If you have access to a good car, have an excellent driving record and good insurance, you might enjoy working for local area restaurants delivering food orders.

Most people consider a pizza parlor or perhaps a Chinese restaurant for this sort of job. However, you can approach any local restaurant, coffee shop, bakery, or even some smaller grocery stores and delis with a clever and creative idea or a business plan to start their own delivery service – with you behind the wheel, of course!

You’ll want to have a good working knowledge of your neighborhood streets in order to get your deliveries to the customers on time. It’s always a good idea to keep a local map in your car. And, of course, if you have a GPS, that’s perfect.

Begin your business planning stages by finding out what establishments are paying their delivery people. Call several food establishments and tell them you’re interested in becoming a food delivery person and you’re wondering what their starting wages are.

After you find out what the average wage is for local food delivery, it’s time to prepare a business proposal for the local restaurant(s) you hope to work for. Be realistic and as detailed as possible. Include the hours and days you’ll be available, what you’ll charge the company, what communities you can serve, and any other details you feel are important. Be sure to let them know you have car insurance and a valid state driver’s license.

Type your proposal up neatly and put on some clean business casual attire and visit the manager of the restaurant you’re hoping to sell. Be enthusiastic and positive. If the manager isn’t interested right away, don’t get discouraged. Ask her if you can leave your proposal and resume in case she changes her mind. Ask her if you can check back in a few weeks to see if she has reconsidered.

You can do this with each and every local food establishment in your area, but be sure to present a personalized business proposal to each individual restaurant – not a cookie cutter proposal. Remember, you’re looking for a job, in essence, so present yourself in a positive and businesslike fashion.

Some businesses will want to look at your car to see if they feel it’s dependable, and if it’s clean and looks decent. It doesn’t have to be the latest model, but it should be clean inside and out, and well maintained. You wouldn’t want to be out on a delivery and have your car break down. If a customer doesn’t get their food order, your business will suffer, and you may actually lose your client.

The food establishments who have hired you may only need you on weekends, while others may prefer a weeknight. Be flexible. You may need to work for two or three restaurants in order to earn the income you need. Just remember to keep your schedule flexible enough that one job doesn’t interfere with another.

Always arrive on time and dressed appropriately. It may be frustrating when your friends invite you to the beach and you have to work. That is a struggle for everyone who has a job, especially teens. You’ll have to make some difficult choices in order to build a profitable business. However, allow yourself time to have a social life because all work and no play is not a healthy lifestyle.

Now for a word of caution… never step inside a home when you’re on a delivery. Wait politely on the porch or patio for payment. If invited in, politely say that you’re not allowed to enter anyone’s home due to company policy. This “company policy” will prevent you from caving to peer pressure when delivering to the house of a friend who wants you to stay and visit. But, more importantly, staying out of a customer’s house will help protect you from getting robbed or hurt. Safety is highest priority.

Having your own food delivery business can help you earn a good income. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, who knows, you may become the next Fortune 500 company offering jobs to hundreds of other teens delivering food for you!

photo credit: RubyGoes Happy New Yearl

If you have performed in your school theater, choir, band, or talent shows, you may be a natural born entertainer. You may enjoy singing, dancing, playing an instrument, or some other fun activity that people enjoy watching. If this is the case, then you’ll enjoy becoming an entertainer for parties and events.

Entertainers have a great value to any party and can earn some good money. If you’ve been active in local community or school talent shows and the theater, then you already have the ability and the platform to sell your talents. Prepare professional business cards to hand out at the talent shows you are active in. People will be thrilled to be able to book a real honest to goodness entertainer who they have seen perform at an event. You already have an audience, so why not turn them into clients?

You’re in show business, so use your talent to create a business card that is clever and unique. You’ll want to include the obvious; what talent you perform along with your contact information. You don’t want to put your prices on your business card as this practice is considered unprofessional. Even though you’re in “show business” your professional side should be what the client sees off the stage.

If you aren’t sure what to charge as an entertainer for parties and events, do some simple investigating. Call people who are entertaining at parties and find out what they charge for various entertainment. Be open and honest and tell the person you called that you’re looking to get into the entertainment business in your local area and wondering what the basic fees are. Keep your fees competitive and reasonable, even offering a slight discount for first bookings. Most entertainers will be happy to welcome you to their world, mostly because they’re overbooked and can use the help! They will be delighted to give you suggestions and ideas to get your new business up and running.

If possible, participate in every talent show you can in order to get your name out there. You definitely also want to volunteer your talents at fundraising events, retirement homes, children’s hospitals, and the like. This type of exposure is invaluable as a means to get your name out in the public in a very positive way. Plus, it just feels right to share your talent!

Make cute and creative flyer’s to showcase your talent, your business, and your contact information. If you’re posting single flyers on bulletin boards around town, be sure to use tear off strips at the bottom with your name, number and talent so that people can take that with them and leave the flyer up for others. Replenish your flyer’s as needed to keep a steady flow of clients ringing your bell.

Advertising in the local paper is another great way to spread the word of your new business. Be creative! There are many ways to advertise. Don’t get stuck thinking that a classified ad is the only way to go. Don’t forget your own school paper and those other marketing areas such as menus and sports programs.

When you’re not performing at the parties, you’ll have a chance to mingle with the guests. Not only is it fun, but you’ll have another opportunity to sell your talent for another party. What a great way to mix business with pleasure.

You may have a group of friends who are similarly talented. Why not work together? Re-work your prices accordingly and plan your act together. It may be more fun to work as a team. Then, the team can do a little mingling and possibly gain even more bookings for events.

Remember, people go to parties and events to enjoy themselves and have a good time. You can make the parties and events more enjoyable with your talents so be sure to share them and have a great time.

photo credit: Evelyn Proimos

Many parents are working longer hours and have fewer hours at home these days. When it comes time to plan their children’s birthday parties or other events, they want help. This is where you come in. If you love to plan parties down to the last detail, this idea is perfect for you.

As a teenager you already know what your peers enjoy and like at parties, you remember your childhood and perhaps even have a younger sibling or niece or nephew that enjoys specific things. Armed with this information, you’re the perfect party planner.

The easiest way to start your new career as a party planner is to begin with your own family. Plan a fantastic party for someone in your family who’s having a graduation, birthday, or other special event. Plan it down to the last detail and then present the plan to your parents or relatives before the birthday or event is to take place. Give them plenty of time to mull it over and set up a time to go over the details.

Start with planning the decorations, foods, and activities. Depending on the occasion, you might even be able to plan the guest lists. Go to crafts stores, dollar stores, large department stores, and even grocery stores, and price the decorations for your suggested party. When you present your ideas to your parents or relatives you want to have a complete proposal down to the dollar amount.

After you’ve done this a few times you’re ready for the big time. Start spreading the word via your parents, relatives, friends and previous party goers. Everyone will remember the great time they had and your services will be in high demand.

You will want to work out a form or questionnaire for your party planning. Ask important questions such as, “What date is the party to take place? What is the occasion? What are the ages of the guests? Will there be both boys and girls? Do you have a desired theme for the party? Do you have a budget in mind? What type of food will be served?” and so on.

Once you have your questionnaire filled out it’s time to go to work. One of your most important jobs is helping your customers stay within their budget. While you want the party to be a success, you certainly don’t want to keep adding amenities until you’ve gone over budget. Work closely with your client to make sure that each expenditure is well within the budgeted amounts. If there are any changes in the budgeted amounts, be sure to jot down those agreements.

You should set up a portfolio of different party ideas to show potential customers. Pictures of parties you’ve already created along with the budget for food and decorations would give them great ideas and save you time when you are helping them decide what they want to do for their party.

Ideas for parties you’ll want to include in your portfolio could include skating parties, bowling parties, sledding parties, and swimming parties. These sorts of parties can work very well since they naturally are entertaining and keep everyone busy having fun.

A themed party can be another great way to have fun. A preteen or teen may want a party theme around a favorite singer. You would want to gather the music together of that particular singer and plan the party around the music. Children’s television and movie characters are another great inspiration for theme parties.

You may even want to try your hand at small weddings. Work closely with the bride to be sure that everything goes smoothly on her special day. Your skills will reduce her stress and help her to enjoy her wedding because you will be taking care of all the little details. Of course, planning even a small wedding takes special talent and care, so be sure you’ve already gotten a good deal of experience behind you before you attempt planning a wedding.

Market yourself, your talent, and your expertise. Have professional business cards printed and distribute them whenever and where ever possible. Strike up a conversation with people you see in your day-to-day dealings. Ask them about their interests, then share what you do by handing them your business card.

Ask local businesses if you can leave your cards with them or post one on a bulletin board. Be sure to go back to that party supply place you’ve been buying your supplies from. They’ll be more than happy to hand out your business card if you are a good customer. Print up pamphlets and flyers and get them posted where ever you can.

Party planning, like any business or job, will have its ups and downs. Some parties will naturally be more fun and easier to plan than others, but with a little practice and patience you’ll learn quickly how to work with any situation. There is still a high demand for people who can take the pressure off of parents by planning their family events. Outline your business plan and start small. You’ll be busier than you ever imagined in no time, and making the kind of money you had only dreamed about!

photo credit: illusti

If you enjoy building things, fixing things, or working with your hands, you should consider starting a handyman service. There are so many different things you can do as a handyman to build a profitable business in your spare time.

To find your first clients, begin asking around your neighborhood and working for people you know. Once you starting showing off your skills, people will begin to see how good your work is and they’ll be willing to give you a try-and tell others about you as well.

A handyman service is great in tough economic times. People can’t afford to pay a licensed contractor for simple handy work. When you show them that you can do many of the same repairs for a lot less money, your jobs will start rolling in.

When you run a handyman service, you can offer a number of services, but you must remember there are certain things you can’t do without the proper training and a license, such as electrical work and certain types of plumbing.

But you can offer services such as the following:

? Repair or install a fence
? Paint walls
? Repair holes in walls
? Install a railing
? Hang pictures
? Put up shelves
? Install closet storage units
? Replace drawer handles
? Clean out gutters
? Install a new medicine cabinet
? Hang curtains
? Install towel racks
? Caulk windows
? Repair broken table legs

and much more!

A handyman does a little of this and a little of that; whatever needs to be done. That’s why they’re often called a “Jack of all trades.”

You will need certain tools and basic training to complete various projects. Get a small tool box and begin gather what you’ll need for your repairs. Your basic tools should include a hammer, drill, and various screwdrivers. Also include pliers, side cutters, various nails and screws, etc. Of course, once you find your ‘specialty’ you’ll add the tools you’ll need for that particular task.

If you plan to do any painting, you’ll need paintbrushes in various sizes, paint rollers, and pans if your customers don’t provide them. Sometimes a customer will want their handyman to pick up the paint for the job. If that’s the case, be sure you include the paint in the cost of the project if the customer doesn’t pay in advance. Also, be sure to charge your customer for an agreed amount for your travel.

Many homeowners find themselves are in the middle of a project and find they just can’t finish the job in the time they have available to them. When this happens, homeowners will often look for someone to help them finish their project. This is a nice place to pick up handy work – offering to help someone in the middle of a repair project. Watch your own neighborhood for these opportunities. Being in the right place at the right time is always helpful.

Post professional business flyers around town, hand out business cards, and even mail postcards to new people in the neighborhood to get the word out about your services. Create a simple flyer that lists the projects you can do and continue to add to it each time you learn a new task. This will help people decide what jobs you can do for them. Hand several flyers and business cards out to every client you have and ask them to share them with friends they know may need your services. Be sure to remind them to keep your business card so they know how to contact you when they need help again.

Do your best work every time and your customers will refer you to others and call you back for additional tasks. Be flexible in what you can do, and in your hours, and be dependable. Show up when you say you will. And work when you’re being paid to work. Building this type of business by word of mouth is the best form of advertising you can get, and it’s the least expensive as well. Good will is your best marketing tool.

There are so many types of handyman jobs a teenager can do. If working with your hands is something you enjoy, don’t let anyone deter you from starting a handyman business because you’re not an adult yet. A handyman service business can be perfect for a teen who is ambitious and handy!

photo credit: RLHyde

It’s natural to wonder if you have what it takes to build a successful business as an offline consultant. Set aside a few minutes to take a personal inventory and decide if offline consulting is right for you based on your abilities, knowledge and resources.

Consider the following questions:

• Do you fully understand Internet marketing yourself?
• Do you know all the different options for setting up websites and marketing them, and in what situation certain options are better than others?
• Are you familiar with successful SEO strategies, PPC concepts or Google AdWords?

Tip: If you don’t know what these acronyms mean, this probably isn’t the business for you.

• Have you successfully brought your own business online and used it to generate a profit?

Your clients will want to see that you’ve earned money with your own website before they entrust their business – and their money! – with you. While it’s not mandatory that you’ve become independently wealthy from your Internet marketing efforts, you must have a first-hand understanding of what works and what doesn’t before you begin advising others.

• Do you enjoy sharing your knowledge and experience?

Many people have a teacher’s heart and love the very act of helping a “student” learn something new. Since offline consultant often involves teaching business owners how to succeed online, it helps if you have a basic love for imparting knowledge to others.

• Are you comfortable meeting clients face-to-face?

Internet marketing is typically a solo operation. The majority of interaction is done via email, online forums, blogs or social networks such as Twitter or Facebook. Offline consulting, on the other hand, involves in-person encounters with real people. If you don’t like talking to people directly or on the phone, you may want to reconsider your options for business ideas.

• Do you have reliable transportation, a professional wardrobe, and dependable childcare?

When you work online, no one sees, or cares, what you wear. You don’t need a car. And you can cover sick kid emergencies yourself. As an offline consultant, however, you must have a dependable vehicle. You must dress in suitable attire (a suit is preferred for large companies, though business casual works for smaller companies). And you must have a plan in place to handle childcare.

While there are other traits that will help you become a successful offline consultant, such as drive, focus, determination, and the ability to work well on your own, these characteristics and resources are important considerations for anyone considering offline consulting as a realistic business opportunity.

photo credit: HikingArtist.com

Free WordPress Themes

http://www.virtualpabusiness.com – How to create a Virtual Assistant Business Plan for your Virtual Assistant Business

Duration : 0:3:14

http://www.JenandBarb.com Work from home moms come to WAHM forum for support. Mothers work from home and connect in WAHM forums for support. Work from home mothers in WAHM forum.

Duration : 0:5:29

WAHM This video contains a few tips for mothers who are working from home. If you are already in that situation (or would like to be) take a look at http://www.time4wahmoms.com – Our new guide is specifically tailored to the needs of today’s work-at-home moms. It will teach you how to go from your current state of chaos into a much smoother, well-organized way of handling your responsibilities with style and grace. Transform chaos into calm, panic into efficiency. Discover the secrets to working from home successfully! http://www.time4wahmoms.com

Duration : 0:2:4

As I’m writing this I realize that the best way for me to review The Puritan Gift: Triumph, Collapse and Revival of an American Dream accurately would be for me to do a review by grouping chapters together and discussing them.  There is just so much information in this book that to try to contain it’s wisdom and insight would be unjust. So, this post will just contain my overall impression of the book.

I first heard about this book while driving to NYC with my family. In the winter, our local college broadcasts BBC radio programs, and boy am I ever glad. The BBC show HardTalk was interviewing the author, William Hopper about his book, The Puritan Gift — Triumph, Collapse and Revival of an American Dream.

I guess the thing that really intrigued me was Mr. Hopper’s simple explanations about what made  America the dominant economic power in the past.  And how we ended up in the economic mess that we are in today. I have always felt that part of America’s problems was due to the asinine belief that “experts” actually possessed understanding and discernment about how the economic world actually works.

One of the things that I’ve learned through reading this book is that the problems that we are facing are not new or unique.  Actually, the first attempts of colonization by the Europeans, specifically England, was run with the same incompetence and arrogance that we see demonstrated by many of the CEOs and other “leaders of industry”.

One example that stands out in my mind involves the doomed Jamestown landing. The “nobility” (i.e., experts, CEOs and CFOs of the 1600s) wanted to go to America and set up a colony.  So, they chartered boats for the journey. The crew and experienced seaman told these “geniuses” that the best time to sail would be during the winter months.  The nobility refused to begin their journey then because the Atlantic Ocean is rough during that time of the year, and they could/would not be inconvenienced.

The sailors tried to persuade them that this was a bad move, but they were ignored and ridiculed because they lacked nobility (i.e., MBAs and money). So, the poor sailors were forced to take these yahoos across the Atlantic during the serene summer months.  The bigwigs drank, ate and had a jolly voyage.  “Wow! What a good idea this was. Isn’t it wonderful?”

And yes, the trip was wonderful. Unfortunately for the “nobility” who had never dirtied their hands or done a hard day’s work in their privileged lives, sailing in the summer means arriving in the WINTER.  And you can’t grow foood in the WINTER. And since you have no knowledge of the landscape, you can’t pick a good place to come ashore in the WINTER. And so, the CEOs, CFOs and other “nobleman” starved to death. Their “noble” upbringing was no match for actually having useful skills and experience.  My sympathies lie with the sailors who were conscripted to bring the idiots over.

Anyway, the first successful colonization of America was achieved by a common work ethic, the understanding that everyone (including the “owner”) that agreed to the voyage would have to carry their own work. Everyone started at the bottom, learned their trades and transitioned to more responsibilities as their abilities grew.  And the main focus was not on self, but on the greater good of the community …

This book is a must read for every American. As a homeschooler, I have been discussing some of the simpler information with my young children. It is never to young to realize that cooperation will get you further than a life solely centered on personal ambition and wants.  I am also a small business owner and this book has helped me to understand the importance of setting up systems as well as reaching out to others to improve my products and theirs.

Click here for the HardTalk transcript of their interview with William Hopper. And for those of you who like videos, you can click here.

I hope you find it as edifying as I have.