Hi Mick,
I only do electrical contracting part of the time. I have an electronics background and a home workshop, so I'm in my element repairing TVs, VCRs, Hi-Fi etc. With today's "throw-away" equipment, there's not enough in that line to bring in full-time income but in combination with some other work it helps.
If the electronics side isn't your thing, with the lack of decent repair shops these days you might find a call for servicing vacuum cleaners, power tools, and so on. Even with a modern microwave oven and its complex programming, many problems are down to faulty interlock switches, shorted rectifiers and other easy-to-fix faults. I've found that there ARE still some people who wlll pay to have an appliance repaired rather than buy new. Many simply don't know of anywhere that will take on these jobs anymore, so I get a fair amount of work from word-of-mouth & personal recommendation.
Another thing you might consider is writing articles for various trade journals. I've been doing this for electronics publishers for about 15 years now.
All of this is on a self-employed/freelance basis, which may not suit everybody, but I like the flexibility and variety of work.
(For the record, I'm only 35.)
