By Michael Zhou
Not all people are cut out to work in offices or be part of a team. Unfortunately based on today’s job market, not wanting to manage others, contribute ideas to a team, or be a mentor is career suicide if one of your goals is to make a decent salary. If you work best alone or with no more than one other person, there are some money-making opportunities out there for hard-working people with the financial means to invest in something new that can grow to incur a continuous profit. Here are three creative ways to make money while being your own boss so you never have to put on a suit and have boring meetings to make a salary.
1. Invest in a Food Truck Business
The culinary art is a great way to express your creative side, but the thought of being a restaurant chef where you have to manage others may make you cringe. If this is the case consider starting your own mobile food business. Most food trucks are operated by a single person or two people, and the startup cost is minimal compared to launching your own brick and mortar business. When looking at food trucks for sale, avoid getting something previously used; you don’t know what past problems it had and continuous repairs can destroy your profits. You also want to avoid a cheap builder who cuts cost by using low-quality materials. The vehicle is the base of your business and needs to be as strong as iron. Look for a reputable high-quality food truck builder with an impressive portfolio of clients who can attest to the integrity that goes into each build.
2. Start Your Own Digital Marketing Services
If you understand marketing and you are a gifted writer, you could provide basic digital marketing services for no more than 10 small business clients at a time before you would have to hire a second person. If you want to provide inbound marketing automation in addition to SEO and PPC, you may be able to handle up to five clients as a single person. Either direction you go, you have the potential to make 8 to 12K a month doing it. As for investing in your business you would need a good computer with dual screens and a fast Internet connection, as well as some digital tools for tracking rankings, running site audits, and performing keyword research.
3. Landscaping and Gardening
If you were born with a green thumb, enjoy being outdoors, have a head for business, and you have the artistic skills to create garden concepts from a digital platform, consider starting your own landscaping and gardening business. People are willing to pay big bucks to creative people who can re-design their yard to look like a resort. You need to be able to self-manage each project focusing on budget, cost, and the time-frame. All you would need to start would be the digital tools to create the concept and proposal, a truck, and the necessary tools. You would likely hire a contractor for large jobs and let him self-manage while you work alongside him.
Michael Zhou is a Senior VP of Business Intelligence Development and has assisted the Fortune 1000 company with expertise in the web as a whole, including ground-zero marketing efforts that benefit both consumer and vendor. He is also contributor on Esprittoday.
