If coronavirus has taught us one thing about our world of work, it is that, relying on a single source of income is now a dangerous way to plan your life. You must have a Side Income Earner.
In the UK it is thought that nearly 50% of people under the age of 30, have at least two forms of income. Side Incomes generate £72 billion for the country, or about 3.6% of GDP. In the US, 40% of 18-to-22-year-olds already have multiple income streams. It is no longer strange when someone tells you that they are looking to develop another line of income to help survive, and succeed, in this rapidly changing world.
We are at a moment of massive social and employment change
Just pause and consider how everything has changed since February 2020. Hotels, restaurants, sports teams, cinemas, garden centres, high street retailers and many other businesses have either closed, undergone a rapid shrinkage, or gone into administration. We know that we will get through the coronavirus outbreak at some stage, but do we know whether those businesses, and perhaps industries, will return.
Even if they do, some businesses, such as the wedding and events industry, will need a lead time to re-establish themselves. They will not be able to generate locations, with all the support required, overnight. Indeed, a prolonged period of lockdown, and dramatically changed economic circumstances, will lead to many industries, like call centres, reshaping themselves, probably for good.
The reality is that numbers of jobs which existed only four or five weeks ago, may be lost. We are going through a revolution in how our working lives exist.
It has, therefore, never been more important to identify how you can build multiple income streams. The time of having all your eggs in one basket, and relying on employment through a single career, with a good pension at the end of it, has probably ended.
That is the bad side. There is an upside to this.
We are in the age of the internet
Had the coronavirus outbreak taken place 20 years ago, would we have been able to establish, or even build alternative businesses, reaching out across the world, with anything like the ease which is possible now?
You can now establish your own business and trade with clients in Brazil, Miami, Darlington and Singapore. You don’t need to incur massive overheads, and what’s more, as you’re reading this, you probably have the tech required to achieve this within 50cm of you right now. Never has that previously been possible.
You’ve got to be Online
There is one limiting feature to all of this however. You, and your business have to be online, and it helps to be a bit savvy. You don’t have to be able to write code but you do have to understand how the internet works for consumers. You need to be online smart, otherwise you risk being a bit of data which nobody ever sees or uses. Your website needs to be constructed in a way that is attractive to people, and meets your targets.
Being online, doesn’t mean you need a website
There are multiple social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, and LinkedIn. Some people use these to generate income. The sites all target different market types, and you don’t need to be on them all, but your social media, has to be delivered in a way which is attractive to others.
Remember, communication is not what you say, it is what the other person hears. That is exactly how you must look at your online presence.
So, what’s Stopping You?
There are three things which hold most of us back from making our leap forward.
I don’t know how to do it
Nobody is born knowing any of this stuff. There are plenty of places to start learning this out there. You can start for free on YouTube.
Why not, however, take this lockdown period as an opportunity to do an online course. Find an expert and learn from them.
I did the Internet Business School online marketing diploma course and it was like a quantum jump forward in my understanding and thinking. That course is now available as a complete online package, and you could have a nationally recognised qualification in one week.
I can’t afford it
There are a lot of expensive courses out, numbers of which are not worth it. Right now the lockdown has encouraged numbers of the good packages to be made available at knockdown prices. Yes, you will still have to pay, but for a few weeks it may be only 25% of the normal price.
The question is, will there be a better time price wise? You will have to decide that.
I don’t have anything that people want
You know stuff. It may be that you have been giving away much of your knowledge for free for years. So, just pause and think about it.
If you have been supporting anybody in any way, if you have been giving value in any project then you have something which will make other’s lives better.
In the last four weeks, plumbers who have rarely been online before have built successful YouTube channels providing “how to do it” advice for homeowners. The lockdown has challenged their ability to conduct domestic work, and they have found a way to continue to support their customers, possibly increase their long term customer base, and deliver value.
Take fifteen minutes to brainstorm what you know.
Type your subjects into google, and just see how much there is going on in that field.
Don’t let the activity of others put you off. Lots of results means there is a market which you can target.
The time is now
The whole world is changing, right now. The lockdown is costing businesses and people a lot of money but, it could be the opportunity you need to step forward and take control of your own direction and longer term financial future.
Building additional income streams is not easy. There is no guaranteed overnight success. Getting yourself better educated will be fundamental to any success, and there may never be a better moment.
With 25% of adults side-hustling today, there is no way back. The genie is let out of the bottle. Those who are underwhelmed and under-financed by their work, but have the appetite, if not the confidence, to go it all alone as an entrepreneur, will not let the chance slip.
Professor Bernd Vogel Henley Business School
