new business

[John Dirks Jr]

I you wanted to give someone advice on a good business to get into these days what would it be?

What type of business to supplement a current full time job?

[Garet]

I hear that pyramid financial schemes are all the latest rage.

[Tom Raymond]

They say that porn is pretty recession proof, but I'm not so sure. The local smut shop just closed down. It's a sad state when the masses can't afford their porn.

[kurt]

The internet has killed all the "for pay" porn stuff. Kids with iphones are making porn. Good old American ingenuity has made porn affordable and available. Who sez we aren't competitive?

Personally, I like the pyramid scheme angle; as recent history shows, folks never seem to figure it out.

After that, I'm going to take my tax refund and open up a steel mill.

[Scottpat]

Yams! Yam farmers are doing great! Everyone loves sweet taters.

[Darren]

Well,

To be honest, HI's (of course with some exceptions) seem to be a gullible bunch.

Why not start a HI E&O insurance program and swindle them out of thousands of dollars. No, wait, that's been done!

I know, start a home inspection association, charge oh, say $395 for an online certification and call yourself "the worlds elite inspectors'. You can probably make MILLIONS. Damn- That's been done already too.

Damn

Damn

Why didn't I think of those things sooner

[JeremyDP]

I am augmenting my income with bridges. I have just a few left to sell, you interested? I have long ones, short ones, skinny ones too...

Around here it seems that Chinese restaraunts never go under, McDonald's is another fine choice (unfortunately, you need lots of cash for the golden arches).

Snow plow for extra winter work. You might want to talk to aparment complexes and businesses now to get work lined up when the white stuff falls.

[Darren]

I got it, I got it I got it!

And Kurt will love this one!

This one may take so time though.

Become ASHI president. After you're out of office, start a MOLD school and have it certified by ASHI. You can hook-up with other ASHI past presidents, advertise on IN and make slightly less than if you started your own association.

[Tom Raymond]

There's always Amway. No, wait, pyramids were already mentioned. That, and John Tesh is the spokesman[:-yuck]

[John Dirks Jr]

You all crack me up. I was serious but I like the way the thread has gone. I should have known better with this bunch. Maybe if I'd stayed in school....

BTW, how are college educations paying off these days?

[kurt]

Depends.

If you're a law student, not so well. All the big firms in the City are laying off like auto companies.

Some stuff OK, some not.

[esch]

Staffing company.

[hausdok]

I dunno,

After two days learning about commercial inspections, I'm wishing I'd taken an interest in this stuff years ago. It's cleaner, it pays better and it sounds like the silly crap that happens to home inspectors is pretty rare.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[kurt]

I dunno,

After two days learning about commercial inspections, I'm wishing I'd taken an interest in this stuff years ago. It's cleaner, it pays better and it sounds like the silly crap that happens to home inspectors is pretty rare.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

Absolutely. I love them when I get them.

Pay's better, there's usually no basement to get a teaspoon of water that freaks out the homeowner, and in most cases, they're tearing out a lot of stuff to reconfigure it for the new use.

Get 'em when you can; it's good money.

[Bain]

Another aspect of the commercial side that hasn't been mentioned is confirming that work has, indeed, been performed when draws are extended by banks. Apparently, it's become common for someone to borrow six-figure sums to allegedly improve a building. The dough gets socked away, however, the improvements never occur, and Joe Building Owner goes belly up. End result is that the bank gets stuck with a place that's worth much less than they've loaned out on it.

Just this week, I confirmed for a bank that a roof--to the tune of 100K--was installed on a warehouse. The bank doesn't really care about the quality of the install, they just want to know that their money was spent on what it was loaned out for.

I do two or three of these confirmations a month. The jobs pay well, liability is low, and I've developed relationships with banks from which I now receive residential referrals.

[resqman]

Death and Taxes.

Morticians job is recession proof. Tax man for gubmint always has a job. Health care cannot be shipped overseas because someone has to actually touch the patient. All the hype about the Aging of America bodes well for death and healthcare.

I always thought that genius inventor would be a fun job. Usually low paying for many years, until moment of discovery, and then potentially huge piles of money. Heir to fortune is another job that appeals to me.

[Tom Raymond]

My favorite part time gig is teaching. Running an RRP class is the easiest money I have ever made.

Thanks Teach!

[Chad Fabry]

My favorite part time gig is teaching. Running an RRP class is the easiest money I have ever made.

Ain't that the truth.

[Jim Morrison]

Your best financial bet?

Why not stick with the full-time gig you know, and git yourself some overtime?

[Charlie R]

John, we're here in Maryland - The State of Confusion - so get a job with the speed & red light camera companies, the State is only going to be putting more and more of them in to make more money. Or take a course on dealing Blackjack so you can work at our new state sport. Or heck, run for any political office, even if you lose you make money by writing the expenses off your taxes! Or how about teaching home inspection at the community college, that's the way to make money with home inspecting!

[Mike Lamb]

You'd think with this horrible economic hurricane all the HI's would get in another line of work, so I am waiting for the Forest Gump effect where I'm the the only shrimpn' boat in the water. Although I believe IL shrimpn' licenses went up in 2008?

[hausdok]

Or how about teaching home inspection at the community college, that's the way to make money with home inspecting!

Hah!

I damned near drowned myself laughing on that one when half a cup of coffee got blown up my nasal cavity.

Don't know about Maryland, but part-time teachers in the community college system here are paid so little that it's almost not worth doing. The only motivation I've ever had is that I like to think that in some small way I'm helping things to get better for our profession.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Chris Bernhardt]

I you wanted to give someone advice on a good business to get into these days what would it be?

What type of business to supplement a current full time job?

Taking the question serious for a moment, what kind of money does your buddy want to make?

One of the latest craze's over here, perhaps, has been going on all along and I just didn't notice, are these house washers, mostly latino, that are running around all over the place posting flyers for gutter, roof, siding, washing and cleaning.

All of the ones I know pull down a good couple grand a month, which is plenty when you are just paying $300 for a room in someones house. And that's another one, rentals by the room. I know folks who pay their entire mortgage and then some just renting out every nook and cranny in their homes.

Oh, and a third option, writing apps for smartphones in your spare time. If you enjoy groping around in the dark for hours at a time, this one is for you.

Chris, Oregon

[Charlie R]

Glad someone gets my humor, but that is a definite waste of coffee!