Welcome to meryl’s notes blog (this here place you’re lookin’ at) in Plano, Texas (OK, the blog doesn’t live on a server in my house — but that’s where you’ll find me… in Plano, not in the server). We’re happy to be a stop in Sara Morgan’s WOW! Women On Writing Blog tour. Here’s a bit about fellow work from anywhere’r Sara… (Stay tuned in this long post if ya wanna win this book!)
About Sara Morgan
Sara Morgan knows just what it is like to have a good job that is just not the “right” job. As a software developer, she has worked for large and small companies spanning multiple industries. None of these jobs ever provided Sara with the fulfilling life she was searching for and in 2005 she made the jump to self-employment with the start-up of her own consulting company, Custom Solutions, LLC. Sara Morgan is the author of No Limits: How I escaped the clutches of Corporate America to live the Self-employed life of my dreams. For more information about Sara and her book, check out www.nolimitsthebook.com.
Having Multiple Streams of Income Is Key for the Self-employed Individual by Sara Morgan
Four years ago, I quit my high-paying corporate job as a web developer and started my own software consulting business. I was one of the lucky ones, because I had a high-paying and high-in-demand skill set that allowed me to make a good income, despite the inevitable challenges of self-employment.
I realize though that most people seeking self-employment will not be this fortunate. For these people, I strongly suggest having multiple streams of income. By doing so, you can ensure that you are always able to pay the bills, even when one thing you are doing fails to generate the income you need. It is just the simple concept of not putting all your eggs in one basket. This is very old, yet still appropriate advice that applies aptly to the self-employed individual.
For myself, since I am promoting my latest book No Limits full time and have not been doing any software work for over six months, money has just been going out and not coming in. I was lucky enough to have built a small nest egg, which has allowed me to get away with this for a while. However, that can only last so long, so I recently started a third business as an independent garden consultant for The Happy Gardener.
The Happy Gardener is a great company that I only found out about when I interviewed the owner, Annette Pelliccio for my latest book. The company makes and distributes earth-friendly lawn and garden products that are chemical free and actually good for the environment. Unless you have been living under a rock, you know how important it is for all of us to be environmentally conscious, so I am really excited about being able to get behind a company like this.
If you are considering making a jump to self-employment, I would suggest that you have at least three alternative sources of income. This will help you to weather the inevitable “life” storms that affect us all. Other than that, always remember to Work, Live and Have fun!
Your Turn
Leave a 50+ word comment in this post by 11:59pm on October 21. That’s all ya gotta do to be entered to win this book. Tell us about your dream career or whatever strikes ya. The unbiased and robotic Random.org will pick the winner.
11 thoughts on “Having Multiple Streams of Income Is Key for the Self-employed Individual”
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Congratulations to Sara. Living the dream and making a go of it is awesome. You hit the nail on the head about having a much needed skill and that is a big plus. still, it takes follow through to make it all work out.
I Let’s hope your article will influence others to take the leap. I did it after retirement because I needed extra money and now am loving it. Working longer but when it is for “yourself” it really doesn’t seem like work.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Good for you too Rich. You are so right about how working for yourself doesn’t seem like work. Now when I do web development work (like when I work on my own web sites), I get a thrill from it. I never felt that way working on other peoples sites.
Sara,
Congratulations on making the successful transition to self employment and being able to successfully manage the negative aspects of the transition and position yourself to enjoy the positive aspects.
Personally, it’s a transition which I have thought about but never actually made, so I am not in a position to make a great deal of informed comment about strategies to manage the transition effectively. I can see your point about income diversification, but do you think it can be taken too far? A self-employed friend of mine has six income streams, but he has expressed reservations that he is not able to give as much focus as he would like to each individual area of activity.
I would have thought that it would be wise to strike some form of balance in this regard, and that some diversification would be appropriate provided that you allow adequate time to develop your business in each area. Do you agree?
.-= Andrew’s blog …Google books – let a wonderful innovation go full steam ahead =-.
Hi Andrew,
I absolutley agree about finding your balance. The key element for me in finding happiness was to find balance. I had to accept that I could not be everything and just be what I was. I now do not pressure myself unnecessarily. I try to strive for progress and not perfection. I take every day as a challenge to make it the best day of my life and I go from there. But, if you take it too serioulsy or just focus on the money, then I don’t see how you can ever be fulfilled at anything you do.
Good luck in your pursuits.
I’ve always had several irons in the fire when it comes to income–I like to experience new things so that makes it easy to try different ways of bringing in money. I quit my 8 to 5 job 16 years ago and haven’t looked back. I recently took a full-time job working for home for Zvrs–but that company fits me like a T and I design my own hours, so it feels like I’m self-employed anyway. Even with this job, I still run my own Deaf Mentor business on the side– that income pays for extras.
I always ejoy posts that show how others are leading lives with no limits– right up my alley!
.-= Karen putz’s blog …Wordless Wednesday– It’s a Slam Dunk! =-.
Hi Karen,
People like you are right up my alley. (LOL)
Way to go. You are an inspiration to us all. 🙂
Sara
Congrats and kudos too you for taking the leap and PROVING it can be done…
With the economy like it is a book like THIS is important for people to read. if I won it, ii would read it and then donate it to my local library so others could benifit from what you had to say.
I like this post. I have observed many people struggling with one way of making money and endup starting all over again. The multiple stream of income is the way to go and diversify on various areas.
It is also important to check them out and when you are starting as I did I did not know what worked so I set up to do different ways ant it has paid.
thanks for this post.