I’m not sure what the difference is. A part-time job seems simpler.
Setting your own schedule, significantly fewer hours, no boss, no having to go to a specific office/shop, no coworkers…
It sounds like you’d have to be a good networker or marketer to get your name out widely enough for people to use you. I think most people would go to their bank or UPS office before contacting a random person to do some notary work. I’m not sure how I’d even lookup someone who does notary on the side. Craigslist? Task Rabbit? Even then, it seems like a lot of hassle to try to coordinate with a random notary. Even if a solo notary was free, I’d rather go to a UPS store and pay $15 to avoid all the back and forth messages to coordinate a time and place with the solo notary.
In order to do it without set hours/location , it would almost have to be as a mobile notary and require some form of advertising. I’m not going to bother with trying to make an appointment with a notary when I can go to the real estate/travel agent/UPS store during their business hours without an appointment. If I were homebound, that would be a different story.
Well obviously, that’s been said repeatedly in this thread including by me early on and OP long ago gave up on this dream. OP also doesn’t want another office job nor did they ask for such advice even if we perceive that it would be easier.
The OP describes himself as an introvert, but that works against the self-promotion necessary in a role such as a freelance notary public. I really think being an employee and letting the employer deal with all of the hassle would be bettter.
Google found me a local notary within walking distance of my house. My bricks and mortar bank didn’t offer notary services. I see that some notaries have web pages, but mine did not. Honestly, the real problem is that the maximum charge isn’t substantial. It makes sense as a UPS store service or a lawyer service or a side-gig by an accountant or a car rental place. I’m not sure what else my notary did: he worked out of his house.
Back in, I wanna say 2009, 13-year old Kayla wanted to audition for American Idol. The requirements for her to be entered included a notarized permission slip from her mother and me. We had to hunt down a mobile notary in order to obtain that document. And yes, it was a bit spendy.
I wonder if performing a notarization service at notarization rates would count as billable hour at law firm rates…
I also wonder if the Dope has as many notaries (and former notaries) as Mensa members.
When I was much younger I remember seeing people with a “notary” shingle hanging outside of their house. I haven’t seen that in decades.
In our town the zoning fanatics have been going after these kind of businesses operating out of residential properties. You can fly under the radar if you don’t have a sign.
There used to be a sign for a Justice of the Peace & Notary Public on the main street that we live off of. But it disappeared a few years ago. They are still offering these services, just no sign. There was a blow-up when the town went after (ironically) a guy operating a sign-making business out of his garage or shed. There was also a metal working shop on the same street with a sign. There was a contention that the town was going after blue-collar businesses but not white collar ones.
Heck, in our subdivision in Atlanta in the 1990s they were going after people who had home offices and were telecommuting back then before there was even such a term (in common use at least).
Former notary here.
Never an aspiring, current or former Mensa member.
Sheesh. What did they do during the pandemic? Crack down on all the office workers working from home?
Were they going after people who were telecommuting as we use the word today,where office workers who aren’t public facing are making phone calls, sending emails, etc from home or were they going after people running home-based businesses with a fair amount of customer traffic , like a hair salon in the garage? Because I’ve heard of towns/HOAs going after the latter plenty but I’ve never heard of them going after people who worked from home answering customer service calls or transcribing medical or legal records.
The latter, but it was a really bad HOA. There was a guy who was a lawyer. During the first few weeks of the pandemic a few of us who were neighbors there 30 years ago and are still in a WhatsApp group were joking that everyone would be in trouble now in that subdivision.
I’m sure the rules have been updated by now.
One woman was a lawyer and when she had a child she was doing some work from home. She had a second phone line installed to keep home and business life separate. Cell phones were still not common. The second phone line was “evidence” that she was conducting business from the home.
There was a CPA who had lots of clients coming over nights and weekends during tax season. That I could see being an issue, but most of what I saw was just petty tyranny.