MYTHS, LEGENDS, AND THE FACTS ABOUT MULTIPLE INCOME STREAMS
Failure, Side-hustle, or Legitimate Path to Wealth and Freedom?
I’ve been asked 2-3 times a day this past week, “How do I create a financial back-up plan if I have to shut down?”
Many people have built 8 to 10 figure companies (10 million – 100 million/year) and don’t need multiple revenue sources. They’ll exit one day and have “goodbye world” money. The nice ones will impact invest. Impact invest means they look for opportunities to make the world a better please or support entrepreneurial movements that give them a potential large return on their investment while allowing them to continue building big, really cool things.
Most of us, however, need additional sources of revenue. IN FACT, given the current realities of government restrictions, it’s fair to say that you NEED multiple income streams. For the sake of this article, I’m breaking multiple income streams down into the 4 areas that I am involved in:
- Grinding it out in one business
- One or a bunch of side-hustles
- Quality investments
- Additional, legitimate businesses. Discussion on how to define a legitimate business below
*Before explaining, I want to absolutely make sure to accentuate the fact that you need to know what you’re doing. More money requires additional skills. The good news is that you can borrow these skills from coaches, mentors, rich friends, or partnering with experts.
Make sure you have also read last weeks article on winning the money game. It is important to know the difference between the income game and the asset game if you’re ever going to be truly covid-proof in your finances.
1. Grinding it out in one business
This is an honorable way to go. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, chiropractor, a CPA, a dentist, a manager of a company, or in landscaping it is extremely respectable to work the business you’re in and move it to its highest level of success. There are just 3 BIG, very common issues:
1. Something happens to you
2. Something happens in the economy
3. You’re really losing out on other opportunities available all around you to improve your finances, provide greater security, and afford you a wider range of choices over time.
Thus, the importance of one or more of the other 3 “Back-up plans.”
2. One or a bunch of side-hustles.
This can be as little as $2-300/month doing about anything on the side that generates this extra income.
UPSIDE: I’m always fascinated by the possibilities related to even the smallest of side-hustles. $300/month invested over 30-40 years makes you a millionaire. That is so relevant here in that maybe your one business grind pays the bills, but leaves nothing to invest – but your side hustle makes you a millionaire. Side-hustles can add up to a nice vacation, the car-payment, mortgage payment on your home, or mortgage payment on an investment property. I know someone who used one side-hustle to make payments on a cheap car so he could use the cheap car to have an even better side-hustle doing Uber-eats. If set up in the right way, through the right type of business endeavors, this can be $1000s/month with little to no time invested or participate in the Gig economy a few hours/month generating real, investable money.
DOWNSIDE: Side-hustling can end up just being a distraction from your major source of earning or be a waste of time that profits nothing. Many people end up doing mostly side-hustling instead of really focusing in on a core business capable of being a truly appreciating asset that could be worth millions or amount to more legitimate income.
3. Quality investments
This includes debt elimination, stocks, real estate, cryptocurrency, precious metals. The way it is supposed to work is that the money from 1 and 2, outside of paying your living expenses, is actually made to put towards 3 and 4.
Our core business and side-hustles are key parts of the money machine built to feed our investments. The training I am most thankful for was a seminar that taught me to be debt-free with a million in the bank within 8 years of graduating. I did it a little faster, but whether it takes you a little longer or you can do it more quickly; the principle will send you in the right direction.
4. Additional legitimate business
Not legitimate like, you’re not selling drugs or running an illegal poker game. A legitimate business isn’t a side-hustle or investment. This business has a strategic plan, a budget, staff,
consistent marketing, training for management and staff, requires certain skill sets, keeps a P&L, has bookkeeping and accounting, the potential to make REAL MONEY, is built to sell, you’ve considered who will buy it and when. I’m generally involved in 9-10 businesses at any given time. Most produce real money now, with 1-2 that are focused on scaling for a large acquisition event.
With finances – the law of the farm applies. As you sow, you reap.
Have fun saving the world
Dr. Ben
