possibly not even have to pay for the rental and you’re still able to use it for personal use. This is a great option even for people who do have their own cars and don’t want to put the mileage on it.
I will say becoming a Lyft or Uber driver would probably work more as a supplemental income rather than totally replacing it. Although it can be done, I was able to pay my bills and live completely off of the money that I made from driving the entire 2 years I was doing it.
That being said it’s not the kind of job that will make you rich.
There are some creative ways to capitalize on your cash flow as a driver though.
You can make business cards with your referral code on it to help you bring on new drivers, my parents would do this (did I mention both my parents drove too?), they’d even offer to help people during the signup process if they had questions.
When a new driver signs up and drives using their referral code they’ll get a bonus but you will also get that same bonus just for bringing them on.
When I drove I would keep a mini cooler in the back for my passengers filled with waters, or Capri Suns and snacks. Passengers are impressed by this and it helps to get you more tips.
- Sell Your Talents
E-courses and digital products are a great way to make money. Think about what you’re good at or enjoy doing. This could be cooking, to painting classes, to furniture rehab, really the sky’s the limit. There are several sites you can go to set this up one being Teachable.
You’d be surprised how valuable your knowledge is to other people, so why not share it with those who are willing to spend their hard earned money on something that solves a problem for them. You can feel good about being able to help solve problems for people, and they can feel good about finally finding a solution to it.
If your first reaction to this option is that you don’t have anything you can add value to, don’t write yourself off, it’s easy to feel like no one would be interested in what you have to offer, or feel like you’re unqualified to be teaching someone something.
So many people feel this exact same way, and it’s simply not true. This feeling is so common in fact they had a term for this at my school
It’s called Imposter Syndrome.
You may feel like a total imposter at first when trying to sell your services to someone, and often times it will keep you from even starting your goals. I know it has affected me in my life.
I’d not pursue something I wanted to do, then I’d look back months or years later and wish I would have pushed past that fear and just went for it, instead of wasting the time and wondering where I’d be now if I would have started back then.
There are so many people on this planet and even if a percent or two of these people were interested in what you have to offer, that’s still a large portion that could make a difference to your business financially.
Chances are there are people who will be interested, so why not try?!?!
There are a TON more options that can help you to get to financial freedom and have you running your own business in a matter of short months, but these are the five that I’ve chosen to mention.
Taking the plunge can be scary and overwhelming, I created a Daily Agenda printable that I use daily to manage my hectic schedule, and I’m making available to you guys HERE completely FREE, enjoy!
If you have other ideas that I didn’t touch on, share them in the comments below, I’d love to read about them!
Thanks for joining me on the blog today guys, your support means so much to me, and as always if there’s anything you’re interested in me writing about, please let me know in the comments below. I’m here for you guys and want to continue to provide help in the places that I can!!
