By Kevin M

Quick—you want to start a new business—what’s your biggest fear?

If you said “failure” you’re close, but you’re confusing cause and effect. It’s the inability to make money—also known as the loss of a steady paycheck— that would be the cause of the failure that’s at the root of your deepest fears. Failure will merely be the result—or the effect—of the inability to make money.

But there’s a way to reduce this fear, by breaking the income process down into smaller steps. The point of breaking it down is so that we can approach the income hurdle that all small businesses face into a series of manageable blocks. What we want to do is to convert the self-employed income hurdle from an obstacle to a transition process.

You want to try to engineer the transition in four steps:

Step 1—Start with a Full-time job/Part-time business arrangement

It’s much easier to start and run a business when you aren’t relying on it to pay your bills. Having a full-time paycheck (and benefits never hurt) can take the risk and income insecurity out of starting a business. Most business ventures take months or even a couple of years to make a profit, so getting started while you’re on someone else’s payroll will take the uncertainty out of it as well as buy you time for making mistakes (you’ll need this!).

Once you’re seeing a steady cash flow—even if it’s small—it’s time to explore other options.

Step 2—Business income grows—reduce job to less than full time

When the business starts making money on a steady basis it’s time to start clearing your schedule a bit. If you’re working in a full time, permanent job, you’ll probably find that it will be very difficult to grow your business with very part time hours. Most businesses require more time in order to grow, but if you’re not in a position to quit your job and go full-time in your business, you’ll have to get creative.

Try some of these to help you carve out more time for your business:

• Approach your employer about working from home. It isn’t a perfect solution, but it will eliminate the time you spend commuting, and may enable you to be available to handle at least light functions with your business during regular working hours.
• Approach your employer about cutting your hours back. Given the weak state of the economy, some employers might welcome the opportunity to cut payroll expenses. A reduction in hours from 40 to 30, or even 35, could benefit both parties.
• If your employer won’t budge on the hours, try to find a position with a competitor who might entertain either arrangement. Economic reality if forcing many employers to do things they wouldn’t have considered a few years ago.
• Move into contract work. Many contract situations will provide greater flexibility than a full time, permanent job, primarily because you’re a fringe worker and not a regular. Because of the absence of both permanence and benefits, the pay is often better as well.

I chose the contract route at this stage of the game and I had several. I had one that was on an “as needed basis”, and it paid well enough that I didn’t need to do it on a steady basis. Another was temporary—it lasted three months, but again the pay level floated me for an equal amount of time after it was over. Then I also have a seasonal contract gig that I still keep. It’s also part-time so it blends well with my business schedule.

There are all kinds of contract arrangements out there, so try to find one that works best with your particular situation. You’ll need to be flexible and fully prepared to step outside your comfort zone with some, but it will be well worth it.

Step 3—Business income reaches the level of a “living wage”–almost

This is probably the first level at which you feel truly “self-employed”, but it can also be the most stressful. Your business is starting to make money, but you’re hardly home free. At this point, you’re probably making just enough money to survive, but not much extra and, just as important, you haven’t yet withstood the test of time. There will be a temptation to quit your regular job and go full tilt at the business, but you feel some hesitation—that’s probably good.

This is the make or break point, but you might still want to have at least a bit of a parachute, just in case. Or at least, just some extra money!

A part-time job would probably be ideal. Not only can you make the needed extra income, but because it’s only part time, you can phase it out as you need to simply by cutting back you hours.

Still another way to navigate this late stage is by doing contract work for your new competitors—as in people engaged in the same business you are. Nearly all businesses have functions that the owner doesn’t have time to handle, but they may also be so specific that hiring someone off the street isn’t workable. As a member of the same industry, you have the skills that others in the same field need.

So you’re not working for direct competitors, you can offer to do contract work for businesses who are in the same business, but in different niches. Sometimes you can do this by contracting for competitors who are in different geographic locations. Think of a newly self-employed attorney who may do legal research work for a larger firm to help with cash flow early on. Find something you can do in your own business along the same lines.

Step 4—You’re “there”!

You’re finally earning enough money from self-employment to support yourself or your family, and you’re feeling confident in your ability to keep it going. Since you no longer need a job—full-time, part-time, contract or otherwise—you can now devote 100% of your working hours to your business. This is the time to grow it, streamline it, make it better and make it more profitable.

This is also the time to kick back and enjoy life right? Not when you’re self-employed!

Not only do you need to constantly grow your business and stay abreast of new developments, but you also need to shore up your finances. Having your own business isn’t like a steady paycheck—you typically don’t have a stable income. Self-employment has an unstoppable feature of roller coaster income.

That means you’ll need to save money for the down times! A person on a salary never has to worry about his or her income level, but one of the challenges of the self-employed is to create something close to a steady cash flow. The best way is saving money during the good times to be ready for the lean ones. If you’ve never been a saver up until this point, you’ll need to become one.

One of the best ways to do this is to save money while you’re doing double duty—building your business and working outside jobs or contract arrangements. And once you cross over into full time self-employment, you’ll need to continue with the saving habits you developed while you were holding multiple occupations.

Is it worth it?

In a word—YES! It reads like a long process, but the purpose is to remove the uncertainty of a steady income while you’re building your business. It’s a tough economy out there, and you’ll have your hands full just building your business. Keeping a steady paycheck while you’re building it will not only remove the survival dilemma, but it will also give you the financial strength you’ll need to get through the upstart period successfully. And dealing from strength is ALWAYS the way to go!

Are you starting a business, or have you done it recently? What did you do to keep money coming along the way?

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”Retiring on Business Income

By Kevin M

Okay, the holidays are over—and the free spending with it! It’s time to clean up the mess before it becomes an even bigger one!

Despite everyone’s best intentions, overspending at the holidays is pretty standard. It isn’t until January when the bills come in that the extent of the damage is fully realized. There’s always an extra gift or two (or three or more) that we forget about, a holiday dinner out with friends or co-workers, some extra heavy travel expenses not budgeted for—it all adds up, but heck, we’re human. But not to worry, we have an entire year to get things back in order before…the next holiday crush.

And maybe we can even make some permanent changes for the better along the way.

Try a few of these in the next few months and see if they help…

1. Start a Christmas Club account in preparation for next year. It sounds a bit old-fashioned, but right now, while the concern over last Christmas’s extravagances are still fresh on your mind (and on your credit card statement!) set up and prepare to fund an account for next year. You’ve probably thought about this every now and again, but now is the best time to make next Christmas a financially less taxing event than this year.

2. Start saving a little bit of money in regular increments. If you can save just $20 per week, that will add up to over $1000 in one year. Sometimes a small step like that is all it takes to convert a spendthrift into a saver.

3. Get a part time job—at least for a little while. A year is like a hike up a mountain—it starts out quiet in the winter time, picks up speed in the spring and summer, really kicks in with school and sports in the fall, then hits it’s crescendo in November and December with the holidays. Well, now is the quiet time of the year when not much is going on; if you need some extra money, this is the best time of the year to go for it.

Get a part time job to save up some extra cash for debt payment or savings—you can quit in time for the warmer weather. Unless you’re deep into skiing, this time of the year is pretty boring, and nothing will prime the financial pump of your life more than a few extra bucks.

4. Payoff any bills built up over the holiday season. If you have a few bills hanging over from the holidays, now is the best time to pay them off. Debt is a funny thing—pay it off quickly and it’s no big deal, but let it hang around and it becomes more or less permanent. Take it out now.

5. Pick one small debt and pay it off. If you’re in the debtor class with so many millions of others, you probably have grandiose dreams of paying off all of your debts this year. Forget about it! Unless you’re prepared to live in a tent in the woods, bicycle to work and eat rice and beans three times a day, every day, it’s probably a pipe dream. Pick one debt—your smallest is best—and pay it off as quickly as you can. Once you get that little bugger off your books, you can hit the next smallest. Presto! Debt Snowball in progress.

6. Ditch one or two regular expenses. Do you really need all the services you pay for? Are there some magazine or internet subscriptions you really don’t need that you can cancel? Can you go without cable TV for at least a while? Do you have a membership at a health club you hardly go to? Cutting just one or two expenses can make a real difference in your budget over time.

7. Review your insurance coverage. If one of your plans for the new year is to build up your savings balance, you may be able to use it cover an increase in the deductibles on both your health and auto insurance plans. If you plan on increasing your savings account by $1000, you may be able to safely raise your health plan deductible by that much. You’ll have the money to cover the higher deductible, but you’ll come out ahead because your premiums will drop, sometimes substantially. And if you have no claims during the year, you’ll be even better off still.

8. Cut back on the amount of food you buy. This isn’t as ridiculous as it sounds on the surface. In fact, it nicely compliments another popular New Year’s resolution: losing weight! The best way to do this is to eat less; start by buying less, then take it from there. That’s taking out two birds with one stone.

9. Resolve to eat more meals at home. Much like cutting back on buying food to save money and loose weight, eating more meals at home works in two positive directions. Restaurant meals are fattening, even the alleged low calorie versions—the fewer of them you consume the easier it is to lose weight. And even though eating home more may increase your grocery budget, that increase will be more than offset by the money saved by not eating out.

10. Find a cost free (or at least low cost) past-time. Boredom is one of the most destructive elements affecting finances. When we’re bored we tend to spend money to fill the void. “Entertainment” is the generic word given to the practice, and it can get pretty expensive especially if you’re bored a lot. Take up reading, low impact exercise, gathering with friends over ONE cup of non-designer coffee, or any activity that fills your time, feeds your mind and doesn’t cost a lot of money. Or take on the above mentioned part-time job idea—anything that either doesn’t cost you money or has the potential to put some in your pocket is worthy of consideration.

You were looking for new years resolutions, weren’t you? Now you have ten to get you started.

What are some financial resolutions you’re making or can suggest to others?

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Start and Grow Your Nest Egg, Even if Your Broke

By Kevin M

Welcome to the 21st Century, where job security is a thing of the past! No one wants to think about this, but because of technology and globalization, the possibility is very real that many jobs and careers that have recently disappeared aren’t coming back.

There may be a temptation to think that you have nothing to worry about because your job or career isn’t immediately threatened. But that’s just what many people in customer service, information technology and many other fields thought just a few years ago before their functions were moved overseas.

There are almost no jobs that can’t be replaced by a machine, a computer software system or a lower wage worker in some other country. The economic landscape is changing and though we may not like it, we have no choice but to adapt. Are you ready?

There is no more job security

It’s time to face a few facts:

Get past the idea of job security. Somewhere in our minds is a vision of a “normal world”—a place where America’s economy is the undisputed world leader, and it’s citizens and workers are fully and comfortably employed in living wage jobs with full benefits. But this isn’t the 1950s any more, or even the 1990s. Today’s reality is that many people don’t have jobs, let alone job security. Begin to replace job security as a priority with employment security,–the ability to earn an income beyond your current job or business.

Loyalty isn’t a lifelong commitment. Many of us have been trained to believe that loyalty is forever, but in today’s uncertain economy that kind of thinking can keep you on a sinking ship long enough for you to go down with it. Do the best job you can in the job you’re in now, but keep your radar up and in high gear, always on the lookout for the next opportunity. Realize that loyalty is a two way street and remember…

…they’ll get rid of you as soon as they don’t need you any more. This is the ultimate reality in today’s job market. You may be up to your eyeballs in work today and even for the foreseeable future, but businesses survive and thrive today by finding ways to cut costs. And that means jobs—maybe yours.

The time to look for a new job is before you need one

It seems to be some sort of cosmic law that the best opportunities in life come upon us when we’re busy with something else. The corollary is that when we’re unemployed and available they just don’t seem to come our way. Recognize this conundrum and prepare for it. That means searching out and pursuing opportunities before you have an immediate need to do so.

Just as important is realizing that many opportunities take longer to hit pay dirt than we typically think. If time may be required to make a job or venture work, starting now will be the most prudent course of action. What ever job or business you have, always look ahead for the next opportunity.

Keep your skills current—develop new ones

When I was growing up it was a mark of a successful career that one could kick back, relax, and enjoy the fruits of a long career. But get too comfortable in your career or business today and you could join the ranks of the unemployed.

Stay on top of your field, procure the skills you need to stay in it, and look to develop new ones that might enable you to move into a parallel field.

Consider maintaining more than one career

If you’ve been in sales the past few years, you might appreciate what I’m about to say here. Since about 2007, many commissioned sales people have experienced dramatic income drops. During recessionary times, this isn’t an uncommon occurrence at all. How great would it have been to have hands-on skills to move into a salaried position or self-employment?

Moral of the story: have a back up career. Money is good insulation from employment uncertainty, but sooner or later it runs out. When it does, you’ll need to have something you can do to bring in more. Having that career, skill or business in the pipeline before it’s needed will make the transition that much quicker when it’s needed.

Never settle in financially!

No matter how optimistic you are about your current job, don’t settle in financially. That means spend less, save more and stay out of debt. The traditional advice of saving a small percentage of your net income over many years—say 10%–doesn’t apply in a world where employment can no longer be relied upon. Try saving 20%, 30%, even 50% of your net income if you can.

And don’t plow it all into retirement savings either. Immediate needs for savings are more pressing now than they were a few years ago. Saving for the near future is now at least as important as doing it for the distant future.

Consider self-employment, even if you’ve never been

If you can’t count on a company to keep you employed, having your own business may be the best security you can have. Though not everyone is cut out to be in their own business, the state of the job market has ironically made doing so less risky than it was just a few years ago.

Even if you’re not in a position to quit your job and start a business, you probably can begin by starting with a side business. Unlike jobs, business ventures need time to develop, to make mistakes, to find a niche and to turn a profit. If you’re currently employed, you have the needed cash flow to take a chance on a business.

We’re told to use diversification in building investment and retirement portfolios, as a way of reducing risk and increasing long term returns. Now is the time to apply the same philosophy to our incomes. Diversify income sources between a full time job, a part time job and/or a side business, and be prepared to roll with the economic punches of our time.

There’s no advantage in agonizing over what appears on the surface to be a reduction in economic opportunities. We need to see this as an economic reorganization, a time when the rules are changing, and the need to seek opportunity has never been more important.

Can you give any advice on how to keep a paycheck coming in this economy? Have you faced long term unemployment and wished you’d taken some of these steps?

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10 Ways to Survive a Down Economy

By Kevin M

Over the past week I’ve been writing about the often negative consequences of various jobs and income situations. Today’s post is on the same topic, but it centers on my own personal experience with a job I probably would have been better off if I’d never taken it.

When ever someone has financial problems, there’s a strong tendency for others to suggest “why not get a part time job?” As well intended as that advice may be, I’m here to report that such advice isn’t always the way to go. Some jobs can actually cost more than they bring in…

A few years ago, in the middle of a time of significant financial distress, I took what I thought was a part time job with a local newspaper doing delivery.—If you haven’t noticed, the days of the newspaper being delivered by neighborhood kids is long gone and being performed entirely by adults in cars.

On the surface, it looked like a perfect situation: an income of over $1000 a month for early morning work. I’d be done by 6:30 or 7 in the morning, so it wouldn’t interfere with my regular work. Or so I thought!—

But some jobs can’t be fully understood until you’re actually in them.

Early morning meant 2:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday. Toward the weekend it was even earlier; 2 a.m. on Friday, 1:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. If I came in for a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon to assemble the Sunday ad supplements beforehand, otherwise there was no point even going to bed Saturday night – I’d need to be at the shop by midnight!

If you’ve never been involved in newspaper delivery, you probably have no concept of the magnitude of getting the overstuffed Sunday edition of your familiar major metropolitan newspaper delivered to your doorstep each week.

As it turned out, I was spending an average of 35 hours a week working at my part time job, for which I was bringing home $1000. Translation: I was working a full time job for part time money.

Actually, it worked out that I was receiving the rough equivalent of minimum wage. But that wasn’t what made the job counter productive. I was working seven day a week and that will grind on anybody. My sleep patterns were completely disrupted, and I was sleeping when I should have been working at other things, drowsy all the time, and depleted at family times and social events.

I was using my own car to deliver the papers and paying hundreds of dollars for gas and repairs. Circling dozens of cul-de-sacs every day of the week with a car load of newspapers wears down brakes and tires in a matter of weeks, but who would have thought?

And the local newspaper wasn’t all that we delivered. In an example of how big picture events can and do affect us in our own little corners of life, newspaper companies, who have been in decline for at least the past 20 years, have taken on interesting ways of offsetting delivery costs of their own newspapers. We also delivered the papers for competing newspaper companies, along with free sample products, catalogues, and a perpetually heavier load of ad supplements.

Needless to say, Saturday and weekday editions are looking increasingly like the Sunday packages of old, stuffed with slick ad inserts, and no small number of them. Against the backdrop of declining circulation, I’m guessing the newspaper companies have taken to offering ad space at rates that are something unusually close to nothing.

All of this had to be loaded into the car, our family car, and ferried to more than 400 addresses, every day. And yes, it sounds cliché, but twice on Sundays; I had to deliver the Sunday papers in two shifts, so that the car could actually move after it was loaded.

Three and a half months, that’s how long I lasted. The “solution” I chose turned out to be a bigger problem than my financial issues. My mind and body, my family and of course my car all took a hit during my time on the job. And our money problems didn’t improve as hoped.

This job probably cost me as much in the end as I made on it, and took me away from other pursuits. It was one of those jobs that certifiably wasn’t worth taking.

Not all jobs–not all income opportunities–live up to the promise. Far from improving our circumstances, some have a real potential to cause more problems than they solve. Just as with spending our money, we also need to be careful how we earn it. A situation that can cost us money, or soak up our time for very little gain are best avoided.

Have you ever held a job that wasn’t worth having? What did you lose that made it not worth your time?

It’s easier when you take care of a few things first

By Kevin M

It’s been said that the best way to accomplish a big project is to break it into a series of smaller ones. Paying off credit cards can be as big a project as we can imagine, based on the size of the debt that needs to be paid off.

Often it’s the size of the debt itself that presents the biggest obstacle to even getting started. While it may not be too difficult to payoff $10,000 in credit card debt going from a standing start, a balance of $50,000 will require marshalling all of our efforts and resources.

It’s important to realize that paying off credit cards isn’t just about discipline. A huge part of the project is emotional and you’ll have to do it in such a way that you’re rewarding your efforts by reaching crucial milestones along the way. Take it in stages, stack the deck in your favor, and the whole process will be less painful.

Implement a plan to cut living expenses

It’ll be impossible to payoff your credit card debt—or accomplish nearly any other financial goal—without developing and implementing a plan to cut your living expenses. How far you need to go to do this depends on the amount of debt that needs to be paid off.

If your debt is just a few thousand dollars, this might be accomplished by cutting at the fringes. By eliminating eating out, some forms of entertainment or cutting a service, like cable TV, you might find the necessary room in your budget to take down your debt in short order.

But if the debt is well into five figures–$20,000, $30,000, $50,000—some serious self denial will be in order. A debt of this size may require cutting not just fat out of your budget, but meat. That could even extend to modifying your living arrangement by moving to less expensive quarters or taking in an additional resident for a fee.

Alternatively, you can also concentrate on increasing your income through a second job or side business. This can be a tough balancing act, but always remind yourself that it’s a) for a good cause, and b) it’s only temporary!

However you decide to approach your plan, there won’t be any plan at all unless you can find the extra income to carry it out.

Build up a cash cushion

Once you find the proper mix of spending cuts or additional income, Step 2 is to build a cash cushion, that way you’ll have funds to fall back on in an emergency without having to tap your credit cards.

This point is fundamental. In order to get rid of your credit cards you must first eliminate your dependence on them. The only way to do this effectively and permanently is to become “self-financing”. Once you have extra cash flow in your budget and a generous savings account you will be self-financing and no longer in need of credit cards.

How large should the savings account be? Personally, I think three months living expenses is a good minimum. With a balance that size, you’ll have enough to cover reasonable emergencies and—even more important—as tangible evidence to yourself of your ability to live beneath your means. Once you reach this level you’re at least halfway home!

I favor rapid cash accumulation, and there are several ways to do this, even if you’ve never been a saver in the past. Make minimum credit card payments while you cut expenses, find extra income or even sell your stuff to raise cash. The quicker you’re able to do this, the easier it will be for you to believe that you will also be able to pay off your credit cards.

Payoff short term installment loans

There’s one more step before we start hitting the credit cards: installment loans with small balances.

Do you have a car loan with ten months to pay on it? Or a loan on a suite of furniture for a thousand or two? Get rid of them.

Here’s why:

1. Short term installment loans have high payment-to-balance ratios, which is taxing to your cash flow. The sooner you get rid of them, the more money you’ll have to throw at your credit cards.
2. Installment loans are typically attached to your possessions, which means that should you fall on hard times, the creditor can seize them. How sad would it be to lose an $8000 car because of a $2000 car loan that only had eight payments remaining?
3. Debt is debt, and it all needs to go. For the above reasons, start with short term installment loans.

Even if you have lower interest rates on your installment loans than on your credit cards, pay them off anyway. This isn’t about interest rates; it’s about paying off the debts that cause the interest rates. We need to think strategically, which is to say we need to re-arrange our financial situations in ways that will bring about permanent improvement in our overall financial conditions.

Then tackle the credit cards!

With breathing room in your budget, money in the bank and the elimination of small installment loans (providing yet more breathing room in your budget) you’re finally ready to take on those annoying credit cards. And yes, I said “annoying” because with all of the above taken care of, your credit cards will be more of a nuisance than an actual problem. You’ll be attacking them from a position of strength which you have already attained and don’t need to wait to feel and enjoy until your plastic is paid. You’ve given yourself the upper hand.

Like Dave Ramsey and so many personal finance blogs advocate, I believe paying off the cards with the smallest balances first to be the most effective course. It’s the divide-and-conquer strategy where you pick off the small weak ones first. Those will be the quickest to go, and as each one does your sense of accomplishment will grow, as will the funds to take on the next card.

Once you’ve paid off the little ones, the bigger ones will seem much less daunting and you can throw everything you have at them until their gone. And you’re free.

 
Paying off credit cards isn’t just about getting rid a certain type of debt. At the core, it’s the pursuit of financial independence itself. When you owe no one, then no one owns you!

Even if we can’t be wealthy, being free from debt removes financial bondage, and frees up our time, resources and attitude to take on new careers or business ventures, to relocate if and when necessary, or just to live the lives we choose.

Have you paid off a large credit card balance? If so, what can you share about the best ways to do it?

Repair Bad Credit to Make Your Financial Future Better

( Photo courtesy of Andres Rueda )

By Kevin M

You may be employed at the moment; in fact you may even be well-employed. But look at many others around you and what do you see? With millions unemployed, millions more under-employed, and hundreds of thousands of jobs being outsourced to lower wage countries, what does the future of employment hold? Is it possible that the sun is setting on the traditional one man/one job model of employment and income?

Before dismissing the possibility, consider that only 40 years ago tens of millions of workers were employed in largely high paying, mostly unionized factory jobs. Just over 100 years ago the majority of Americans were employed in agriculture. Where are all of those jobs now? And if one man/one job is going the way of the factory job, what are our options?

Developing multiple income streams may become a necessary reaction to an environment where the unemployed often return to the work force in lower paying jobs.

In Survival+, Structuring Prosperity for Yourself and the Nation, Charles Hugh Smith introduces the concept of hybrid work:

“…one finger in the wage economy, one in growing food, another in creative pursuits, another in trading childcare for eldercare, another in hedging/investing to preserve purchasing power, another in helping to develop locally owned distributed energy as either a technical innovator, an investor or provider of labor/supervision and yet another in local schooling.”

While I’m not going to follow this definition to the letter, I am going to use it as model in developing a practical outline on how each of us can broaden our income bases and provide ourselves with a measure of employment and income security that the traditional one man/one job model is increasingly failing to provide.

Start a side business—now!

Multiple income streams are at the heart of hybrid work. Anyone can and probably should have some sort of business, at least as a sideline. At the core of self-employment is learning to trade with others, a basic skill we need to get reacquainted with.

First don’t quit your day job. Second, think about what you actually like to do, what you truly feel passionate about. You work at your day job to pay the bills, now do something you feel good about. Passion will drive you to keep at it when failure seems inevitable. A lack of passion will doom it to failure.

Get started now, and don’t worry about making money—it’s typical that new ventures don’t make money for months, a year or longer. But that’s why you keep your day job. Play at it for a while and learn the ropes.

Even if your day job looks safe, you want to start the venture as soon as possible so the business will be rolling at a future date when your job situation may look less certain, or when you just might feel like pitching the job to become a full time entrepreneur.

Develop a web presence

The internet offers an inexpensive way to market products and services, but equally important, it opens up virtually the entire world as a potential market. Operating without it is the equivalent of looking for a job without a drivers license–there are just so many jobs on the bus route.

Set up a simple website or weblog for any purpose or topic you choose. Then get on Twitter, Facebook, Linked In or as many social media as you can. Take on one at a time and just start chatting and asking questions. Even if you don’t need it now, you want to have a web presence established for the day when you do.

I started seriously working Twitter in mid-November, beginning with just seven followers and zero knowledge. But as of today, just two months later, I have over 700. If I can do this, anybody can.

700 followers is chicken feed; many Twitter veterans have thousands, even tens of thousands. Think of what you could do with 20,000 followers, or 50,000? Develop your contact base now, even if you have nothing to sell. When you do have something, you’ll already have a market in place.

If you’re self-employed, look for part-time, seasonal and contract work

If you already have a profitable business you’re ahead of the curve. But you’re also not immune to the cycles of perpetual change that technology and globalization are imposing economy wide. Also, many businesses are seasonal, having busy peak seasons followed by frightening lulls. Part-time, seasonal and contract work may be a way to even out the income flow and, just as important, broaden revenue sources.

Optimally the wage arrangement should be in a business unrelated to yours, so that if your industry tanks you’ll have a cash flow and a “next career” to go to.

I was on the front lines for the mortgage meltdown, and when the industry started going down there were few opportunities to remain in the business, and the lines to get them were extremely long. Some pre-positioning would have made the descent easier.

Join and participate in networks

This is how you keep you’re ear to the ground. Join network groups related not only to your business, but also to any business you think you might be interested in. It’s an opportunity to find out what’s going on “out there” in the real world that’s happening behind the often oversimplified version the media reports.

Broaden your contacts, find people who are doing what you’re doing (or want to do) and “swap recipes”. It’s amazing what information can be gathered from casual contacts.

Seek soft barter arrangements

Let’s say you can do web design and you have an acquaintance who fixes cars—can you find a way to swap services? Inventory your skills and think about what people in your orbit can do; are there any barter opportunities?

Develop a “hands-on skill”

People who can produce or fix things often have the greatest job security. Ours is a world of machines, and all of them break or need service sooner or later. Being one of the people who can keep them going is a solid start to a side business.

You don’t need to be a jack-of-all-trades; a single skill can open up barter arrangements or a second income opportunity. A guy in my neighborhood started fixing things for neighbors; in a short while he was doing it for money. After he lost his IT job, he went full time as a handyman, and has been at it for several years. Because of the real estate bust people are fixing their homes instead of moving, and his business is booming.

Actively search for new opportunities

While others are lamenting the bad economy, see the world as a cornucopia of fresh ideas and opportunities and be prepared to move on short notice. The world economy is moving very fast; as one income opportunity fades, be ready to replace it with a new one.

Live beneath your means always

Many opportunities are available to those who travel light in life, unburdened by outsized mortgages, late model cars and other trappings of the high cost lifestyle so many aspire to. Seek enjoyment in freedom, simplicity, people and meaningful work.

Save and invest intelligently

A healthy bank balance means more opportunities and better sleep. We all need more of both. If you have two or more income sources, you may be able to allocate one specifically for savings. Savings can even out an erratic income stream and free you up to take chances that debt surfs can only dream of.

Be conservative in your investing; two stock market crashes in the last 10 years should cure us the desire to put 80-100% of our money into risk investments. Take your chances in the business world, not with money you’ve already earned and may need to pay bills with one day.
 

It may not be possible to take on all of these activities simultaneously, but they can be integrated over time. Pick one to implement immediately, then one add each month or two as your circumstances warrant. There is no goal line here, forward motion is the key.

How do you see the economy playing out over the next few years? Do you think the end of one man/one job is a possibility? What are you doing to stay afloat and find new opportunities?

STRATEGY #5 TO SURVIVE A DOWN ECONOMY

By Kevin M

In the dreary job market of the moment, people are having difficulty with two major areas in particular: keeping a steady income flow and increasing that flow. The increasing level of unemployment is not only eliminating jobs, but it’s also putting a lid on raises and promotion opportunities. This is in large part, the driving force behind the credit crisis and the epidemic of foreclosures and bankruptcies. Is there a way to deal with it without taking unnecessary risks?

In 10 Ways To Survive a Down Economy (published on Christianpf.com June 1) we listed ten strategies to help us deal with the bad economy. Our topic for today, Strategy #5:

Be prepared to cultivate and balance multiple income sources. You may have a full time job and a part time business, or vice versa. Think of your work in terms of an investment portfolio, in which diversification adds strength. There are probably several jobs you are potentially good at; always be on the lookout for new opportunities.

Why increasing income or broadening the income base matter

Recessions produce a storm cellar mentality, a time when most people become concerned primarily with keeping what they have. But even if you keep what you have—your job and your current income level—you’re still falling behind. Official consumer price index (CPI) numbers aside, most of us realize that it costs more to live each year. Health care costs, education, utilities, real estate taxes, auto insurance, car repairs and many other expenses that we pay for products and services we can’t live without have been rising much faster than published numbers suggest. Meanwhile, gasoline and food costs bounce in unpredictable patterns. And what about preparing for retirement? If it often seems overwhelming it’s because it is!

If you’re in a job or business in which options to expand income are limited, it may be time to look outside the box for solutions. If you have a job that’s stuck in neutral, a part time job or side business may be the only way to increase your income. If you have a business already, it may be time to consider working in lines that are unrelated to what your business does as a primary function. If you can take on business lines that run in counter cycles to your main business, one for which peak season occurs when your mainline is in slow season, you may have found a solid way to even out your income stream.

Additional income aside, adding multiple sources will help to strengthen your income base, making you less vulnerable to job loss or income declines. Just being involved in different lines of work can often open doors to opportunities that would never surface if you stay exclusively in your regular occupation. Think wide, rather than deep!

I’m not saying that this is going to happen, but I will suggest the possibility…we may be on the edge of a time when job and income security can no longer be trusted to a single job or employer. We’ve known since well before the current recession that we don’t have anything like the job security workers enjoyed a generation or two ago. In fact, it’s now close to impossible to plan as much as a five year stint with one company with any certainty.

It’s worth noting that major changes often take root in society years before they’re even identified and labeled. True, we’ve been operating in an environment of one worker/one job for decades, but there’s more than a remote chance that a change to multiple income streams is in the pipeline already. Recessions often amplify and accelerate trends that were developing before the downturn hits. We can’t know for certain if that’s the case right now, but it may be worth some preparation just in case.

I’m having trouble keeping one income source, how do I get a second, or a third?

While it might be tempting to throw up our hands and resign ourselves to the fact that the economy stinks, and there’s little to do but hold on to the job or business we have and hope to tough it out until the next recovery comes and lifts all boats—including ours—but is that a plan or just a hope? I’ll dare to suggest that we need to be proactive, even now when opportunity seems to be hard to achieve. For the following reasons there may be more opportunity out there right now than there has been in a long while…

1. Many companies can no longer afford full time employees and are hiring part timers and outside contractors
2. With large numbers of people unemployed and underemployed, non-traditional work arrangements are becoming more common and accepted than ever
3. Un-/under-employment is advancing networking as the unemployed and marginally employed band together seeking opportunity
4. The internet has enabled would-be entrepreneurs to market to people across the globe at relatively low cost
5. In nearly every industry, large enterprises are in retreat, opening markets to upstarts and smaller competitors who can offer a better way
6. New trends—like thrift, energy efficiency, and cleaning up the credit mess—are emerging creating opportunities that didn’t exist two years ago
7. Financial hardship is causing both people and organizations to seriously consider new ways of doing business that they wouldn’t have entertained in more prosperous times

Each of these factors represents a single overriding dynamic: change. And each presents an opportunity either to stabilize or increase our incomes.

Worried that you job is in jeopardy? Offer to stay at your current job at reduced hours, making up the income loss with a similar arrangement with another company. Did you try a business idea a few years ago that didn’t make it? Maybe it’s time to dust it off and try again—a lot of the competition has quietly disappeared. Have a product or service that you haven’t had much luck selling locally? Maybe you were thinking too small; start a website, link it to other websites and try peddling to the whole world—you can have a marketing budget of zero, which will give you the staying power to keep at it until it works. Not having any luck finding a new job? Get connected with anyone and everyone you can on the social networks—Facebook, Linked In, etc.—and start looking for an *opportunity* rather than a job.

The point is, part time jobs, job sharing, contract arrangements and side businesses are out there, but require a bit more thinking than in the past. Start looking at situations from outside the box, and the opportunities may be more obvious. The part time side business you start today—yes, right here in the middle of the worst economy since the Great Depression—may be your full time career a couple of years from now.

By Kevin M

If you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck, and struggling just to get by each month, that situation won’t improve until you reach the point where you have a cushion to back you up. You might think that the pressure would be eased by an additional income source, but the problem with higher income is that in a short time it tends to get swallowed up by Lifestyle Inflation—the more we earn, the more we spend.

Some financial types recommend paying off high interest credit cards before beginning a serious savings account. They cite math equations pointing out the numeric absurdity of carrying high interest credit cards (13% or more) while earning close to nothing in interest (1-2%) on savings. On paper, backed up by numbers, this looks very compelling.

But I disagree. Completely. Life is not a math equation! You will not wean yourself from credit cards until you learn to live without them! And you won’t be able to live without them until you become fully self-financing. That will mean living at least a little bit beneath your means and having a pool of savings to tap for the things you now charge on credit.

Filling an empty bank account

The most important step is to get started. Most people don’t have savings because they’ve never made that crucial first step. That step can be more effective if it’s accomplished quickly, that way circumstances (and fatigue!) don’t wear you down before you accomplish your goals. The following will help you to get some money into your savings account in anywhere from a few days to a few months.

Sell your stuff Most of us have garages, basements or spare rooms overflowing with stuff we seldom or never use. Sell as much as you can. Take the better stuff, those items small in size but relatively high in value, and sell them on Ebay (see Marsha Colliers’ Starting an Ebay Business For Dummies if you’re unfamiliar with the process.) Everything else, sell through a garage sale. You’d be amazed the “junk” you have that someone else might be willing to pay a few bucks for! You can probably raise several hundred dollars doing this.

Sell your BIG stuff Selling stuff usually isn’t a big deal, but selling big stuff is where things get tough. By big stuff, I mean a second car (if you can get by with one), boat, motorcycle, ATV, camper or even a second home. If you’re struggling with finances and you’re serious about getting out from under, anything that isn’t necessary to your survival has to be fair game. Ask yourself which would give more peace of mind, the big thing or an equivalent amount of money in the bank? My money is on the bank; get your financial house in order, and you may be able to buy a bigger, better replacement later.

Bank a bonus We all have almost limitless needs and wants for our money, and that will never change. But what has to change is your determination to take control of your finances. Since you’re accustomed to living on your regular paycheck—even if it’s a tight squeeze—when you get a bonus, immediately deposit it into your savings then forget you ever had it. Doing without some of your income is the only way to become a regular saver; that’s often easier to do with income windfalls. The sudden boost in your bank balance should also be a great motivator to keep the cycle going.

Take a part time job—temporarily. While it would be admittedly difficult to work full and part time jobs simultaneously for an extended period, doing it for a few months might be very doable. Get a seasonal part time job, working it just for a few months so you can juice your savings account. The trick is to continue living on your regular income while putting the checks from the part time job straight into the bank.

Make minimum payments on credit cards and redirect the extra to savings. A lot of financial people advocate making more than the minimum payment on credit cards as a way of accelerating payoff. That makes abundant sense, but if you’re looking to build a savings cushion so you don’t have to rely on credit in emergencies, it might be better to make minimum payments on the cards, directing the extra that you would pay into the bank. This isn’t a long term plan, but only something you’d want to do until your bank balance reaches a level at which tapping the credit cards would no longer be necessary.

Forego some luxuries until your savings reach a desired level Often, our money isn’t finding it’s way into our bank accounts because we have some expensive hobbies and past times. Try giving up your golf game for a few months, canceling some memberships you have, or going cold turkey on buying new computer games. We’re not talking about cutting necessities here, but preferences. This isn’t forever, but in a few months time you can probably save several hundred dollars without even leaving your house! If you’re bored, just think about how much more you’ll enjoy your golf game when you’re back out on the greens playing, knowing you have money in the bank. Is that worth waiting for?

Go on a spending diet. This is a variation of the suggestion above, only you’re not targeting any specific outlays. Look at your entire household budget, and decide to cut your expenses across the board for a few months. If your household budget is $4000, and you can cut it by 10%, you’ll save $400 for one month, $1200 for three. You can cut some expenses less, others more, but the key is to hit the overall target.

Take on a side project or contract job There are all kinds of jobs we can take on depending on our talents. You can take on special projects at work, or contract for another company on the side. You can cut a neighbor’s lawn for the season or paint a friend’s house for less than a painting contractor would charge. You can tutor others in subjects you’re strong in, teach English to immigrants or offer instruction in a sport or instrument you play. Inventory your skills to determine what you can do here; everyone has skills in one or more areas that they can sell to others.

Any one or a combination of the above would enable just about anyone to accumulate a few thousand dollars in just a few months. If you’ve never had a decent sized savings account, you might feel great liberation at seeing a balance sufficient to cover your living expenses for a month, or two, or maybe three. I’d be willing to bet you’d be a little less concerned about your pile of monthly bills and you’d be sleeping better at night too.

Once you get a few thousand put away, you’ll begin to sense hope in your finances. You can then begin to build on that hope, first by continuing to save out of your regular income, even if it’s just a little bit, and also to resume paying extra on your credit cards. It’s amazing how much more quickly credit card balances go down when you aren’t adding fresh charges to them.

In short order, you’ll begin to feel some control over your finances, and maybe even begin to envision…prosperity!

How are you building your nest egg?

STRATEGY #6 TO SURVIVE A DOWN ECONOMY

By Kevin M

If there’s ever been a time to adopt flexibility as a strategy, it’s now. The certainty we knew only a few short years ago is currently failing us, and our progress and even our survival may rest on our willingness to adapt to change and to new rules as much as anything else.

In 10 Ways To Survive a Down Economy (published on Christianpf.com June 1) we listed ten strategies to help you deal with the bad economy. Our topic for today, Strategy #6:

”Be flexible in your plans and ready to adapt to changing circumstances. If your job is eliminated, offer to contract or to work part time for the same company. If you develop multiple income streams, a shift to a part time arrangement may be to your advantage on a number of fronts. Be prepared to convert a negative development into an opportunity.”

Think “outside the box”

Often the first thought upon the loss of a job, or the prospect of it, is to replace it with a comparable one. But in many industries, a comparable position is either non-existent or too far into the future to be relied upon.

Instead of thinking “job”, think “opportunity”. In fact, think of it in the plural: ”I’m looking for opportunities.

You can miss a lot of income-paying situations by focusing too specifically on the search for a full time, benefited position paying something comparable to what you’ve made in the past, especially if your industry is in some stage of long term decline.

Job sharing, part time, contract work, a side business, a job without benefits and temporary positions, or a combination of two or more, all need to be on the list of possibilities. At a minimum, you can continue the search for the perfect replacement job while you’re working at something less.

This approach should be standard procedure if unemployment benefits have been exhausted, but also worth considering even if they haven’t. Working, even at below your past income level has a few things that an unemployment check can’t provide: a chance to make new contacts, learn new skills and—very important—to be out circulating in the business world. If you lose your job you will make mistakes finding your new way, but it’s important to be out there pursuing it, knowing it’ll take time to get it right.

Guard your time

In a down economy where jobs are at risk, there’s often a temptation or even a requirement to work harder and longer. But in many instances, working harder and longer isn’t earning you more money, or even keeping your income level.

It becomes crucial to earn an income commensurate the time an effort you’re putting into the job. Working a job that requires significant uncompensated time could be depriving you of time that could be spent working in capacities that might improve your cash flow or generate stronger future prospects.

Many times people who are looking for work find it in commission-only sales positions. Let me suggest however, that if income is the primary driver in the choice of careers, a commission situation is probably not what you’re looking for. You’ll have to make sales before receiving any income, and that’s an especially difficult feat to pull off in a weak economy. If sales veterans with experience, product knowledge and contacts aren’t having much luck, how successful do you think you can be as an upstart?

Be careful of common sales fields like real estate, insurance and car sales; people get into them because they’re easy entry fields, but relatively few have the talent or killer instinct to really make them work. The problem is that you can spend months of uncompensated time in commission only positions before realizing it isn’t going to work out, and by then your situation will probably be even worse.

Because there are fewer real job prospects in a recession, it becomes even more important to work in capacities where income is more certain and new skills, contacts or lines of business can be developed.

Guard your money

This means staying out of business deals that will tie up your money. In economic downturns, especially severe ones such the one we’re in now, people often take gambles they normally wouldn’t in an attempt to improve their circumstances. This might involve putting large amounts of money into investments or business deals that have less than certain outcomes.

While now might be an excellent time to start a new business, you probably want to avoid those that are capital intensive, requiring the purchase of an existing business, a large inventory or major equipment at significant cost.

It’s one thing to be optimistic and want to bet on your future, but betting real money is another matter. Businesses of all kinds are failing in this economy; if you’re unable to make a success of a venture you’ve poured most or all of your life savings into, insult will be added to injury if you can’t sell the business and recoup your investment.

In another direction (but same principle) there’s been a considerable amount of hype surrounding the purchase of real estate for investment purposes. Much of this thinking is based on the fact that property values have come down considerably from their recent peaks. But jumping into investment real estate when you have no prior experience is an exercise fraught with financial danger if the main motivaton is a play on lower prices.

Prices may be less than they were a couple of years ago, but unless you can buy a property for substantially less than it’s CURRENT depressed market value, it may not be a deal at all. Leave that business to the professionals who do full time. Making one bad deal early will put you out of that business before you even get out of the starting blocks.

Here’s a cosmic law that can save your life savings: when you absolutely, positively need a deal to pay off big, it won’t! Unfortunately, business deals don’t cooperate with our circumstances.

In this economy, capital is hard to replace and therefore it’s something that is best conserved. Bet on your skills and abilities, not your expertise at managing assets. Leave your retirement assets, your home equity and other savings for their original purposes, and if necessary, as a cushion for survival. Leave speculation to the professionals who know it well, and how to profit from it.

Mobility as a virtue

So far we’ve talked about being flexible in attitude and strategy, investing your time in income producing activities and preserving your capital, but all three pave the way to one overriding objective: mobility.

It’s important to realize recessions mean change more than anything else. Some businesses come up, some go down, old industries disappear, new ones arise, assets change hands, and so on. Some geographic regions will grow, others will decline.

The key is positioning yourself to take maximum advantage of that change. You can’t do that if you’re slavishly devoted to a declining industry, hoping to squeeze a couple more years of paychecks out of it, or if most or all of your money is tied up in a static investment or business venture.

This is a time of transition, and as much as we may want so much to dig our heals in and hold on to what we’ve known in the past, it’s often a losing strategy. Opportunity tends to come to those who are most open and prepared for its arrival, even if they aren’t entirely certain exactly how it will play out.

The future is waiting, so be flexible, travel light and be prepared to move as opportunity arises!

FRIDAY INCOME & CASH FLOW FORUM

Kevin M

Working a part time job or side business in combination with a full time situation can be a tough juggling act, especially over the long haul. Some people can manage it, but probably most can’t, at least not for extended periods. It’s called having a life!

But sometimes you just need a little bit of extra money. Maybe you need to build up some cash in your emergency fund, clean up some bills, cover some repairs or a major purchase, or maybe for an upcoming holiday or special event. You aren’t looking for a lifetime arrangement, just a short term burst of extra income to clean up your finances.

Seasonal jobs offer an opportunity to tap into such a short term source of cash. At virtually every time of the year, one or more businesses are going through their busy season, and are often desperate for extra help. Since they may not be in a position to offer year round employment, it can be hard to fill positions. If you’re a homemaker, a retiree or a business owner or full time employee looking to supplement income on a short term basis, this could be the way to go.

Another plus: if a business is at it’s peak season, there’s a far better chance of negotiating a higher rate of pay, especially if you have even some experience in that business. Some part time seasonal arrangements can earn thousands of extra dollars for a season lasting just a couple of months. Others will just provide a few dollars working at something fun and close to home.

If you’re running your own business, it’s also very likely that you have an “off season”, a time when your business is especially slow. Supplementing your income with a job or side line in an in-season business may be a way to bring balance to your cash flow.

Some seasonal favorites

For winter/spring…

Income tax preparation. With my accounting background, this is a seasonal business that I participate in myself, but you don’t necessarily have to be an accountant to do it. Even if you’ve never prepared income taxes, you can still find a place in the field. Tax preparation courses are offered by a number of companies, including H&R Block and Liberty Tax Service, as well as work situations upon course completion.

However you don’t necessarily have to prepare income taxes to enter the field. Staffers are needed in support roles in accounting firms and other businesses, to handle collating, customer contact, document gathering, telephone duty and other pre- and post-preparation services. The season generally runs from late January to mid-April, but can extend beyond April 15th since many returns are put on extension for later filing.

Yard and garden centers. My first job was at a local, independently owned hardware store. Far and away, the biggest season was spring. This is the time when homeowners plant, seed and fertilize. It’s also high time for gutter cleaning, painting and general repair work. Any business engaged in these areas is a very likely to be in need of additional help during the spring season. Even if you aren’t into the obvious physical aspect of this type of work, there’s always a corresponding need for people in inside support roles. And of course, the seasonal side business opportunities are substantial if you have the skills and desire.

Real estate sales. In many markets, peak home selling/buying time runs from late winter, through spring and into early summer. This is the time of the year that’s after the winter freeze but also before summer vacation season, the start of school, and the late year holiday season, so it makes sense. This isn’t to say that you need to get into real estate sales or to work for a builder—which you certainly can—but you can also participate in other ways. For example, appraisal firms, real estate attorneys, moving companies and furniture sales tend to run with home sales.

High summer…

Travel. The annual summer vacation has become something of a fixture in many households, even during recessions. There are a number of ways to play this, such as by working in hotels or at local resorts, but there are others that aren’t so obvious. Pet sitting/dog walking and yard maintenance are often in demand when people are away, and these present an opportunity for a seasonal side business.

Recreation. Even if you don’t live near a popular summer resort, there may be income opportunities closer to home. Theme parks and swimming pools in your local area will also be in need of seasonal help. I know an ambitious young man, a full time teacher, who spends his summers working as a lifeguard at a local community swimming pool. Summer is also the obvious time when pool maintenance services will be in high demand.

Late summer/early fall…

Back to school retailers. This can begin as early as July 4th weekend and run through the end of September, depending upon when school starts in your area. You can work in retail clothing outlets or any stores selling school supplies, but it doesn’t end there. Stores selling musical instruments are typically in a busy way around the start of school as this is peak season for budding student musicians to acquire their first instruments, or to trade up to new ones.

Fall/winter…

Fall festivals. Labor Day weekend begins a steady flow of festivals and celebrations, often well into the holiday season, in a kind of cornucopia of many things. Fall festivals spring up in many communities, selling everything from handcrafts to the late season harvest bounty. Entire communities sometimes exist primarily for this season. There can be both employment and side business opportunities attached to these festivals and celebrations, especially if you have a related product line to sell.

The holiday season. Most people think primarily of Christmas here, but this season starts with Halloween and runs straight through New Years Day, with little recovery time in between. For Halloween, temporary costume shops open in formerly abandoned spaces in shopping centers all over town—usually on or just after Labor Day—and all of them need staff! For some permanent establishments, like Party City, Halloween is the peak season.

Most people think of toys and retail for Christmas, but the Thanksgiving to New Years period is also the peak season for restaurants and liquor stores. New Years Eve is often THE biggest day in many restaurants. And once again, you don’t have to work this on the front lines, in this case being a bartender or waiter. Back office and support functions also need to be filled.

With any seasonal business, it pays to look beyond the obvious, to the less heralded businesses and support functions which benefit from the surge. Since they aren’t as well known or understood, they can be especially good opportunities.

For many seasonal businesses, the easiest route to extra cash in is to work for an established business. However if you have the skills and experience, you may also consider establishing a seasonal business of your own.

At virtually every time during the year, one or more businesses are experiencing their busy season. What seasonal opportunities are you aware of, or have you worked in?

If you’re a salaried worker, retiree or a homemaker, what are you doing to find new sources of income? If you’re a business owner, or in some capacity responsible for bringing business in the door, what is it you’re doing to attract customers and cash flow in this economy? What ideas have you heard about or know others to be doing? What’s working, what’s not?