Part-time Income, Full-time Peace of Mind

All is not well with Alice (not her real name), a friend of ours who works as a floor manager in a popular fast food restaurant (I can’t say which one). As she sat with us to chat, she recounted the events of the past week. A new area manager was assigned to her outlet and things were far from rosy. This new area manager has a totally different approach to EVERYTHING, including people management and unfortunately Alice is experiencing a personality conflict with him. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Alice thought long and hard before handing in her resignation. But instead of being distraught, Alice felt a sense of relief.

You see, unknown to even her closest colleagues, Alice already has a small money making venture going on. Alice has turned her passion for food - puffs and pastries to be specific - into a nice little money maker. During the weekends, she would make frozen curry puffs and other pastries and distribute them to the shops near her home. Not a big business, but big enough for her to need a small 4-foot freezer to store her products and a small commercial oven. Both pieces of equipment are second hand units, bought with money earned from her little side business. With her income from her weekend business, she would still have enough to meet her basic needs. Alice planned on keeping this income for her rainy days and it looks like they’re here.

The upside of her recent predicament is that with more time on her hands, Alice gets to test her entrepreneurial skills and see if she can expand her frozen curry puff and pastry business. She’s going to meet more grocery stores and mini market owners to find out if they’d be interested in selling her tasty treats. She’s not making any concrete plans for the immediate future although she’s been offered a higher paying job in a competitor’s restaurant. So Alice is pretty excited about her future right now. Even though she would be “out of a job”, she knows she’s been given a golden opportunity to be her own boss.

I’m telling you Alice’s story to encourage and inspire you. Many of us work long hours making someone else rich, while struggling to meet our family’s financial and emotional needs. Alice took the bold (and logical) step of making money doing something that she loves. I believe that you can too. Even though she didn’t plan on her part-time business being anything more than just that, life sometimes decides things for us.

Everyone has a hobby or skill that can be turned into a part-time business to make extra money. Think about what makes you special. Do your friends always ask you to cook for them? Do you have a wide network of friends? Do you love playing the guitar, singing or acting? Only you and you alone have YOUR combination of skills and talents. All you need to do is find a way to make money with them. If you do something that you love, it doesn’t become a part-time chore just to make money, but an opportunity to indulge in your passion while getting paid for it!

Statistics say that up to 95% of working adults will experience the effects of down-sizing or job loss directly or indirectly at some point in their working lives. When that happens, having a part-time income can give you full-time peace of mind. Even if you don’t intend to make it a full-time activity, your part-time money maker can tide you over tough times when you need it and that means a lot if you have a family to support. Think about it.

Here’s a resource full of ideas to help you make money.

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