So, you are out of work. The lists of available vacancies are negligible, and you do not have the money to open your own business. You may not even have a computer to make your job search easier.
Relax, we are here to help you. We've turned the earth upside down to find 10 solid business ideas that can be brought to life with just a smartphone and a Gmail inbox. If circumstances are rushing you, then you can start turning them into reality tomorrow.
Of course, a computer or, at worst, a laptop would help you a lot on all 10 points, but your daily activity will still come down to using only your phone and banal ingenuity. Well, let's go - the economy is waiting for us!
Trucking
If you have a car with spacious rear seats, and you are able to keep it clean and tidy, you can open a car transportation service, especially if you live in a provincial town where there is no appropriate developed infrastructure. The biggest problem here will be in obtaining a certain category of driver's license. The procedure varies in each country, so contact your local traffic police department for details. Once you open a business, you can create a simple website where you provide a phone number where clients can find you. Your phone can serve as an organizer and address book to keep you on track, as well as a GPS navigator to guide you on the right route. Sign up for UberCab so your passengers can order rides via their smartphone.
We organize road transportation
If you have a car with a fairly spacious interior that you keep clean and tidy, it's time to start moving. Things will go faster if you live in a small town, where such a service is a novelty, and people, meanwhile, often need to transport cargo from place to place. First of all, you will have to obtain a driving license of a certain category. Don't waste your time and contact your local traffic police department.
Then register with the tax service as a private entrepreneur - an individual. Now you need to make yourself known to potential clients, and this can be done using the Internet. Create the simplest website where you indicate your phone number where you can be contacted for transportation services. In your smartphone you will store all the information about upcoming trips and customer phone numbers, and it will also act as a GPS navigator so that you don’t go astray. It is also worth registering in the UberCab application, but it is currently only available for Moscow. Thanks to this application, clients will be able to order your services via smartphone.
Tour guide
Permanent residence in one city can be turned into a means of earning pocket money. And the best way to do this is to become a tour guide in your city. Create a website and post a few words about yourself as a local expert on Excursiopedia. You can install multi-route maps from Google Maps or Yandex.Maps on any Android phone so you can better plan your excursion. In your free time, you can write a guidebook and sell it on demand, in e-book format or as a smartphone app.
We conduct excursions
If you live in an ancient city, God himself ordered you to become a guide. It is clear that you will have to spend some time studying information related to the history and architectural sights of your city. Then you need to create your website and also register on the well-known Excursiopedia website. More than 5 thousand private guides and travel agencies already cooperate with it, so there is a place for you there too. On this site you will indicate the excursions you have developed, as well as proposals for active recreation. Use your imagination and come up with routes!
In recent years, excursions related to the culinary characteristics of a particular region have become increasingly popular. Why not join this fashion trend? And, by the way, install multi-route maps from Google Maps or Yandex.Maps on your smartphone - they will come in handy when you plan excursions. Over time, if you wish, you can write a guide to your city or region and sell it in the format of an e-book or an application for a smartphone.
Writer
Yes, it may sound reckless to start a writing career without a computer (however, we do not suggest this), but, as practice has shown, this task is doable. Blogging can be a good starting point here: a large number of applications have already been developed for iOS and Android, through which you can write posts on the main blogging platforms (including WordPress and Tumblr), and some platforms (for example, TypePad) have built-in modules for working via mobile devices. telephones. But you don’t have to stop at just blogging. In Japan, for example, it is becoming popular to write and publish entire novels via cell phone. Mostly, of course, these are text messages. But in 2007, 5 out of 10 best-selling novels in Japan were “mobile novels,” written exclusively using phones. Is our society ready for the emergence of such things in self-awareness? There is only one way to find out - check.
We maintain a personal blog
Nowadays, as they say, only the lazy do not blog. Usually people become bloggers to express their thoughts on one issue or another, to exchange opinions with everyone who visits their page on the Internet. The better and more often the author writes, the more subscribers he gets. And a popular blog, it turns out, can generate additional income. For example, you can sell advertising space, or you can advertise other sites, say an online store.
On the technical side, applications have already been developed for iOS and Android, through which you can write posts on major blogging platforms (including WordPress and Tumblr), and some platforms (for example, TypePad) have built-in modules for working via mobile phones. So it's up to you. Write on topics that interest you, don’t be afraid to speak sharply and unconventionally, gain readers and make money from this business.
Videographer
In the past, documentarians, filmmakers, and other video professionals had to haul a truckload of equipment and crew from location to location to get a few shots that were worth a day's worth of them. Today, the quality of recording from pocket camcorders has reached HD levels, and you can forget about vans with equipment. If you are brave enough, you can shoot a movie using a high-end cell phone. Devices like the iPhone and Samsung Instinct even have built-in editing capabilities for your footage. If you are shooting amateur footage for clients, you can send them the result immediately upon completion of shooting, or upload the video to YouTube with one click.
Mystery shopper
This type of “scam” is rampant in the world of spam. You can often see the following advertisements in boxes: “Mystery shopper needed in your city.” In fact, it is a legitimate business for many and can bring real income with minimal effort. The only condition is that the task must be completed technically correctly. Of course, you won’t be able to build a real business by falling for the electronic bait. It is better to look for a secret shopper position in research institutions such as the foreign Corporate Research International (where secret shoppers are called “auditors”), which all reputable companies turn to. Don't expect to get a ton of cash, but if you love shopping and have a lot of free time, then this type of income is worth considering.
We work as a secret shopper
An interesting work, especially for those who love “spy mysteries.” It is customary to hire a secret shopper to check how employees of a large company, or a chain of clothing or electronics stores, or a food supermarket work in the absence of their superiors. You will be instructed on how customer service managers should behave, what they should look like, what you should ask them, and what they should roughly answer. After which you will come for a “check” to the designated place, see if the goods are laid out correctly, if cleanliness is maintained, ask questions to the service personnel and then state your impressions in the form of a report. You can apply for such an unusual position, in particular, through the Corporate Research International website. Of course, the salary of a secret shopper cannot be called high, but for a while such work will do.
Reseller at auction
eBay may be the hottest tech company of the past millennium, although the site's traffic is slowly declining. But still, the current state of affairs is enough to take 21st place among the websites with the highest traffic in the world according to Alexa ranking. There are still as many business opportunities at auction as there are lots listed for sale on the site. Go to garage sales and confiscation warehouses in search of buried treasure, and then relist these items at auction. You can make your own quilts and sell them on eBay (or better yet, Etsy). You also have the opportunity to create your own online store, which will help people sell what they were going to sell on the street, and earn a few bucks on commissions for transactions. You can easily browse your storefronts using the eBay app for iPhone, Android, or BlackBerry, no matter where you are.
We sell at auctions
Auctions on the Internet are now a dime a dozen. First of all, register on one of them. Now think about what you could offer for sale. You can start with your things - see which ones are in good condition, but you don’t need them. It could be clothes, household appliances, jewelry, books, you never know! People tend to accumulate junk that is of great value to someone else. And don't hesitate to post lots! As you know, every product has its own buyer. When your old supplies are exhausted, you can start selling some of your crafts: for example, knitted blankets or handmade jewelry. Of course, if you have a creative streak, and if not, try creating your own online store, for example, on eBay or Etsy. You will help people sell and earn commissions for transactions.
Life coaching
Life coaching is mentoring, instruction, tutoring. The beauty of life coaching is that you don't have to provide your actual credentials, you don't have to have a degree, and you don't have to have a special license to give people your opinion on how they should organize their lives. Create a quick and provocative website about your experience in the world of life coaching, post a few testimonials from people who are supportive of your endeavors, and post a couple of articles that show people how wise and intelligent you are. smart (something like “Seven steps to harmony in self-awareness”). Once clients start calling you, you can meet with them in person or, better yet, set up times for phone calls. Determine special rates or monthly payments for those clients who require attention 24/7. However, you are left to your own devices and can decide for yourself what to do with such crazy people.
Virtual assistant
Who doesn't need a little help every now and then? People need a virtual assistant who can perform simple tasks while being outsourced. And you will become this assistant! What exactly to do is up to you, but the most successful virtual assistants are those who do everything that is at least slightly within the bounds of the law. Joke. In reality, you will have to buy tickets to various events, look for job openings, bring dry cleaning, and even sit with your dogs from time to time. Tasks can range from the most mundane to the extravagant. Decide how to pay for your services - most assistants charge an hourly rate plus expenses for completing the task. Although you can negotiate a monthly fee for completing a specific set of tasks. You can read in entrepreneurship magazines about what direction to take here.
Technical support service
Are you one of those people who call when your computer breaks down? Why not start charging people to repair computers or answer technical questions from completely helpless strangers? The important thing here is to create a good web page that advertises your services. Use keywords and make sure you are within your geographic boundaries, as most people looking for help will search Yandex and Google for something like “...city name...technical support.” Therefore, use all your SEO talents and create a page that will be understandable even for a beginner and will appeal to search engines. And remember that your target audience is people who can't understand why the font on their new monitor is so small, so write in very simple and accessible language. If your business is moving at a snail's pace, spur it on by advertising your services on classifieds sites like Avito, just make sure that your ad is placed above any competitive nonsense.
"Personal" telephone operator
If all of the above doesn't work for you, at the end of the day, you can always just talk on the phone. This does not require any special skills. All that is required of you is to get yourself a nice phone number and register in some payment system so that you can pay with credit cards. You can dictate recipes, take sports bets, or just read anything. Wherever fate takes you, there's a good chance you'll get paid to listen to you. Of course, most of these services provide “mature” services, but no one will judge you in our digital world, right?
