ANOTHER HOME BASED OPPORTUNITIES

There are many other types of home-based opportunities
which may require more specific skills, longer training or
more time to get up and running. They are no less useful,
however. Here are a few ideas for you.

* Accounting/Bookkeeping
Small businesses may be especially reliant on contract help
for this type of work since many of them may not be large
enough to have their own accountant and/or bookkeeper on
staff. Book resource: Establishing An Accounting
Practice. Available from: Bank of America, P.O. Box 3401,
San Francisco, CA. 94137.

* Apiary
Raising bees for honey can be a part-time effort if you
have an interest in this type of activity. This is not a
business for those with no experience in this area, but for
those already doing something along this line, or have a
hobby for it, try ordering the book ABC and XYZ of Bee
Culture from the A.I. Root Library, current edition, Garden
Way Publishing, Charlotte, VT. 05445

* Balloon Rides
Popular in areas where the weather is nice, year-round, hot
air balloon rides are popular gifts for special occasions
like a birthday, anniversary, Valentine's Day and other
holidays. Those of you who are trained aeronauts can step
into a needed void as a pilot for this craft. You can
start as a pilot, perhaps, and then accumulate capital to
invest in your own balloon. Other than advertising and the
cost of the balloons and their upkeep, little else is
required except some wide open spaces.

* Beautician
This is a popular home-based business. An investment in
the essential beautician supplies and chair can get you
started. There is a licensing course that varies by state.
All you need for this, other than the start-up merchandise
is an extra room in the house or a garage. If you're
working for someone now and were wondering how to break
away, it only takes a few dollars and your clientele to
follow you. This happens quite frequently. Book resource:
Start and Run A Profitable Beauty Salon. Author: Paul
Pogue. Available from TAB Books, Blue Ridge Summit, PA.
17214. It's a complete business guide, organized for easy
following of the text.

* Canning
Walk into a country restaurant like the Cracker Barrel and
the first thing you come to is a foyer/waiting area where
there are a variety of goods, including a number of
specialty food items. Pickles, sauces, jellies, many of
them homemade all sit waiting for a buyer. And people will
buy these specialties! Specialty coffee shops and gourmet
stores are always on the lookout for the new treat they can
feature. Why not sell to these stores if you have a talent
for this kind of cooking? You can start out part-time and
see how the demand and the income goes from there. The
next time you're in a specialty food store, ask about their
distribution.

* Chair Caning
Country styles for homes are as popular as ever and the
ability to cane chairs can bring in a sizable amount of
side income if you have the talent for this type of work.
If you're already doing it as a hobby, you've already
established the necessary work shop, know where to get
materials, etc. The only thing that remains is who to
distribute to, a decision that may involve both private and
public sales. There are locals who would certainly hire
you to handle a chair or two for them personally. There
are also specialty furniture stores and outlets with whom
you can also contract. You'll have to do a little research
on it, but the possibilities are there to expand a hobby
that may already give you many hours of joy. It's time to
cash in on that and get your home-based business off the
ground!

* Cheese making
Like making jellies and pickles, the art of cheese making
can also be turned into a tidy profit center for you,
distributing to some of the same chains and specialty food
stores. Cheese has been and will continue to remain a
sought after food. Book resource: Making Homemade Cheeses
And Butter, by Phyllis Hobson, Garden Way Publishing,
Charlotte, VT. 05445.

* Chimney Sweeping
Woodburning stoves and fireplaces are still dominant home
items and the skill of chimney sweeping is a fine one with
a number of business opportunities to choose from in plying
this trade. Very little equipment is necessary and it
won't take long, if you have the ability and liking for
physical labor, to become proficient at this work. Book
resource: Chimneys and Stove Cleaning, Garden Way
Publishing, Charlotte, VT. 05445.

* Consulting
If you've been in a specific field for a length of time,
you've likely built up an arsenal of knowledge about your
subject. The more you know, the more you can offer any
person or firm interested in breaking into, expanding or
becoming more competent in this area. If your name is
recognized, so much the better. Consultants can earn high
hourly fees, expenses paid for. Book resource: Advice --
A High Profit Business, by Herman Holtz, Wiley
Publications, New York.

* Copy Services.
This would obviously require the purchase of a copy
machine, the more versatile the better. You'll be
surprised at the number of individual needs for this
machine. At 7-10 cents a copy, the machine would pay for
itself relatively quickly. Booklets and collating services
for small businesses can be a relatively lucrative
practice.

* Floral Arrangements
You don't necessarily have to grow flowers to do this. You
can purchase, make up elaborate flower arrangements and
resell them. Dried arrangements and wreaths are popular in
season. Some advertising and competitive pricing can
generate a substantial workload for you.

* Home maintenance
How many times have you heard that someone is looking for
help to do a few odd jobs around the house. Or for a
painter? Or someone that can do a variety of work from
landscaping to electrical wiring? If you're good at
putting up wallpaper, laying carpet and other assorted
tasks, advertise! The more diverse the skills you
publicize, the better your chances of regular employment.

* Insurance Sales
Many people start off in this field on a part-time basis
until they realize that a few sales a week will triple and
quadruple the income they're used to making. This field is
not for everyone. It requires extraordinary discipline and
a desire to succeed along with the belief that you're
assisting people with their financial goals and objectives.
But if you can handle it, the insurance profession can be
one of the most lucrative for working out of your home.
Overhead is relatively low. You can get licensed through
your state's insurance department, located in your capitol
city. It may require a certain amount of training and
definitely an exam, but once passed, you can seek out
insurance companies who would be glad to work with you.
Think of what your niche market might be. Who are your
natural business associates and friends? These will be
your first potential clients and you might test them by
asking their interest in having you do an analysis of their
financial goals and objectives.

* Kennel operator
If you like animals, this could be a strong home-based
opportunity for you. Pets will always need to be boarded
and, although some capital will be required to set it up,
it can be a lucrative business just for doing what you love
-- taking care of animals!

* Mail-order business
This is a new rage among the home-based opportunity seekers
in this country. You can start your own mail-order
business quite easily and if you advertise in the right
publications, generate an ample amount of business. Book
resource: How To Start and Operate A Mail Order Business,
by Julian L. Simon. Publisher: McGraw Hill, New York,
10020.

* Meals for Handicapped
Contact your local social services for the disabled and
elderly to see if there is any openings for someone who can
cook meals out of their house and deliver them. This often
involves a hot meal for lunch and a cold meal for dinner
which is left with the client at the same time. If you
like to cook, this can be another outlet for your talents.

* Music
There are a number of opportunities for those with musical
talent, especially songwriting. There are plenty of great
voices out there, but a dearth of good material to sing.
Some of the better artists along with the up and coming
ones are always on the lookout for new artists adept at
this skill. Book resources: Making Money Making Music (No
Matter Where You Live), by James Dearing, and Song Writer's
Market- current edition, from Writer's Digest Books,
Cincinnati, Ohio 45242.

* Pet breeding
As long as you're considering a kennel career opportunity,
you might think about breeding, an animal specialty that
can earn you many dollars. Breeding can be by specific
request or you can simply breed to produce animals for
local pet shops like hamsters, cats and dogs. This
business can be run in conjunction with the kennel. You
can sell to the pet shops or take your business directly to
the public which can earn you a higher fee, since you don't
have to pay the retailer.

* Real Estate Sales
If you like houses and don't mind working the
evening/weekend hours, this could be a very rewarding
career for you. Sales of houses can make you some large
commissions even for one house. You have to be very
organized and always on the lookout for new listings, but
once you've sold a few houses in an area, word of mouth
will get you your next clients. The real estate market has
been depressed the last few years which creates an
opportunity for those that are adept at selling homes.
Sellers will tend to migrate towards the successful
Realtor. There is a licensing course involved, but you can
take this while you're still working at your old job. Like
insurance, many people start this business part-time, until
they sell their first big house and see how much money they
can make from one sale.

* Rental Property Manager
If you live in a vacation area with a number of condominium
units, you will likely see numerous advertisements for
someone to manage the units for rental. There could be
some small maintenance duties required, too. But
essentially you are collecting rent, advertising for new
renters and managing the properties for the owner(s). It
may well require that you live in the complex, but this can
often be part of the compensation package. What a great
way to live near the beach or in some fantastic resort
spot. This can be the job for those people who have gone
on vacation and wished they didn't have to go back to real
life.

* Repair of Equipment
Every home is equipped today with all the modern
conveniences: television, VCR, stereo, refrigerator,
microwave, stove, dishwasher, etc. All you have to do is
know how to fix these pieces of equipment and you'll have a
new home-based business. This might be combined with the
general all around maintenance business opportunity
mentioned earlier. A skilled repair person is difficult to
find as is the general odd-job fix-it-up person. If you
have any talent in these areas, there are plenty of local
options for you to attract business. People can't do for
long without their conveniences and the demand will be
there for the work. Consumers will bring the appliance
into the repair shop, but in this age of handiness, would
rather have someone come out and repair it -- it's easier!

* Secretarial Services
Small businesses can be counted on to look for help on a
contract basis from someone with specific secretarial
skills. A physician's office may be looking for a medical
records person or an insurance billing clerk on an
independent basis. The entire medical field, in its
movement towards managed care, is looking for simplified
answers to common administration tasks. This isn't the
only industry utilizing outside secretarial services. If
you have the skills and the small capital needed for the
basic equipment, you're in business! Book resource:
Starting Your Own Secretarial Business, by Betty Loogren
and Gloria Shoff. Published by: Contemporary Books,
Chicago, IL. 60601

* Sharpening Services
In many hardware, sewing and fabric stores, you may notice
an advertisement for sharpening services. Scissors and
other craft tools can be sharpened less expensively than
purchasing a new one. Often these businesses contract out
the labor for the service. If you know how to sharpen
these types of objects, perhaps even doing it for yourself
as you knit or make crafts, then you can turn this into a
lucrative side business. All you'll do is call on your
store clients once or twice a week and pick up new work and
drop off completed jobs. It's an unusual, but needed
usefulness.

* Sign Design & Painting
Every where you look across this great country, you'll find
-- signs! Homes, businesses and individuals are all sign
candidates. Advertising for and specializing in all type
of sings, banners and, if you learn it, even billboards,
can create a substantial side business which will grow into
full-time, profitable work for you.
* Telephone Answering Service
Many small businesses are one or two person shops who have
no one but an answering machine to pick up calls should
they have to leave the premises. There is a great amount
of business lost as a result; business which can cost the
firm thousands of dollars as someone hangs up when they
can't reach a human voice and dials another number where
they can. As an answering service, you can be that human
voice at the other end. Even if you are just taking the
message, people have confidence when they can talk to a
person in a service-oriented business. If you can add a
couple of lines to your existing home phone system, you're
in business. A few clients and you'll be taking messages
generally just during the day. There are organizations who
look for answering services to be on later call for product
ordering and similar tasks. This can be a very profitable
venture -- just for talking on the phone!

* Writer
There are a number of chances to obtain work doing
Copywriting. The written word is still very much in demand
and you can attract a substantial amount of business in
this area from smaller firms -- even just for their basic
correspondence. Distressingly, people don't possess the
same writing skills as they did en masse a few years ago
and hence could use the assistance. The better a letter or
document or brochure is crafted, the more likely the
business will do well. This means work for writers in all
phases of industry. A computer at home can be all the
overhead you'll need.