Honor Services Business

Own a Real Business and Work Part Time

Honor services.

Of all the offline supplemental income ideas I have, this one is one of my favorites.



An honor service or bagel service business is perfect for a mom with limited free time who would like to earn money without hard selling.

I first learned about these services based on customer trust in a book called Freakonomics.



This fascinating book is a must read if you are interested in starting this type of business.

What is an Honor Service?
A business person will service other businesses with a box of consumable items, typically food. She will usually bring this food on a daily basis, along with a cash box.

A sign will indicate how much the products cost.

Patrons will purchase the food items and put their money into the cash box, on an honor basis. At the end of the day, the honor services business person will collect the leftover food and the money. The process starts over the following day.

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Bagel Service

One of the best products to feature in an honor service is a breakfast bagel.

You would arrange to purchase fresh bagels locally at a wholesale price.

Then you would put baskets together with bagels, cream cheese, and spreaders.

You would take these baskets to businesses that you work with and drop them off in the morning.

In early afternoon, you would collect the money and the leftover product.

That’s it!

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Other Business Ideas

Bagels aren’t the only product you can promote via an honor service. The only limit is your creativity. Here are some other ideas:

--Candy
Bringing a box of candy bars to a break room can be a good service to start if you are limited on time. This could be done 2-3 times per week instead of every day. This would work for locations without vending machines.

--Snacks
Snacks like chips, crackers, and jerky would go over well in a break room also. Again, you could do this on a limited basis, maybe 2-3 times per week.

--Sandwiches
Not a morning person? What about delivering sandwiches near lunch time? You could add chips and cookies too.

--Personal Crafts
You could get really creative and offer personal crafts like Christmas tree ornaments occasionally. You could either bring the products and set up a cash box, or just a sample product with an order form.

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What Businesses Need Honor Services?

Many businesses would be willing to put an honor service basket in their break room. It is a proven fact that eating breakfast makes you more productive, and business owners and managers would be happy to have their employees stay at the office for a break instead of running across the street to pick something up.

Contact medium sized businesses, say 20-50 employees. Let them know that the service is free to the business, and that if there is theft you will absorb the costs, that the business would not be responsible.

Put each business on a trial program; if it doesn’t work out, you do not need to leave your product there.

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How Honest are People?

Wondering just how honest people are? You’d be surprised.

In small to medium sized offices, you can expect to get paid about 95% of the time.

This will vary by location, so if you find theft to be high in one office, pull your products from it.

Usually theft is of the product, not the money, but occasionally you will have a less than scrupulous person try to take money from the cash box, or to take the cash box entirely.

This is rare, but can happen.

Will you lose some money?

Yes.
That is just a fact of life.

But, overall, it should be a small percentage.

The Cash Box
It is important that you have a good locking cashbox for each of your baskets. You can make a simple wooden box at home.

Just cut a slit at the top for customers to put their money into, and make sure that you put a lock on your box.

Just the presence of an legitimate cash box makes most people realize that they do indeed need to pay for their bagels, and deters theft.

Occasionally you might find an “IOU” note in the box.


Starting an Honor Services business can be inexpensive and an excellent way to earn supplemental income.

It does not need to be complex, you do not need employees, and it can be quite profitable. Keep in mind that it does require a commitment and should be treated as a job and not a hobby.


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