Without a job? Want to start your own small business? Here’s an idea you might consider.

In these times of a tough economy, many people are losing their jobs. Most often, they start looking for a new job, but that can take time. One way to bring in a little money, or to supplement your income, is to perform a grocery shopping service for other people.

How to get started on a shoestring budget

If you can’t afford to spend a bunch of money on advertising, and most of us can’t, there are some other ways to get out the word about your grocery shopping business.

For one thing, if you have a printer and paper and ink, you can design some small flyers; I’d suggest at least 2 per sheet of paper, though you can do more. Then just walk around to targeted neighborhoods and hang flyers on the doors of the houses. One flyer per house, please. You’re going to be doing a lot of walking for this, and you should expect immediate results; it can take a few weeks, and sometimes a few thousand of the flyers delivered, before you begin to reel in the customers. Try not to lose heart in the meantime. Also, remember to target your neighborhoods; no offense is meant, but generally, lower income neighborhoods are not going to have people who can afford someone to do their grocery shopping. You need to target the better-off neighborhoods. Also, as an example, I’ve found senior citizens and those with a disability are more likely to need a grocery shopper than a young couple.

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Also, I’ll suggest visiting many of your local grocery stores. Talk to the managers. Let them know what you’re doing. Most stores will have some kind of community board where you can hang one of your flyers, but remember to ask at the front desk because many stores have some kind of rules for posting on their board. Most store managers will be happy to hear about your service because they sometimes get calls from customers wanting some to deliver groceries; if possible, leave a flyer with the manager and/or at the front desk so someone at the store will have your information to give to asking customers.

What should you have on your flyer? Keep it simple. A contact phone number and an e-mail. You don’t need to get specific, so keep it short and to the point, just let potential clients know you deliver groceries. If you want to get fancy, you can find one of the free Web site builders online and create your own little grocery shopping Web page.