25 Part-Time Businesses To Start Today! Looking to earn some extra cash in your spare time? We've got 25 great ways to get started!

Ever dream of running a part-time business while keeping yourday job? Want to operate a sideline business along with yourcurrent business? Or are you simply curious about BIZ Experiencesship,and want to BODY the waters before you commit to the world ofcommerce? Whatever your reason, here are 25 sure-fire ways to getstarted today with your own part-time business.

Business writer Carla Goodman clued our readers in to 25secrets of selling in the April issue of BusinessStart-Ups.

25 Part-Time Businesses

Espresso Cart

Brew up profits day after day! Specialty coffee drinks generategross profits of 55.1 to 61.5 percent per cup, says the SpecialtyCoffee Association of America. So brush up on your coffee drinks,buy or rent an espresso cart, and head for sporting events,concerts and farmers' markets in your community.

Plant Leasing And Maintenance

Got a green thumb and a delivery van? You're all set toservice corporations, home builders, health clubs and otherbusinesses who want fresh greenery. Develop a steady clientele witha regular watering, pruning and fertilizing program and a fullreplacement guarantee.

Personal Chef

What's for dinner, honey? Great home-cooked meals forworking parents and busy professionals who hire you as a personalchef. There's plenty of demand for this specialized service. Soplan your menu, make out your shopping list, and go to work tosatisfy your hungry clientele.

T-Shirt Design

If you're an artist in search of a medium, why not makeT-shirts your canvas? Paint, draw, bead or appliqué yourdesigns on plain T-shirts, and spend your weekends showcasing yourart-to-wear at farmers' markets and crafts fairs.

Office And Home Organizer

Attention all neatniks: Help packrats, overworked executives,and other organizationally challenged individuals clean out messyclosets, straighten files, and throw out the excess clutter.Putting your knack for neatness to part-time business use is boundto arrange some tidy profits for you.

Luggage Rental

Families who don't want to buy expensive luggage for aweekend getaway or a cross-country trip can rent from you. Startwith quality luggage from a name-brand manufacturer, and a storageunit. Spread the word about your luggage-rental business withhotels, travel agencies, tour groups, event planners and your localmedia.

Antiques

Make new money from old treasures and have fun doing it! Scoutgarage sales, estate auctions and flea markets for great buys onantique furniture, toys, clothing and other treasures from thepast. Rent space at antique cooperatives, or set up booths atweekend fairs to sell your antiques.

Color Consultant

Are you a "winter" or a "spring" when itcomes to fashion colors? Whatever your season, make money helpingfashion-conscious consumers select the colors and hues that arebest for them. Training in color analysis, makeup application, andbasic fashion design are musts. To get started, drop off fliers atmen's and women's boutiques and beauty salons, andadvertise in shopper publications.

Mobile Window Tint

With some training and basic equipment, you'll be seeingplenty of green with your mobile window-tinting business. For bestresults, have a pager and van ready to help car, van and truckowners prevent heat damage to their vehicles' interiors. Otherhot markets: homes, high-rise condominiums and officebuildings.

Handyman

If it's broke, you can fix it. Your phone will ring off thehook with calls from homeowners, senior citizens and others whodon't want to fix it themselves. Advertise in shopperpublications and on bulletin boards, and drop off fliers at realestate offices. Then start repairing everything from leaky faucetsto broken windows.

Medical Transcription

Work as an important member of a medical team without leavingyour homebased office. There's big demand by hospitals,doctors, dentists, chiropractors and veterinarians who need outsidehelp transcribing patient medical records. Training in medicalterminology and linguistic skills will keep your businesshealthy.

Records Search

Using specialized databases, you'll search public records onyour computer to help your clients find lost loves, check outquestionable suitors, track down debtors, verify a contractor'strack record, or dig up facts on a business opportunity. Clientsinclude attorneys, businessowners and individuals.

Custom Jewelry And Accessories

Put your creative talents to work designing custom jewelry andaccessories. Whether you work with sterling silver or recycledmetals, clay or papier-mâché, there's a market foryour custom earrings, pins, bracelets, necklaces and belt bucklesat art shows, crafts fairs and holiday boutiques.

Computer Tutor

Whether you're an expert at Windows, Lotus or Word Perfect,you can help anyone enhance their computer skills. Start promotingyour computer-training services by teaching classes throughorganizations in your community which offer adult educationcourses.

Restaurant Delivery

Whether it's macaroni and cheese or a five-course gourmetmeal, at-home meal replacement is fast becoming the newest way todine. When customers want their restaurant orders "togo," you'll be "on the go" with your restaurantdelivery service. A great way to make your late afternoons andweekends extra-profitable!

Personal Trainer

Pumping iron; pumping profits. Americans of all ages, sizes andshapes want to keep fit, trim and healthy, and they're willingto hire their own personal coach to exercise correctly. Spread theword about your physical-fitness expertise at health spas, running,swimming and biking clubs, and other athletic outlets.

Wallpaper Hanging

Help residential and commercial clients turn drab walls intoworks of art with your wallpaper-hanging skills. Build a growingbusiness with great referrals and repeat customers. Drop off fliersat paint and wallpaper stores; also, advertise in shopperpublications, in homeowner-association newsletters, and on bulletinboards at local supermarkets and malls.

Yoga And Tai Chi Instructor

In today's hectic, fast-paced world, parents, businessowners and students alike can benefit from the deep-breathing,relaxation and centering techniques you can teach them. Get startedby offering classes at health clubs, through your city'srecreation and parks department, or on your own.

Home Inspection

Buyers need not beware when they hire a home inspector toconduct a complete physical checkup on their dream home. You'llinspect the house for structural problems and refer your clients tothe contractors or handymen who can make the repairs. Knowledge ofconstruction and your local building codes will get your businessoff the ground.

Mobile Home-Entertainment Service

When it's dirty, disconnected or in need of repair,you'll save the day for homeowners who want their stereo,compact-disc player or videocassette recorder in working order.Brush up on your electrical and wiring know-how. Door-to-doorfliers and calls to retail-store managers about your services willget your business off to a great start.

Business Profiles

Karen Reinholt, Karen Reinholt Presents

Karen Reinholt takes clowning around seriously. As owner ofKaren Reinholt Presents, the Portland, Oregon, BIZ Experiencesentertains as Peppermint the Clown at children's birthdayparties, company picnics, store promotions, fairs, festivals andholiday parties.

"I love what I do. It's fun. I'm my own boss, and Ilove working with children," says Reinholt, who started"clowning around" in 1980 as a volunteer at churchevents. "I felt children were bored, and parents could have abetter time without kids tugging at their sleeves. So I came upwith some entertainment to keep them happy and occupied."

In 1984, Reinholt, a full-time mom, took mime classes at a localcollege taught by a man who trained with the Ringling Bros. andBarnum & Bailey Circus. "There wasn't any real clowntraining in Oregon, so I looked around," says Reinholt,"and learned about Phoenix Power and Light Interfaith.It's a church-related organization which conducts workshops andan annual convention for jugglers, clowns, dancers and otherentertainers. That's where I learned fire-eating."

To promote Peppermint the Clown, Reinholt advertises in theYellow Pages and various parenting periodicals, including PortlandParent. Most of her business comes from a steady stream of pastclients and referrals. For a one-hour children's birthday partywith 10 participants, Reinholt charges $100 for a magic show,games, a puppet show, and balloon animals. To entertain atcorporate events and company parties, Reinholt charges between $250and $325.

Growing demand for her services has prompted Reinholt to expandKaren Reinholt Presents from a part-time business into a full-timebusiness. She also operates Entertainment Booking Services, areferral service which connects clowns, magicians, jugglers andface painters with entertainment opportunities. Reinholt seescontinuing opportunities for herself and other clown professionals."In the past, anyone wearing a rainbow wig, baggy pants and ared nose was considered a clown," she says. "We'regetting rid of that myth, because we are getting highly skilled andtrained clowns regardless of their dress. We're showing thatclowning is professional entertainment."

Luke Breen, Z-Rang

When the snow piles high in Minneapolis, selling bicycles andriding accessories can be difficult for Luke Breen, owner ofCalhoun Cycles. But rather than let the snow freeze his businessrevenues, Breen started a part-time business: selling his own lineof handmade boomerangs, Z-Rangs.

"I'm not an aeronautical engineer, so there was a lotof trial and error involved in the design," says Breen, alongtime boomerang enthusiast. "How the weight is balanced isimportant. I balanced mine with more weight up high on theboomerang, which allows it to spin faster and better. Then theboomerang doesn't have to be thrown as hard to get the samelift, which is what makes it turn."

The Z-Rangs are made of aircraft-grade Finnish birch, ahigh-quality, 12-ply wood used in airplane propellers. Whenfinished, each is painted in bright neon colors and flight-testedto guarantee return to its sender. Prices range from $15 to $40each and include a flying manual.

To promote his sideline product, Breen used his bike shop'scustomer base to create a mailing list for a Z-Rang catalog. Headvertises in local newspapers, participates in sports expositionsand trade shows, and demonstrates how to throw boomerangs at summer"throwing nights" at a field near Calhoun Cycles. He alsoproduced a video demonstrating how to throw and catch boomerangs."Z-Rang is a fun part-time business," says Breen, whocalculates sales of about $20,000 over five years since startinghis part-time venture in 1991.

Christy Porter, Urban Herbalist

When Christy Porter finishes her workday as manager of a stateof California recycling program, she goes to work again-this timeat the Urban Herbalist, a small Sacramento, California, herb shopshe opened in 1994. While her civil service job offered manybenefits, Porter was attracted to BIZ Experiencesship. "I wantedto make a living, help people, and do something I enjoyed,"says Porter, who figured her college background in chemistry andphysiology and her study with local herbalists-those trained toinstruct others in the proper use of herbs-would be helpful instarting Urban Herbalist.

The transition to BIZ Experiencesship was gradual. Porter took ademotion from her state job so she could work fewer hours andconcentrate on setting up her business. She wrote her business planand attended a free, one-day workshop on BIZ Experiencesship offeredby the Small Business Administration's Small BusinessDevelopment Center. She interviewed herb-store owners forinformation on suppliers, employee wages, and successful customerrelations. She visited herb shops in other cities to see whatproducts they were selling and how they were displayed, andcarefully studied her future competition: several well-establishedhealth-food stores and a popular natural-foods co-op.

Porter concluded Sacramento was a market large enough to supportthe Urban Herbalist. "It seemed like a market niche thatneeded to be filled," she says. Porter was right. Salesreached $80,000 her first year and have been climbing ever since.In 1996, Porter quit her state government job to work full time ather business.

The Urban Herbalist sells herbs, aromatic oils and lotions,natural body-care products, medicinal teas, jewelry, handmadeherbal wreaths, and books. Porter offers classes on herbs andconducts herbal walks to teach her customers how to identify herbsand become familiar with them in their natural habitat. Porter isglad she made the transition from paid employee to BIZ Experiences."I'm doing something I really enjoy," she says.

Bruce Stjernstrom, Game Day Souvenirs

For the past decade, Bruce Stjernstrom has been collectingdolls-hundreds of hand-painted ceramic and papier-mache dolls withbobbing heads that were popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Someresemble baseball, football, hockey and basketball players andmascots; others bear the likenesses of John F. Kennedy, FidelCastro, and other political figures. Another part of his collectioncontains advertising and entertainment figures, like charactersfrom the Peanuts gang, and Bob's Big Boy (the mascot for arestaurant chain on the West Coast).

After collecting more than 500 Bobbing Head dolls, Stjernstromdecided to turn his interest into a part-time business, Game DaySouvenirs, which he runs from his home in Costa Mesa, California.Rather than sell the dolls from his collection, Stjernstrom sellsbrand-new Bobbing Head baseball dolls, which he purchases throughan East Coast distributor. Since introducing his mail order catalogin 1995, Stjernstrom estimates he's sold about $50,000 worth ofdolls.

Stjernstrom got the idea for his part-time business whileattending an Anaheim Angels baseball game. "These dolls werevery popular in the 1960s and 1970s, so I was inspired when I sawnew versions of the Bobbing Head baseball dolls for sale at thegame," he explains. "I figured there were plenty ofpeople who didn't live near baseball stadiums who would want tobuy these dolls. There seemed to be an opportunity for a mail orderbusiness, here."

Stjernstrom advertises Game Day Souvenirs in Baseball Weekly anduses an answering service to take customer calls. He accepts creditcards and ships orders via United Parcel Service. Presently,Stjernstrom plans to maintain the business part time. "BeforeI started Game Day Souvenirs, I made a commitment that Iwouldn't let it affect my regular job. It's been verymanageable under these terms for now," says Stjernstrom, whosefull-time day job is as the manager of the Kawasaki ProfessionalMotocross Racing Team in Irvine, California.

Judy Sullivan, Go West

Judy Sullivan works full time in a chiropractor's office andhelps her husband raise horses on their Lotsawork Ranch in NewWindsor, Illinois. In her spare time, she designs custom Westernshirts under her own label, Go West, and sells them to individualclients and Westernwear boutiques. The experienced seamstress gotthe idea for a part-time business when the shirt she designed forher son's college rodeo appearance got rave reviews from hisbuddies.

"Within a week after the rodeo, I had six orders for customshirts from his college friends," recalls Sullivan, who latertook 40 of her designs to an International Professional RodeoAssociation-sanctioned rodeo. She sold 37 shirts at $70 each andtook orders for 20 more. "I figured this business mightfly."

A one-of-a-kind Go West shirt, which sells for between $60 and$90 each, is usually made of 100 percent cotton and is decoratedwith metallic or sequined fabric, chiffon or lace, andappliqué or quilting on the cuffs and yoke. Seamstresses,working as independent contractors, cut pattern pieces, do theappliqué work, and sew the finished garments. Sullivan marketsher shirts at Westernwear trade shows.

While Sullivan could expand Go West into a full-time business,she's happy with her part-time status, which produces an annualnet income of $10,000. "This amount of work keeps mebusy," she says. "I can supply my customers withoutworrying that I can't meet a deadline. I can control myproduction and do what I set out to accomplish: offer my customerssomething that's really unique."

Business writer Carla Goodman clued our readers in to 25 secretsof selling in the April issue of Business Start-Ups.

Contact Sources

Calhoun Cycle, 1622 W. Lake St., Minneapolis, MN 55408,(612) 827-8231.

Go West, P.O. Box 155, New Windsor, IL 61465.

Karen Reinholt Presents, P.O. Box 13187, Portland, OR97213, (503) 281-7393.