25 Best Business Ideas for Social Workers to Make Money

There are indeed business ideas for Social workers to make money.

This article reveals 25 of the very best such Social workers business ideas for making money.

 

Importance

Each of us has a unique personality.

Our personalities are formed based on our environment, upbringing, experiences, genetics, etc.

Some of us are outgoing and some of us are introverted.

Some of us are energetic while some of us are less than energetic.

Some of us are aggressive and some of us are passive.

The list goes on and on and the beauty of each of these different personalities is that separately we are on our own but together, similar to the different parts of the body, we each serve a function and have a role to play.

Another major difference between individuals is that some of us like to be independent and feel that we are on our own and we need to make it ourselves in this world.

On the other, some individuals are extremely sympathetic and empathetic and with those characteristics involve themselves in the lives of others.

This involvement is done on a personal as well as a professional level.

One of those individual professions that are engaged in helping others is the social service worker.

Being a social service worker can be a draining process and perhaps there comes a time when other business opportunities will be explored.

Let us help those individuals and be involved with their lives by looking at other business ideas for social workers to make money.

 

25 Best Business Ideas for Social Workers 

 

1. What Is a Social Worker?

The social worker is a committed and caring professional who has the educational qualifications and the experience to significantly interact with others in their community to be equal to the social challenges that those individuals are facing.

The specific segment of the population that these dedicated professionals interact with and assist practically includes seniors, families, children, etc.

The practical advice and expertise offered by the social workers to these individuals are in the areas of addiction, individuals discharged from hospitals, abusive relationships, etc.

The social worker will do case management, assess the situation, and then either help the individual themselves or link them to other community resources.

 

2. Consultant

As an experienced social service worker, a good business opportunity would be in the area of being a consultant.

Owning a consulting business would allow you to utilize your social service acumen and experience but instead of helping specific individuals, your role would be to help other social service agencies or agencies.

You would be invited to review processes, interact with social service workers, assess the morale of the organization or department, review the work of the social service professionals, etc.

Upon the completion of your consultation, you would provide a written report and not only report your findings but offer any practical assistance to help strengthen all areas of the services provided.

 

3. Author

Another business opportunity that might present itself to you as a professional involved in the provision of social services to others and their community would be to author a book about your involvement.

The focus of your book could be on your journey as a social services professional and could be somewhat autobiographical but also provide insight to peers on handling certain situations.

Also, you could sprinkle case studies or instances that occurred in your professional life.

Of course, anonymity would be paramount, or get permission, but you could speak in generalities.

 

4. Teaching

As a social worker and possibly having an advanced degree, you can also be a teacher.

Your teaching, if you hold a Masters’s degree in social work, could be as a lecturer or part-time professor in the area of teaching social work.

This teaching could be done in a physical classroom setting or you can teach others through technology with the online process.

 

5. Hospital

A business idea that incorporates a change of social services environment or roles is by becoming a social services worker at a hospital.

A social service worker in a hospital concentrates more on providing practical assistance and insight to patients who have been discharged from the hospital.

Part of that practical assistance would include providing to the discharged patients a practical support group to be discharged to if the individual is homeless arrangements at a shelter or residential home is made available for that individual, ensuring certain medical equipment is provided, etc.

 

6. Victim Services

A rewarding business idea for a social worker would be to interact with traumatized victims of crime.

There are many types of crimes that are perpetrated upon businesses and in particular people.

When an individual is involved with a criminal, there can be severe physical trauma but also severe emotional and mental trauma.

As a social worker, you can be involved with these individuals to not only help them to sort through this horrific experience but also provide practical assistance.

For example, if a woman is battered you can interact with her and her children and be of assistance in any way to possibly reduce the traumatic effects of the experience.

As a practical aspect of your role, you could help the woman in transitioning to a battered women’s shelter and continually follow up with her if the shelter did not have access to a social services worker.

 

7. Tutor

Also, you could take up the role of tutoring and can tutor others who are taking social services classes.

One such website that you can register at is TutorMe.

You can also help students progress to become certified social workers and obtain their licenses, such as the ASWB (Association of Social Work Boards) exam

You could provide tutoring services.

 

8. Police Work

You could contract with the city or the police department in providing your service to victims of crime.

This would be a demanding job as crime does not keep regular business hours.

In working with the city police department, you would be on call and would be engaged with a victim of crime to help them work through the trauma initially and on an ongoing basis until such time that the individual was able to obtain long-term care.

A possibility for funding for the city to provide to you for your service could be part of the Crimes Stoppers Fund.

 

9. Bookmobile

Your commitment as a social services worker is to increase the quality of life of your clients and customers.

One particular area of helping individuals move on from any particular negative lifestyle that they are wrapped up in or relationships that are destructive is through knowledge.

A possibility of helping individuals work through these issues and providing them with knowledge is through the provision of books.

A potential business enterprise to be involved with that brings into play your social services experience in education is the service of providing a bookmobile.

Some grants can be obtained to start this bookmobile enterprise as well as soliciting help from the community through financial donations and the donation of used and new books.

It is the old concept of giving a person a fish and they will eat it that day but teach them how to fish and they will eat it for a lifetime.

So it is with educating individuals to remove themselves from situations and understand the destructiveness of addictions and relationships that they find themselves in.

 

10. Nursing Home Social Worker

A much-needed social work business today as it relates to our aging population is being a nursing home social worker.

This critical role as an advocate for seniors would concern itself with the patient’s medical, social, emotional, and physical care.

By being a nursing home social worker, you would take on the role within the nursing home facility of ensuring that the residents were provided for and be an advocate for that individual not only with the institution and the system but with their families as well.

 

11. School Social Work

Upon receiving your undergraduate degree and then moving on to obtaining your Masters in social work, psychology, or counseling, you can begin to provide the service of school counseling.

Being a school counselor you can work with young people throughout the educational system.

Through your work and insight, you can help the students maintain their mental health and assist them with any social or developmental disabilities that they may have or any abusive living environment that they may be subjected to.

 

12. Legal Witness

In the court system, often expert witnesses are called to provide testimony as it relates to their profession and being an authority in that area.

You could provide to the legal system and specifically defense lawyers as well as prosecuting attorneys your expertise by serving as an expert witness.

For example, if there was a particular situation within a family’s home involving children and whether the home life was conducive to the upbringing of those children, you could be called upon to provide a professional assessment and then take the witness stand and offer your expert evaluation.

For more information, you can log onto this site.

 

13. Professional Blogger

As a social services worker, you could provide a beneficial business service to your peers and other interested individuals by blogging.

Topics of discussion on your blog could include talking about case studies in generalities, the latest techniques as it relates to interacting with clients, new articles that have been published, etc.

Financial support could come from your followers, gaining a sponsor for your blogging site, or through affiliate advertising.

To set up your blog site you can use a website such as Bluehost.com.

 

14. eBook

Coupled with your flair for writing, you could self-publish an e-book that utilizes your experience, education, and your passion for your vocation.

There are a variety of ways that you can approach the publication of this e-book in that you could share your story, what drew you into the field of social services, highlight some of the real-life cases you were involved with, and provide your vision as to what a social services worker should provide and do and their involvement in helping others both practically and professionally.

The book can be written from the perspective of being an academic or can be a real-life narrative on the actions and interactions of your experience as a social service worker with others.

 

15. Website

You could develop a website that could be a significant resource for your peers.

The website could provide several resources such as links to recent studies related to social work and case studies, books that have been recently published, new thinking in the social services profession, etc.

You could also provide interesting podcasts as you interview other professionals that provide a distinct perspective that would be helpful to the listener.

To earn money off of this website you could provide a subscription service that would allow the subscriber access to other resources as well as additional interviews that are related to the podcast but go into greater depth.

Also See: Business Ideas for Lazy Person & Business Ideas With a Van.

 

16. Speaker

If your caseload can be defined as interesting and you have a good command of your native language as well as a stage presence you could become a circuit speaker.

Many would find what you have to say very interesting and could be a good draw for an audience both from the social services profession as well as interested individuals.

The events that you could speak at could be local events at various associations as well as advertising yourself to speak at conventions or national association events

Also, community colleges look for speakers to be a guest lecturer at various classes that are held.

 

17. Software

If you happen to have an added dimension to your life, such as the ability to create a software program, then a good business idea would be the development of a social services app.

The app could be practical and provide sound advice based on your education and experience for different scenarios and how the individual can handle the situation.

Also, the app can be educational as it can delve into the social actions of individuals, perhaps the reasons why addiction occurs, involvement with abusive relationships, etc.

If you do not have the acumen to create this software you could collaborate with a developer who could help in the process.

Money could be earned by providing the app through a subscription that people can take advantage of every month.

 

18. Teaching Software

As a social services worker, you are keenly aware of maintaining good records and capturing your professional notes as it relates to interaction with your clients.

If you are proficient at a certain type of social services software, you could be in the business of teaching others about this software and helping them to fully utilize its features and functionality.

Also, if certain modifications would be conducive to the current software, perhaps you can develop your own social services software and market that software to social service workers.

 

19. Contract

Financial records need to be audited why not provide the service of auditing social services files?

It is always a good idea to invite an outside professional into a department to review the various processes and procedures that take place in a department.

The social services department is no different.

Your auditing process could involve pulling a sampling of the records, ensuring that the notes are being captured properly, that the client’s file is up to date, and that a plan of action is in place and is being followed.

 

20. Private Practice

A business opportunity that presents itself that utilizes your credentialing as a social service worker would be the operation or starting your private practice.

To begin this process it would be best to have a Masters’s social work degree or be a licensed clinical social worker.

You would go through a business plan and go through all the business steps to start your business but would be a great way to utilize your skills and ability to help others and interact with them.

The benefits would include setting your schedule, working for yourself, specializing in a certain area of social work, and other benefits.

To learn more about this possibility you can click here.

 

21. Corporate Social Worker

Corporations are beginning to see more and more the value of human resources.

They are realizing that human resources are more than just about job descriptions, evaluations, benefits, etc.

Corporations are realizing that in dealing in working with people it’s about change management, diversity, inclusion, corporate social responsibility, etc.

Therefore, a non-traditional job that seems to be emerging is the corporate social worker.

In addition to addressing all of the above components, as it relates to the working environment, the corporate social worker can also interact with the employees on a personal level and help them to work through various personal issues that they may be experiencing.

This can be a valuable asset and role played by you as it can help to minimize loss of productivity on the job by the employee, address mental health issues, etc.

 

22. Online Courses

As it relates to teaching any subject, the formal classroom has its place.

However, sometimes there is a disconnect between the mental or academic aspect of teaching any particular subject and the practical implications in comparison to working in any particular field of endeavor.

With that in mind, perhaps you could develop online courses that build on the academics but concentrate more on the practicalities of being a social service worker.

For example, when helping an individual in an abusive situation, what would you as a social service worker do if confronted by this abusive individual?

What are the practical implications, what are the steps that need to be followed in the heat of the moment, how would you defuse the situation, etc.?

This could be the focus of online courses that you could develop and offer at a charge to interested social service workers.

 

23. YouTube

Another way that you can make a business that builds on your social services experience and education is by developing a YouTube channel.

You could delve into social service work, the education required to be a social service worker, provide insights that are practical as it relates to the professional role, do interviews, etc.

Monetary support may be realized through your followers as well as possibly gaining a sponsor for the site and taking advantage of affiliate advertising.

 

24. Life Coach

A life coach is an individual who provides inspirational and practical advice to people on how they can become more fulfilled and happier by making a few adjustments in their lifestyle.

Not to minimize either role but it seems like there are some significant parallels and similarities as it relates to being a life coach and a social service worker.

As a social service worker, you could bring your knowledge and practical understanding of addictive behaviors, insight into an individual and their feelings of self-worth, and other aspects of human nature and bring that to bear in being a life coach for an individual or individuals.

 

25. Support Center

The social service worker provides meaningful support and practical assistance.

The social service worker is there for their clients when things get tough and the client has nowhere else to turn.

You are there for others but who is there for you?

Where does the social service worker go when they need to de-stress, have their batteries re-charged, or confide in someone as it relates to their profession and interaction with others?

As a caring social service business, you can provide this professional and empathetic support through an app or by connecting with other professionals through other technical means.

 

Personal Story

Before retiring, my last job with the not-for-profit that I worked with was as a business manager.

My primary role was to help provide oversight to all of the programs that we were all involved in with our commitment to helping others in our community.

One of our programs was a transitional living program for 20 military veterans and 20 nonmilitary individuals.

The purpose of the program was to provide lodging and all of the essentials to live for up to a year while they followed a plan of action.

Their plan of action includes getting their GED, furthering their education, looking for a job, and once employed gaining permanent housing.

On staff, we had two social workers who met with the transitional living residents every week and went over their plan of action to ensure that they were meeting their milestones and on track to successfully graduate from the program.

The social workers would listen intently to the individuals, challenge them as necessary and provide the needed tools and assistance so that they could be successful.

As part of the process, extensive notes were part of their file so that they could be referred to and would capture the conversations that occurred.

As part of the requirements of the funding, we were required to have social workers that had certain credentials.

Neither of our social workers had the credentialing so the backup plan was to hire a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).

This further educated and credentialed clinician would come in every week and review the case files and also interact with particular cases that were proving to be challenging.

 

Social Work Entrepreneur Ideas FAQs

 

What Are the Three Basic Things That a Social Service Worker Tries to Do in an Individual’s Life?

The three basic objectives of a social service worker when interacting with a client include:

• Promote good mental health
• Strengthen relationships
• End the cycles of abuse and trauma experienced.

 

What Are Some Interesting Facts About the Role of the Social Service Worker?

Some of those interesting facts include:

• Social service workers provide the majority of America’s mental health services
• The job is not a typical 9 to 5 job
• Hard decisions are required
• There are both male and female social workers
• The demand for social workers is still high

 

You Can Do It

As a social service worker, your profession is a noble one.

You have devoted your energy to the service of others and helping them to sort out various pitfalls and activities that we as human beings get mired into.

As a social service worker, there are many business opportunities that you can cross over into other occupational roles as well as staying within your field and have a different job function.

In either case, you are focused, energized, and know what it takes based on your interaction with others and learning from their experience as well as your own.

 

Conclusion

We are all different and that is the value and variety of living life in this world.

Each of us comes with our own unique set of personality traits and often, our career path is dictated by those traits.

As a social service worker, perhaps it is time for change and yet you still need to be true to who you are.

There are a variety of other ways that you can express who you are as a social services worker but use that dedication and commitment in other business areas.