It takes money to make money?

[meem]

It would seem so! I was a legal secretary for 20 years (family law and bankruptcy). My ongoing search to find legal assistant jobs near my new (rented) home in Sun City has turned up only a few jobs for which I am perfectly well qualified, but only in the City of Riverside, CA, some 30 miles away. These jobs pay $9.00/10.00 an hour, the rate at which I was being paid when I started in the field in 1992. With gas prices nearing $4.00 a gallon, my "over qualification," the huge four year gap in my resume, and hearing disability, I am not likely to secure one of these jobs. No help there.

Roughly a year ago I decided, with 20 years experience transcribing for lawyers to my credit, I could start a "virtual" transcriptionist business. I bought the transcription software and USB pedal, a copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking, I already owned MS Word and purchased a copy of WordPerfect, built a good website and got it up and running. Within a few months I received a few jobs transcribing one-on-one interviews for some psychology students who saw my local "Super Pages" ad (no help from the website). The quality of the audio some of the students sent me, however, was horrendous (like recorded from inside a 50 gallon drum). I am a Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) sufferer, which causes me to be unable to discern certain frequencies and makes it impossible to transcribe all but the clearest of audio. I was forced to turn away some of the referrals due to my hearing disability. I no longer get referrals and have given up on what could have been a great home business where it not for my disability. No help there either.

A year ago I made the decision to go to Real Estate School. I completed the course and passed the state test last June. I have paid quite a hefty sum in professional fees and costs and for materials and supplies and have spent quite a bit of my time doing "floor time" and showing properties and, to date, have not made one penny. While I am not giving up on real estate, I need to find a steady revenue stream that actually pays!

Long ago my father said, "Do what you love and the money will follow."

I've been quilting off and on for 30 years and doing a lot of it recently with all my free time! I post a lot of my work on my Facebook page. Everybody loves my quilts and say I should go into business. On researching that idea, I find that one cannot make anything sewing and selling quilts. Making a quilt can take weeks. It simply is not worth my time to make a beautiful quilt and sell it for $200.00. However, one can make a pretty dandy living quilting other people's quilt tops, if one happens to have a "Long-arm quilting machine" with which to do it. These machines range in price (new) from $6,000.00 to $45,000.00 depending on the bells and whistles. I want one. My husband says, "You can want all day if you've a mind to." I even went to the SBA and had a meeting with a mentor. I felt he was laughing at me and saying (not in so many words, "Go back to your needle and thread, lady."

The "money will follow" the money you put up front, right? Where does that money come from? What came first, the chicken or the egg? Right now, I don't have either.

I even tried Ebay, but again takes money to make money. I've tried raising dogs in the past, but nowadays there are too many dogs on death row, so my conscience forbade me. I had a horse rescue for a time and saved 4 of them, before going broke. However, it was for the joy of caring for these noble creatures that I did it. I am and will always be eternally grateful to God for the opportunity, however brief. Rescuing horses is a labor of love, not a money maker. I fell off a prospective rescue last December, completely severing my Anterior Cruciate Ligament. Reconstruction surgery took place last month and I'm just now able to walk with one crutch. Horses are no longer an option for me.

So I'm frustrated and confused and depressed. I'm almost 53 years old and have no way of making a living.

Last night I prayed a fervent prayer that our Lord, should He be so inclined, take me and make me into whatever it is He wants me to be. The world we live in is looming large and cold and I feel lost in it. I begged Him to help me find my way. Today, while looking for ideas, I happened upon this site (christianpf.com) and there on the front page was the "Dan Liston" video with the words written upon it, "Trust Him with your life and He will show you the way." I watched the video and, by the end of it, was in tears. Our Lord is mighty indeed and our prayers do not go unanswered, although sometimes the answer is no. I am reminded that God's ways are not our ways, and that "still small voice" is not easily heard (although this morning it seemed as though it was screaming). But if we hold fast to our faith and "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding," and "in all your ways acknowledge Him, He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5,6)

I thank and bless the Lord for guiding my hand to this site this morning.

What are your thoughts?

[4jacks]

Wow meem, that is a really rough story, my heart certainly goes out to you. I can only imagine your frustration at being 53 and still struggling to find your career path.

My wife had similar struggles finding her career path, she tried many things and nothing panned out. We finally signed her up for the CareerDirect test that Crown Financial offers. It was $45. The results were good and while working through the results we came to Pharmacy Technician and she really loves that.

Putting the emotional aspects aside (As us men so easily do) and just looking at this from a analytical outside perspective, I would recommend the following:
1) For right now, try to get a job waiting tables or delivering pizza. (Easy job to get and the pay is decent)
2) Save up the $45-60 and take a really good career assesment test, something that will offer a lot of suggested career paths.
or
3) Save up the $3,000 plus to buy a good USED Quilting do-hicky machine.

[KrozFan]

Have you done market research for your business idea? Would you get enough business to make a living. I'm not sure how much it costs to do the quilting, but let's say you would make $100/job. How many jobs would you expect to have. If you had 5/week that would be 260/year, which would be $26,000 minus whatever costs you have associated with it. That's not a lot of money. But is that a reasonable amount of business to expect? Would it really be 2-3x as busy? I have relatives who make quilts and have them professionally quilted at the end, but don't know how busy the quilter is.

[Rodrigz]

Dear Meem:

The most touching aspect of your story is that you already have the answer. He Who lives in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4) You walk with one crutch yet stand in victory because you have casted your burden on the Lord knowing He will sustain you. (Psalm 55:22)

Scripture tells us that those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. (Isaiah 40:31) Sometimes we try many things on our own and realize we are not walking with God. I am guilty of this. Of course we need to take actions, but these should be supported by prayer and faith.

I agree with your father in doing what you love and the money will follow. This is easy to say and hard to implement when we watch our bills pile up. But in Malachi 3:10, the Lord tells us to bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

All this may sound idealistic to most but as Christians, we testify nothing is impossible for God. You might not be aware that what you wrote is not only a request for input but also testimony that God is with you. If you are walking with one crutch, I’m assuming you were using two before. Rejoice!

Sounds like you have many talents so please do not be frustrated. Matthew tells us in Chapter 6 not to worry and that your heavenly Father knows what you need. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Finally, Meem, 53 is just a number. We live in God’s economy despite what is going on in the world. Have faith and please remember the Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first (Job 42:12) after Job went through a difficult trial.

Thanks for sharing your story because it inspired me to look within my own heart. Perhaps we can edit your post title. It takes grace, faith and the favor of God to prosper.

I will pray for your steady revenue.

[Gary Barzel]

Meem, while you have not had much success in the past, you sure are a living example of what it means to follow your passion. I think many people can learn from you that just because one fails does not mean one has to give up. On the contrary you seem to have an inner drive that doesn't let up so easily, which is an amazing quality. You are definitely doing the right thing, and I think you are that much closer to success. You have a learned some important lessons from your failures, and one can only succeed if they have failed in the past and learned from those failures. I would suggest you look at all your talents and seek out a profitable and existing niche. Once you do that, study that niche and try to find something that is not working so well or that can use some sort of improvement. Create a product or service that caters to that problem and you have yourself a niche that can be very profitable.