Disclaimer
I’m not there yet! I have no great secrets to reveal. If you arrived here looking to get rich quick, sorry; can’t help you buddy.
My Background
I’m in my forties, so no spring chicken. Like loads of people, I always liked the idea of working for myself, earning money passively and getting paid while fast asleep. I spent a few years chasing schemes that promised just that about twenty years ago, but they all ended up making the “guru’s” rich (and probably no one else).
So, I did the normal thing and started “having a job.”
Observations
Have you noticed that when you have a job, you
- have little time to do anything else?
- have just a bit more money than you need to survive?
- are wasting your life to achieve someone elses goals?
- have all your eggs in one basket?
This last point is what eventually got me to take action.
Redundancy
At one of the pointless jobs I’ve had, I was told I might be in the “at risk of redundancy” pile during one of their spring cleans.
This really got me thinking. I realised that if they did dismiss me, I would have NO INCOME. Zilch. Zero.
Not good, I concluded.
This was back in 2017, and I immediately decided to set up my first business (Quality Inspection). I’d been mulling over whether to set it up for a couple of years before, anyway. That was up and running within a couple of months. One of the downsides of this business is that it’s time dependent. If I don’t go on a job, I don’t get paid. Another problem is that I might do a job, and the customer decides not to pay me. Luckily, this has only happened once, so far.
But the biggest problem with this sort of business, is that it doesn’t scale well, unless I took on employees and thereby put them in the same position I’ve been claiming is not optimal.
Multiple Income Streams
Another thing I’ve believed for as long as I can remember is that you need multiple income streams. I think about it like this:
- If you’ve got a job, you’ve got one customer.
- If you’ve got a business, you’ve got many customers (hopefully).
But, if you’ve got one business, and something happens to it, you’re scuppered. You might as well have stayed at that dead end job you hated.
Therefore, you need multiple businesses. Of course, you don’t need to start them all at the same time, but your plan should involve at least three income streams. If one stream is doing better than the others, you can give it more time, knowing that your time is being well spent.
Side Hustling
Your first business / income stream should be something that you can do in your spare time a.k.a a side hustle. Computer programming, hairdressing, gardening, office administration — whatever you enjoy or think you might enjoy.
Remember, one of your goals is to to improve your quality of life, so pick wisely!
If you don’t really have anything you’re good at, consider investing in yourself by learning new skills. You’re never too old to learn, take it from me.
Homework
Pick your first income stream. Visualise yourself doing this instead of your job. How does it feel? If it feels good, then you’re done. If you’re struggling to find anything, remember this:
Doing something is better than doing nothing
So, if you’re not sure if that idea of yours is correct, let’s just use it for the moment, always knowing it can be changed at any time.
As always, send me an email if you have something to say.
I’ll write part 2 when the time is right.