Multiple streams of income today are the new norm. The face of the workplace is change every day. More and more people are turning to direct selling and home-based businesses. While customer loyalty is on the rise, employer’s loyalty to employees is becoming a thing of the past. It’s rare to see 50 years of service much less 25 years anymore. Knowing there is no benefit in the long run has caused people to take their working livelihood into their own hands.
Truth be known, this concept is not new. Do you recall the Proverbs 31 woman? Love her, hate her, fear her or admire her, she had the right idea! She did not have all of her eggs in one basket so to speak. She and her husband had multiple streams of income going on. They were not relying on one single source of income. Stop and consider what would happen if the income from your single source of income were to abruptly came to an end? What would you do in this circumstance?
I’m going to share with you what I did when the travel industry fell apart after 9/11 because I want you to see from my experience that there are so many possibilities when you open your heart and your mind to God’s leading.
It was the spring of 2002, I could see the writing on the wall as the dotcom I was working for began down-sizing. I was in management, I worked from home in my apartment in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, even though the home office was in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company had already closed the Florida call center which is why I was working from home. The next drastic measure was requiring all employees who wanted to remain with the company to move to Las Vegas. Yikes! This was my big corporate job, how could I live without paid vacations, sick days, health and travel benefits? I couldn’t or so I thought.
I bit the bullet and moved to keep my big corporate job! After the big cross country move I quickly discovered the company had no idea what to do with me. They had not expected me to take the offer of moving. I quickly determined Las Vegas was not a place where I would bloom although it was where I was currently planted. I began to research my options. That became my daily quest, “what would I do when the gig was up?” I knew the very first thing I wanted to do was move back to Fort Lauderdale and I did after some crafty negotiating for a severance package which reimbursed me for the move, gave me several months of severance pay and as well as covering the expense for my return flight to Fort Lauderdale.
I decided to start my own pet sitting business. It was by no means a traditional job but it suited me and I absolutely loved it. To supplement my income I bartended a few nights per week and I assisted a friend who specialized in special events such as golf tournaments and fundraisers. Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life! So I created multiple streams of income which amounted to a comfortable lifestyle for me without all the trappings of the corporate world.
Fast forward to today, I do not do any of those jobs anymore. My lifestyle changed, I got married and have since created a new set of multiple streams of income involving new ventures. At present I am a solopreneur doing what I love–helping women see possibilities when the road they are on appears to be full of roadblocks and obstacles. I could not be where I am today if I didn’t open my heart and my mind to God’s leading.
If you only have one stream of income, I encourage you to find something you are good at, then spend some time figuring out how you can monetize it and use that money to do something your future self will thank you for. What ideas do you have for creating multiple streams of income?
