okay, deep breath!

I need to supplement my income (single mother with huge mortgage and two kids that would love to have more of everything) without going under in the process. I've been helping my partner out in his business as his Office Manager, working odd hours and weekends. It has helped enormously and I am really grateful to him. However, based on past experience, I know that I can't be in a position where I am dependent on a partner to keep me financially secure. He was wonderful in showing me everything about how his business is managed, and so I have accumulated a lot of recent experience in understanding how superannuation is calculated and paid, getting salaries paid, maintaining company financial records for tax purposes, etc.

I'm an Australian wiith 7 years experience working in Administration at a University and am currently a Centre Administrator. I have a background in Asian Studies and I lived in Japan for seven years.

I enjoy drawing - especially portraits, but apart from one or two drawings that I'm genuinely proud of, I wouldn't consider myself to be good enough yet to sell my work. However, I would love to be doing this one day.

I need some encouragement to get myself started in my own home business. Where do I start?

Support and ideas are most welcome.

Clough

Just a few thoughts from me at this point. Do you have any other skills or interests, besides drawing, that you might use to make a living from home? I have a number of small businesses that I run. I do know someone on this site who could give you direction with using your drawing to make a living. That's what she does to make money. I would be glad to introduce you to her, if you would like me to.

There are also ways that you can advertise whatever business that you have on the Internet for free. That is one of the ways that I can help you, besides helping you with ideas for things that you might be able to do from home in order to supplement your income.

frangipanis

Thank you, Clough. I would appreciate being put in contact with your friend.

My interests and things I'm good at, although not expert in by any stretch of the imagination, include: playing a mean game of scrabble, gym, and swimming. Although none of these present any obvious home business opportunities, there could be possibilities to do with scrabble such as designing rotating boards – which is a little remote, given my lack of skills in this area.

I'm good at social research and have an interest in international relations, especially in the area of post-conflict resolution, and in cross-cultural communication. There is a real and growing demand for cross-cultural expertise and training.

Although I haven’t done this before, I will soon be setting up a company website. I imagine I would be good at format and design, though not terribly intuitive with IT matters.

Other things I have had an interest in and am good at, include birthing education and looking after new born babies, but that’s probably not a practical focus for a home business. However, there could be things around this, such as educating and supporting new mums who are isolated. To be a birthing educator requires some formal training and certification.

I would enjoy breeding cats, but again, not a terribly practical idea.

The ability to remain flexible with the use of my time is a major factor if I were to run a home business.

Any further thoughts or suggestions you might have, would be welcome.

Clough

Thank you for your answer! The person that I am going to introduce you to is jrebel7. I have alerted her to your post here.

Would you be able to leave your home for periods of time in order to conduct your business, but still have it be one where it would be based out of your home? Do you have a degree? And, if you do, what is your degree in, please?

frangipanis

That's great. I'll look forward to hearing from jrebel17.

That's an interesting question. For what periods of time were you thinking? It would depend on the business and how lucrative it was to justify how much time I spent away from home. I have an 11 year old daughter and that poses a challenge.

I have an undergraduate degree in Asian Studies. I would be up to doing a masters, honors or PhD, but it's a question now for me of priorities and I can't see that further study, unless it led to immediate rewards, is what I am needing right now. But I do have a passion for my subject.

I'll look forward to any further comments from you.

jrebel7

Hi there!

Clough got in touch with me regarding your post. Goodness, from all you have shared, the world could be yours in many fields. Clough can definitely be of great help in knowing how to promote a business online.

From your post, I couldn't tell how much passion you have for doing your art work. If there is great passion there and something you would enjoy pursuing, I can give you ideas on how to get started getting your work into the public eye.

What is your preferred medium in which to work? Oil, pastels, pencil, acrylic, etc.?

I was Vice-President of a company for a few years. I enjoyed it immensely, yet, my passion is art. I continued doing my art even when working at the company. If you need an income that you can depend on bringing in a substantial amount of money in at the present time, I would be remiss if I didn't suggest that you seek out a home-based business in one of the fields you mentioned while still working on developing your art and getting your name known as an artist. Commission pieces would be ideal if you love doing portraits. Portraits are a very specialized area and not all artists can do them and do them well.

If you feel art is an area you would like to pursue as a way of additional income, get back with me and we can go from there with suggestions. Best to you!

frangipanis

hello

and ooohh... I'm not that confident my skills in drawing are nearly good enough yet. However, the potential is definitely there and the passion to develop my skills to the point of one day selling my work is certainly real. I have been working in pencil, charcoal and pastel and would be happy to send you a few examples of what I have done for your comments, if you like. I would like to do a series of portraits some day around the subject of cultural identity... which is just a vague thought at the moment.

I'd be interested to see some examples of your work, and and to hear more about your successes in selling your art, and how you got there.

Also looking forward to hearing further from Clough on other home business ideas.

Thanks for your interest in this... it's much appreciated .. !

jrebel7

I would love for you to post examples of your work. That would be fantastic. I love the idea of the portraits regarding the subject of cultural identity..........that vague thought you speak of may grow into reality quicker than you realize. Very exciting prospect.

Some of my work is posted on the art thread called "The Artist In You". If you have not viewed it, it may be a little overwhelming. The posts can go to 1500 and we are at 1493 so it is a huge thread but has some amazing art work posted. Very warm, welcoming people are on that thread. My web site is Pencils And Paint if you wish to view more of my work. Just click on the Gallery. I don't have my color work on the site yet and not all of my pencils are posted but most of them. The site is not complete but viewable.

I do mainly commission work the last few years. I was doing several art shows per year but am only doing one a year now due to the fact that my mother is in a Nursing Home and I go there almost every night to help her with dinner and get her ready for bed. My sis-n-law has cancer and is going through treatments so I have time constraints as far as doing shows. The shows are a great way to get your name as an artist out to the public. I won't go into a lot of detail right now but just to suggest something I think is really important. Find a printer that does Giclee prints. He/She will scan your original work, burn a CD for you, then make prints for you as needed, or greeting cards or book marks from your work. Always use a sealer on your originals before having them scanned and spray all prints. The Giclee prints are the closest to the original work I have ever seen.

Keep in touch. I will be happy to answer any question to the best of my ability.

frangipanis

your work is really beautiful and exceptional. It must feel good to see your work on exhibition.

I'll post some of my on 'The Artist in You' thread you mentioned, so hope you get to see them and hope to follow through our conversation there

frangipanis

umm, I tried to attach my drawings on the other thread, but the file exceeded the download limit. hmm...