If you’re tired of working for the man, maybe you can use some of these work for myself ideas for inspiration. I was desperate to escape 9 to 5 and work for myself, doing work I loved. I tried all sorts of work including jobs such as delivery driver, taxi driver, lifeguard, trampolene coach, climbing instructor, waiter, fencing coach, martial arts instructor and stuntman. See my about me page.
But somehow there was always too much month left at the end of the money! I still felt trapped and uninspired in most of these roles, believe it or not! So I looked for a way to earn an income online so I would be able to work on my own terms. I also picked up several jobs working for myself in the interim, while learning how to earn online. Here’s a few of the jobs I found that you can do on a self employment basis.
Work For Myself Ideas: HGV Driver
While there is some training involved in HGV driving, you can pick up work sporadically and use your driving qualification to effectively work for yourself. Some agencies will require you to have some on the job training, so it’s worth getting some upfront experience first, before you start picking and choosing your jobs. HGV driving is a useful skill and there always seems to be a need for drivers, wherever you are.
In the UK, where I trained, I was able to get the qualification for a class 2 (rigid cab) for around £1000 all in. This was several years ago though so this will probably be a lot more today. Still, an HGV ticket gives you the opportunity to drive around the country and mostly be on your own. So if you’re a fan of driving and not a fan of people, it might be a solution!
Work For Myself Ideas: TV Extra
I worked as a TV extra for around 6 years. Initially it was a prerequisite to attain a certain number of days in order to qualify as a stunt performer. But over time I found the work to be fairly easy and even enjoyable, so I kept doing it. Extras works tends to be sporadic, and so it’s a good self employed income source to add to a portfolio. Some weeks you won’t work and then you’ll get a phone call from out of the blue, usually with little notice. It’s helpful to have a car to get to the locations and be able to drop everything when needed.
TV Extras or “background artists” fill the scenes in TV shows and films and are often used for crowd scenes. Most of TV Extra’s work involves waiting behind the scenes until you’re needed, so bring a book or something to do! You can find TV extras agencies near you with a search on the internet. You may need to attend a short course and provide a photograph or two to join the books of your nearest agency.
Work For Myself Ideas: Taxi Driver/Uber
Today it’s Uber but I found taxi driving was a good self employed option which gave lots of flexibility. You can choose your own hours, work day or night and it’s a sociable job which brings you into contact with lots of people. In order to drive on the Uber app, you’ll need a private hire licence from a council that Uber is licensed by.
You can also apply to your local taxi firm and ask them for details of becoming a driver. You may have to get a private hire licence and answer a short local knowledge test for a local firm. But Uber is different. London taxi drivers have to pass “the knowledge” test in order to work a black cab.
Handyman/Teacher
I worked as a handyman for some time while building an online business. To get work I use Google My Business which is a platform anyone can use to advertise their business from home for free! You simply sign up and list your skills from your home address. You can do this with any kind of skill you have to offer, so you don’t need to by a DIY fanatic! If you know something about something you can teach it or sell it! For example, you can do after school classes, teach the guitar/piano or offer painting and decorating!
Once I got my ad listed on Google, I got calls from around the city asking me about various jobs. I mostly did the small jobs I was able to do as I’m not a qualified tradesman! Still, it was a nice extra income source and I worked on my own terms. Jobs I did were things such as fixing a broken gate, curtain rails, painting and clearing etc. I once got a job where I used a screwdriver to tighten up a doors hinges!
eBay: Buying And Selling
Before starting an online business I bought and sold items from eBay and charity shops to then resold them for profit. There’s many ways of doing this but one strategy I found was through using a misspell tool you can find here. By finding badly listed items on eBay, and creating a better listing with more keywords and of course correct spelling, you can attract more bidders and sell an item at a higher price.
You can also find bargains because they are misspelled and therefore attract fewer bidders or even no bidders at all! You can read more about this strategy here.
Online Business
If you have a skill you can sell online, you can build an online business around your skill. You can also become an affiliate marketer and sell other people’s products online. You don’t need anything of your own to sell in order to do this.
I started looking for ways to earn online back in the early 2000’s . Initially I tried a couple of methods before finally finding affiliate marketing. Before that I tried eBay (buying and selling) and Forex marketing; both of which offer a means of earning on a self employed basis.
You can also create content online as a blogger, or video blogger and monetise your content with Google Adsense, or similar program. Learn more about strategies for earning online with this free video series.