Part-time dreams

of full-time riches

"Make $30,000, $40,000, even $50,000 a year working from home!" We've all seen the promises of easy cash plastered on magazine covers and telephone poles. How many of us are willing to confess we've taken the bait?

As a lifelong entrepreneur in the making, I've fallen for more of those working at home schemes than I care to remember. But all I have to do is look around my house to see the remnants of my failed attempts at making full-time money for part-time labor.

I still have the full mauve palette of color from Mary Kay in lip, nail and eye products, a private library of DK Books dealing with every subject known to modern man from electricity to holy places, and Tupperware totes of blank order forms from Heritage International, the company which sells tony collectibles and dreams of financial independence.

My cousin Debbie actually proved that the Mary Kay road to success was indeed lined with pink Cadillacs. She built her business from her pink Formica kitchen table and went on to drive her rolling trophy for selling 50 gazillion bottles of Day Radiance and building her own network of beauty consultants.

Ah, but the price she had to pay for success. She now has a standing appointment with a chiropractor to recover her posture after years of being weighed down by rhinestone stars, bees, and baubles, Mary Kay's status symbols for big sellers. Debbie finally threw in the towel with the toners five years ago when her children refused to eat one more Happy Meal on the road while she made her deliveries. Ever the self starter, she is now a bridal consultant and wedding planner.

The home-based business schemes that run through my head and those of my friends are countless. Just this past summer, one of my buddies conceived of opening an indoor play center for little tykes. She had the dimensions, the theme, pricing, hours and party protocol meticulously outlined on paper. All that was missing was the money.

Then there was the pillow empire. "Why not create beautiful, decorative pillows in my spare time to sell at craft fairs and upscale boutiques?" I thought. I have the sewing machine, yards of fabric, pillow forms and fiberfill just waiting to be marketed. Tomorrow, perhaps.

Party planner, caterer, free-lance photographer, puppeteer, pet- sitter...the ideas just keep coming, but there always seems to be a roadblock.

Deadlines, regular j-o-b-s, sick kids, messy houses, car pools, grocery shopping... So little time to fulfill those entrepreneurial dreams.

"I wish I could work from home," commented my friend Sandy, just the other day. "How about stuffing envelopes or reading books part-time," I suggested.

"I hear you can make $20,000, $30,000, even $40,000 year."

Back to the Top of the PageBack to the Weekend Home Page