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Our current economic times are challenging.  The cost of living is seemingly at an all-time high.  Grocery expenses, gasoline and utilities, the things that we need for life, are moving higher than what many of us have seen in our lifetime! Side hustles almost seem like a necessity. If you are living as many here in America are, paycheck to paycheck (61% of us as we mentioned last episode), there may need to be some form or either cost cutting or additional income.

How do we unlock additional income through side hustles or passive income? What are the things we need to think about before jumping into a side hustle? If you are being challenged financially like many are today, this episode may be for you! 

Let’s ask some questions to help us process jumping into a side hustle.

 

Thinking About Side Hustles? Ask Yourself These Questions:

 

  • Start with your WHY. Why do you want more income? 
    • Are you looking to change careers?
    • Do you not have enough income to cover your expenses?
    • Are you saving for a huge expense?
    • Do you see a hole in the market that you are trying to fill?
    • Are you trying out new skills and seeing how far you can take it?
    • Are you discontented or anxious about your money? What about being greedy or acquisitive?
  • Assess your skills
    • What are you good at?
    • What do you have a passion for?
    • Will your skills meet someone’s needs?
  • Assess your resources (time, money, assets)
    • Do you have money to invest in your side hustle to get it started? Usually there is a cost if you are doing a side hustle!
    • What will you need? 
    • How does that compete with the challenges you are currently facing? If you are in the hole financially, choosing to go deeper ($1,000 or $20,000 or more) could be devastating to your daily living for you and your family! Count the cost!
    • Figure out if the investment is worth it, or if it will cause further loss.
    • What is your time frame? It would be wise to put a game plan together that includes a time-frame of job change or launching this new side-hustle!  Be realistic…and pray, pray, pray!
    • Additionally, count the cost if you realistically have time in your week-to week grind to do what you are setting out to do. 
    • Consider the legality of your side hustle. Does it need a business license? Insurance? Sales Tax license?
  • Come up with some ideas! There are two types of additional income streams.  Consider both ACTIVE and PASSIVE options!
    • Active: An active income activity is where you are putting in the time and effort to earn the income on an ongoing basis. If you choose to take a day off…you are choosing to have no pay for that day!  No work…no pay!  It is that simple! 
      • Ex: Driving for Uber, Repair business, photography, computer repairs, etc..
    • Passive: You put in work on the front end, and you spend time without the income. But once it is going, income comes in without requiring much (if any) work from you. You can make money with potentially little ongoing work. 
      • Ex: Rental properties, drop-shipping sites, etc…
  • Get counsel. 
    • Seek counsel and Godly wisdom from others, and specifically from the Lord.
      • In this stage of the process, it would be very good to take the time and speak in depth to people that are in the industry you are entertaining. Understand your cost-per-hour, and figure out if it’s actually worth it. Is it a business or really a hobby? It is important to not just look at the people who are successful, but also try to find people who have made a go at it, and what caused them to not keep pursuing their goal? Maybe you can learn from them and their mistakes. Do research on the average costs, incomes, time, and legal requirements necessary for your field of work. 
  • Pray 
    • You should be praying throughout the entire process. But before jumping in, take time and bring it all to the Lord. Without having God involved, you are choosing to go on a stroll without the guidance and blessing of the Lord! We spoke about it earlier, pray without ceasing, and listen well to Him and His word as He speaks into you!
  • Choose
    • YAY!  We finally get to this stage! Make a commitment to this new endeavor, and commit to work hard at it! Don’t forget to be honest and upright in all that you do. And don’t be like that many who do startups and neglect or choose not to pay their taxes.

 

We just covered active and passive income streams…and I would even say potentially a job change.  But what about this increased resurgence of Multi-level marketing?  There are so many of them out there and they all make it look so attractive and affordable.

 

Be Aware of Multi-level Marketing-type side hustles

  • Almost always, these “opportunities” are notorious for being time-sucks. 
  • Almost always you will need to spend A TON of time to not just make your investment dollars, but also to make your first dollar!
  • Almost always you will need to, as eluded in the last point, spend a fair amount of money (investment in product, etc) and samples to get launched.
  • Almost always you will receive little-to-no income…for an extended period of time (unless you make this your sole focus and put a ton of time and energy into it)!
  • Most people that do these multi-level marketing products and programs usually stay in the “business” (really it is a hobby), for the sole purpose of making a few sales and earning enough to either pay for, or supplement the cost of their own product usage.  
  • I believe that we can clearly say this: if this is what you are leaning into, enter with great caution.

You did it! Congratulations!

You have likely found yourself in one of 3 outcomes:

  1. You could be incredibly successful, making more money than you ever thought possible. Because of that, you’ve been able to quit your job and pursue your passion full time. If this is, or was you, let us know!  We would love to hear from you!
  2. It is profitable, but not enough to be your primary source of income. This new side hustle is providing a nice amount of extra money for your family. You are building your savings and paying off your debts! But it is still a bit of a grind. In this case, continue to evaluate the financial priorities and your family priorities (and needs of time) to determine how long to continue with this line of work. 
  3. You’ve been at it for several months, maybe a year. You’re not seeing any movement. You are spending a lot of time on this (or money), and you are not seeing any return. You may be spending more on supplies and advertising than you are making through sales. In this case, wisdom demands that you either change the way you are doing business, or stop doing this altogether.  If this new endeavor is putting a cost on your family of your time, money, or relationships, it is beyond time to look for your way out without causing any more complications or issues.

 

Stewardship Application

“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:6–10, ESV)

There are a few key words here: GODLY. CONTENTMENT. GREAT GAIN!  If this is you, clearly the hand of God will be on you and your endeavor.

But the text continues to say that “those that DESIRE  to be rich” will destroy themselves, possibly even wonder from the faith.

Move forward with caution.  Make sure you are moving in step with the Lord and that He is leading you.  If your desire is to be “rich”, consider meditating on and heeding the admonition of Paul here in 1 Tim. 6.  For the last thing you would want to do would be to impact you or your family through destroying the work of God in your life up to this point and possibly even wondering away from the faith.

 

Next Steps

 

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