Me: Work up north 28 on 28 off. Competent mechanically , fit.
Looking for something to do on my time off. Not full time but a couple of hours a day is no problem.More if there is no wind or swell.I thought initially of something like a lawn mowing gig but people generally want their lawn cut monthly or less.Plus an ex mower man i spoke to said his arms are ruined from the vibrations. I want to ruin my arms kiting.
Dont mind paying tax on the earnings but a little bit of cash on the side would'nt hurt
.
What fits??
Cheers..
Im guessing you are a seaman, maybe with Farstad or one of the other bigger mobs working up north?
and hence on around $100K a year-must have some big bills to pay??
You could set up an Ebay store?
However if 28 off is too long you can do some extended swings, though your union probably wont like it.
My advice-things to do cos you have TOO MUCH FREE TIME? Spend it with the kids, go camping, learn to surf.
If you dont have kids, travel see things, make the best of it...
" I give give in,....what is a good one man business?"
I guess, 1... your own !-----2...a millstone , ----- 3... drug dealer,
4.....politician,----- 5....shoe shine,----- 6......bra fitter,------
plenty of opportunity out there for thinking out the box 
call me old fashioned, but I'm with shark on this one...how much money do you need? 28 on is pretty tough, but I expect you're remunerated well for it...so enjoy your 28 off...you work for it, you deserve it.
Home handyman. lots of blokes start off doing it for their lawnmowing customers, and then just stop lawnmowing. just be ready to do lots of trips to the big giant hardware store
Make spokes for dirt bike wheels
Recondition Harley Davidson starter motors
Chrome plate Holden gear stick knobs
Import Maui Ultra Fins
Weld up exhaust couplings for pump motorsFit roof insulation
Sell cordless extension leads
Grow bonsai trees
Wreck lawn mowers
Cast uprated rotors for RC helicopters
Go to a newsagent, close your eyes, buy a random magazine. Open it on any page near the back, look at the smallest ad, then do exactly what they do but put an ad twice the size in two magazines.
If you want minimal outlay don't do anything, just put the ads and see how many people contact you. If nobody calls in a month move on to the next ad.
im looking for the same thing im on 28 - 28 and get sick of being around the house when there is no wind or swell. who are you working with seafeaver? there is always rig moves going on if you are an IR
How about making stone protectors to fit on boat trailors, all you need is basic welding skills, able to bend pipe and the items you need is shade clothe and aluminium to make it up with, lots of people travel long distance to fish and hols with their boat. To get some market exposure find paint shops that mainly do boats and try to get exposure to their clients, no one wants stone chips in a fresh painted boat. Cost would be around a couple hundred in materials and could sell them for close to 1k , a mate made one up and they realy look the part .
Thanks for the responses guys.
Shark/Sail hack/Meggsie: Not an I.R but close. Marine Dept on a rig. Spot on about the big bills but thats not hard these days. If you have worked offshore for a while you would remember the ups and downs. Getting laid off every couple of years is the norm for guys offshore as different companies bring rigs in and out of the country. They generally lay everyone off when they depart. One of the reasons i would like to start a small business is to have something ticking along on the side if i ever get laid off and stuggle to pick something else up. Certainly not looking for fulltime work on my time off. Just want to have a plan B. Not just for me but the family. I can happily live in a van but not with them at same time!!
Landyacht/Gizmo: Home handyman sounds good as I would have most of whats needed to start up. A couple of small adds would likely keep it tooling along with the ability to latter spend more on advertising to generate more work if required.Plus nothing goes stale. I have renovated a couple of houses and yachts and so am relatively competent over a range of areas. I guess if you get a job,go look at it and if its beyond your skill set you just say so and move on.Or refer to a "training" website such as http://thereifixedit.com/
Meggsie: Not real keen on staying at primary job as a second job. Either are my employers....something about double time /half the effort . Plus for reasons up the top.
Carrantoc: Too funny !! I will take on the bit about double the size of the add and may move into removing insulation. I hear its a growth industry.
Looks like I am a handyman.
Anyone want a squeeky hinge attended to??
Taking bookings!!!
Another idea for you...."Electrical Test & Tag"
I got my license when doing handyman work, an added benefit was to reduce my outgoing costs of complying to the law.
You don't need to be an electrician to get the license.
It ticks most of the boxes for a small buisness, ongoing work, good profits, not time critical, small ongoing costs (tags), smallish setup cost on outlay on test equipment, not location specific, good for your CV and future employment.
Start a financial pyramid scheme.
Sell AMWAY, Tupperware, AVON and the like.
Write books on.. "How to get rich by writing books"
Invest other peoples money so you get the proffit and they take the risk.
What about "digital TV aerial" supply and installer?
I don't think you'd need lots of equipment to set yourself up, and there's probably going to be a steady demand for a while. If it's windy, then it's too dangerous to be on a rooftop installing the mast. Win, win.
he has. He sold nutritional supplements through the internet.
The thing about the book is that it doesn't tell you to get rich, accumulate capital and retire early.
Instead, it advocates setting up small low intervention businesses that provide a modest income and allow you to restructure the way you live around it.
The book is about productivity, running a small business (and not meddling with it) and spending your leisure time on long cheap mini retirements.
**Affordable** windsurf rental business. All you need small van, 6-7 boards/sails. Sit out on the beach all day with a sign and some NP flags, must be visible and accessible to people who have gone to the beach without even realising they wanted to try windsurfing. Charge only what you need to cover costs, insurance etc. plus a tiny bit more.
Charge adults "full price" kids get to try for free. Read "new age of windsurfing" thread!
Then start selling Windsurf gear, and make some profit on that, after you've got people (and more importantly their kids) hooked.
Apparently a similar approach works for drug dealers...not too different really
Gotta beat mowing lawns!
...um I should add, no wind today and may have spent too long day dreaming on beach this afternoon
Think Real Estate, it is like sex. You should get as much of it as you possibly can while you are still young.
Dig your well before you get thirsty.
