Home working

[derek15pc]

Although I haven't posted on here since joining I thought I might start a new discussion on the above topic.. and see if  I can offer some advice about working from home and earning some money. I hope I'm not going to get my wrist slapped by the moderators!

When I retired from work I found myself at a loose end after a  few months and found my bank balance dwindling quite quickly (it can get expensive going out for a meal with the better half every other day).

I realised that if I wanted to maintain the life-style that I was accustomed to I should consider doing something to make a few bob every week.

So, naturally (being a silver-surfer) I went on-line to look for something I could do from home and was surprised at the number of 'home-working- opportunities that are out there.

What I wanted was something that I could do from home, so I dismissed the catalogue deliver businesses as I didn't really fancy tramping the streets and delivering catalogues to my friends or neighbours. call me 'snobbish' but I didn't want people to think that I'd been reduced to delivering catalogues door-to-door.

I also wanted to avoid anything that I had to 'sell', so I also dismissed anything connected to providing 'utility bills' at a cheap rate.

However, I quickly realised that there are a lot of scams out there, particularly the offers to 'stuff enevelopes', or do on-line surveys and set-up 'bingo' or 'gambling sites'.

What I really wanted was to join an established company that provided a genuine service and that I felt comfortable with. And then by chance I came across a site that offered tax refunds to the public and who were looking for local agents After a few enquiries decided that was exactly what I was looking for.

I've been with them for over a year now and am looking to build my own small team. I really want people who have an experience of life, are honest and are interested in the financial world. I can provide full training and can promise you a really interesting second career and a potentially lucrative second income.

I can be contaacted through the forum or directly on 0800 298 9358 or via the website

[Papaumau]

A bit spammy Derek...but hey, I will bite.

As far as I see it there are two ways to work at home:

1). To work for someone else.

2). To work at your own business.

I will deal with these separately.....

1).....If you work at home for someone else; as you have already pointed out there is the risk of having to do a mind-numbing job like envelope-stuffing or other menial tasks at rates that will almost certainly be below the minimum wage level. Something to avoid like the plague.

Even IF you can find a job that can be done at home AND it is at a reasonable rate you may find that it will be hard to actually get any payment. There are dozens of such scams out there.

2).....Now, starting your own business at home is something else altogether as any business that you start from scratch will carry with it all of the worries that are connected to any new business venture. For a start you will find that there are not enough hours in the day to get that business up and running successfuly and you will never make any decent amount of money until you have employees making it for you. ( This brings us neatly back to number one ).

People like us who are retired once, or like me, in fact, twice, will be looking for an easy job that just brings in a few more pounds without getting back to the stresses of having to do a full job again.

Jobs like these are as rare as hens teeth and I can tell you that ninety-nine percent of them that are done from home are not worth the promises that are made for them.

Let me tell you that I have already fully qualfied in two trades and one profession and I have already ran my own succesful business for three years until arthritis forced me to retire for the second time.

My wise old Irish grannie once said......"If it looks too good to be true, it usually is !"

Here are a couple of sites that might throw some light on this subject:

http://www.bytestart.co.uk/content/office-home/homeworking/home-working-pitfalls.shtml

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/19423/careers_and_job_hunting/facing_up_to_lower_pay_when_you_work_at_home.html