Temp work is taking over. Full Time workers are replaced with part time. Everything gets cheaper. The products we buy. The services provided. Salaries are getting cut to keep profits from lower prices.
While living expenses increase. School costs more. Rent goes up more then salaries.
Robots and computers are replacing humans every day. Robots are better at picking orders, manning checkouts (one cashier supervising 10 machines instead of 10 cashiers), placing orders for stores. Picking warehouse orders.
They are purchased once. Can be operated by one human remotely. Work without the need for breaks. No need to pay it over time and can just let it work day and night.
Have faith
With internet here, the gatekeepers are gone. Today you don’t need to wait for permission to become your own boss. You pick yourself to be your own boss.
There are abundance of opportunities to take advantage of. Below I’ll share some ideas to get you going. I know they have worked very well for many. But first asses what you would like to do.
What have you done the last 10 years? What have you done less then 10 years? What would you like to do the next 10 years?
How can you combine two or more skills in to a new profession?
How to become your own boss in 2016
Have f-you money
Save at least 10% of your income to be ready for whatever comes. Then save more if possible.
This is f-you money. Money that you keep only to be able to say no when necessary. Money that will give you a peaceful mind. Money that makes it possible to say yes to jobs you would like to do. And no, to jobs you don’t want.
The f-you money makes it possible to quit your job, or work part time while building other incomes. It’s vital that you begin to accumulate enough cash to feed yourself and your family for at least three months. Preferably six months or more.
To become wealthy you first must keep a part of all you earn. It doesn’t matter how much you earn. If you have $1 million income and spend $1 million you are broke. If you earn $20.000 year and keep 10% that is $2000 richer then the guy with $1 million income.
Look at your income and expenses last three months. How much is left from last month? Three months? Don’t worry if you have nothing right now, it’s about to change! And If you have savings, great!
Look at your last three months expenses, take the three biggest. What are they? Why are you spending that amount? Could you cut the three biggest expenses in half? It’s great that you take control of the situation and figure this out!
Now look at your incomes. How much are they?
How could you provide more to increase your income?
Most people only have one income, their salary. I had only one income the first eight years I worked. I didn’t know that I could start my own business. I didn’t have any ideas. I didn’t know how to do it. It’s was horrible!
The last couple of years I’ve begun to really transform my own life. Now I have three incomes streams. Not quite where I want to be yet, but I’m getting there. Now my focus is on providing you the best possible advice. That I wish I had while growing up.
Do the work and you will succeed.
Save 70% in cash. To build a bank of safety. It’s good to have cash. Don’t worry about inflation. Once you’ve started to create multiple sources of incomes they will grow faster. Worry about sleeping well at night and be able to be completely free to do whatever you wish. When you want. How you want to.
Once you have your expenses saved for the next three months. Keep saving in cash and Invest 30% monthly in low cost global index fund or vanguard. Let it sit there. Keep adding money each month. Cheer when the market goes down since you get stocks at discount.
Earn more by starting multiple business
Dedicate one hour before or after work to come up with ideas for additional income.
First what is value?
As I started this journey for multiple income streams. Everyone keeps talking about creating value. For a long time I didn’t understand it. I feel really stupid for not understanding it. Sometimes I’m ridiculously slow to catch on. But once I understand how the pieces moves. It gets much easier.
I realized that value is sharing something you have expertise in. It could be anything that you have practiced for at least six months. Once you have done something more then six months you could help other people just starting out.
The majority of people just try a couple of weeks then quit. Help those. They need your expertise.
What are your skills? What do you have expertise in?
Example 1) You have been able to save 10% of money each month for one year. Very few are able to do it. The majority of people live pay check to pay check. Just Over Broke.
How did you manage that? How did you persist? What did you spend less on? How did you increase your income? This is an expertise.
Example 2) You’ve been to the gym for two years now. You know what works. You’ve tried several different routines. In the past you’ve practiced indoor floorball, hockey and rock climbing.
You know how the teams practice to become better. You know what it takes to build up your muscle and endurance on the wall while climbing. How can you help people starting out? What equipment do they need to start? How do you schedule to go two or three times a week? What could make you not want to go? This is an expertise.
Example 3) You’ve had a couple of relationships and now you’ve been seeing a girl for a year. You both have a great time. While your friends might be in relationships that have no spark to it. Maybe they are trapped in a relationship that are bad for them and they don’t know how to fix it. They could be afraid to leave it to find a new partner.
How did you find your partner? What are you doing to keep the spark alive? What are they doing that kills the spark? This is an expertise.
Example 4) Maybe you are a crafts person and know how to put together a bookshelf or a table. Many people don’t have a clue how to craft a kitchen table inside their own home. How to fit all their tools.
How to make time while having a full time job and family. Learning the craft while having other responsibilities is an expertise.
Ideas to get your mind started
A) Start a blog on your hobby
Write how you do it. How you think. How you freed up time to do it every week. Write how you prepare. What is hard. How you persistent and continue practice. Add a email list for your readers to join. Offer then a super helpful guide how to do x.
Give your best advice as a thank you, for them joining your list. Give regular updates on it. Ask a question at the end. What do they want to see more of? What have they trouble with following your advice?
Put together a email course with a detailed plan to follow for $49-149. One or two might take it. Help them. Ask for testimonials. Do this again every three months.
B) Write books
Any topic is good. Fiction. Autobiography. A serie of How to guides. Upload to amazon. Set a price.
When the first book is done, write a new book. Release another one while promoting the first one. And a third. A forth. Often it requires multiple books.
It doesn’t have to be 300 pages. Make it 30 and write a series. Write until you can’t take it. Write some more. Publish more books. Remember. It doesn’t have to be a best seller.
Example: If you write a book and it costs $9.99. You keep 70% of the profit. that’s $7 dollars! One sale = $7. Sell 10 books = $70 profit. With 2 books and 10 sales each = $140 profit. 10 books and 10 sales per book, each month = $700!
C) create video courses on udemy
What have you done more then six months? With six months practice you have expertise skills compared to most people. Especially beginners that have no idea. Look at other coaches how they present themself. How can you be better or different?
Can you combine multiple skills that no one have? Write how you would learn this skill. Make chapters for each step you have taken. Write a set of to do items for each chapter. Take out your phone and set aside one hour every day. To practice filming yourself.
Do it every day until you have gained an aura of confidence. That brings out the best in you. It might take some practice. Then upload and set a price. Offer the first 1000 that sign up for free and ask them for a review.
Create funny (or serious) videos on YouTube
Upload twice a week. When you have a thousand subscribers activate adds. Think of a product you use daily or one you could market to your fans. Sell it directly or with affiliate program.
By creating content every week your time and persistence will lead you to success. Every time you upload a video, your previous videos will gain attention. Keep creating more videos until one day, you’ve attained a critical mass of readers and they promote your work.
Then the speed picks up greatly.
E) Craft a product
Knit a handbag. Setup a webbshop. Make five different products. Take amazing pictures and write great description (copy) of your products. Promote it by joining forums and give super helpful advice for people that ask. Have a signature to your store with a brief description of it.
Don’t try to sell them anything. Just be super helpful and offer advice how you did it. Some will go to your webshop. A few will try it. A couple will promote your webshop on the forum. And the snowball have started. It started with your first super helpful advice.
And gets bigger every time you write another answer while adding more items in your shop. Keep about 5-10 to not get overwhelmed at first.
F) market a product
Setup a website with affiliate marketing or direct sales with products you know. Write great descriptions (copy). Setup a PayPal account. Connect it to your affiliate marketing account.
Figure out how to improve your writing. Figure out how you can drive more traffic to your site. Once you begin to understand how it works, it’s easy to create another site. Or improve your current.
G) Freelance
using websites specific to freelance. Offer your services and skills. It might require to start working for low pay. But as you get good and understand how it works. You can soon demand more for your work.
H) Learn a trade
Like carpeting, electrician or plumbing. Pretty short education. Cheap and hard to outsource. Register your own company.
Start to call local businesses and work for free. Ask for referrals. Charge your next customers with your referrals for previous work.
I) Learn a programing language
Many good sites like udemy, pluralsights, offer excellent courses on how to learn and create awesome stuff. Also search youtube for courses, example thenewboston.
Before you begin. Figure out what you would like to program. It’s a monumental task to learn a complete language! Instead think of one solution to solve or app you want make. And go from there.
Then you have a understanding of what you want to do. What action you need to program. How it should operate. How it should look. Then it’s easier to know what language to learn and how to program it.
J) Start a consultant business
Delivering a product that helps the customer do X. X where you have experience. If it doesn’t sell, change it to a service.
Example: if you have learned how to eat healthy. Tell how they can achieve it. Explain what was hard, and how you overcame it. Provide a plan with breakfast, lunch, dinner menu. Collaborate with online or local business.
Give your customers a lower price if they get food from them using your program. While you get a cut from the restaurant.
Offer a product that comes with the menu.
Is any of this going to be easy?
It’s simple but not easy. Do the work and it’s simple.
Consider what are your options when you don’t do the work.