Many elderly people need help in their day-to-day lives but don’t have anyone to turn to.  Their children may live hundreds or thousands of miles away.  They may not want, or may not be able to afford, to live in a nursing home.  So you can make a living by providing help and companionship to these elderly people.

You would perform a wide variety of tasks:

• Running errands (grocery shopping, driving to appointments, etc.)
• Housework
• Cooking or providing meals
• Playing cards or games
• Going out to parks or other fun outings
• Keeping your companions’ families informed of their well-being
• Any other special needs your companions need help with

Click to continue »

Business plans are a very important part of any entrepreneur’s startup.  If you are looking for partners or funding they are going to want to see a solid plan.  Even if you’re on your own and don’t feel that your business needs a formal business plan, it’s a good idea to do some research and write down some kind of plan before you get started.

If you’re trying now to become self-employed for the first time, you won’t be able to do this career right away, since you are just now getting experience with writing your first business plan.  If you are already self-employed, though, and have written formal business plans before, you could offer your services as a consultant for entrepreneurs that need help.

Click to continue »

If you are good at crunching numbers and keeping organized records, you could be a great bookkeeper.  Bookkeepers maintain records of expenditures, sales, sales tax collected, inventories, expense accounts, etc.  All businesses need to maintain certain records that the government requires or that lenders may ask for when the business needs a loan.  Many businesses outsource this task to an outside bookkeeper, and that’s where you come in.

Click to continue »

Becoming self-employed and starting a business is stressful.  When you first start out, it will be an uphill battle.  You’re going to be putting in tons of effort to get up that first hill, and it’s hard to predict when the road will level out and become easier.

Since you’ll be spending so much time and effort on your business, you should first try to minimize the risk of any personal factors that might cause problems.  Here is a list of common personal risks that you should mitigate or eliminate before starting.
Click to continue »