Always have a good strategy and plan in place beforehand
When you set out on a journey, any journey, you need to have a strategy and plan.
When you jump into your car, you would already have some idea of which roads you want to take to reach your pre-determined destination.
Likewise, to create multiple income streams, you need to know your destination and the path to success. You need to develop strategies and plans to get you to your destination.
To make money, there are so many strategies to choose from. There are so many paths that you could take.
Choosing the wrong path will delay the time for you to make money.
Without a pre-defined strategy and plan, everything looks tempting.
You will quickly fall into the shiny object syndrome. You will spend lots of money and time trying new things, doing new things but never completing them, and you will get frustrated.
I am always reminded of a passage in Alice in Wonderland (chapter 6). It nicely captures the reasons why having a sound strategy is so important.
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where –” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“– so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”
I have learned that developing my strategy as early as possible will focus my efforts to do the things that matter most and to earn an income in the future.
I am always reminded of this quote by a successful online entrepreneur.
“I initially failed in my quest to create a sustainable second income, simply because I didn’t have a clear strategy in mind. I didn’t follow a clear system. I did everything that everyone else seemed to be doing but I didn’t really know what my main goal was. Thankfully, now I do. Even better, I now know how to focus on my chief objective and more practically secure my present and future financial prosperity.”
Your strategy selection will depend on many factors like:
(1) Your desire to succeed including time and commitment that you are willing to put in.
(2) Your personality and interest.
(3) The audience that you are writing for and selling to.
(4) Amount of money or savings you have to finance your strategy.
Having a sound strategy and well research plan will keep you focused on the right path to success.
Your strategy will also include what business idea to adopt and follow through.
Your strategy may include the transition into freelancing on a full-time basis. Or it could be doing freelancing part-time just to have another income source.
Whether it is full-time or part-time, these are two distinct strategies that needed to be unpacked and selected.
If you want to transition full-time into freelancing, you need to have sufficient savings in your bank account.
When you are starting out, you may take time to build up your customer base. There may be times when payments from clients do not arrive on time for you to pay your bills.
You also need to develop a Plan B. It’s your exit or contingency plan when your freelancing activity goes soar and you need to revert back to finding a job.
Some people may advocate not having to look back. But it’s important to think through these issues beforehand. You need to go into the action with your eyes open and consider all negative potentialities early.
Once you have your strategy sorted out and well documented, then its time to clearly articulate the steps and activities to implement your strategy in the form of a plan. Having milestones and quantifiable measures along the way will help you along the journey.
Do break down your activities into smaller tasks and steps, little by little. Don’t bite off the whole elephant all at once. You are going to be frustrated when you feel that you are doing too much and not progressing.
The key idea here is to stick to your strategy and plan and not waiver towards other shinning objects that will pop-up constantly throughout your money-making journey.
Focus and perseverance will be your critical success factors.
Ruthless execution of your strategy and plan will be the order for the day.
Surround yourself with the right people who can help and guide you through the journey
No person is an island.
Reach out for help and assistance.
There will be people willing to help you. Some will do it for free. Some will require some level of financial investment on your part.
Whatever it is, invest time, effort, and money in relationships, networking, and information.
At the initial stages, it will be difficult to divide and allocate time when you have a family, a full-time job, and a demanding manager.
I get that.
And that’s why prioritisation and time management becomes crucial. Discipline and focus are, therefore, vital components to your success.
That’s where your true WHY comes in handy.
By constantly reminding yourself of your ultimate WHY (the end goal), you can effectively focus and prioritise your time and effort on what’s truly important to bring you closer to your ultimate goal, your ultimate destination.
Always invest in yourself first
Constantly invest in upgrading yourself and your knowledge.
Acquire new knowledge and skills through short courses, attending seminars, and reading books, magazines, and blogs.
While knowledge is just potential power, you can transform your knowledge by “just doing it”.
As you take a dive into the freelancing world, you are increasing the power you have. This power can be used later, in the workplace or for your freelancing work. The experience gained through doing more than your job will ultimately pay off in the form of higher salaries or just better opportunities.
Freelance on the side first while you still have a job
This is my risk-free strategy for you.
With an existing job, there is not much pressure to succeed.
This could be bad in some ways. Managed appropriately, it could work in your favour.
Knowing that you still have an income stream generated from your current job may lead you to procrastinate at doing the freelancing work.
This is where you WHY also comes in. When your WHY is strong, you will be self-motivated to consistently show up and put in the work required.
As I am not a risk-taker, this strategy could resonate with some of you.
It’s about having an existing income source while I develop another. This is the ideal position to be in.
You have time to experiment, to source for the best business idea to make money with.
There is time to acquire skills and experience to materialise your business idea.
You can strategise to acquire new paying customers who will invest in your business idea.
And once you have earned a sustainable level of income, you can then decide whether to do this full-time or part-time.
This would be a great place to be.
But until such time, it will take a lot of effort, focus, and commitment to get there.
The pressure to succeed will not be as great. You still have income from your current job.
After all, you may decide to have a job and do freelancing on the side permanently, both at the same time.
Having paid customers will be the backbone of your business. Aim to secure a pool of repeat paying customers so that they can sustain your income level when you do decide to switch over, voluntarily or involuntarily.
Here’s the thing.
With so much uncertainty now, having a back-up or alternate income stream will be ideal.
You may be suddenly made redundant due to organisational restructure or down-sizing. When this happens, you still have some form of income from your side business to tie you over until you do find your next job. This transition period may be long or short.
The reality is that as we get older, we will experience a higher likelihood of involuntary redundancy. And we will take longer to find a job.
Freelancing on the side can help build up your knowledge, skills, and confidence over time.
The plus side is that these skills can also be transferred to your workplace if required.
In fact, freelancing can actually enhance your employability.
A word of caution
You need to avoid competing with your current employer.
Your freelance work should not compete or be in conflict with the work you are doing for your employer.
If you are a bricklayer for ABC company, you should not be doing bricklaying on your off-days or weekends.
While your employment contract may not make any explicit prohibitions, this is a clear-cut case of perceived or actual conflict that you must avoid.
Try to stay clear from related freelance jobs related to the building or construction industry.