A Tale of Two (Potential) Businesses

My current teaching jobs are very sporadic. I'm working a lot right now, but when these classes are done, there's no way to predict if I'll have any more. It drives me crazy that I don't have a reliable income. I've looked at other jobs, but they either A) pay half of what I'm used to B) want full time work C) want someone with a Master's Degree.

I really like doing my digital photo albums, and I've had people tell me I should turn it into a business. I love teaching, and I've done that as a side business before (reading tutor). This time, I'm thinking about German, geared to home schoolers (I think I kicked this idea around a few years ago, too, but never went anywhere with it). Both ideas have pros and cons.

Photo Album Business Pros/Cons

• Pros: Fun, creative, potentially lucrative, most of the work could be done at home on my own.
• Cons: higher start up costs (a lap top and flatbed scanner would be nice, but at the very least, I'd need sample books, brochures, advertising), dealing with picky clients who have a different "style" than I do (Bridezillas, eek!), finding those clients in first place and selling them on my product. I'm not so much a salesman. Also, creating those images can be very time consuming, which cuts into the profit margin.

German Tutoring Pros/Cons

• Pros: Fun, creative (in totally different ways from above), potentially lucrative, most of the work done at home, much lower start up costs (business cards & flyers but mostly word of mouth advertising), I already have lots of materials created.
• Cons: If I had classes here at the house, the house would have to be immaculate all the time (Jeff would say that's a pro, heh). I don't know if I could get enough students on a consistent basis. Dealing with groups of kids can sometimes be frustrating. Also, do the parents drop off and come back later or what? I'd want to get a babysitter to watch my kids while I had classes (although I'd pay a bit less per hour, since I'd still be home).
  

Both ventures would require me to keep very good records. I can do that. I'm not good at keeping the house tidy, but if it's part of a job, I can be very anal.

One of our neighbors is a homeschooling mom who teaches music--in fact, Sarah's probably going to start taking recorder lessons from her, because I can't do much more with her. I could get some input from her on how she sets her stuff up, if she worries about liability insurance, etc.

Right now, I'm spending more time thinking about how to make the German classes work than the photo albums. I think I'd still do albums for spare cash if I knew someone that wanted them, but I think I'm going with what I know, and what I know I can do, at this point. Wish me luck!