Possible new source of income. Advice?

So most of you know that I fix computers out of my house to support my family. One of the services we offer is VHS to DVD. I have been doing this locally but never gave any thought to doing his online. I am thinking about offering the same survice but now offering it online. Basically people could ship the tapes to me I convert them and ship them back. I would cover the cost of shipping back and maybe cover shipping both ways. The cost for conversion would be about $10/hr including shipping. The conversion process is done in real time meaning if you have 10 hours of video it would take a minimum of 10 hours to convert.

My concern about this is the shipping not so much the cost but the reliability of the the company I would be using for shipping. I wouldn’t want things getting lost in the mail so to speak.  I have been doing this for many years and hae a great system down for doing this. I’m just limited by my local demographic. I never really thought of doing it this way.

I received a call from a gentleman today looking for this service and so it got me thinking about expanding. What do you guys think about this? Any ideas, suggestions or concerns? This is a great method for me to bring in money because it’s fairly simple and allows for flexibility of hours. This allows me to physically take care of my family in more ways then one. The process is mostly automated so I can be with the kids and work at the same time.

What do you think?

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Rob Gorski

Full time, work from home single Dad to my 3 amazing boys. Oh...and creator fo this blog. :-)
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Lost and Tired

Thank you ladies. I have been doing this for a few years but only when someone asks me about it. I never actively perused this much. My only real concern is the shipping and transit. I'm not sure how to handle that. I do think this is a good idea and I think it could work. I just need to figure some things out and go from there.

Thanks so much for the advice and help.

Nikky

I would suggest fed ex… 😉 but fed ex ground is our family's shipping company (we have a family member who works there 🙂 )

MrsStuartD

I think it's a great idea Rob! Some things to consider would be making sure you have a clear contract of the transaction before agreeing to work with anyone. In the contract I would include that you are not responsible for any loss or damage that may occur during shipping and also let them know about any quality gain or loss (if any) during the encoding process. I think financially it makes sense and is something you can absolutely take on! Also maybe outline the company you plan to ship with and explain the packaging you will provide to ensure their product arrives as safely as possible.

Allison

You would just have to insure the packages you ship. Make sure you have a tracking number and insurance and it should be all good. Good luck!