Momma Stuff

The best bet is to provide services…

Consideration of the needs of local citizens and a measure of initiative are important to getting work. On the desert in southern California a man, who had been looking for a job for months, resolved his unemployment problem in a unique way. Due to the desert heat many homes have sprinkler systems. So he went from house to house offering to clean waterlines and sprinkler heads and to adjust the system. He now has a good list of customers and is making enough money to pay his bills.

In the same area in California is an individual who returned from work in a foreign country because of a health problem. After months of looking for a job, with no results, he bought small portable steam cleaners. He called on gas stations, offering to steam-clean their rest rooms with disinfectant and then to use a refreshing scent afterward. He has all the work he can handle, and has the advantage of being able to control his working hours.

If you are looking for a job, perhaps some form of cleaning service can provide you with sufficient income. One woman mimeographed leaflets announcing a new cleaning service that, for a fixed amount of money, would dust, scrub and vacuum one’s apartment so that it would seem like new.

The woman explained: “Do you know that most people cleaned up before I got there because they were afraid of what [we] would think of them? Usually I spent only an hour in each apartment.” She made twice as much money as she needed. It has usually been found best to offer to clean a house or an apartment for a certain price, rather than to work by the hour.

Or perhaps providing a janitorial service may be something you can do. Smaller jobs where there is no asphalt tile are best to start with, such as offices of dentists, doctors and lawyers, loan firms, branch banks, beauty parlors and barbershops, auto showrooms, eating places, and so forth. You will need a vacuum cleaner with a carpet attachment, a good mop with bucket and wringer, cloths, squeegee, window brush and five-gallon cans of detergent and wax. This does not involve a great outlay of funds, but the price charged for your jobs must include paying for and maintaining this equipment.