November is Financial Literacy Month
In case you are not aware of this, November is Financial Literacy month. In my honest opinion, I feel it’s crucial to be financially literate, especially when it comes to your business.
These days, it seems almost everybody has something on the side to help them make a bit of extra money. I think the recession back in 2008 was partially responsible for this. I didn’t get into side hustling until my late 20s. Growing up, I did not have a single business bone in my body. I have never ever taken a business-related course in my life. I had the crazy thought that entrepreneurship was only for extroverts and not introverts like myself. I never even worked during school. My parents wanted me to focus on getting good grades to get into a good university, which I did – but I have never really used the degree. It just hangs on the wall of my parents’ home in the family room.
Before I got into blogging, my side hustle was teaching group fitness classes and still is. It has been my saving grace for when I was between jobs. Not only did it help pass the time while I was looking for jobs, it also helped pay for some of the bills.
Some people say they don’t want to have to work another job or don’t have time for another job. It’s not necessarily a matter of time, but more a matter of priorities. If creating an emergency fund, retiring early or being able to run your own business is a potential goal, then you would make it a priority. It doesn’t even have to be another job where you have to be physically present in. I know very well how much time a commute can take. My very first job out of school, the total round trip for commuting was 2 hrs each day. I was exhausted before my day at the office had even begun.
Ways To Make An Online Income
There are many types of online income making opportunities available such as copywriting, virtual assistant, graphic design, web development or web design – I literally could go on and on. Check out this article from Entrepreneur for 7 realistic ways to make an online income. With more and more people starting online businesses or businesses in general, these types of digital skills are becoming more in high demand and many business owners are looking to outsource these tasks.
Photo: Gooseberry Studios
Here a few sites that are looking for people with those skills in particular:
Fiverr
Upwork
Kijiji – people post services there as well
Facebook has its own version of Kijiji called Facebook Marketplace. It mainly focuses on selling items, but I have seen posts for web design services on there.
If you are looking to build your portfolio and get your feet wet in the world of freelancing, these sites might be a good place to start. One of the best places to start building your writing portfolio is to start a blog and guest post for other blogs.
Check out these course offering sites to help build and develop the online skills you want to sell:
Udemy
If you to learn how to become a Mailchimp master, Paul Jarvis has a great in-depth, but easy to understand in bite-sized chunks course called Chimpessentials.
The Importance of Multiple Income Streams
Life is full of unexpected surprises and curveballs. You may not necessarily be let go, but your spouse might be. Depending on their financial circumstances, some people have no choice but to take a job they may not want or like. Others may have had something they were building on the side and found this as an opportunity to take it full-time (like myself).
Savvy business owners know how important it is to diversify income streams and to not have all your eggs in one basket. Many of them have multiple services and products for their business or have more than one type of business. Having another method of making money is especially important if you are just starting out in your business. While you are building your business from the ground up, the expenses will eventually add up and you may not be able to generate revenue for quite some time.
Aside from my group fitness teaching gig, I am also a member of the part-time faculty of continuing education and professional studies with Sheridan. This may seem like too much to juggle, but these jobs, in particular, provide me with a lot of flexibility. For example, the course I am teaching at Sheridan is a blended type of course, where it is a mixture of online and in-class learning.
Having multiple streams of income gives you a peace of mind and enables you to focus more on building your business or career. Not only does it give you the freedom and flexibility to go at your own pace, it can give you some financial cushioning. Initially, it may seem like a lot of work setting up all these income streams, but your future self will thank you. We can’t always prepare ourselves for what life throws at us, however, we should try to prepare as best as we can.
Click here to learn more about how you can develop online income streams.
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