20 WEEKEND GOLD MINES

20 great businesses you can start on weekends and grow into a full-time empire for $500 or less.

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1. SUNDAY MORNING DELIVERY SERVICE:
   
   There are plenty of very busy, working couples and single parents who would love a little pampering on a Sunday morning. You establish a Sunday morning (or weekend) service to do just that.
   
   You show up with the morning papers, muffins or bagels, fresh squeezed orange juice and coffee. Create little "packages" and charge accordingly.
   
   Contact the county clerk's office to find out if you should get a food handler's license. Requirements vary state to state so check it out in your territory. If you are buying goods that are already prepared at a food establishment, you most likely won't need a food handler's license as you are only delivering the items. But if you choose to make the breakfast/brunch yourself, you must inquire as to the criteria.
   
   This business works very well in an area in which there are summer tourists who are renting a home. Don't forget potential business from the local bed & breakfast inns, too.
   
   Call the office of the local newspaper to discuss terms in buying the newspapers. Call a local bakery to purchase the muffins and fare at wholesale prices and do the same by calling a local produce market for the costouts on oranges.
   
   Prepare a few different menus for your clients. Package 1, for example, could consist of two bagels, small carafe of juice, small carafe of coffee. Package 2 could include muffins, butter, cream cheese and flowers.
   
   Place an ad in the local paper, distribute some flyers and you'll be in business.
   
   
2. HARBOR ERRANDS/DELIVERY SERVICE
   
   If you live near or in an area where boats dock frequently, this could be a great business venture for you to pursue. You can start a errand and delivery service for boat captains and their guests/crew. Pick up their clothes and do their laundry or dry cleaning. Take their shoes to the shoemaker. Deliver wine or bottled water or food.
   
   Use your imagination. Whatever they need you provide with fast, efficient and top quality service. You can charge by the hour for this service business. If you're really good and work in a very upscale area, you might make a bundle on tips, too.
   
   Don't forget to contact local restaurants and establish a food delivery service from their locations. You can buy the meals from the restaurants, have them packaged "to go". Charge for the meal and tack on an additional 15% service charge. If you develop a good relationship with several restaurant owners, they might sell you meals at a discount, in which case you'll make even more money.
   
   Ask the restaurant owners to provide you with a copy of their menu. Photocopy them into a little booklet of services you offer to boaters and head to the marina and get ready to start your business.
   
   Print up a flyer to help promote/advertise your new service. The merchants you'll be bringing all this business to might offer you discounts, too.
   
   You can also establish a boat cleaning and detailing business or subcontract this work to a regular boat detailer, taking a small commission for setting up the job.
   
   
3. NURSERY DECOR DESIGN & SET-UP
   
   There is a baby boom happening and busy parents and moms need all the help they can. You can relieve a tremendous burden on parents by establishing your own nursery decor design and set-up service.
   
   You'll create several room designs based on popular themes for boys and girls as well as a couple of designs that can work for either a boy or a girl (for those parents who don't want to know the sex of their child before it is born). Popular themes include Beatrix Potter, Noah's Arc, Farm Animals, Trains and a wide variety of licensed themes from Warner Brothers, Disney, etc.
   
   You can then research non-toxic paints, borders, wallpaper, accessories, lamps, furniture and other decorations to make the room complete.
   
   Photograph a few sample rooms you've created for your own home or for the nurseries of your friends. Ask them to pay for the materials but you'll provide the labor at no cost in exchange for getting your portfolio/brochure together.
   
   Figure out the hours involved to get the room together. Consider charging by the hour or offer the rooms as a package. But the package deal would include furniture, lamps, borders, etc. and might be too cost prohibitive for those clients who already have a crib and some lamps from having a prior baby in the family. The hourly rate will give you more flexibility.
   
   You may find that after you complete several jobs that your phone is ringing off the hook from word-of-mouth referrals. You should promote your small business in any place, store or center where parents-to-be gather or shop. Ask local furniture that sell baby dressers if you can leave your flyer or business card for them to distribute. They'll likely want to help your new venture get off the ground because it will, in turn, generate business for them.
   
   To help build some community goodwill for your new business, offer to decorate a small room or area of a local community daycare center or some other civic center that will help build public awareness and publicity for your new small business. Invite the press to come and photograph or take video of the results for their features and/or broadcasts.
   
   
4. DECK BUILDER
   
   We know of one builder who works with one helper and together they make $1500 a weekend building small decks and back porches for folks in their community. You can start such a business and you don't need to be Frank Lloyd Wright to build a deck. There are plenty of plans in books and videos available to help even novice builders get started with their own business.
   
   You'll need to master the process so practice by building porches and decks for yourself, your family members and friends. They'll supply the money for the out-of-pocket expenses and you'll supply the labor.
   
   Create one or two basic designs for your portfolio. Contact the local zoning department to determine what types of licenses you'll need. Ask about the regulations concerning decks in your community. You'll need to keep updated on what's happening in terms of changing zoning rules and regulations.
   
   Check with other builders in the region to determine what they charge for small decks. Usually they charge one complete price that includes the building materials.
   
   After you've mastered the deck building process, place an ad in the local paper and hook up your answering machine to start receiving the calls. Consider offering a 10% discount to senior citizens. They will call you for an estimate and it could help you generate more clients for your new small business.
   
   
5. WREATH ENTERPRISE
   
   Millions of Americans use wreaths to decorate their home and their businesses. You can start your own business making and selling wreaths. There are plenty of craft stores and online suppliers waiting to help you start this business.
   
   You can decorate doctor's offices, hospital waiting rooms, motels, restaurants. You can sell your wreaths at mall shows, bazaars, craft shows and flea markets. You can also sell your wreaths wholesale to stores.
   
   
6. ADVERTISING SPECIALTIES
   
   Just about every business that uses them can report customer delight and satisfaction in receiving them. We're referring to advertising specialties--those neat little gadgets and items that feature the name of the small business along with an address, phone number or web site.
   
   The items emblazoned with the name of the business range from coffee mugs, golf balls, golf tees and calenders to pens, keychains, hats, refrigerator magnets and much, much more.
   
   Basco (Business Advertising Specialties Corp.) can help you establish this business for as little as $25. According to the company, it is not impossible to make as much as $50,000 in this business.
   
   You use the BASCO catalogs to sell the products, show samples and BASCO will print up the orders for you. The company will even "drop ship" the order directly to your customers under your name so that you don't have to store inventory in your home.
   
   For more information on how to get started, call BASCO for their start-up Business Kit. The number is 888-960-2468. You can e-mail the company at: basco@smcorp.com.
   
   Another company that can help you launch your own advertising specialty business is Kaeser and Blair Incorporated. The company is more than 100 years old and can help you get going for a $75 refundable deposit. Call 800-642-0790 or visit the company web site at www.kaeser-blair.com.
   
   
7. FAMILY CREST/HISTORY BUSINESS
   
   Start a small business working from home or in a business location (craft store, greeting card store, book store, etc.) putting together an attractive package of a family name history and/or family coat of arms and family crest. People are interested and fascinated in the research that you'll put together on an attractive parchment scroll.
   
   Tie in with a company such as CASI, a leader in personalized products. They can supply you with the materials to create family crests. They also have other products that you can print these crests on including key chains, glassware, and more. Another company to contact to establish a family genealogy biz is located in Boynton Beach, FL. Call 800-940-7991/561-732-5263 for details on their program.
   
   
8. NEW APARTMENT SERVICE
   
   You can set up a business getting apartments ready for new tenants. Your clients could be landlords, building managers or the tenants themselves who don't want to deal with all the grit and grim that goes into cleaning the oven, the refrigerator and painting the walls (if the landlord doesn't include this service).
   
   You can expand this business to include plenty of other offerings, too. These can include waiting around for the cable guy to hook up the box, the phone guy if extra jacks have to be installed, and any other delivery people who are only available to deliver the couch or chair when your clients have to be at work.
   
   You could even stock the refrigerator and offer to return once a week to clean the apartment. This business can be started for less than $500. You'll need basic cleaning supplies and flyers and/or an advertisement in a local newspaper to build an audience for your new service business.
   
   Call your insurance company and request information on whether or not you'll need to be bonded to work on the premises. Your clients might desire or even demand that you are bonded in case something happens to their property while you are on it. You'll also enjoy freedom and protection from this liability.
   
   
9. SHUTTLE SERVICE
   
   There are plenty of moms and dads and single parents out there who could benefit from a shuttle service to take their kids back and forth from soccer practice, music lessons and Brownie meetings. You provide these quick trips for senior citizens, kids and just about anyone else who could benefit from a local taxi service.
   
   You are going to need a car or a van that is in excellent shape. You can charge $5 a trip to steal some customers from the local cab services if there are any in town. Consider giving a discount to your frequent customers. In fact, you could sell a book of coupons with the 10th ride being free if they buy nine rides in one lump sum. Put an expiration date on the coupons, too.
   
   You'll need to heavily advertise to promote your business. You should also do some community goodwill building events to ensure your potential customers that you are a safe and nice person to ride with to and from the local market, a sports game or tutoring session.
   
   Consider getting a beeper and a cell phone. You'll need to be in touch and to have your clients be able to reach you very easily.
   
   Advertise and promote your shuttle service to senior citizen groups and to parents with latch key kids that need to be driven around in the late afternoon. You could even conduct this business on weekends to give busy parents a break and to drive seniors to and from the theater. Promote this business via flyers wherever any business owner will let you.
   
   Call your car insurance company and discuss adding on additional insurance to cover your extra passengers.
   
   
10. GARAGE/BASEMENT CLEANING SERVICE
    
    There are plenty of disorganized and dirty basements and garages in America and no one seems to have the time to clean them up and get them organized.
    
    You clean up these basements and garages for people who don't have the time, inclination, but who have the $50 (your minimum) to come and put it all back together. Charge by the hour, because if you agree to a price over the phone based on what a customer tells you has to be done, you could be in for a rude awakening when you show up for the job. We know of one company that gave a bid over the phone for a residential cleaning job. They were told the assignment was to clean three rooms in a house and they gave a bid of $55. But when they got there, the rooms were piled with three foot tall stacks of old newspapers and magazines that had to be bundled and carted away. The price had to be renegotiated but the home owners made it a miserable experience for the small business owner.
    
    You can charge anywhere from $10 to $25 an hour depending on where you live and what the job entails.
    
    Use local newspapers to promote your business. You might help a center in town straighten up and organize their garage or a room to help build positive word-of-mouth publicity for your business. Try to get a local photographer or reporter to cover your free cleaning project and put a photo of it with a caption describing your new business in the newspaper.
    
    
11. DINNER PARTY CATERER
    
    It would help to have one or two partners in starting your dinner party catering business to help you shop, cook and serve up dinner in your new venture.
    
    Basically, you create two or three menus that are aptly suited for a nice dinner party. You'll be well prepared to handle this dinner for two, four, six, eight or up to 12 individuals.
    
    You place an ad regarding your business and a client calls to book a dinner party. It's on their premises, but you can do most of the prep work and even some of the cooking in your own home. Because you might use your own kitchen, you'll need to investigate what is needed in terms of business licensing and health department certificates. Many states do require a "food handler's" license which is pretty easily obtained by taking a quick course at a local hospital, paying $10 to $25 and passing a test based on the material. It is very similar to getting a driver's permit.
    
    Prepare your dinners and don't forget to include an offering for vegetarians. You can make or purchase the desserts from a local baker at wholesale prices.
    
    Charge your clients by the number of guests they'll have. Eight guests at $35 a head might not seem like much, but after you add on the wine, dessert and additional fees for special appetizers, you'll likely be taking home $500 and more, a night. Many clients will also tip you. Remember, you'll be purchasing the food at discounted prices or at supermarket prices. You'll be preparing dinners for what it costs you to make them at home, but you'll still be charging restaurant-type prices. A meal might cost you $8 to prepare, but you'll be charging $20 to $35 for that meal. That's a nice profit!
    
    If you are interested in catering but don't want to focus on the dinner party route, consider specializing in one part of the catering experience: fresh baked bread for restaurants; wedding cakes for catering companies; lunches for busy working people; food delivery to industrial parks, beaches, tennis courts, wherever people gather.
    
    
12. INTERNET TUTOR:
    
    There are a lot of people out there who have a home computer, but are not yet online. You can start a business acting as an Internet Tutor to help folks get going in cyberspace. You can teach your knowledge on a one-on-one basis or you could host small classes in your home or at the local senior citizens center,providing they have a computer you could use.
    
    Charge by the hour or develop a curriculum: Orientation, The Web Browsers, Chat Rooms, Doing Research, etc. You can charge $20 per 40 minute to 60 minute class, or whatever your market will bear.
    
    Take out ads in your local newspaper or distribute or hang flyers in senior citizen centers, schools (if permissible), stores and anywhere else people congregate.
    
    
13. COOKING CLASS INSTRUCTOR
    
    If you can prepare one really great dinner, one gourmet specialty or one dessert really well, then you can start a business teaching this expertise to others. You must have a good stove and adequate room in your home if you plan to teach this class there, otherwise you'll have to scout up a new location to fit all of your students. You can also limit the class to 3 or 5 individuals if that is what your home kitchen can handle.
    
    Start-up costs will be minimal if you already have the cookware and utensils needed to cook up this meal. At the end of the cooking class, you might want to invite your students to eat the meal or take the desserts home with them, but they will at least have to sample the fare.
    
    If you must go in search of a larger, commercial kitchen, consider renting space at a local restaurant. If the restaurant is closed during the day, they might let you rent the space. You might also be able to use the home economics kitchen at the local high school. Either way, call your insurance company to discuss the liabilities involved in using another's property for your class.
    
    Figure what it costs to buy the food and other materials and factor this into the fee your charge for the class. The class could be offered for one night only and billed as "Mexican Night," or some other regional cooking night. Your students will learn how to prepare one appetizer, one entree and one dessert--suitable ammunition to go home and host their own dinner party. Think of the fun you'll have in creating different nights. If the theme classes catch on, you'll likely have a steady stream of clients coming to your classes. The typical fee for such a class will range from $25 to $45.
    
    
14. GARDENING CONSULTANT
    
    Everyone loves a pretty border, a perennial garden, a ornamental grass display, a section of the yard devoted to spring flowers and another of flowering shrubs or beautiful vines. But many don't have the time to devote to learning about bulbs, flowers, shrubs and evergreens or they don't have the time to execute the designs. This is a great business for a gardener to start.
    
    This is where you come in with your business as a Gardening Consultant. You visit the site of the homeowner (or commercial client) and assess the situation. You go back in a week or so with several design options along with a budget on how much it would cost you to execute the design. (Chances are if you present a design they love, they will consider hiring you to implement it.)
    
    You'll establish a minimum for a design and it should reflect the economics of your community. $125 might be a suitable for some areas, while $75 or even $200 would be better suited for other areas. You must assess your community and then establish a rate.
    
    To generate business, you'll need to develop a portfolio of your gardening work. Take pictures and arrange them in an album. If you don't have enough photos of your work, take some and even offer to put in gardens for you friends (they pay the out of pocket costs and you supply the labor) so that there is more to photograph and show to prospective clients.
    
    Be professional and consider printing up letterhead for your designs, and wear a shirt or cap embroidered with the name of your new gardening consultant business.
    
    
15. MAGICIAN
    
    You can start a business as a magician who performs at birthday parties, civic and community events, fairs, celebrations, you-name-it. It is not all that difficult to come up with a costume and master some very nifty magic tricks for your routine.
    
    You can charge by the hour or by the event. A 90 minute birthday party for children in which you walk around and perform magic tricks periodically will earn you anywhere from $50 to $100 depending on where you live. Adult events and corporate events will earn you as much as $200 to $300.
    
    Find some magic trick sources. Visit the library, surf the Internet, find stores that cater to magicians and work on developing a costume. Often a cape, a little makeup, a top hat and a cane will do. Tuxedos are fine as well. Having a good personality for this business will help you to generate business and build it via positive word-of-mouth.
    
    Advertising will help you generate interest. Don't forget to drop off flyers at day care centers and anywhere else that parents/kids frequent. Post your flyers and print up business cards to promote your venture. Practice!!
    
    
16. PERSONAL SHOPPER
    
    If you truly love to shop and consider yourself a great shopper (creative and able to get the bargains) then you might want to turn your passion for shopping into a small business.
    
    Many executives and even parents are just too busy to shop for their spouses, children, colleagues. You'll need to require that the client provides you with the means to shop. Cash or approval on their credit card. They can also give you a check as a retainer, which you'll deposit and wait until it clears before you go shopping for them.
    
    Develop a network of stores where you will shop for your clients. This way, the shop managers will notice the repeat business and they will be more likely to help you get in and out of the shop quickly, thus making the most for your hourly wage.
    
    You'll need to develop excellent resources for florists, candy, gift, specialty, sports and jewelry stores. Don't forget to consult mail order catalogs for unique and novelty items as well.
    
    Send a personal note (direct mail letter) to business people in your region and develop a brochure that you can send to your ever growing mailing list.
    
    You'll make money based on an hourly wage that you establish. It could be anywhere from $20 to $100, or you could charge by the shopping excursion. Develop a good relationship with shop owners so that you can return items if they are not correct. It would be nice to receive the cash back rather than a store credit, but remember that retailers do have the right to set whatever return policy they wish as long as it is posted in the shop.
    
    
17. AQUARIUM MAINTENANCE
    
    If you truly love tropical fish and enjoy maintaining fish tanks, you can set up a business where you maintain these tanks for others. Your clients will range from homeowners, to hospitals, doctors, business owners and schools.
    
    Another source of income will come from selling and setting up fish tanks for your clients. You will then, of course, work on getting a contract to return once a week to clean the tank and feed the fish. You can sell the tanks to senior citizen centers, waiting rooms, and just about anywhere else you can imagine.
    
    Offer a guarantee to assure your new clients that you know what you are doing in case something happens to one of the fish you are caring for in your service business.
    
    Develop a good relationship with a local fish tank and fish supplier so that you can buy the merchandise, pumps and other inventory on a wholesale basis. You'll be charging per service call per week, so at $25-$35 a visit, it is not uncommon to make several hundred dollars a week with your part-time business.
    
    If you can visit several industrial parks and set up tanks in offices there, you will be cutting down on your drive time between clients. You might even rally seven customers in one building such as one aquarium maintenance entrepreneur did that we know. He was able to make $200 in that one stop.
    
    Advertise your business in the business section of the local newspaper and don't forget to develop a direct mail letter to send to all industrial park clients and don't forget to hit the doctors' offices and hospitals, as well as other businesses in town. Advertise and promote your service to homeowners, too.
    
    
18. GROWING & SELLING FRESH CUT HERBS
    
    It's hard to find a grocery store in the country that doesn't stock fresh herbs. As Americans have become more health conscious and developed a palate for vibrant flavors, fresh basil, cilantro, dill, and many other herbs have become commonplace in the remotest grocery stores and on every restaurant menu. Just where do all those delicate herbs come from, especially in the dead of winter? There's gold in those greens, and Growing and Selling Fresh-Cut Herbs shows readers how to cash in.
    
    Part of Storey Books' "Making A Living Naturally" series, in Growing and Selling Fresh-Cut Herbs Sandie Shores shares her secrets of professional herb growing experience, along with that of other growers from across the country.
    
    The book will teach you how to conduct market research, make a business plan, market fresh cut herbs, secure accounts and manage the day-to-day details of business ownership. You'll also learn how to build a greenhouse and maintain it. Shores includes the secrets of professional growers, offering useful tips for readers who just want to grow herbs for their personal use more effectively and efficiently. The book also includes a section profiling more than 20 separate herbs, including information on starting and propagating, growing, harvesting, combating pests and diseases, and packaging.
    
    The book is $27.95 and is available in major book stores and by calling Storey Books at 800-441-5700. You can also visit their web site at www.storey.com
    
    Sandie Shores has more than 10 years of experience growing herbs year-round in southern Minnesota. She recently sold her business to concentrate on writing, speaking, teaching and consulting on growing herbs.
    
    
19. GROCERY SHOPPING SERVICE
    
    There are so many people who would take advantage of a grocery shopping service, if only one existed! Stay at home moms with a baby or children can't take time from the daily grind to pack up the kids in the van and get to the stores.
    
    Senior citizens comprise a growing percentage of our population. Often these individuals don't drive a car or prefer not to drive. Often it is difficult getting out in bad weather or they simply prefer the comfort and convenience of having you shop for them.
    
    You can also deliver groceries to day care centers, and to workers who can't away from their offices but who have a kitchen and a microwave on the premises.
    
    You'll shop for well-known brands in most cases, so there is no confusion as to what to buy for your clients. As your business develops and you take on steady customers, type up a list of products on your computer and print it out for your customers. This way when they call with a delivery order, they can reference their handy order sheet. Saving you time and frustration.
    
    You'll charge a delivery service fee for your work and make sure your clients give you the cash or that you can charge their order on their account at the supermarket or grocery store.
    
    Create flyers and distribute them to seniors, physically challenged, businesses, mothers, etc. You can even have your clients fax their order to you and they can select the supermarket where they want you to shop.
    
    You can also add on food delivery services from local restaurants, delis and fast-food establishments. If you get into this area, consider buying hot and cold coolers and devices for your van. You are going to need it. Scope out your community, make a list of potential stores where you'll shop, make up a flyer, distribute it, and wait for the phone to ring from your new client base.
    
    
20. PARTY PLANNER:
    
    The special event industry is exploding due to two main factors: the baby boomers have many reasons to celebrate (78 million are purported to be involved in 5 celebrations each year) and there is a growing awareness among corporations (big and small) to host events, grand openings and celebrations to boost business.
    
    Theme parties are becoming extremely popular also. You can start a business hosting a wide variety of parties for your clients or you could choose to specialize in say, birthday parties for kids, spouse packages getaway event planning, holiday decorating, 50th anniversary celebrations and so on down the line. The list of potentials is only limited to your interests and imagination.
    
    You can charge by hour. See what your market will bear. Some regions of the country can charge $35 an hour while others would be better to charge $15 to $20 an hour.
    
    Research your start-up by checking out local venues. Put together demographics on your community. Who is likely to plan parties? What type? Talk to your family and friends about party planning. Would they hire an individual to take on this responsibility?
    
    Consider working as a volunteer or assistant at a local convention center, church, community group or political party to see how they stage special events. Once you learn the ABCs you'll be ready to go.
    
    Research organizations and wholesalers that will sell you goods at discounted prices. Establish your fees and start advertising. Check the Internet for organizations that deal with special events and reunion planners, etc.
    

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