Reply #19: some ideas [View All]

armatt, people are quite familiar with the rocky nature of American businesses in the last decade so I would not hesitate to point this out if it indeed becomes an issue. Unfortunately with so many people in the job market you may not even get that chance but it's only a problem if there are very short periods of employment.

well, I have some suggestions for both of you:

1) contact some very successful people in your industry and offer to handle the overflow on a freelance basis. In time, you might become their right hand person and work yourself right into a good job. The key thing is they only pay when they need you; this makes it almost risk-free for them (which means an easier sell for you).
2) get a p-t job doing ANYTHING to bring in some cash (even waiter work gives you lots of contacts). Around here there are lots of jobs open for drivers, of all things, but even that gets you out and around and you see what's going on.
3) be imaginative and come up with some p-t or f-t project which you can promote inexpensively and that appeals to people when times are tough. Example:

I got my car back from the mechanic and the taillight was broken. I was going to buy a new one but that's over $100. Then I got the idea to call those car junkyard places. They wanted $50. Then you have to add the installation of the new taillight into that. I did a little research on the I'net and found a product that I can repair the taillight with AND it will pass safety inspection. And I don't even have to take it out of the car!

In thinking about this, I noticed lots of broken taillights out there. So some enterprising person could make up a flyer offering to fix it with this product for a fraction of what a new or even used one would cost. Just stick the flyer under the windshield and wait for the calls to come in. Go out every morning looking for broken taillights and leaving flyers (they're out there, I promise you) and soon you will have a regular business. The cost for the product would be something less than $10, maybe even less than $5, so you can see there is plenty of room for profit in there. Now this is not a glamorous business but it is a way to make some money until we get rid of * and times get better. It could also be a cash business easily enough and we all know those are the best kinds of business.

The company that makes this product also makes a product that touches up bumpers. You could even do a second sale once you do the taillight and offer to do the bumper.

This is just an example; I'm sure you can find an opportunity like this in your own area or another related area.

I'd like to do this taillight thing myself but I already have a job--a job which pays a fraction of what I was making during the dotcom boom. But I do like my job so I'm happy.


Cher

p.s.

Tell your prospective employer you've been trying your hand at trading stocks at home and wheras you've had some successes, it wasn't working out.

No, say you've been successful and want to quit while you're ahead!