I would consider what i did in the past.

I use to work for a large electronic retailer doing car stereo installation. This should be obvious to those who pay attention, however, they went bankrupt and liquidated their assets. However, when this company was in business, I had a budget of about, well average, $325 a day. Meaning I had to install $325 of pure labor a day, not including whatever product was sold to them. Putting in a stereo was $35-50, amp/sub $59.99-75.00, remote start/security $125-300+. So basically by the time the day was half over, i would have already met my budget.

This is where it gets fun. Once i had legitimate customers to meet my budget (which also gave me a bonus), I would find the right "type" of customer to pay me on the side to do work to their vehicles. This "type" is hard to explain, people that swear a lot, people that continously ask for a deal, people that where certain clothes, people that deal drugs, people that seem like they should have exceptions, etc. You have to know who's willing to pay you cash. This "type" of person would come into my work, and ask for a radio to install. Ok, no problem. If they bring in their own radio, the charge through the store was $50. So, given that i know the "type" of person to ask, i would say, "hey, the store will charge you $50, but i can do it with the same quality of work for $35, full warranty on labor, just come see me if something should happen." I would walk out of work with $200-600 a day, on top of my wage and bonus.

Moral of the story, if you are thinking about leaving your job. Give your phone number to the people that you honestly enjoy cutting there hair, the people that tip exceptionally. See if you can find proper equipment to do perms and what not. I know nothing about hair. But i now perms aren't exactly cheap. Those people will tell other people about you, then those people tell others.

Once i was laid off from my job i had 4 phone calls a day, easy $200 a day. But in that business you need insurance to cover your ***. Its easy to cause thousands of dollars in damage in new cars with advanced electrical systems.

But if your good at what you do, you could do hair cuts on the side while searching for a new job. Think about the hair cuts you do in one day. Think about all the money you make them, but it going into your pocket instead.

Just my 2 cents. What i did was shady, but if your smart, consider it a trade skill, you should be compensated.