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Toronto is a great place to live, with excellent shopping, thousands of restaurants and cafes to enjoy a fantastic meal, and countless activities at any hour, from strolling through parks, catching a movie or concert, to watching live sports. The city’s appeal is reflected in its population growth, which increased by around 35 percent between 2001 and 2022, from about 4.9 million to more than 6.6 million, according to Statista.
However, working in Toronto isn’t always so good, especially in this economy. Fortunately, whether you want to expand your horizons by starting your own business in Toronto or simply making some extra money, there are options that won’t cost a fortune to start.
“When your environment is clean you feel happy motivated and healthy.”
— Lailah Gifty Akita
Steps for Setting Up A Cleaning Business
Being a cleaner may sound like low-pay drudge work, if you work as a maid for some cut-rate cleaning services, you’d be right. But if you work as your own boss, things start looking up, and everyone needs something cleaned.
First, you have to decide what you want to clean and the hours you are willing to work. If you have children or an active social life in the evenings, cleaning houses during the day when people are at work is a good choice. If you’re willing to work in the evenings, leaving your day free, cleaning offices is right up your alley.
With cleaning, you need three things, a willingness to get dirty, basic cleaning supplies, and insurance. You need insurance in case you get hurt on the job or you damage something, you don’t want to have to pay for a broken Ming vase out of your own pocket. For cleaning supplies, you will need the same things you’d use around your own house, along with dust rags. And, if you’re working in an office, a vacuum cleaner, broom, mop, etc.
The next thing to consider is how much to charge. You can charge by the hour or by the square foot, if you’re cleaning a large office, charging by the foot is the better option, usually fifty cents per square foot, with houses it’s generally be the hour. If you charge by the hour, $25 an hour is the usual amount, for regular cleaning, vacuuming, dusting, washing dishes, sweeping, changing the garbage, etc. If you have to do more, charge more anywhere from one dollar to ten dollars more. You can offer a discount if the person agrees to hire you for a set number of times a month, or pays in advance, usually a five-dollar discount is good enough.
Here’s a good video guide on how to start a cleaning service business:
“Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.” – Seth Godin
Selling things on eBay and Craigslist as a business is very good for people who want to keep their day job, but it is possible to turn it into a full-time career.
A city the size of Toronto is particularly good for this business as you can scour the city looking through thrift stores, yard sales, auctions and eBay and Craigslist looking for deals and reselling them for more money. The key here is to pick items you know a lot about so you can get the best deal possible.
Buying used appliances and fixing them up to sell for a profit, searching through thrift stores for expensive clothes, particularly women’s clothing, and surprisingly cars that just need a bit of work to get them running again, are three of the best areas with the biggest profit margins.
The big part of this business is knowing how to bargain, and that you enjoy shopping. You’ll be spending quite a bit of time wandering through yard sales, flea markets, and online ads, looking for one or two items that you know you can sell for a profit.
“Teaching is the highest form of understanding.” – Aristotle
Tutoring is one of the most profitable part-time businesses you can start, and if you get enough students, you can easily earn a nice living doing it.
You need at least a bachelor’s degree, to tutor, but if you are very knowledgeable about a subject it is possible to get by without a degree, however, your client base will be more limited until you can prove your qualifications. You will also not be able to get as much for your time as a tutor with a degree.
With tutoring, you have a wide list of choices to choose from, starting with who you will tutor. Tutoring young children in the basics, high school students, college students and adults, requires different skills and attitudes.
Generally, you can make more money from teaching high school students, as their parents are willing to spend the money to make sure they get into a good college. But adults and college students are generally easier to teach, and you can usually get a small group of primary school students into one teaching session raising your overall take-home profits.
When you first start tutoring, without a degree you can expect to make between fifteen and twenty dollars an hour. With a bachelor’s degree, it goes to twenty to thirty dollars an hour. If you have a Masters, you can make thirty, forty, or even sixty dollars an hour.
As you gain experience and a reputation you can eventually double your fees. One thing you will need to do is offer the first class for free, this is pretty standard and lets the parents or students know you can do the job.
The best part about tutoring is you only need some basic supplies, maybe a workbook, and if you tutor at the student’s home a car or bike.
“If your world doesn’t allow you to dream, move to one where you can.” – Billy Idol
This business requires a large van or truck, but if you already have one it’s easy to start up a hauling business. There will always be things to take away, either to the dump, a new home, between businesses, or even just across the street, but not everyone has the right equipment, time or energy.
A hauling business isn’t as easy as putting something into a truck and driving away. If you want to keep things very simple you can charge by the piece, if it’s a simple job, with only a few easy-to-move items, this is best to do if you’re taking something to the local dump or junkyard or somewhere in the same area.
However, if the job is much bigger or you’re driving across Toronto you have to judge how much time it will take to do the job, will you pack everything up and take it away yourself, or will it be waiting for you? How far do you have to travel, and how much gas will it take? Will you have heavy traffic or an easy ride? And so on. This is why most hauling businesses get as much information as possible and then make a quote.
Another thing you will need is insurance, not only for your vehicle but your business, in case someone gets hurt or something is damaged as you’re driving.
“Show me a kid with a temper and I’ll show you a kid in pain. It’s the same as those rescue dogs, enough ill-treatment and they start acting this way. The only cure is love, patience, and kindness, so that’s what we “babysitters” did, we sat there and loved them until their storm became a welcoming breeze.” – Angela Abraham
In Ontario, you can babysit up to five unrelated children without having a daycare license. If you have a large home and love children this is a definite business niche for you, especially if you are willing to babysit in the late afternoon or early evening.
Since children as young as four are in school all day, licensed daycare centers have had trouble staying open as the children they used to take care of are now in school. So many parents have trouble finding daycare centers to watch their kids after school. This has opened up the way for smaller businesses to fill in the gaps.
Out of all the businesses, this is the one that requires the most planning and attention. You have to have activities for the children, snacks and drinks prepared, and a plan to show parents. You also need to deal with problems from boredom, temper tantrums, and injuries, and you definitely need insurance and a first aid course. But if you have the patience and are good with children, it could be right for you.
The average rate for babysitting and unlicensed daycare in Toronto is about 16 dollars an hour per child. The more experience you have, and the more activities you provide will raise the price, but for a start this is about right.
“Virtual Assistants are the secret weapons of successful people.” – Tim Ferris
As a virtual assistant, you get to work from home, and you don’t need much to start other than a good computer, access to a scanner, printer and fax machine, and a good phone. You personally need to be organized, have great phone and email skills, and be able to respond quickly to requests.
Toronto is a good place to work, as even though you work from home, for some reason, many people like to know the person they’re hiring is close by. So it gives you a step up compared to other virtual assistants who live across the country.
A lot of companies that provide virtual assistants say you need lots of special skills that only they can provide. This is not true. Most of this work involves contacting people by phone and email, maintaining databases, setting up travel arrangements, and making sure your client is kept up to date on appointments and schedules.
The most important thing to remember as a virtual assistant is to set a clear schedule for when you are at work. Some clients will try to contact you at all hours, and you could easily fall into the trap of working for free at 3 am because of an emergency.
As a virtual assistant with no experience except personal time management, you should expect a minimum of 15 dollars an hour. If you have some experience as a secretary, personal assistant or running your own business previously, 20 to 35 dollars an hour is a good starting point.
So, there are six businesses you can start tomorrow with very little money down, and the hardest part will simply be marketing yourself. This is where living in Toronto is an advantage as you have 8 million potential customers and clients, all you have to do is reach them.
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