While this doesn’t exactly fall under the category of running your own business, it is a nice way to pick up a little bit of extra income. There are many companies that offer Mystery Shopping jobs. Here is a list of a bunch of them to get you started. It’s really great. You get to go to a store, restaurant, hotel, apartment complex, etc… and buy something, eat, or whatever makes sense depending on the store, and what they want you to check out. You then report back to the company, letting them know about the service you received, the food (if it’s a restaurant), and things like that. In turn, you get a small fee, or a product (if a store), or food (if it’s a restaurant).  Sometimes you get the food and a small fee, which makes it even nicer.
While it in no way could replace an income, it is a nice way to get a free meal, or pick up a few extra dollars every now and then. You can choose the ones you’d like to do, based on their availability.Â
Personally, I enjoy doing the restaurant ones. It’s nice to get a free meal every now and then, plus I like the fact that I can report back on the service to make sure that the restaurants are offering good service. I have to admit though, more often than not, the servers are all very kind, and I have very rarely had a problem while doing a mystery shop.Â
So while this can’t exactly replace an income…while you are starting up your business, here is a way to get out for a little while, and earn a little bit of money.
