There are certain things in life that you just can’t escape from, and one of them is the fact that we all have things that we don’t like doing. More than that, we also have things that we need to do but don’t have the time for, or simply don’t know how to do properly. But we never quite seem to get around to doing anything about it.
So just imagine the potential market there is out there for doing odd jobs for people. No matter what skills you have yourself, you are bound to be able to do things or have skills that other people are willing to pay for.
So, what skills do you have? What kind of odd jobs would you feel comfortable doing for other people?
This is the first step to take when you are thinking about taking on this kind of work. If you can create a list of things you can help with, it will help you to come up with a leaflet that you can deliver in your local area if you really want to go all out and get as many customers as you can.
A lot depends on how much time you have available and what your goals are. Do you want to build up a full time income doing this, or are you happy to treat it as a weekend only job, perhaps popping out and helping people on a Saturday and then taking a day off on the Sunday?
But before you start to advertise locally, think about your warm market first. This is made up of the people you already know. Ask everyone you know if they have any odd jobs that need doing; you can always ask them to spread the word among their own friends and family circle as well, as that may result in you getting a few jobs via word of mouth.
You might like to specialize in a certain area if you have certain skills; for example you may have some experience in helping people fix simple DIY jobs that always tend to get left until last. Alternatively you might enjoy getting out and about and you’re happy to run errands to the shops for people who find it difficult to get out for some reason.
The key to advertising successfully is to highlight the areas that you can be of help with. Rather than saying what you can do (i.e. ‘I can run small errands’) try telling people how selecting you to get their odd jobs done will be of benefit to them (so for example you would say ‘You won’t have to worry about how you are going to get your shopping any more’). This is just an example but you get the idea.
Start small to build up your confidence and ask satisfied clients to write a short reference for you if they are willing, as it will help you get more work in the future.
It’s clear that there are a lot of opportunities here for people who go out and look for them. But before you go looking, don’t forget to leave a comment for us below!