I keep reading on here that there are no opportunities to make money in this economy, but I have to beg to differ. There are ample opportunities if you're willing to look outside the box.
Last fall my wife and I attended a township trustees meeting, and the subject of cemetery records was brought up. The township had been looking for someone to compile the cemetery records and put them into some sort of a computerized database (they were then hand written on large charts). The 4 cemeteries range from a pioneer cemetery that's just over an acre in size, to a cemetery that's currently in use that's just over 10 acres in size. The township had been looking for "a few years" for someone to take on the project, but could find no takers other than a guy who would do most of the work by "witching" the graves and wanted to charge an outrageous fee to do so.
I made a motion and offered to research the project and get them a proposal by the next quarterly meeting. My wife and I spent some time figuring out what it would take, researched software (I decided to write my own), and put together a proposal.
Our proposal was eagerly accepted at the December meeting. Since it was winter we wouldn't being the actual mapping until spring. Over the winter I spent a couple snowy afternoons writing a fairly simple database. There are a couple commercial software programs available, but I could customize mine for our needs. In all I had about 5 hours into the software.
Between May and July we spent 6 Saturday mornings (from 2-4 hours each) in the cemeteries recording the data from the headstones. We'd return home, and during the week enter the data into the program. Today is our last day working in the cemetery for this project, and we've determined that it takes about an hour of work for each acre of cemetery land, including listing the data, comparing it to records, and entering it into the program. I get to spend time with my wife, it keeps us outside and gives us some additional exercise, and it's a fascinating history lesson when we realize how difficult life was in the 1800's. Imagine parents passing away when they were in their 30's, surrounded by the graves of their children, none of which lived beyond 4 or 5 years old.
This week we received a call from the secretary of a neighboring township who would like to meet with us, along with representatives of two additional townships (3 in all) and discuss having us write a proposal to do the same thing in each township. I have no doubt they know what we'll charge, and the proposal is just a formality. Now that the software is complete, we'll do one more this fall, we may work during the winter if the weather permits, but we should have the three additional townships finished by this time next year. The amount we'll make, after taxes, will be enough to nearly pay for the purchase a new moderately priced car (which we don't need and won't do).
When I hear people bemoan the idea that there's no opportunity, yet I find local townships begging for someone to take on a project like this, I have to wonder how hard people are actually looking for opportunities. Just in my county alone there are 19 townships, and there may be only a couple that have electronic cemetery records. Once we're done with our next 3 townships I may make proposals to a few other townships, assuming someone doesn't beat me to them (which I doubt). When I think of the number of townships in our county, and some of the townships in the neighboring counties, I see the potential for a nice part time job that brings in a tidy income. I'm quite certain that there are hundreds more townships across the country with the same needs. I have no doubt that this would make an enjoyable family project, as well as a nice part time job for anyone willing to do it.
Of course, I could have spent the time in front of the television, or playing video games. But then, I wouldn't have found this opportunity if I'd been doing those things, would I?
Last fall my wife and I attended a township trustees meeting, and the subject of cemetery records was brought up. The township had been looking for someone to compile the cemetery records and put them into some sort of a computerized database (they were then hand written on large charts). The 4 cemeteries range from a pioneer cemetery that's just over an acre in size, to a cemetery that's currently in use that's just over 10 acres in size. The township had been looking for "a few years" for someone to take on the project, but could find no takers other than a guy who would do most of the work by "witching" the graves and wanted to charge an outrageous fee to do so.
I made a motion and offered to research the project and get them a proposal by the next quarterly meeting. My wife and I spent some time figuring out what it would take, researched software (I decided to write my own), and put together a proposal.
Our proposal was eagerly accepted at the December meeting. Since it was winter we wouldn't being the actual mapping until spring. Over the winter I spent a couple snowy afternoons writing a fairly simple database. There are a couple commercial software programs available, but I could customize mine for our needs. In all I had about 5 hours into the software.
Between May and July we spent 6 Saturday mornings (from 2-4 hours each) in the cemeteries recording the data from the headstones. We'd return home, and during the week enter the data into the program. Today is our last day working in the cemetery for this project, and we've determined that it takes about an hour of work for each acre of cemetery land, including listing the data, comparing it to records, and entering it into the program. I get to spend time with my wife, it keeps us outside and gives us some additional exercise, and it's a fascinating history lesson when we realize how difficult life was in the 1800's. Imagine parents passing away when they were in their 30's, surrounded by the graves of their children, none of which lived beyond 4 or 5 years old.
This week we received a call from the secretary of a neighboring township who would like to meet with us, along with representatives of two additional townships (3 in all) and discuss having us write a proposal to do the same thing in each township. I have no doubt they know what we'll charge, and the proposal is just a formality. Now that the software is complete, we'll do one more this fall, we may work during the winter if the weather permits, but we should have the three additional townships finished by this time next year. The amount we'll make, after taxes, will be enough to nearly pay for the purchase a new moderately priced car (which we don't need and won't do).
When I hear people bemoan the idea that there's no opportunity, yet I find local townships begging for someone to take on a project like this, I have to wonder how hard people are actually looking for opportunities. Just in my county alone there are 19 townships, and there may be only a couple that have electronic cemetery records. Once we're done with our next 3 townships I may make proposals to a few other townships, assuming someone doesn't beat me to them (which I doubt). When I think of the number of townships in our county, and some of the townships in the neighboring counties, I see the potential for a nice part time job that brings in a tidy income. I'm quite certain that there are hundreds more townships across the country with the same needs. I have no doubt that this would make an enjoyable family project, as well as a nice part time job for anyone willing to do it.
Of course, I could have spent the time in front of the television, or playing video games. But then, I wouldn't have found this opportunity if I'd been doing those things, would I?
