The BIGG Successs Show
I Want to Supplement My Retirement Income. Any Suggestions?
How to turn what you do for pleasure into a little profit. Find links to some great resources along with our show summary at biggsuccess.com.
Welcome to The Big Success Show. Today, we'll offer some suggestions to a soon-to-be retiree on supplementing her income. The Big Success Show with George and Mary Lynn. Dorothy's getting ready to retire. So, congratulations, Dorothy. Yes. That's awesome. She was recently presented with an opportunity by a network marketing company. Now, she says she's a people person, but she doesn't think she's a sales person. There is a difference. It's good that she knows that. Makes her nervous, she says, to ask people that she knows to buy something. However, she does want to and need to supplement her pension and social security checks somehow. So, her big challenge to us is to try to come up with some suggestions. Well, we actually emailed Dorothy for a little bit more information. We asked her what she liked to do. And she said there's a lot of things that she likes to do, but most of them don't pay. Ah, the age-old problem, right? One of the examples she gave us is that she's an animal lover, and she often volunteers her time at the local animal shelter. Now, there you go, Dorothy. See, you're finding something that you love to do, and that's where your focus should be. Go with what you love, and what would you do even if you don't get paid? That's what you're saying this is. Right. Now, before we get into that, George, though, let's go back to the sales opportunity that Dorothy is considering. All right. Dorothy, you can do a little market research here. Talk to five people that you know. You're going to try it out. You're not selling anything right now. You're just feeling them out and seeing what they think about the opportunity that you have. Just as long as you're not feeling them up. Well, there you go. It might improve sales, but anyway, you can give that a shot. That's a great idea because that way, Dorothy, you don't feel like that pressure's there to make the sale, and you'll get some good, honest feedback from your friends. See how that goes before you invest any money up front or commit to ongoing fees, and then once you've done that, you can make your decision. Let's look at some of your other options, thinking about what you love to do. Well, you love animals, you say, and you volunteer your time at the shelter. So what if you started up a business that allowed you to focus on your love of animals? Yeah. So our suggestion to you is to start Animal House. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. But seriously, why not start, let's say, a pet sitting service? To many people, their pets are part of the family. They're like family, and they want their pets to be well cared for when they're away. It's a simple little side business that you could start up, you know, print some cards, contact veterinarians, you know, that don't offer boarding to see if they would allow you to leave cards or a brochure or advertise on their bulletin board. So, yeah, it's definitely a word of mouth business. You won't have to spend a whole lot of money to get some work. I've used pet sitters before. Love pet sitters, because I don't want to take my little fee fee out of her home environment and board her someplace. So having a trustworthy pet loving person available to me is very valuable. And I'll tell you, every pet sitter I've used has always been booked. And how many times does someone say to you, you know, "Hey, do you know anybody who could take care of my pets?" And here's a way Dorothy had even doubled down on this whole idea to make even more money with your pet sitting service, combine it with a house sitting service. People who travel want to know that there's someone looking over their house that they can trust. And you can market this to the same people who's pets you care for. Alright, coming up, Dorothy, we're going to get you out of the dog house and talk about something you could do that appeals to your love for people. Today we're talking about Dorothy's big challenge. She's looking for suggestions to supplement her retirement income. Now, Dorothy, we've shared an idea that complements your passion for pets, but you also said you were a people person. You know, there's a growing demand for errand services, sometimes referred to as a concierge service. People just don't have time to get everything done anymore. And so that's where you can come in. You can help run errands for them, dropping off and picking up the dry cleaning, buying gifts. The list goes on and on. Absolutely, and these services are becoming more and more popular. You know, the same places where people are running errands or how you can market your service. Once again, just like the pet sitting service, startup costs are very low and word of mouth is key. Well, there you go, Dorothy. We've given you some ideas. Thanks so much for sending in your big challenge and email us anytime. And Dorothy, we know you'll find that one thing you'll enjoy doing while making the money you want. On our blog today, you will find links to books and manuals that help you with the startup businesses we talked about today. So check those out. They're great resources. Find them at big success, that's bigwith2gsuccess.com, that's also where we have a written summary of today's show. And George, what's our big quote for the day? Our big quote today comes from Francois de Monteville, who said, "The true way to render ourselves happy is to love our work and find it in our pleasure." So find pleasure in your work and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Next time we ask the question, are good looks an advantage or a disadvantage at work? Here's looking at you, kid. Until then, here's to your big success. The Big Success Show at BIGGSuccess.com [MUSIC PLAYING] [BLANK_AUDIO]