More find second jobs, start offbeat businesses to pay the bills

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - Linda Callaway is a part-time pet detective. Lisa Roby offers Teddy bear stuffing parties to children. Michelle Angell sells used household items on eBay. And Shaun Leeper commutes 70 miles three days a week to a second part-time job.

They are among a growing number of people who are attempting to shore up their family's finances through second jobs or new, often innovative, businesses.

"People are trying to take anything to make ends meet in the short run," said Suzanne O'Keefe, an associate professor of economics at California State University, Sacramento. "The Internet has allowed people to do a lot of things without a lot of start-up money."

O'Keefe said that although she knows of no statistics on so-called "necessity entrepreneurship," she's heard of it anecdotally.

"Even when the economy is doing poorly, there is opportunity," she said. "People still want services, want someone to watch kids, clean house or mow their lawns."

Callaway realized her opportunity by starting a pet detective agency. The Realtor found herself short on cash as homes moved slowly in the down market. So, she started a business finding lost pets with her four coonhounds _ Cocoa Bean, Moses, Solomon and Tulip.

"It's been very helpful because I have high vet bills," Callaway said. "At Christmas time I had to spend $260 on vet bills and I said, 'I better get another tracking job to pay for this.'"

The 61-year-old woman says she can be found most weekends hanging tightly to the leash of an excited hound, hot on the scent of a missing dog.

For Roby, a single mother of two, the time to start a small business came in October when she lost her advertising job.

She is among the 9.3 percent of Californians who are unemployed, according to figures released recently by the California Employment Development Department.

So, while she's job hunting, she has started Teddy Bears To Go. Modeled after mall stores where children stuff, clothe and accessorize toy bears, unicorns and other such creatures, Roby's business is marketed as an activity for children's parties.

"It's the most wonderful job I've ever done," Roby said. "It's so rewarding."

Shaun Leeper of Rocklin, Calif., falls in the category of those who are cobbling together multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet. A U.S. Department of Labor report says the number of involuntary part-time workers is on the rise, people who work less than 35 hours a week because their hours were reduced or they are unable to find full-time work.

In November, 7.3 million people in the United States were involuntary part-time workers, up by 3.4 million in April 2006.

For four years, Leeper has been a part-time recreational leader at Kids Junction, a before- and after-school program. But the pay wasn't enough to keep up with the rising cost of gas and tuition at California State University-Sacramento.

Beautifully Designed Prayer Cards Now 15% Off

So the 23-year-old works three days a week at Maytag as a salesperson. The job was four days a week until recently.

"With the economy, the store is now closed on Sunday," Leeper said.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

In December, 961,000 Californians worked part-time involuntarily. They comprise 5.6 percent of the employed, a 41.7 percent increase over December 2007, according to the EDD.

A U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that while the number of people in the United States with multiple jobs has held steady at 5.2 percent for the last three years, it's been on the increase in California. In 2006, 4.2 percent of California held multiple jobs. That number increased to 4.5 percent in 2008.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

Like other state workers faced with furloughs, Debbie Cunningham of Elk Grove, Calif., is looking for ways to make up for the lost pay.

She says she'll go back to selling antique glass on the Internet, a side business she had when she started with the state.

Cunningham, 44, said she doesn't expect to make a lot of money online. So she plans to forgo vacations and dining out.

"It's a lifestyle change," she said of the furloughs. "It's not going to break me."

Still, many families find a side income makes it easier to cover monthly expenses.

Michelle Angell of Elk Grove is a stay-at-home mother of four and wife of a firefighter, who began selling items on eBay 10 years ago.

"It started out as a hobby, and now it's getting near the end of the month, and we need gas money," Angell said.

"If it hasn't been used for a long time, it goes on eBay," she said. "If I'm tired of looking at it, it goes on eBay."

Angell says she makes between $10 and $1,000 a month selling used household goods on eBay.

___

© 2009, The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.).