Well, the short answer to that question is yes and yes! But maybe I should explain a little more in-depth what I mean by that. I’m going to start by stating that if you are looking for a start-up that will bring you a nice, steady extra income, then a home watch business is the perfect fit for you. The best part about it is that you can operate it in one of two ways. You can jump in with both feet and turn this into a very profitable full-time business opportunity. Or, if you prefer, you can make this a nice little part-time gig on the side or just something to keep you busy.
But I want to focus more on examining why a home watch business is a perfect part-time opportunity. I’m thinking more of it being a part-time business for someone who is either retired or semi-retired. The word retirement itself doesn’t really mean what it used to a few decades ago. There was a time when you would work the same job for most of your life and when you reached the age of 55 or 65 you would retire. That usually meant you stopped working and started to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Sometimes that meant going on vacations, spending time at the golf course or just puttering around the home.
In today’s world of employment, you don’t see as many people working at the same job for any length of time. Plus, at the age of 55, 60 or 65 not everyone is retiring in the way that was the traditional norm. A lot of it has to do with the economic conditions that are so different from the way they were. The cost of living is so much higher and it is not uncommon to reach retirement age and still have a debt load of some kind. This has forced many people to either put off retirement or shift from a full-time job to a part-time job to keep a stream of income.
This is why I think a home watch business can become a perfect retirement business that can be operated on a part-time basis. Think about it for a moment. If you have always been an employee, this is your opportunity to become your own boss. You will be a business owner and you will have complete control over how it operates. That may sound a bit intimidating but another reason why I think a home watch business is a perfect part-time retirement business is that it is easy and affordable to start up. It may even be one of the easiest home-based businesses that anyone who wants to work for themselves can launch.
But how do you make enough money to make this a profitable venture? Well, I have an answer for that as well. When you operate a home watch business you will be paying visits to other people’s property. You may be just doing a quick perimeter check or you may be doing a full interior and exterior visit. Regardless of what actual services you are doing, you will be charging an hourly rate. That rate can range from between $35 and $68 per hour. Where you live, the type of services you provide and how often will have various impacts on your final hourly rate, but that is a ballpark figure to work with.
Let’s just assume for a minute that your hourly rate is right in the middle at $52. As you have determined that you will be working only part-time hours, which would be no more than 20 hours in a week, your earnings would total $1,000 weekly or $2,000 every two weeks. Even if you earned that much at the job you just retired from, that earning figure when you were working for someone else took 40-hours a week to make. Sure, as a small business owner you will have several expenses to take care of ranging from vehicle costs to any other business operating expense you have.
As I said, the start-up costs are minimal. For example, if you already have a reliable vehicle to get you from site to site, you’ve saved a great deal off the top. You won’t need to rent an office or building to run your home watch business out of. You can easily set up a home office or use a desk in the corner of a room in your home. The main costs you’ll incur will be for your office supplies and any printing you will require.
Why exactly would you even consider working part-time if you just retired? Well, I can also provide a fairly good answer to that one as well. If you are in retirement age, you are what is considered a mature worker. Statistics have revealed that mature workers in their 50’s and older who start new businesses have a much higher success rate than compared to younger entrepreneurs who launch their new ventures. What this means is that the odds are in your favor that you will succeed at your home watch business.
The reasons are many but primarily focus on the life skills of the mature worker. In addition to having experience from years of working for others, mature workers have also gone through the ups and downs of uncertain economic conditions. They have achieved most of their personal, family and financial goals. They typically own their homes and are a bit more tolerant of certain risks that come from shifts in the economy. Younger entrepreneurs, especially those with little experience in the workforce, have a lot more at risk ranging from student loans that need to be paid off, rent or a mortgage, a spouse to support or to contribute to the household income and possibly a young family. When the economy flips around, younger entrepreneurs can suffer greater loses. This makes mature workers a much more stable employee, employer or business owner.
This doesn’t mean that if you are about to or just retired that you have nothing to worry about, but if you do, starting a home watch business that can generate in the $1,000 per week range of income can really make the difference in your life. Plus, it is your business. You don’t have to punch the clock or meet projections devised by someone else who may not even know who you are. A home watch business keeps you active in your community and will introduce you to a lot of new people. These are the people who will help you to become successful as they will be using your services as well as promoting your services by raving about what you do.
So, as you can see, I truly believe that a home watch business is the perfect part-time or retirement business. I’m convinced that is will fit into today’s gig economy with ease and it can’t go wrong when you consider the low start-up costs and the ongoing demand for this type of service. People go away on holidays all the time and knowing there is someone keeping an eye on their home will bring them peace of mind that is a bargain at $52 per hour.
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