Career experts say it’s much healthier to be continuously thinking about your opportunities rather than waiting for something bad or good to happen. So even though you are happily employed, you’ve begun to start thinking about self-employment or a “working retirement.” Your problem is that you are getting no quick inspirations or ideas. Here are two research ideas to get your brain engaged.
(1) Research your opportunities in your current field – is consultant work available? – Is there a subpopulation that is not being well-served by your industry that you could serve better in your own business? – Is there some business or activity that they could “outsource” to you?
(2) Explore and research new areas of work that interest you. Some fascinating ideas may emerge from some “educational sites” on your computer.
To learn about new fields visit:
Ed2go.com partners with more than 1800 colleges to offer online courses that can be used in your current line of work or in a new field. Ed2go offers many courses in areas of computers and technology as well as in writing and publishing. It also offers “start-a-new-career” courses including: Pharmacy Technician, Pet sitting, Special Events Coordinator, How to Start an Arts and Crafts Business…..
Fabjob.com sells guide books (~$15.00 – $30.00) on starting specific businesses or entering a new field. More than 100 guides are available including Become a:
Personal Chef Spa Owner
Art Gallery Owner Technical Writer
Dog Day Care Owner Organic Farmer
Genealogist Image Consultant
Doula Brewery Owner
Party Store Owner Funeral Director
Romance Writer Tea Room Owner
Cake Decorator Coffee House Owner
Fitness Club Owner Virtual Assistant
Personal Trainer Web Developer
Life Coach Butler
Real Estate Agent Psychic !!!!!
At the very least, a visit to their website will getting you thinking about all the alternatives you have to not knowing what you want to do, unemployment, underemployment, involuntary retirement, failed retirement, retirement, or just not having enough money.
OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a free and open digital publication of high quality university level educational materials. These materials are organized as courses, and often include course planning materials and evaluation tools as well as thematic content.
OpenCourseWare are free and openly licensed, accessible to anyone, anytime via the internet. Whatever you may want to learn or train for, there is probably a site on line that provides you with online training or gives information on where you can obtain such training. The consortium currently consists of 62 institutions offering 5,737 courses. A number of other institutions offer open courseware but are not part of this consortium including Harvard University and University of Massachusetts, Boston.
If learning online or from a book is not your learning style. Go online and look into what your community college is offering. Besides courses leading to certificates and Associate degrees, many community colleges offer noncredit courses that can prepare you starting your own business.
Online exploration and research is one way of discovering new options. More ideas for discovering your “perfect” part-time biz will be the focus of future posts.