Thankfully, there are plenty of summer jobs available around the UK, from the relatively easy to the more challenging, but all will get you out of the office, away from the shops and into a new adventure. So here’s our roundup of ways you can gain employment this summer – start looking now to make sure you have something good lined up for your summer months!

• Earn money fruit picking
• Take up gardening
• Work a festival
• Air BNB your house or garage
• Have fun as a child minder
• Be a pet walker
• Sell your photos
• Become a lifeguard
• Remote admin work

Earn Money Fruit Picking 

Over the last few years, there’s been a shortage of willing fruit pickers offering their services to British farms. As a result there are usually plenty of fruit-picking jobs available throughout the summer. 

What you’ll be picking will depend of course on the farm but also on the month. For example, strawberries and gooseberries are often picked from early June to mid July, plums and apples are picked in late August, and apples and pears are picked in September. 

Your best bet would be to travel to your local farm and speak to the owners directly. Also look out for adverts in local shop windows and village halls. Find a farmers’ market near you and ask about any jobs going. 

Picking Jobs is a useful website where you can put in a search for fruit picking in Europe and see what’s available. Anywork Anywhere has a similar set-up and can be used to search for all kinds of other seasonal jobs both here and abroad. When you see a job that interests you, email the employer directly giving a few basic details about yourself and the dates you can do. 

You’ll be working outside so wear old casual clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty. You may be standing in fields for hours on end so comfortable shoes are a must. You’ll also need a hat and sun cream so you don’t get burnt. Insect repellent is a good idea, and make sure you drink plenty of water. 

Earnings are often cash in hand and if you earn enough you will be expected to take care of all your own taxes. It’s unlikely you’ll make a lot of money, so you may not exceed your personal income allowance. For this year, the personal allowance is £12,750.

You’ll typically be paid minimum wage: 

• £12.21 per hour for workers aged over 21
• A rate of £10 per hour for workers aged 18–20 inclusive 
• £7.55 per hour for all workers under the age of 18 (hours may be restricted due to employment laws)

Depending on the farm you’re working for, you might be paid hourly or daily, but sometimes you’re paid according to the amount you pick (e.g. you get x amount per kg or pound). This system is called ‘piecework’ and it’s fruitful (sorry) for those who work particularly hard.  

Take Up Gardening 

If you’re green-fingered then gardening for cash is an ideal way to make some extra money. Lots of people start thinking about the state of their garden in the weeks leading up to summer so it’s the ideal time to pounce on their insecurities! 

Offer your family, friends, colleagues and neighbours your services as an expert lawn mower, weed eradicator and plant potter and you’ll be a renowned small-time gardener in no time at all. 

Start attracting business by handing out cards and flyers (you can get free business cards printed from Banana Print) and by knocking on doors. Once you’re up and running, word of mouth should spread and work should roll in on a regular basis. 

Ideally, you’ll need your own lawnmower, garden tools and transportation to get from place to place. 

In terms of tools, get yourself a sharp pair of secateurs, a pair of tough gloves and a long, thin trowel.  A spade, fork, and rake are also versatile and useful. There are plenty of different tools out there to help make your job in the garden a bit easier. Here are a couple of useful websites: 

•  Robert Dyas 
•  Gardening Direct 

Don’t think too big to begin with – offer basic services that people generally don’t have time to do themselves for a reasonable price. Professional gardening companies charge around £15 for simple tasks, so long as you can beat their quotes you should have plenty of business. 

Work a Festival 

Are you interested in getting FREE festival tickets? Fun in the sun at Reading Festival might seem a world away at the moment, but if you want to get some free festival tickets, you need to start planning now. Being a charity volunteer will get you into the festival for nothing and you’ll only have to work a few shifts – then you can enjoy the music with everyone else! 

You’ll need to join an events recruitment company. Here are a few we tracked down for you: 

• Festaff supplies casual staff for over a dozen music festivals in the UK, including Bestival, Creamfields, Wickerman, Camp Bestival, Isle of Wight Festival, Sonispshere, Rockness and Beachdown. Some of these are currently recruiting, so if you’re interested, fill out their application for summer positions. 
• Delaware North Companies Ltd (DNC) runs a food and catering service at both Wembley Stadium and Emirates Stadium. They provide full training for all the roles, and job vacancies range from bar staff to sous chefs. See the Hospitality Staff website for full details on DNC job profiles and how to apply. 
• Jam Staffing employs people for events all over the UK. They’re looking for waiters/waitresses, security staff, models and much more. You can apply through their website. 
• For something a bit different, how about mobile catering with MJR Tom? This involves walking around events at stadiums, football clubs and racecourses. You will then sell whatever it is you’re told to. 

Air BnB Your House

Your part of the world could very well attract people to your very own B&B, run from your house. Think about what makes it special and what would encourage people to visit. Do you live in a picturesque village by the seaside, or in a busy and bustling city? How close are you to transport links and tourist attractions? Could you offer weekday stays for commuting professionals? Is your area the sort of place that people will want (or need) to come to and stay in?

Having a big house with lots of rooms is only half the battle won. Think about your unique selling point. 

You might also consider doing a survey to find out what people want from a B&B. Send it to friends, family and colleagues to get a good range of responses. Use that to inform your plans. Once you get going, ask guests for feedback. Also ask them to review your place on TripAdvisor and Google – both of those are useful ways to get business in for free. 

If you want a more regular income across the year, and a good spare room, consider the Rent a Room scheme which allows homeowners to earn £7500 tax free as they take in a lodger.

Have Fun as a Nanny or Babysitter

Are you great with kids? Looking after someone else’s offspring every now and then can be a fun summer money maker. A spot of good weather (hopefully) will mean that you can take the children for fun days out and not be stuck indoors too often. 

If you need some inspiration when it comes to entertaining children, Day Out With The Kids is a brilliant website full of places to visit for both indoor and outdoor activities in your region.

Childminding is different from babysitting or nannying. If you are babysitting for a few hours, you don’t need any qualifications. Nannies who work from their client’s home (and only look after the same family) don’t, either. But a childminder needs to register with Ofstead if they’re working from their own home or looking after children under the age of 8. Regardless of which you do, it would be good to take a child-specific first aid course.

You could charge around £12 an hour. The long summer holidays can be a real pain for working parents so there should be plenty of work. Whilst looking after children, be prepared for every eventuality. Keep phone numbers for parents and emergency contacts if for some reason you can’t get hold of them. Ask about allergies, medication or anything else you might need to know. 

Want to make it make it a more regular gig? Professional childminding and babysitting is a different story. If you’d like to look after the children of strangers on a regular basis, you’ll need to be a registered childminder and have the proper checks to be able to work without fear of a lawsuit. 

You can register with agency websites such as Sitters and Childcare.co.uk where you can advertise as a babysitter for free. The agency then makes all the arrangements for you. Also, drop a note through your neighbours’ doors to let them know you’re available to look after their children. You could even send out a group email to friends or work colleagues informing them of your new babysitting venture. Make sure you include a price list to establish the fact that it isn’t a free service from the start. 

Having a DBS check (formerly CRB) will make it easier for you to get work. If you don’t have one, you need to be willing to get one when an agency hires you.

Written references from people for whom you have already worked with make a big difference. However, even if you haven’t given babysitting a go before you can get character references from a teacher, your bank manager or another professional who knows you well. 

If you do find that you’re struggling to get work, initially keeping your rates down to a minimum will do your reputation a lot of good – then you can always increase your fee later on once you’ve established some regular clients. Don’t go below minimum wage, though!

Be a Dog Walker 

If you’re fit, active and enjoy spending time with animals then walking people’s dogs can be a really enjoyable and easy way to make some quick cash. 

You can find your first customers just by asking around. Start by asking neighbours and others you know if they require your services. If your workload seems a little feeble, you could try advertising with a poster or notice at your local veterinary clinic, pet shops and at rescue centres, if they’ll let you.  

After that, if you’re good and reliable, you’ll get publicity through word of mouth. Many dog walkers get clients when they meet them in the park. 

You can also join a local dog-walking agency such as PetPals or register yourself as a dog-walking company at NarpsUK. Narps members can access discounted rates for insurance and it can also help you find more work through its pet owner postcode search facility. You’ll earn less per hour but the work would be more regular. Just put ‘dog walking’ into your search engine with your local area and see what comes up. There are lots of little, local agencies all over the country. 

The biggest expense will be insurance. Pet Business Insurance offers a number of packages including: 

• Public liability – if the dog runs out into the road and causes a pile up, or bites someone 
• Care, custody and control – looks after the pet itself if it gets injured while under your care 
• Loss of key – if you lose your employer’s keys they’ll pay to change the locks 

You’ll also need a ready supply of pooper-scoopers and bags. Perhaps some doggy toys, too, but owners will usually supply their own.  Make sure you check with owners before feeding their dog any treats – and stick to those specifically made for dogs, no human food.

Sell Your Photos

If you’re a dab hand with a camera, try selling your summer holiday snaps to photo agencies and libraries. Each time one of your photos is sold you can earn a commission. Most sites will ask for a selection of photos to test the quality and there’s a chance they’ll be rejected. But if you don’t try you’ll never know! Also, there are lots of photo sites to choose from and there’s nothing to stop you from signing up with all of them. 

Even if you’re not going away, why not get out and about with your camera and start taking some pictures? For an idea of what stock libraries are looking for visit the websites themselves. They usually need images of people’s hometown, street, groups of people, and people in business and work shots. 

Sites such as Adobe often have a travel section for professional-quality photographs of interesting things and places. Others such as 123RF operate in a similar way. 

You can also try contacting smaller travel magazines – send an email to their pictures editor and find out their rates. 

If you want to submit a photo to sell, it has to be an RGB JPEG saved at a high setting (such as Photoshop level 10 setting or 48 MB in size). They must not be compressed file sizes. Usually the higher the image resolution, the more you’ll be paid, so keep files large. 

Do be careful about the pictures you submit – such as pictures of identifiable houses or models. Any person who’s in the photo will, in most cases, need a release form. This is signed by the model or house owner to cite that their permission has been given. This is because you will profit from their personal belongings. Also, some properties and logos are trademarked and therefore will not be accepted. 

What you charge is completely up to you, but it’s advisable to only charge what you think people can afford.  

Become a Lifeguard

If you’re a strong swimmer why not become a lifeguard for the perfect summer job? It’s a great way to meet people and although it’s a serious job (your role is to look after and possibly save someone’s life) it can be lots of fun too. 

There are two types of lifeguard: 

• Swimming pool lifeguards – employed by a leisure centre, private club, local authority, hotel or holiday centre 
• Beach lifeguards – employed by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) 

Once you’re qualified try sites like Leisurejobs, Gapyear.com and Gumtree to find work. Also, contact your local pool and ask about vacancies. 

To be a pool lifeguard you’ll need one of the following qualifications: 

• The National Pool Lifeguard Qualification (NPLQ) 
• The National Aquatic Rescue Standard (NaRS): Pool Lifeguard 
• NPLQ and NaRS courses are based at local swimming pools or leisure centres. They are run through approved centres, such as colleges and swimming clubs. 

To be a beach lifeguard you’ll need one of the following qualifications: 

• RLSS National Beach Lifeguard Qualification 
• National Aquatic Rescue Standard (NaRS): Beach Lifeguard, run by the Surf Life Saving Association of Great Britain (SLSA GB) 

These qualifications can be gained by training with a commercial training organisation like Harlyn Surf School in Cornwal. Or, you can join a local RLSS Lifeguard club or SLSA GB life-saving club as a volunteer. 

You can get information on all lifeguard courses in your area through the Learndirect careers advice website. Expect to pay between £100 and £150, although if you receive benefits you may be entitled to discounts. Because you’ll be working with or around children, you’ll need to undergo a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service check). 

Remote Admin Work

If you want to earn some extra cash on the side in the summer without going anywhere special, consider finding remote admin work. You can pick up jobs on sites like Fiverr, or ask around friends and family. If you’re a dab hand with spreadsheets and Word shortcuts, there are plenty of people who would like some extra help with the boring-but-necessary business tasks they have.

Target other freelancers or small businesses. They are the ones most likely to need extra assistance as a remote PA, admin worker, or even stuffing envelopes! The work is often flexible and can be charged by the hour – try to get at least £15 an hour for most tasks. Target local events companies too, as they may have lots of upcoming event that require bag stuffers and leafleters.

The post Top Summer Jobs 2025 Edition appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

• What teaching English as a foreign language courses are available?
• Can an internet course teach me the skills needed?
• How much can I make?

Teaching English abroad is a popular career choice. Most teachers do go abroad to teach, often as a way of experiencing a foreign country and culture. However, there are plenty of non-native speakers living in the UK who want lessons and are prepared to pay for them. That’s where you come in!

What TEFL courses are available?

Teaching English as a foreign language, or TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages), is the industry jargon used for talking about this type of English language teaching.  Teaching English as a foreign language should refer to teaching abroad. TESOL refers to teaching people who already live in an English-speaking country.  However, in practice they are used interchangeably.

Most language schools require a teacher to hold one of two recognised language teaching qualifications:

• CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults)
• The Trinity CertTESOL qualification run by Trinity College London.

Both courses are run in numerous locations in the UK and Europe, typically in universities. Courses are also available in private language schools as well. You’re looking at between £300 to £900 to complete a course, depending on the level you choose and whether you want to take online only, hybrid, or classroom only.  Universities tend to charge more than local colleges. Generally a full-time course will last from 4-6 weeks. Many places also offer the option to do the course part time: mainly during evenings and over weekends.

Will any TEFL course do?

It’s important to recognise that employers aren’t just looking for any old TEFL qualification. When prospective employers ask, ‘have you got a TEFL certificate?’ they are usually referring to is the Trinity Certificate TESOL, the Cambridge CELTA or a certificate gained from doing a course of equivalent length and value. It’s important to choose a course with practical teaching practice. This is because future employers will want to know you have been observed in the classroom. It also means you can stand up in front of a class, which is a bonus. You must ensure the course you choose is accredited by a third party independent body, such as a university. Look for ‘accepted by OFQAL’ if you are looking at a TESOL course to teach in the UK, as this is a recognised qualification by the UK government.

How do you get on the course?

As part of the application process, you will probably be required to attend an interview and complete a language/grammar awareness test.

Other language franchises (such as i-to-i) do their own training, typically in a foreign country. This can work out cheaper. However, you are then tied into working at their schools and you come away with an unrecognised qualification. The training is often limited to just a few days, so this option is better suited to a ‘holiday job’.

It’s worth shopping around as you might find it more enjoyable to learn abroad. It could also end up being much cheaper as well, especially if the pound is performing well against the local currency. Some schools, such as International House, offer a CELTA or TESOL course and then the possibility of a job with them (although this is not guaranteed). You may find it easier to get a job in a specific city if you complete your training with a local school.

Another option is TEFL England, they run both local and online courses at reasonable prices. A 120 hour course costs only £340.

Try a free option

You can even try an online TEFL trial course for nothing. This is a great way of discovering whether their course is for you.

Find the best value course

Shop around before you commit to a course – and be realistic about your capacity to learn. If you can’t commit to weekly in-person classes, an online course in your own time might be a better option. However, this does limit your in-person teaching opportunities, which it’s important to practice before you complete the qualification.

Although CELTA/CertTESOL courses are generally regarded as the best option, there are still employment options open to you if you decide not to undertake either of these. The British Council recognises qualifications that meet certain criteria. These courses have to be externally validated, contain at least six hours of assessed teaching and involve at least 100 hours of input.

However, you could still lose out to CELTA or Trinity Cert TESOL trained teachers in areas where competition for jobs is very high, or where there is an overriding preference for the Cambridge/Trinity College qualifications.

Can an online only course teach me the skills required?

An online course could be all right for one-to-one or when working in a supportive environment. However, it would not prepare you enough for the typical classroom. Knowledge of the language is secondary to knowing ‘how’ to teach. As such, many employers won’t consider your application if you’ve had no face-to-face teaching time.

If you do decide to go down the online route, then there are certainly some useful books on teaching techniques you will want to read. It’s also worth brushing up on basic grammar.

It’s useful to look at some course books (which come with supportive teacher’s notes) just to see what areas of the language are typically problems for students. Headway produce a range of great study guides for students, which are worth checking out.

How much can you make?

The starting salary for a newly-qualified teacher is usually £15 an hour and rises with experience. Diploma-qualified teachers will be paid significantly more. However, you need a minimum of two years teaching experience to be accepted onto a DipTESOL postgraduate course.  The DELTA’s entry requirements are more flexible.

Lots of teachers supplement their income by teaching privately, one-to-one. It’s possible to make it into a career, but there is constant pressure to find new students. This is because most students only need a few months’ tuition. Teachers have to be careful as they are usually contractually prevented from ‘poaching’ students from their school.

If you do work as a private tutor you can start by charging about £20 an hour. That being said, £30+ would be reasonable for an experienced teacher. You can also charge for proof-reading essays. Try advertising in universities and local colleges to get such work.

A personal view: is TEFL for you?

Rebecca Selley, an English graduate from Devon, shares her experiences here:

“I started teaching straight after university. I decided to do a CELTA course as I was already planning to go travelling and thought it would be a good way to fund my way around.

The course was surprisingly tough – preparations for a 10 minute teaching slot seemed to take us a good 2 nights. The idea of teaching 5 or 6 hours a day was incomprehensible. Some people transformed into natural teachers while, for others, the whole experience put them off teaching forever. I managed to scrape through it in one piece!

Unfortunately all of the decent schools abroad wanted some experience so I applied to a school in London on a fairly low wage but eventually managed, with the help of some private lessons, to save enough to go away. I was offered work in Argentina, Bolivia and Colombia but the prospect of having to hang up my backpack for less than £5 an hour was not tempting and I have yet to work abroad.

When I got back I was lucky enough to find an employer who was happy to pay the course fees for me to do a DELTA course at university.

This year is my 5th in the industry, and although I have decided to move on elsewhere, I think it has had an enormous impact on my life and has given me the opportunity to meet countless memorable characters. Just today in my class was a Thai grandmother, the daughter of a famous Saudi actor and a Japanese footballer.  It’s the closest experience you can get to travelling without a passport.”

The post Make money teaching English as a foreign language appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

We’ve come up with lots of ways to make money on the side in easy and unexpected ways, even if you’re not very mobile. (Keep an eye out for a new series coming soon that will cover other types of invisible disabilities and mental health conditions.)

Here’s a list of just some of the many ways people with physical disabilities can make extra money, without loads of hassle.

Many of them are not only handy for bringing in the cash, they’re also fun to do!

• • How to make money if you’re not mobile
  • Make money if you’re semi-mobile
  • How to make money if you’re mobile with other disabilities
  • Top 5 tips for disabled people looking to find work 

How to make money if you’re not mobile

If you you’re not mobile or have a fluctuating condition that impacts your daily mobility, you might be tempted to think there are no money-making opportunities for you. But you’d be wrong!

There are loads of ways you can make some money from home – from online surveys to setting up a blog.

Here are some great money makers especially for you:

Make money with online surveys

Online surveys are great ways to make some extra cash, with very little effort required. Simply sign up to a safe, secure online survey site and you’ll be paid cash for filling out their surveys.

They don’t require a special commitment – you can fill them in during the ads of your favourite TV shows or whenever you have a spare half an hour.

Online surveys can make you up to an additional £50 a month.

At MoneyMagpie we like Nielsen Computer Panel UK. It’s great: all you have to do is download their app onto your computer and mobile devices and you’re automatically entered into prize draws.

Nielsen researches internet users’ behaviour and randomly selects users for monthly prize draws, as well as larger yearly draws. As long as you’re comfortable with the setup, Nielsen doesn’t require any active participation on your part. All you need to do is register, answer a few questions about your internet use and then you get rewarded for using them!

Check out the following of top survey sites:

• Swagbucks
• Nielsen Online Panel
  
• InboxPounds
• Toluna
• LifePoints

See our article on MoneyMagpie-approved survey sites and start making money today.

Some sites let you swap your earned points for cash or great vouchers such as Amazon gift cards.

Just remember, never pay to sign up to an online survey site.

Make money writing to magazines

Magazines are often looking for true life stories from ordinary people – you can make a lot of money from telling yours.

Very few people actually write in to magazines with their true life stories, so there’s plenty of opportunity to contact features teams and sell yours.

You can make up to around £2,000 depending on how sensational or interesting the story is – in fact one MoneyMagpie reader earned £2,200 for her life story.

Stories can vary and you can talk about anything – magazines look for stories of tragedy, hope, inspiration or humour.

How to sell your story to magazines

The process is simple. Phone up or email a journalist (or contact the features team via email) and briefly outline the story you’re interested in selling. You can get your money in as little as two weeks!

Take a Break magazine offers up to £2,000 for true stories, and other magazines and newspapers offer between £200 and £2,000 depending on how good the story is.

You can make even more by including a relevant photo, which helps make your story more interesting!

If you have a life story you’d like to sell, target the magazines you know your story will be relevant to.

For example, a story of dramatic weight loss would be ideal for a magazine like Woman’s Weekly, but may not be great for Total Film!

Keep an eye out for magazine competitions too. You could win big prizes for doing very little.

Some magazines even reward cash for tips, recipes and star letters too. Check your favourites and see what they offer.

Have a sharp eye for detail? Make money reading…

If you can spot grammatical errors from a mile off then proofreading is the perfect career for you.

To be a proofreader you must have an excellent standard of English and strong attention to detail, so you can spot all the errors in documents and manuscripts.

There are no set entry requirements for becoming a proofreader, but relevant experience is a bonus (and if you’ve got a degree in English, that won’t hurt either!). Proofreaders spot mistakes in texts and make changes.

Proof reading pays surprisingly well, with the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) reporting that the minimum hourly rate for experienced and qualified proofreaders is £29.85.

For those with less experience, don’t fret. A talented newbie proofreader can still earn up to £15-20 per hour. Not bad for a flexible job.

Another great thing about freelance proofreading is that you usually work flexible hours. You can plan your working day around deadlines and how long the manuscripts will take.

Once you’ve finished your work, you’re done for the day. So, if you’re a fast and diligent worker, you could be earning a decent wage that fits around your social life.

Make a name for yourself online and make extra cash – or freebies!

Do you have something you want to share with the world?

Have you got opinions people need to hear?

Consider setting up a blog.

Blogs can be about absolutely anything. They can be personal, like a kind of diary blog, or you could simply write about a subject you find interesting.

If you have something unique to say, write it. It’s very therapeutic and you can make good money on the side from blogging if it becomes successful.

Here are some useful tips on how to make your blog more popular:

Firstly, write about something you’re passionate about. It’s important you find it fun to do or you won’t be motivated, and people will find it less interesting to read. You have to ooze enthusiasm.

Publish your blog on a popular site like WordPress. The free version comes with lots of tutorials to help you learn more about running your website.

Remember to focus on promoting your blog in various ways. Word of mouth, telling your friends and family, and using social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) are great ways to get your content noticed!

Finally, you could use your blog to sell things or advertise your own services.

See our article on how to make money blogging.

(Keep an eye out for a new article April 2025: Making money writing with subscriptions – how to use Substack and Patreon to make money!)

Make £15-£25 an hour as a Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistant positions are a great opportunity to make money if you’re skilled on the computer but not very mobile.

To be a virtual assistant you must be computer literate and confident with major software packages. You can adapt your workstation with things like speech-to-text software if you have limited mobility in your hands, too.

There’s high demand for virtual assistants from small businesses who can’t afford full-time admin support. Some larger companies also employ virtual assistants to work from home: much secretarial work can be completely remote.

As a virtual assistant you’ll answer calls in a professional manner, reply to emails, and manage diary bookings. You’ll have to be proactive and work to meet deadlines, and you may be tested to see if you’re performing to a high standard.

While some businesses use chatbots to handle basic administrative queries, they often struggle with emotional intelligence, complex problem solving, and personalised communication. These are areas where human virtual assistants truly excel. This makes VAs especially valuable for companies needing flexibility and empathy in client interactions. That’s why many still choose people over automation when chatbots fail to meet real-world business demands.

You can find work as a virtual assistant by signing up to a decent free agency, and can earn up to £27 per hour.  Try Virtual Office Temps or the Society of Virtual Assistants has more information and lots of tips on how to get started.

How exciting would it be to work with clients across the globe and liaise with people from different countries?

Read more about becoming a virtual assistant here.

Make money calling companies

If you’re not mobile, there are loads of phone-based mystery shopper jobs. You call a given company and ask a list of questions. All you have to do is report their response.

Mystery shoppers are also needed in the online world. Your role will be to contact and send specific enquiries to websites. You’ll monitor the speed and contact of the response. Again, you’ll probably provide your feedback through a straightforward and simple questionnaire.

You’ll then be paid when you’ve reported your findings. Once you’ve done your bit, you will sometimes be paid within 24 hours of your assignment.

Pay rates differ for different agencies and companies. You can expect to earn £5-£25 per task plus expenses. However, for phone calling mystery shopper jobs the pay is much lower – £1-£5 for phone work.

This obviously won’t pay the bills, but it’s a fun way to earn a bit of extra cash. If you’re interested in taking part in mystery shopping, see our article for the best and safest mystery shopper agencies.

Never pay to join a mystery shopping agency. You are being paid for your service.

Make money chatting to people

If you have a friendly, customer-focused attitude and excellent, professional telephone manner, working as a phone agent could be the ideal job for you.

There’s loads of home based call centre work for individuals who aren’t mobile. All you need is a computer, the internet and a phone, and your job is to simply answer customer service calls and deliver excellent service.

Customer service is increasingly branching out. Clients are contacting companies and making their queries via email, social media and online chats, so there’s more technical support work for those who aren’t very mobile.

Additionally, social media is all around us and dominating the internet. Many companies recruit individuals to be responsible for the social media of their company. It’s now crucial for promoting products or companies.

Keep an eye out for virtual social media roles on job sites as you can gain some excellent transferable skills.

Find out how you can make money from answering the phone here.

How to make money if you’re semi mobile

If you’re okay getting around, but can only put so much strain on yourself, try one of these ways to make extra cash…

Make money tasting food and watching adverts

Focus groups are a particularly fun and interesting way to make money on the side.

Register with companies such as Take Part in Research and you can earn up to £250 for sharing your opinion.

Focus groups vary from filling out paid surveys for a couple of weeks to going in and reviewing and assessing various products and even TV ads before their release!

It’s an exciting opportunity to make some good cash and meet people from all walks of life. It’s great for individuals who love testing products and talking to people. You’ll also get to share your thoughts on innovative products and services.

Sometimes, you’ll hit the jackpot and test foods. To find out more about how you can become a grub tester, read our article on getting paid to test food…yes, even chocolate.

If you aren’t able to get to a focus group then you can take part in online focus groups or even do an interview over the phone.

Make money with a punchy pun

Feeling creative?

Write messages for greeting cards for a bit of extra cash!

Although this is a very competitive market, a lot of money can be made from writing witty lines, and it’s an exciting industry to work in. A punchy pun could earn you up to £150!

The most popular cards are funny, likeable and witty puns. Who doesn’t like a clever joke that puts a smile on our faces?

However, other greeting card types include sentimental messages and traditional cards that use rhyming poetry.

The first step to getting your message published is research galore. Decide which type of message you’d like to write in greeting cards, and find out who publishes these types of messages.

It’s worth visiting a high street card shop such as Clintons. Spend time viewing the cards and note the relevant publishers that you want to contact. You can find the publisher on the back of each card.

Keep an eye out for niche shops that sell greeting cards, e.g. book stores, garden centres, craft shops and gift shops.

Also, visit greeting card trade fairs where you can gain publisher contacts and do some networking. You could even pitch to them and show them your example greeting card messages.

Golden Rules:

• NEVER submit your work without reading the submission guidelines. Find them on the publisher’s website.
• If you submit work and haven’t followed these guidelines, your work won’t get read.
• If you can’t find their guidelines, write to the publisher to request them.
• When you receive a response regarding your greeting card message, keep track of your contacts.

It may take a while to get going, but many people make good careers from greeting card writing, and it’s a very creative, interesting industry to work in. Check out the Greeting Card Association site for freelance work.

If you’re interested in making money on the side from fun greeting card writing see our more detailed article.

Make money selling your old stuff

Have you got piles of used books, DVDs, games, CDs, and clothes cluttering up your room?

Sell them and make extra cash!

As they say: tidy house, tidy mind and you’ll be a good bit richer.

Sell on sites like Ziffit, Amazon and eBay. On Ziffit you can simply type in the barcode and find out how much cash you can get.

Visit our Clear Your Clutter section to find out more about getting paid for your old stuff. 

Make money if you’re mobile but have other disabilities

If mobility isn’t a problem but you have other health issues which may hinder your ability to find employment, here are some great money makers to try.

Earn £60 an hour dog walking

If you’re mobile and enjoy being out and about in the fresh air, dog walking could be for you.

Dog walking is an enjoyable, lively job that pays surprisingly well. You can make up to £50 an hour if you’re brave enough to walk four dogs at the same time. Some people can take even more, so it can be a lucrative business idea.

If you want a slightly easier dog walking experience, you can earn up to £10-12.50 an hour walking one furry friend at a time. This is the perfect job for animal lovers.

You can go about dog walking by joining an agency such as Tailster for immediate work. Tailster is free to join and advertises you to hundreds of people in need of a dog walker.

Of course, the advantage of working with an agency is that they do the hard work of getting the jobs in. The disadvantage is that they take a cut of the money.

As an alternative, register with Petpals as a dog walking company and apply for jobs on there. You can also simply put an ad out in your local area – on noticeboards, through people’s doors, on local websites – advertising your services. Quite often you can also find new clients while you’re out walking the dogs. Make sure you take a stack of business cards while you’re out.

For more details on how you can get work as a dog walker see our article.

Top 5 tips for disabled people looking to find work

• Look for the Disability Confident symbol, which can be found on job descriptions online. It indicates that the employer is committed to employing disabled people.
• If you’re a young disabled person looking for work after school look at the apprenticeship scheme run by the Government.
• Go to your local job centre and find your disability employment advisor. They will assist you in your job search and tell you about relevant courses you can do to improve your experience and skills. They can also teach you interview skills.
• The Work and Health Programme is another fantastic government-funded scheme that helps disabled people find employment and stay in work through free courses.
• Access to Work offers grants for current workers and those about to enter employment. They can pay for specialised equipment and even offer help travelling to and from work. Both employees and self-employed people with disabilities can apply to the scheme.

Sign Up – Newsletter

The post Make money if you have a physical disability appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

You don’t even have to have teaching experience to work as a private tutor. If you’re a graduate, particularly with knowledge of maths or sciences, you can make a lot of money tutoring GCSE students or those trying to get into university.

Read on to find out how you could make as much as £80 an hour tutoring.

• How does it work?
• What qualifications do you need?
• How to advertise and get work

Tutoring is a fantastic way to support students who struggle in a classroom environment. There are many fantastic resources out there where tutors focused on special needs students can be found.

If you are interested in becoming a tutor, you don’t have to limit your horizons to teaching children, as learning doesn’t stop when you finish core education. There is an increasing number of tutors out there who focus on mature students looking to learn a new skill, such as a language or musical instrument.

Nonetheless, young students remain the main target demographic. An Ipsos-MORI survey for Sutton Trust found that 30% of 11 to 16-year-olds have received private tuition nationwide. In London the figure is as high as 48%. £80+ an hour for tutoring services is not an unreasonable amount to charge either, as concerned parents are prepared to pay it.

How does it work?

Private tutors are usually employed on a short-term basis. Parents want them to help kids make it through the weeks leading up to their exams and ensure they’re well-prepared. According to Superprof magazine, over half of those hiring private tutors do so to get ready for a specific test. That doesn’t mean you’ll only get work around exams time – those seeking help with school work in general make up a nearly equally high percentage.

Often, parents will want a private tutor to come to their home to teach. If you plan to tutor in your student’s house, remember you’ll need to factor in travel costs. Some people charge extra to cover what they spend on commute while others include it in their hourly rate. Alternatively – and as is becoming more popular recently – they may want to get tutoring online. As well as being more convenient and allowing tutors to work flexibly, this cuts out the expenses involved in travelling to each student’s home.

What qualifications do you need?

To work as a private tutor you’ll obviously have to have a level of knowledge in the subject you teach – but you don’t necessarily have to be a qualified teacher. If you have a degree, your skills in that subject will still be sought after. Even university students still working towards their degree can make themselves some extra cash tutoring.

What you will need as a private tutor is patience, enthusiasm and good communication skills. This may be particularly important depending on which age group you teach. If you tutor teens, they can be a bit more difficult age group. And remember private tutoring isn’t just about explaining complicated issues and helping with learning. It’s also key you’re able to inspire confidence in your students.

This is actually a big part of being a private tutor. If the children or teenagers you teach believe that they can work out that maths formula and have confidence in their abilities, they’ll be much less nervous about their exams and perform better. And that, in turn, will make them trust you as a tutor even more.

It’s important to remember that word of mouth is often the best way private tutors get work. Having a great reputation in your local area can be worth everything.

One more thing to remember if you choose to work with children or young teenagers is potential checks. You will need a DBS check.

How to advertise and get work as a private tutor

Depending on which subject or skill you cover as a private tutor, there’ll be busier and quieter months. Foreign languages and music instrument lessons may be popular all year long, while the demand for more academic subjects tends to grow around exam time.

When it comes to advertising your private tutoring services, you’ll have various options. You can do so in your local area – in the library, post office, supermarket or newsagent’s, for instance. Alternatively you can go online. There’s plenty of specialist websites, social media groups and online community sites where you can spread the word about your private tutoring services. Google your specialist subject + tutor + jobs to get started.

Online tutoring

Online teaching is also a popular option for private tutors. It’ll save you time and travel costs getting to and from clients’ homes and let’s be honest, working from home is great. It’s also more convenient for families, particularly those in more remote areas.

As a private tutor teaching online you can speak to students remotely via Zoom and work using a virtual whiteboard.  Saving time on commuting also means you can take on more online students.

The great thing about working as a private tutor is that there’s no limit to the possibilities this type of work presents. You can teach anything – from physics and maths to geography and English. Subjects like languages and music can be taught year round to adults as well as children, which means if you’re serious about it, you could make a career out of being a private tutor.

If you have a Teaching English as a Second Language or Teaching English as a Foreign Language qualification, you can also work internationally – for example, there is a huge demand for English-speaking tutors for online teaching of Chinese students.

The post Make up to £80 an hour as a private tutor appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

It definitely is the season to be earning so happy yuletide job hunting. 

• Christmas jobs with Royal Mail
• Work in retail – get paid to get discounts
• Deliver catalogues and brochures
• Christmas bar work
• Sell your stuff online
• More ways to make money at Christmas
• Find Christmas jobs available near you with our tool
• What are you doing to make money this Christmas?

Be a postie or sorter with Royal Mail

Millions of cards and presents will be winging their way across the world in the run up to Christmas Day so no surprise, it’s the busiest time of the year for the Royal Mail and that means that they need people like you. 

Take a look at jobs.royalmailgroup.com to check out what jobs they have in your area.  At the time of writing they were looking for mail sorters, parcel delivery drivers, LGV and MGV drivers and customer service staff in a variety of places across the country. 

Work in retail: get paid and get discounts 

There’s an added bonus to getting a job in retail, not only do you get paid an hourly rate but often there’s a pretty good staff discount too.  And that surely will go some way to help get through those Christmas tunes playing on constant repeat. 

SUPERMARKETS

Lots of supermarkets need what they call Festive Colleagues. These jobs can be really fun as you get to work in a team with people in a similar situation to yourself. There’s also all that Christmas spirit to soak up and as long as you can cope with Christmas tunes on repeat, you’re onto a winner!

Here are all the seasonal roles still available (at the time of writing):

Lidl and Aldi

Lidl and Aldi were voted the most popular supermarkets in the UK in 2023 so no surprise Aldi is hiring more than 1,000 temporary store colleagues over the Christmas period.  They have an hourly rate of £12.40 or £13.65 if you live inside the M25.  www.aldirecruitment.co.uk for more information and to apply.   

Tesco

Tesco are recruiting Festive Colleagues and hope to give applicants a bit of extra sparkle with their hourly rate of £12.02.  They have opportunities across the country and offer a variety of shift patterns.  You can sign up for job alerts or got to www.tesco-careers.com for more information.

 Sainsbury’s 

Sainsbury’s temporary workers will be employed on fixed term contracts ranging from three to 12 weeks starting at £12 an hour. There is also a high demand for Christmas delivery drivers, including for Argos, starting at £13 an hour.  Visit sainsburys.jobs/christmas 

Morrisons

Morrisons too are hiring for seasonal retail, logistics and manufacturing roles across the UK.  www.morrisons.jobs 

John Lewis

Their Christmas advert has become one of the most anticipated on our TVs so perhaps not surprising for a company that puts so much into the festive period, their website www.jlpjobs.com says they are looking to recruit, with retail assistant roles starting at £11.55 an hour.  Whether you want to find something in sales, stock or catering, you only have to make one application on their site. 

Marks and Spencer

M&S has announced it will be recruiting 10,000 customer assistant roles in its stores over Christmas.  Successful applicants also get a 20% colleague discount in addition to the average hourly rate of £12.  jobs.marksandspencer.com 

Boots

Boots are quick to point out that while their Christmas recruitment drive may be temporary, it could lead to a permanent role later on depending on the opportunities in your area.  It’s a great confidence boost, helps you gain experience and some money in your pocket.  www.boots.jobs will help you find what roles are local to you. 

Amazon

Whether you are starting out in the job market or just looking to get out of the house, all of these retailers will provide training. 

With their massive warehouses a part of the UK landscape these days, Amazon are always on the lookout for staff in their distribution centres which pay, on average, £§3.50 an hour.  www.jobsatamazon.co.uk provides a handy search tool to see what is available in your area. 

Deliver catalogues and brochures

Yet another potential Christmas gig. If you don’t mind getting out and about, there’s definitely money to be made delivering catalogues and brochures over the festive season.

The great thing about this sort of work is that you can do it in your own time. Perhaps run some deliveries before going into your other job or when you have a spare moment from preparing for Christmas.

If that’s something you’d like to pursue, check out websites such as:

• Indeed
• Gumtree

And take a look at your local papers and newsagents for work opportunities.

One thing to note is that you should watch out for companies asking for cash deposits for the items you’re delivering. Avoid those because they’re likely to be scams.

Check out our article here which has a lot more information on how to get work delivering leaflets and catalogues in your area.

Christmas Bar Work

Pubs and restaurants will be hoping for a bumper Christmas with office parties and celebrations and that means they need extra staff.  Check your local bars and eateries.  If you are willing to work Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve then you can expect to earn double the hourly rate of pay which will be a big boost to your finances. 

Find out how to get bar work and restaurant work in our article here.

Promote clubs at Christmas

If you have a good network of friends and a wide social media presence, you could get paid to party by bringing in extra punters to clubs in cities all over the country.  Admittedly, they might not have too much trouble getting people through the doors at the weekend but what about those quieter Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights? 

And with added crowds they’ll need more doormen, bar staff and hosts and hostesses.  

For more tips, read our article here with info on how to make money by partying!

Sell your stuff online

Now for some more home-based activities to help you make extra cash ahead of Christmas.

Start with selling. If you have a spare moment, why not upload all the things you don’t want to various online selling sites and use that money to buy presents. While it isn’t strictly a Christmas job, it’s a great way to make some money. You could even buy gifts on the same sites you’re selling your stuff. Very convenient!

Here on MoneyMagpie we have a whole section of our website dedicated to selling your stuff online. Just go to make money and then click on ‘sell your stuff’, you’ll be amazed at what you make money from!

ebay

If you really want a job that sticks closer to home then why not see what you could sell?  A good clear out could unearth loads of stuff you never use or have been meaning to get rid of. 

eBay is always a good place to start and you could even pick up some cheap gifts when you’re selling your own stuff. 

We have loads of tips on our site on how to sell your stuff so check it out and you could make a Christmas bundle.  

It’s simple to use.  Prepare your stuff, upload photos, set your price and wait for bids. You no longer have to pay selling fees either, so that’s more in your pocket!

More ways to make money at Christmas

Still need to fill your pockets for the Christmas budget? Try these ideas…

Make Christmas hampers to sell

Hampers make for a thoughtful gift everyone loves but they can be pretty expensive.

That’s actually good news for you. If you’re creative, you could make hampers and sell them at car boot sales, markets and even through local independent shops. It’s something you can easily do in your spare time at home. Perhaps you could even get your kids involved in getting the hampers ready?

To help you out, we’ve put together a detailed guide including information and links to products in our article on how to make hampers to sell.

So, let your imagination run wild and make hampers using boxes, pots and even watering cans. Perhaps have a look around your house and you might find other creative containers.

So long as you know how to make things look pretty, you can use things such as:

• cosmetics and foods from pound shops
• home-made cakes and sweets
• artisan oils, spices and vinegars
• home-made cosmetics and toiletries (learn how to make them here)
• anything else that looks cool!

Get creative and whatever doesn’t sell, you can recycle as presents for your friends and family.

What are you doing to make money for Christmas?

Christmas is known as a time you tend to spend more cash than usual but with a Christmas job sorted, you might just balance things out. So, make the most out of the festive season. Perhaps think of it as a great opportunity to bag yourself a great job so you really can have a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Let us know in the comments below if you have come up with your own ideas for this season!

Sign Up – Newsletter

The post Temp Jobs This Christmas: Christmas jobs are still available! appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

What’s the Catch?

How do the Free Courses Work?

The Free Courses We Love

More Discounted Courses to Choose From

Free Courses? What’s the Catch?

There isn’t one! Really, honestly, no catch. The eligibility criteria is simple: you must be over the age of 19 and resident in England (sorry, there aren’t any free courses in Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland at the moment because the funding to cover the courses is from an English body.)

It’s a helpful way to test the waters or learn the basics of a new skill before diving in to spend money on a more advanced course. Reed Courses want to give people the chance to find new careers or advance in their current ones, without the hefty price that comes with a lot of training courses in the market.

Even the paid courses are incredibly affordable, with up to 75% off the usual retail price. Reed Courses is dedicated to helping people find their perfect career, which is why the courses are free or at an affordable price.

How Do The Free Courses Work?

These are online free courses, which means you can take them in your own time and at your own pace. What’s fantastic about the free courses being run like this is you can learn a new skill in your spare time, instead of taking unpaid time out of work to do the same thing.

Free Courses We Love

We’ve picked out the best free courses we think could help kickstart your career, either as a step up to promotion or a total sidestep into a new industry.

Level 2 Counselling Skills Certificate

This course is for anyone who wants to help people improve their personal wellbeing. You’ll develop core counselling skills, gain knowledge of approaches and the language used in counselling, and learn about the ethical framework around counselling.

It could open doors to various career pathways, such as becoming a counsellor, youth worker, or even psychotherapist in the long-term.

Digital Marketing Skills Bootcamp

If you want to work in digital marketing this could be the perfect free course for you. This is a 12-week part-time course that covers all the essential digital marketing skills you need to get started.

As this is a bootcamp course, it will cover a LOT of information in a short time, so you’ll need around ten hours a week to commit to it. It’s a particularly good course for those on a low income or unemployed seeking to enter a highly competitive field that usually comes with financial barriers to entry.

Cyber Security Skills Bootcamp

This 12-week part-time cyber security course is a mix of distance learning online and live classes. It’s designed to give you the skills you need to help organisations protect themselves from cyber threats. In an increasingly online world, these threats pose a serious risk to business’ data, making cyber security an in-demand (and highly paid) career.

It covers topics such as understanding vulnerabilities, threats, and cyber security basics; managing vulnerabilities; and how to find a cyber security job.

Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Nutrition and Health

This is a 6-week nutrition course that’s self-paced, so you can complete it in your own time around your other commitments. If you want to work in the fitness and health industry, this online course will teach the fundamentals of nutrition to get you started.

You’ll discover the principles of healthy eating, the various nutritional needs of individuals and tailoring advice, principles of weight management – and also a module about understanding eating disorders. It’s an ideal course for anyone who wants to improve their understanding of nutrition.

Level 2 Certificate in Creating a Business Start-up

If you want to start your own business but you’re not sure where to begin, this is a fantastic foundational course to try. The 7-week business start-up training course is self-paced and also a regulated qualification awarded by the Northern Council for Further Education.

It’s perfect for learning the steps you need to take to launch your business. Not only will you learn about the business planning stage and marketing strategies, you’ll also gain insights into  the legal and financial considerations of starting a business.

Level 2 Certificate in Principles of Business Administration

A fantastic course for anyone with a business mind, this business administration course will give you the knowledge to work in a range of different environments in an administrative role. Learn about core administrative tasks, organisation strategies, document management and more.

If you like being organised, are good at communication, and have great people skills, business administration could be a rewarding career for you. This course, with 7 self-paced units across 12 weeks, is a regulated course awarded by Training Qualifications UK Ltd, making it a great addition to your CV.

More Discounted Courses

Alongside the free courses, which is a great way to start building your skillset, Reed Courses also offers huge discounts on paid courses, with both online and classroom based options.

Below are some examples of the hugely discounted courses available for just £12:

• Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care
• Microsoft Office Skills
• Teaching Assistant Diploma Level 2 & 3
• Payroll: Sage 50, Accountancy, Tax Accounting and Finance Administration
• Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care Certificate

Taking a course, either free or paid, online or in person, is one of the best ways to further your professional development and take the next step in your career. Finding a course in a new skill that you’ve never considered before could change your life – so go ahead, try it!

View all discounted courses on Reed Courses

The post These Free Courses Could Change Your Life appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Take a look at our guide for starting up a baking business below:

• Make money from cakes
• Where to sell your cakes
• Devising a business plan
• Equipment you need
• Getting inspiration 
• Creating hampers
• How much should you charge?
• Seasonal baking
• Have fun with it!
• Case study: Lazy Day Cakes
• Case study: Hummingbird Bakery

How to make money from cakes

Home cooking, especially baking cakes and cupcakes, is a popular way for many people to turn a talent into a business. Baking businesses have been booming in recent years. This is thanks to celebrity chefs and cooking programmes like the Great British Bake Off. People will pay good money for high quality baking. You can sell your food at parties, fairs, and even at local food markets.

The beautiful thing about earning by baking is that it’s straightforward, flexible and enjoyable. It isn’t something that you necessarily have to do on a regular basis if you don’t want to. But if you’re ever short on cash, the option is there. All you’ll really need is a few good recipes and a reasonable idea of what people want to buy.

Getting started: Where to sell?

There are many places that you can sell cakes and other sweet products.

• Car boot sale
• School fairs
• Online shop
• Selling to local stores
• Setting up your own shop

Remember location is important. Before you decide to make a real go of baking, first find out what sells and where.

Working out a business plan

Working out the basics of your business first will hopefully help you keep on track with your budget. Running your own business can be exciting and rewarding but also stressful and taxing. But if you follow our tips, you’ll find your baking life will be made much easier.

Start small and keep costs low

Don’t spend any more than you have to on your start-up. Lots of big businesses start small, for example Laura Ashley began at her kitchen table. M&S started with a market stall, and Tesco was just a couple of local grocer’s shops at the beginning. Consider using your kitchen as your workplace before moving somewhere bigger.

Don’t forget insurance, as your household insurance may no longer be valid if you’re working from home. This is something you’ll need to check with your current broker. You may need to upgrade your insurance.

Set up a separate bank account for your business. It doesn’t need to be an expensive ‘business’ account, it can be an ordinary current account. Either with your current bank or with a different provider.

Pay attention to cashflow

Starting up a new business can be hard, so any help financially can really make the difference. Don’t assume that people will pay on time every time.

• Cut down your waiting time for payments by getting clients to agree payment terms at the start.
• Don’t spend money now assuming that you’ll receive payment from your clients.
• Plan your business expenditure so that you are not creating debt. And therefore not dependent upon customers paying on time.
• Have more than one income stream – even if that means doing a part-time job while you get established.
• If you’re having consistent problems with unpaid bills then consider joining the Federation of Small Businesses (around £200 a year) so that you can use their legal assistance to chase your debtors.

Create a realistic business plan

As the saying goes: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Therefore, even if you’re just setting up as a part-timer you need to give yourself a clear idea of your monthly costs and how much profit (or other income) you must generate to keep going.

Work out what your monthly sales need to be, factoring in costs like baking equipment, ingredients, delivery etc. Make yourself a chart for the next 12 months showing the growth in sales you can realistically generate and be clear on how you’ll generate those new customers.

It’s a tough thing to guess but just the action of thinking it through will provide you with earnings goals and points to consider as you run your business.

Networking is vital

The more you’re out touting for work, the more work you’re likely get. With the internet it’s possible to meet people without leaving your home.

Join online networking groups and forums and start giving useful advice on areas directly relevant to your business. This raises your profile in a positive way. But don’t spend too much time on it, allocate a certain amount of time a week and stick to that.

A simple way to get some repeat business is to get some business cards printed. If you’re making cakes, you could then advertise the fact that you bake to order for parties and events. Pop into local cafes and coffee shops (not the chain outlets), hand them your card and make your services known. Maybe even provide them with a few samples. Make sure you take your business cards wherever you go. You can meet interesting and potentially useful people anywhere.

Give people what they want

Don’t make the mistake of being blinkered about what you want to produce and sell. You have to be very aware of what your potential and existing customers want to spend money on. Not just what you think they want because it’s easier for you.

Speak to potential customers, both before you start up the business and as an ongoing habit. Take them to lunch, pick their brains, ask them what they want and enjoy.

Keep a realistic perspective of what’s selling as your business develops. Is there a sideline product or service that’s very popular and takes less effort than the main offering? If so, focus more effort on it. Be honest with yourself about what works, what doesn’t. If you have to make enough to pay the rent, then you need to be brutally honest about the success or failure of products pretty quickly.

What you need to start

Food safety and hygiene

The first thing you should do is research the food safety standards. Legislation says that all food businesses must register their kitchens with their local authority unless they operate on a “casual and limited” basis.

If you’re simply selling once in a blue moon at a car boot sale or market then you don’t need to worry. However, if you are planning on making an income in this way, contact your local council and ask them what the rules are in your area. Laws vary depending on where you live. For example, in some places you will need to become a registered trader, even if you only sell your food once every couple of months.

Be aware that if you’re regularly selling food produce, you may need to need to take a course in food hygiene. You can do this over the internet and it’ll cost you around £15. The course is mostly just common sense so it’s reasonably easy to complete.

Work out your costs

If you want to make money baking, you need to do some basic costings. It doesn’t have to be complicated. You’ll need to take into consideration:

• How much ingredients cost
• Cost of the sale location fee (car boot sale/farmers market fee) if there is one
• Average cost of travel to the location
• Cost of the food packaging (keep it simple to start with, clingfilm will do in most cases)
• Initial cost of food hygiene training (if you’re planning on regular sales)
• Cost of labels/general stationery/invoicing pads
• Extra cost of gas or electricity for your oven

Once you’ve worked out how much all of this is, you should be able to work out how much you’ll need to sell to make a profit.

While you do your research, you should be taking note of how much other stallholders sell their cakes and foods for. This gives you a rough idea of how much you can reasonably expect to charge.

You don’t have to be qualified to sell cakes, but there are hundreds of baking/cake decorating courses you can go on which are likely to benefit the quality of your products.

Finding the right location

Try out a stall at a car boot sale first, because it won’t cost much to set up. You can find your nearest car boot sale on Carbootjunction. Once you’re more established, you might consider going a little more upmarket. Although if you have cracked the car boot market, you could also simply increase the number of cakes you take with you. Letting your business grow that way.

To set up a stall at a farmers’ market, you need to find one local to you. You can do this by searching Facebook or the Local Foods website for your nearest market.

Keep on top of your finances

• Put money aside for your forthcoming tax bill.
• If you can, speak to an accountant about how much you should put aside for tax. A good rule of thumb is to put aside 40% of profits (at first, put aside 40% of everything you take and that will provide a useful buffer). Remember that you’re only taxed on profits, so keep accurate accounts for your expenses like ingredients, stall costs, and marketing to keep your tax bill lower.
• If you’re just starting up, you probably won’t have to pay VAT.
• Keep good records of your incoming and outgoing revenues, your receipts and other related information. Again if you speak to an accountant they will give you guidance on what files to keep, how to organise them and what to do to keep your accountancy bills down.
• Accountants too expensive? Though a good accountant is invaluable, you don’t necessarily need one when you’re first starting out. Plenty of people do their own accounts on paper or using an Excel spreadsheet. Making Tax Digital does mean that small business owners will soon have to switch to electronic accounting though, so it could be worth getting started in the way you mean to go on – business bank accounts like Natwest include free access to FreeAgent or similar integrated accounting software which helps keep accurate accounts.

How to come up with ideas

It’s a crowded market so how do you make sure people want your cakes?

The cake business has been around for longer than anyone can remember and in recent years the market has become very crowded. It’s important that you create and sell things people will want to buy. Chances are somebody will already have the best butter cream filling or the tastiest frosted cupcakes. How are you going to make sure you stand out from your competitors?  Think outside the box. Take a trip to your local car boot sale or farmers’ market and look for which food stalls are the busiest. If it seems like jam is the ‘in-thing’ and there aren’t that many stalls that sell it, you’ve found your product: jam filled cakes.

If you’re at a car boot and there aren’t any stalls selling food then it’s a good idea to take a look at the people that are there. Are they the sort who would prefer to buy upmarket, fancy, homemade produce or a couple of 20p fairy buns to nibble on? Make the kind of cakes and sweets you think you could sell easily.

You can also ask your family and friends what they’d like. Try to ask a wide range of people and see if you come out with any unanimous decisions. Also, speak to any cake sellers you see at fairs and markets and ask them which cakes sell best.

Experiment

Once you’ve got a good idea of the kind of people you’re going to be selling to, it’s time to get your product sorted. You’ll need to come up with a range of different products to make this work. If you’re selling cake, try out different methods, ingredients, flavours and fillings. With sweets, test out different recipes. You could try focusing on one area, like chocolate, fudge or maybe even health food.

Get your friends and family to try all your samples out and find out which are the most popular choices. They’ll likely be more than willing to help. It’s worth knowing that at farmers’ markets, you’re not likely to sell much unless you use local, organic ingredients. People who go to these events look for traditional homemade foods and one of the pros of shopping for food at a farmers’ market is that you’re able to ask the stallholder precisely where the food is from and how it was made.

Stallholders at farmers’ markets should be prepared to give honest, credible answers to customers. So factor these more expensive ingredients into your budget. Remember that people are usually willing to pay for high quality.

Presentation

Presentation is important, particularly if you sell at an upmarket venue. Consider your customers: are they going to want something ‘cheap and cheerful’, or posh-looking homemade produce? Funnily enough, some of the more expensive jams and cakes have ‘the rustic look’: you could find yourself charging a lot for produce which looks especially homely.

Packaging can affect your sales in a big way. Ribbon is cheap if you buy in bulk from a haberdashery store, and can neaten up any edges around your cakes. If you’re selling jams it’s worth getting some fancy labels printed, or spending some time decorating your own. You could experiment with themed packaging around holidays like Easter and Christmas, and for days like Valentine’s Day and Halloween

Whatever you use to package your products, it’s important to remember that you’re dealing with food. This means that you are limited to certain types of packaging depending on what food you’re selling.

Creating hampers

Everyone loves hampers – particularly at special seasons or occasions like birthdays. Big stores like Harrods and M&S do a roaring trade in them – have a look at their hampers to give yourself ideas of what to put in yours. Actually making the hamper can cost very little and the goodies inside can be made at home to bring down costs. However, the selling price can be as high as you like, so this is an amazing potential earner if you get it right.

Seasonal hampers

Seasonal hampers can be best sellers if you do them right. Easter and Christmas will be the best time to make seasonal hampers. Everyone likes a Santa-shaped cake or Easter bunny cookie.

Hamper presentation

It’s important to remember that these hampers or baskets are meant as gifts. So they should look as gorgeous as possible. If a customer is not wowed by the first hamper you supply, they are far less likely to buy from you again.

The key to decorating baskets effectively and cheaply is to keep it simple. Place some shredded paper in the bottom of the hamper to protect your goods. Then arrange your items so they’re all facing the same way, looking up at the buyer.

If you want to add a little more luxury you could tie a ribbon around the hamper. Or you could drop a few foiled chocolates to cover empty space. Simplicity is the key for decoration of hampers.

To add touches of Easter arrange a few decoration chicks in the hamper or a few false flowers. You could also paint eggs and use them to add colour to your basket. At Christmas add some tinsel and a few red or green bow.

How much should you charge?

To work out how to price your hamper, there are a few things you need to take into consideration.

The first and most obvious is how much it costs to make. This includes the items inside the hamper, the basket itself, the decorations. And finally the costs for the delivery, if relevant.

The second cost is your time: how long does it take to make a hamper? Consider how much you would like to pay yourself an hour and incorporate this into the costs.

Once you have a good idea of how much each hamper costs to make and distribute in total, you can decide how much you are going to mark the price up. Other factors to consider are the quality of your hamper, and what you think the market will bear. Remember that if the price is too high then customers will use one of your rivals, so be competitive without selling yourself short.

For more ideas about how to present and sell hampers see our article here.

Seasonal baking

Seasonal cakes and cupcakes are also very popular. The safest thing is to go for very simple, cheap cake and biscuit recipes that you can decorate to look really special. Think about sponge cakes, madeiras, shortbread biscuits, gingerbread etc. None of these cost too much to make. With a little extra spent on the icing and decoration, though, you could charge three or four times the cost of making them.

Easter cakes

At Easter you can offer baskets with cakes such as simnel cake, hot cross buns, nest cakes or Easter biscuits. There are many recipes on the internet and in cook books available at your local book store. The BBC Food website has easy-to-follow hot cross bun, Easter biscuit and simnel cake recipes.

To find out how to make chocolate nest cakes visit cakebaker.co.uk. Another particularly good collection of Easter cake recipes can be found here.

Christmas baking ideas

Christmas cakes can come in all different shapes and sizes. A Snowman topped with a delicious layer of snowy buttercream icing. A Christmas tree with green icing and hundred and thousands for decorations. Or something more traditional like a rounded fruit cake. Fruit cakes are very seasonal but they cost a lot to make. Will you be able to make enough of a profit on them?  Whichever way you choose to go, make sure you’re original.

Biscuits are also great for Christmas. Buy a cutter set and make biscuits in the shape of trees and snowflakes, then add some colourful icing and a few silver balls. You could put your biscuits in a simple see through bags with a nice ribbon so they can hang from the tree. This way they can act as a decoration as well as a tasty Christmas treat.

Birthday cakes

Birthday cakes are great because people have birthdays all year round so there is sure to be a demand for your services if your price is right. With birthday cakes people will usually ask for a specific cake, maybe a Spider-Man cake or in the shape of a number.

This is a great time to experiment with food colouring, icing options and build up your portfolio. If someone asks for something you don’t think you can handle, though, don’t take it on just because they are offering you their money. Make sure you have the skills to create what your customer is asking for.

Special occasions

There are so many special occasions that could be used as an opportunity to offer your baking services, including baby showers, retirement parties, graduations, weddings and many more.

Finally, remember to have fun…

Running a business should be creative, satisfying and enjoyable. It’s a chance to express yourself, meet interesting and creative people, and potentially make a lot of money. So enjoy the process of being in business. And make the most of the good times.

When you get a big contract or when you complete a difficult task remember to celebrate!

To inspire you to get started with your baking business we have two real life case studies of how you can turn your hobby into a fully functioning money-making business. Both case studies were self-taught bakers! See below:

Case study: Whitney Hurst – Lazy Day Cakes

Whitney Hurst started selling cakes from her kitchen in 2012. Before she knew it she had a load of orders and decided to set up her own shop, Lazy Day Cakes. Recently she decided to sell up to pursue her dream of becoming a midwife. Below Whitney tells us about her success and experience of selling cakes.

When and why did you start selling cakes?

“In 2012 I fractured my spine in a gym accident. After months being bedbound and unable to work I was finally able to shuffle round my kitchen and that’s when I started baking. I had made my kids birthday cakes in the past but I got started on cupcakes. I was making 30+ a day and that’s when I decided to make a website to see what happened. Amazingly within a few days I had orders.”

What was your first professional baking job?

“I started by going to craft fairs and ladies’ nights. It didn’t take long to realise that ladies love cakes but also are very conscious of them being a treat so I came up with a new recipe that reduced the fat content if the cakes by 50% that’s when things started to go mental.”

How did you go about promoting yourself in the wider community?

“My only form of advertising was Facebook. I just put up lots and lots of pictures and that’s when the word started to spread. I was very lucky because people not only liked the look of the cakes but the taste was a win too. Quite often with cupcakes they look great but the taste isn’t always up to scratch.”

How long did it take to get you established?

“It took probably six months of events such as craft fairs before we started getting recognised.”

Did you initially work from home and then go on to get a shop?

“I did the cakes from home for 12 months doing the craft fairs, farmers’ markets and ladies’ nights. In June 2013, I opened the first shop where I had just four tables and a serving counter.  I was still baking everything at home and transporting the cakes to the shop daily. In October 2013, I moved into a shop three times the size where I had a full bakery and a much larger cafe area.”

Did you have any professional training?

“No. I am totally self-taught.”

How did you set yourself apart from similar businesses around your area?

“There were two other local business that were similar. What made us different was that having four kids we were so child-friendly that people with kids wanted to come just so that they didn’t have to worry about messy children. Our workshops and parties were priced reasonably because the rent overheads were relatively low. The other business that offered just workshops was really expensive because of its city centre location, and the other just did parties whereas we did both and had a tearoom.”

Why did you end up selling?

“I wanted to pursue my passion of becoming a midwife and now that I have the support from my fiancé Ian, to go back to university I decided to enroll. I decided juggling the business and my studies wasn’t a possibility and closing the shop wasn’t really an option – considering how successful it was – so I decided to sell.”

Whitney’s advice to those wanting to make baking a full time career…

“My advice to anyone wanting to set up a cake business is trust your abilities. It’s very difficult to compete with supermarket prices but they’re full of chemicals and made in machines. Don’t sell yourself short, work out how much the ingredients cost, how long it’ll take you to make the cake and add your time and at least minimum wage.”

Case study: Tarek Malouf –  The Hummingbird Bakery

Tarek Malouf was working at ABC News in London before he decided to start a bakery business in 2002. Following two years of researching and testing recipes, his first bakery opened its doors for business in early 2004. Below Tarek tells us about his journey to success and future plans for expansion.

When and why did you start selling cakes? 

“The idea of setting up a bakery came to me in early 2002. I was visiting a relative in North Carolina who took me to several traditional American bakeries that served pies and homemade cakes. The smell of fresh baking in these places was amazing. During that time, my sister was living in New York, and we used to go and eat lots of cupcakes and traditional American goodies every time I’d visit her. Taste buds awoken, it was then that I realised I wanted to open my own bakery in London so that people here could enjoy the authentic taste of American baking.”

How did you go about promoting yourself in the wider community?

“Our launch was not promoted in any way. I tried to choose a location for my first branch that had plenty of American expats living close by, as well as a lot of passing foot-traffic. I thought that if we could attract the Americans wanting a taste of home, then we’d start off with a decent customer base. This worked – a very large proportion of our initial customers were American. And after we opened the doors and let the smells of fresh baking waft out onto the street we soon started selling cupcakes to everyone who walked by.”

What was your first professional baking job?

“Prior to first opening The Hummingbird Bakery, I spent two years testing and refining countless recipes in my kitchen at home. Other than this, however, I had no real baking experience. I’d grown up with a great appreciation for the delights of American baking so I did at least have a very clear idea of how I wanted The Hummingbird Bakery’s products to taste. So really, my first professional baking job was in my Notting Hill branch.”

How long did it take to get you established?

“Prior to opening my first bakery, I did do a couple of private cake commissions for friends but this was in no way how I launched. Having fitted out, equipped and opened the doors to my first branch, the business got itself established very quickly. Within a few weeks of launching, word quickly got around that we were baking delicious cakes and business began to grow rapidly.”

Did you have any professional training?

“I have no professional training in baking other than that which I’ve gained from working in my own bakery.”

How did you set yourself apart from similar businesses around your area?

“Initially, we were in the fortunate position of being able to get the business off the ground with no real competitors – there certainly wasn’t anywhere else in London that specialised in quality American baking. Of course, as soon as cupcakes caught on, other cupcake bakeries did quickly pop-up. We have always differentiated ourselves on the quality and authenticity of our products. Another thing we do is bake on site at each of our branches throughout the day to ensure the complete freshness of our products. We also only source quality ingredients – real butter, jams and preserves from Tiptree, free range British eggs, cream cheese from Philadelphia and so on.”

What does the future hold?

“I plan to grow the business here in UK by opening further branches within and around London. I’m also looking at opportunities to open branches in other UK cities. We have franchise partners in the Middle East who have already launched three Hummingbird Bakery branches in Dubai.”

The post Everything you need to know to make money baking appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Santa Claus candidates are high in demand but there’s something for women too. Many need elves and ladies to play Mrs Claus. Recruitment has already begun, so find out how you can make money as Santa this festive season with our advice-packed guide.

• What’s involved?
• How do you do it?
• Necessary skills
• Getting an outfit
• How much can you make?
• Find other seasonal positions

What’s involved?

Santas and elves are in demand from early November until Christmas Day, and occasionally beyond that too. Their job is to entertain children and adults at parties, department stores, shopping centres and even nightclubs.

To make money as Santa, Mrs Claus or an elf, you need to be available during the day for shop work or in the evening for parties and nightclubs. This sort of work would be particularly suitable for actors and performers. Ideally, you’ll also have specialist skills such as magic, unicycling and balloon modelling, but if you just have an outgoing nature and a good way with kids that can be enough.

Elves are in high demand during Christmas and those are generally women. Your job would be mostly to entertain queues of children in shops or outside entertainment venues. Elves tend to be children’s performers so it helps to have entertainment skills or previous entertainment experience, although that’s not absolutely essential.

How do you do it?

There’re two main ways of getting this kind of work:

• Through an agency like The Ministry of Fun
• Through classified ads found in The Stage, Job is Job, Gumtree, Indeed and the local press.

The agency

One of the main Santa agencies is The Ministry of Fun based in south London. It places Santas and elves across the country for all kinds of jobs, and it’s proud to have trained 735 Santas to date.

Work depends on various factors. The agency uses its younger Santas for nightclub bookings where they turn up at midnight and throw gifts for the guests. If you’re young, you may be also expected to work jobs where they need their Santa on a bicycle or unicycle, or to walk about a shopping centre all day. For those a little older, there’s more work doing the photoshoots or at the department store grottos where you can mostly sit down.

The Ministry of Fun provides outfits for its Santas and elves, but some people have their own kit. Yes, it’s a bit of an investment. But it does enable those performers to get additional work privately through word-of-mouth or by answering ads.

Santa training school

Yes, you read it right. Being Santa is a serious business and Santa training schools actually exist. If you fancy yourself a professional Father Christmas, that’s where you’ll be put through your paces in all things festive. The Ministry of Fun runs a Santa training school every year – contact them for this year’s dates.

If you’re interested in attending a Santa, Mrs Claus or elf training course but live in the north of England or southern Scotland, give Stuart Thompson’s Santa School a call. As a trainee, you’ll learn the history of Santa and get a thorough voice, costume and make-up training. On completion of the class, you’ll receive a certificate of competence and may well find work through Stuart’s company.

Necessary skills

For Santas:

Agencies are looking for men with performing skills, good voices, the right look (ideally your own white hair and beard, and a large tummy!) and a kindly way with children. On the whole, they go for older men, mainly because they’re more likely to look the part. Younger men are also in demand, though, particularly for work in nightclubs, walkabout jobs in shopping centres and specialty acts such as unicycling Santas.

Get in touch with the agencies by phone or email and they’ll set up an interview. If you have photos of yourself in a Santa costume, that’ll help your application. Some employers may also ask for photos without your costume so they can see what you normally look like.

Looks aside, agencies may want to see evidence of acting or performing skills on your CV. Failing that, any evidence of experience of entertainment work, even if it’s just amateur dramatics, will help. For tips on writing a killer CV, check out our essential article here.

You’ll need to be available for work during the day and possibly in the evening for parties and nightclubs. Extra skills such as juggling, unicycling or singing can help you get more gigs and therefore more money.

Before you can take on any work, however, you’ll need to get a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check done. The DBS check lasts for three years and is essential if you’re working with children or vulnerable people.

For elves:

Similarly to Santa work, if you’d like to be a professional elf, join agencies and check the ads. That’ll give you the maximum exposure to work. Contact agencies, and take photos and a copy of your CV to interviews.

Agencies usually look for petite women with performing skills to be elves, although some are boys or young men. Some elves only need to look the part and interact well with the public – particularly children – but the majority will need to have entertaining skills. Can you do magic, balloon modelling or face painting? If you already work as a children’s entertainer then it should be easy to land work as an elf.

Since this kind of work also involves working with kids, you’ll need to get a DBS check. This needn’t be a worry and you can find out everything you need to know about the process in our article on how to find out if you need a DBS check.

Getting an outfit

The right clothes are crucial – you’ll need to look the part. Some agencies will kit you out with an outfit to wear while you’re acting as Santa or an elf. But if you aren’t lucky enough to have this provided for you, we recommend you think carefully about what you buy. If you’re serious about making money as Santa, consider your outfit an investment. Along with your acting skills, this is what will convince children you’re the real thing.

For Santas:

You can get a decent Santa outfit regardless of your budget, although some fancy dress shops stock costumes that cost over £300. But unless you’re really serious about being a Santa and are willing to spend that much, we suggest you find a cheaper option.

One of the best value Santa outfits we’ve found is from Angels Fancy Dress and includes a pullover jacket, trousers, hat, belt, boot tops, beard and wig for £34.99. The website also offers costume hire. For a budget version, megafancydress.co.uk sells a basic Santa outfit for £21.99.

Alternatively, if you fancy a more traditional costume and don’t mind splashing out, try Party Delights for a great outfit for £130.99 or a deluxe Father Christmas costume from Karnival House for £249.95. Make sure you check what’s included when shopping – you’ll often need to get your wig, beard and boots separately.

Most costumes come only with boots tops. You slip those over your own shoes to make them look like Santa boots. But if you’d rather wear some actual boots, check out Halloween Costumes for great Santa Claus boots for £45.99. Alternatively, simple black boots will work.

It’s the little details that will really add to your outfit and make you look more authentic. So, if you don’t have your own, why not add spectacles. You can grab a pair of half-moon ones for just £1.86 at Party Packs.

Of course, don’t forget that eBay is full of all things costume if you have time to search and patience to bid. There’s always a huge choice and you can pick up things that aren’t available in the UK. The devil is in the detail – for all you skinny Santas out there, you can fake the bulge with padding from £3.99 on eBay.

For elves:

The choice of costumes for elves may be a little smaller than for Santas but they vary more and can be fun to put together.

One of the best elf outfits is from Jokers’ Masquerade. It includes a red and green dress, matching hat and oversized belt for £19.99. You may want to get tights and shoes separately. They do some brilliant pixie shoes for just £4.99, funky red and white striped tights for £3.99, and even pixie ears for £1.99.

If you only need to get tights separately, though, you might be better off checking stores such as Primark or Peacocks rather than paying a delivery fee. Again, it’s also worth checking eBay to bag a bargain.

How much can you make?

Rates vary a lot. It all depends on location, what’s involved, how many hours you work and how much experience you have.

In general, you’ll earn more from an agency like the Ministry of Fun than if you apply for jobs posted online, which will usually pay between £6-8 an hour. Still, you could even earn up to about £15 an hour. With an agency, Santas and elves can generally earn between £100 and £200 for a day/session. You may get travel expenses paid for too if it’s a special job. Apparently Santas also get a lot of gifts – usually homemade cakes and sweets. The perks of being Santa!

As you’d expect, you’ll need to weight the earnings against a few costs – like your costume, for a start. You’ll also need to have the DBS check, which isn’t free. If you’re employed by an agency, they’ll carry this out for you and you’ll be able to get all the information from them. If you’re self-employed, however, and applying through job centres or online, a DBS check is hard to get if you haven’t already got one. Learn more from our article on DBS checks here.

Also, bear in mind that many jobs won’t pay your travel expenses. If that’s the case, it probably won’t be worth applying for jobs that aren’t local to you. Unless they’re offering a big wage, of course!

Find other seasonal positions

Job Search by

More great reading

• How to write a killer CV
• Make money performing magic

The post Make money as Santa appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

This would suit just about anyone with space for a desk and a pleasant telephone manner, and means that you can earn cash just by answering the phone.

• Why make money answering the phone?
• Things to consider
• Step-by-step guide to making money by answering the phone

Why make money answering the phone?

The shift in working patterns has encouraged more people to set up small businesses, and to register themselves as self-employed.

This means there are a lot of prospective clients who would benefit from a call-handling service as smaller businesses often don’t have the resources to fully employ someone to manage their calls. Often small businesses won’t have an office, let alone a secretary.

Self-employed skilled workers are particularly worth targeting, as they will be out all day and unable to answer the phone.

This is where you come in, by:

• arranging for their unanswered calls to be diverted to your home phone or mobile
• answering in a professional manner
• taking a message and passing it on to your client.

You can sell your service by assuring businesses that their callers will receive a much better, more personal service from you than if they were left to talk to an answering machine.

Things to consider

Do you have any experience of working over the telephone?

It’s preferable that you do. Your telephone manner should be impeccable and you need to have good grammar and clear diction. You also need to be very organised, responsible and pay attention to detail. If you lose messages, omit key details or forget to pass information on, you’ll soon find yourself with no customers.

Do you have space?

Although you’re working from home, you’ll still need an office to set up your equipment and organise your documents properly. A small, unused room should be adequate if you’re working alone.

How much money are you looking to make?

You can’t make any real money from this until you have an established client base, and if you’re working alone from home you’re restricted in how many customers you can take on. However, if you build a solid group of clients, there’s no reason why you can’t expand to rent an office and take on extra staff to help.

When first starting out, you should be offering your services at a cheaper rate than the bigger, more established companies so that you have an edge on your competitors. Once people trust you, they’ll be willing to pay more.

Do you have time?

If you’re going to be at home all day and able to take calls, then this could be a perfect gig. But if you have to be out and about a lot, it’s not going to work for you. You need to be there to answer the calls your clients can’t.

There’s also an issue if you have small children or a dog, as you’ll need absolute silence when answering all calls or you’ll seem unprofessional.

Having said that, you may still have more flexibility than you would in most full-time receptionist jobs. When the phone isn’t ringing, you’ll have time to get on with household chores or other projects.

Step-by-step guide to making money by answering the phone

1. Set up your office

Once you’ve decided to take the plunge and start your own answering service, you need to start thinking about setting up your office. You’ll need a computer with a fast internet connection so you can forward messages via email. Check our comparison tool to find the best broadband deals.

You’ll only need one phone line at first, but if you’re planning on making an income from this business venture then you’ll need to install an extra two or three phone lines to ensure you can answer every call.

The best idea is often to speak to your current phone supplier and explain to them what your plan is – you might be offered special business rates for calls or deals on getting extra lines installed.

Alternatively, it may be possible to do this work with just your mobile phone. In fact, some businesses prefer this as your dialling code won’t make it obvious you’re not in the same town as the company you represent.

Check your data and minutes allowance to be sure you’ll have the capacity for this work on top of your regular usage. If you do need to upgrade, again, talk to your provider to see what deals they can offer a business account.

You could also look at VoIP providers such as Vonage. They allow you to take calls via the internet, and let you select your own dialing code. So even if you’re based in Liverpool, you can choose to have a London dial code!

You’ll also need a good stock of office supplies to keep you organised – you don’t want to be caught without a pen while you’re taking down a message! WHSmith have lots to offer, and there are plenty of ideas in our article about buying office stationery.

At this point it would also be worth setting up a business bank account to keep your personal finances separate. See our collection of articles on banking and savings. 

2. Decide on your services

You need to be focused and know precisely what services you’re going to offer, as there are lots of answering service companies out there to compete with.

Here’s a list of services you could provide:

• An incoming message service for both during business hours, and out of business hours
• A complete answering service where customers believe they are calling the client’s office
• Taking customer orders
• A call forwarding service, where the business forwards calls to you only when their staff are unavailable
• Text messaging service – forwarding calls to business mobiles
• A call-logging service, to allow clients to see who rang them three months ago, for example
• A message delivery service where you not only take messages, but also call people for your client
• A voice mailbox service
• Setting appointments.

Think about which of these services you’re experienced enough to offer – the more the better. If you don’t feel confident enough to provide more than one or two of these then market yourself as specialising in the services you can provide.

3. Research the market

After deciding which services you’ll offer, you need to decide on the kinds of businesses to work with. If you have experience in a particular sector, then it’s probably best to remain in that field of work.

If you don’t have any specialist knowledge then think about something you’d enjoy interacting with day after day, otherwise the job could become tedious.

Compile a list of companies that might need an answering service, and give them a call or email to ask if they’d consider using one, or if they already do. As mentioned above, small businesses are the best ones to target.

Find similar phone service providers and see what they charge for their services. The more competitive your rates are, the more likely people are to choose your company. Consider phone bills, stationery and equipment costs, increased utility bills etc and work out how much you’ll have to earn per hour to make a reasonable profit before setting your rates.

4. Insurance, tax and registering the business

As far as insurance is concerned, if you don’t have employees you’re pretty safe; although it may be worth checking with your broker to see if your home’s still insured while you’re working from it. If you do need to upgrade your insurance then use our price comparison table to get the best deal.

You must register your company within three months of starting it, otherwise you’ll be fined. It’s simple and free to register; simply complete a form on the HMRC website.

You’ll be required to fill in a self-assessment tax form every year, but until you start earning over £77,000 a year you won’t have to pay VAT. Once you’ve registered your business with HMRC they’ll keep you updated on any legal information you need.

See our dedicated article on the benefits of self-employment here.

5. Find clients

First, decide what to call your business. Will you be known as a virtual administrative assistant, a virtual office or a business call answering service? Make sure it’s clear what you do.

Now you need to make your name known. There are many ways you can advertise yourself – on sites like Gumtree, on social media, and by contacting companies directly – and some will be more effective than others. A mixture of several kinds of self-marketing will help you get started, and once you’ve got going then word of mouth will probably carry you along.

Initially, you could try calling up a list of businesses to see if they require your service. Have your sales pitch ready with your rates, be sure to tell them why they should choose your service over anyone else, and let them know of all the benefits relating to having an answering service.

Calling can seem a little more intimidating than emailing, although picking up the phone often makes people more likely to listen to what you have to offer.

On the other hand, creating a well-written template email and tweaking it slightly for each business you contact can be a good way of spreading the word. Try both methods and see what works for you.

Now you’ve got your business, your office, and your clients, you’re ready to go! Go ahead, make money by answering the phone.

Useful links

• Buying office stationery
• Home insurance comparison
• Top 20 tips for running your own business
• How to get the best broadband deal

Do you pick up extra by answering the phone? Got any other money making tips? Why not tell us about them on our Facebook page?

The post Make money answering the phone appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Hairdressing and Beauty Therapists

Medical Professionals

Care and Support Staff

Construction and Trades

Theatre Staff

Performers and Performance Artists

Athletes and Fitness Instructors

Security Guards

Landscapers and Horticulturalists

Police and Support Staff

Hairdressing and Beauty Therapists

A hands-on job, people will always need to have their hair cut and seek out the latest styles. It’s hard to cut your own hair well, and many people enjoy the experience of going to the salon.

To become a hairdresser, you’ll need to take some qualifications. Many can be done as an apprenticeship, so you earn while you learn on the job. The minimum you’ll need is an NVQ Level 2.

When you’re qualified, there are further things you can specialise in to earn more money. You might specialise in hair extensions, for example, or hair dying techniques, for example.

Beauty specialists are in the same boat as hairdressers: their hands-on job can’t be replaced by a computer. People will always want to look their best! Again, the minimum qualification is usually a Beauty Therapist Level 2 Apprenticeship to get started, and then you can specialise in things like fillers, semi permanent makeup, or more advanced treatments to earn more.

Medical Professionals

Whether it is a nurse, doctor, surgeon, or clinical support staff considering locums tenens, the medical field is one of the few that will be integrating AI into various practices but cannot fully replace human jobs. AI can aid in the medical field with advanced technology for remote consultations or to map the body with scans, but the day-to-day healthcare and specialist areas such as surgery will always need staff.

How long it takes to qualify depends on what you want to do. Support staff may need GCSEs, right up to specialised surgeons who take over ten years of study to achieve their independent practice.

It helps to be good with people but being comfortable around bodily functions is probably the most important skill to get started!

Care and Support Staff

Another hands-on job, care staff will always be needed. Community carers who visit people in their homes to help with daily tasks are one example. Or care home staff or managerial positions, as well as live-in staff for residential homes to support those with physical and learning disabilities to live an independent life.

You don’t need qualifications to start out as care staff in many cases. Lots of roles will train you on the job. It helps to have first aid and health and safety certificates, to show you’re responsible and know what to do to work safely.

Some more specialised jobs will require more work experience with qualifications, such as live-in support staff. These can often be gained over a few years while you work.

Construction and Trades

Builders, plumbers, electricians, and carpenters will always be needed. AI might be helping in some area of construction but it will never fully replace people. Trades like plumbers and electricians will always be in demand, and as these areas are crying out for more people, now is a good time to consider switching careers.

You can learn on the job with apprenticeships with many roles. This is the best way to take practical skills and improve them while you train. When you’re qualified, you can then either be employed by a company or set up as a self employed tradesperson. Being self employed gives you more flexibility over when you work, the jobs you take, and what you charge. Employed roles are regular pay and you don’t have to find the work.

Theatre Staff

Here’s one that many people won’t think of. But theatres will carry on even as AI starts to take over the creative industries. More people are craving live performance, and there could be a boom in theatre attendance in coming years.

Theatre staff include front of house, such as ushers, creative roles like artistic director, and technical roles like lighting, sound, and costume.

Theatre is a tricky world to break into, and you may have to start off by volunteering with a local amateur dramatics group to get some experience. You can also study technical courses at college and university level, which opens doors for you in building networks to find work.

Performers and Performance Artists

This is a tricky one. AI is definitely encroaching on creative spaces – just look at Midjourney and DALI for the impact AI has had on digital art. However, live performance will always be something humans desire.

Musicians performing live will always beat a track made by a computer. Actors on stage (and on screen, if AI doesn’t take over totally) will always bring a more emotional performance than a computer-generated character. Artists who work across mediums will always have a space in creative places and on people’s walls at home.

You don’t need any qualifications to follow a creative endeavour. You might even want to learn more about AI to see how it can ethically be used in your art!

Athletes and Personal Trainers

There’s no way that competitions in how far the human body can be pushed will be replaced by AI! If you have a natural skill for a sport, keep going. Training to become an athlete requires total dedication and it is not for the faint of heart. But it can be highly rewarding (and when you reach the big time, sponsorships can bring in nice extra income).

If you’re not interested in becoming a competitive athlete but love health and fitness, consider personal training. While there are many ways people can get fit now such as apps and YouTube classes, some still need in-person training. This is true particularly for those new to getting fit and those specialising in improving in a sport like powerlifting or crossfit.

Security Guards

Yes, CCTV is everywhere now. Facial recognition software makes it easier to track suspects through crowds. But in-person security will always be an AI-proof job. At least in our lifetime – it’s going to be a while before robot sentinels become commonplace.

Guarding property is important for investors and for businesses. On-the-ground security staff can respond in real time to an incident rather than only reviewing CCTV after the fact. It’s not just about preventing crime, either: security staff can spot potential problems like fire hazards (or actual fire) for an immediate response that protects assets.

Landscapers and Horticulturalists

Whether you want to be a local gardener helping people with their lawns, or you want to design and maintain the greenery in public spaces, landscaping will always be required.

It’s another one of those hands-on jobs that could, in theory, be assisted with AI. But it’s an AI-proof job in real terms, as while jobs might be helped with robotic machinery to cut time or work in risky areas safely, there will always be a need for people to tackle the majority of the work.

If you’ve got a green thumb, becoming a horticultural specialist could also be your next career move. As global food supply chains change to tackle climate differences and population demand, there is also space for new jobs in advanced horticultural techniques like hydroponics.

Police and Support Staff

While some police work is computer based and will benefit from AI tools to be more efficient, it is still an AI-proof job. Unfortunately, crime will always happen. So, people will always need police officers. And police officers will always need support staff to help build a case, interview suspects and witnesses, and provide victim support.

You can become a police cadet during the ages 13 to 18, but after that will need some qualifications such as GCSEs or a Level 3 qualification. To be a police officer, you need to pass a fitness test, medical checks, and background security checks.

To become civil support staff, you will need a background check and some school qualifications. You may also be able to train on the job for more specialised work.

Some people start out as support staff by offering their services as an Appropriate Adult, too. This is a volunteer that sits in with interviews with children or vulnerable people to ensure due process is followed and that they have an advocate in the room. You don’t need a legal qualification to do this but you will need compassion and be able to support people who may have committed a crime through the interview process without judgement.

Can you think of more AI-proof jobs for the future? Comment below!

The post AI-Proof Jobs to Secure Your Financial Future appeared first on MoneyMagpie.