Maximize your Potential
- Rachael Mora
- Jan 12, 2017
- 4 min read
HOW TO UTILIZE MULTIPLE REVENUE STREAMS TO GROW YOUR INCOME
When you have unexpected money or extra savings, it can be tempting to go buy something cool right away. You have the funds, you can afford it – why not? (For some advice on freeing up money and decreasing expenses, check out this post!)
I encourage you to wait and find an opportunity to invest those funds to create more funds down the road. Here’s how this works:
You have saved $5,000. You could go buy new furniture. Or a computer. Or go on a vacation.
OR
You could invest in an opportunity that will provide you with additional income and you can earn your $5,000 back, plus an additional $5,000 in income with which you can buy new furniture. Or a computer. Or go on a vacation.
Easy choice, right? I made a little formula to help :p: Initial funds + opportunity + hard work = more funds.
Here are the variables.
Initial funds: As I mentioned, these can be hard to find. Click here for some strategies on freeing up some income. Depending on the opportunity and the risk involved, it may also make sense to take out a small business loan or looking into borrowing money for funding.
Opportunity: These vary. I’m going to discuss two personal to my experience here, but there are so many opportunities available for those who are willing to work for them. Don’t be fooled by the “No investment or low investment, make money from home at part time work” advertisements you see on your facebook. The investment for opportunities is real and can be significant, but it takes money to make money. You can work to choose an opportunity that has a comfortable level of investment and risk for you.
Hard work: Contrary to your facebook advertisements, there are very few real “no work total reward double your money!” opportunities out there. To invest in and create an additional income stream takes hard work, and you will get out what you put in. If you work an hour a week and passively throw a few spare minutes here and there at it, you won’t make much. If you make it something you think about on a consistent basis and take actionable steps to manage and build, you will see rewards.
More funds: Everyone loves more funds. If you’re a nerd like me, you take more funds to invest in new things and make even more funds that you can put in your retirement fund. And then you reach a point where you feel comfortable taking some of the funds to put towards your dreams and magic – backpacking in Europe, Christmas in Panama, finally going to Harry Potter world all start falling into place.
I said I’d talk about two opportunities specific to my experience. Here they are:
Airbnb
Shortly after we finished the tiny house and moved in, someone mentioned to me that we should list it on Airbnb for Derby. We live really close to the track and people rent their houses for crazy high rates that time of year. I thought what the heck, listed it, and left other dates open so I could get some reviews. Then people started requesting to stay, so we accepted. Then we started getting multiple requests and got overwhelmed and kept raising the price until it slowed to a manageable rate. In the end, we rented the house a total of 110 night last year. 110 nights. That’s a far cry more than we anticipated and means we spent 110 nights in my mom’s house, 110 times moving everything out of and back into the house, cleaning the house from top to bottom, stocking snacks, writing and managing communication from guests… but we have an extra income stream that has now made almost as much money as the tiny house costs to build (labor not included, obviously).
So you don’t have a tiny house to rent. Okay. Do you have a spare room? Any major events in your town? One thing we really love about Airbnb is that we’re making money utilizing something we don’t get to use all the time since we’re at work. House, cars, sharing your resources can be an awesome way to maximize the return on a fixed expense. Uber and Lyft are great examples of another way to do this – drive a few people places and contribute to your car payment. Watch people’s dogs while they’re out of town and in turn pay your own dogs expenses. Get creative.
LuLaRoe
The other income stream we currently have outside of our full time jobs is selling LuLaRoe clothing. This one isn’t QUITE as much of a passive income as Airbnb, but with a much more significant return.
If you don’t know what LuLaRoe is, check out this post I wrote about the brand here. It’s a clothing brand sold only through independent consultants, who throw in home parties in people’s houses, at local events, online through Facebook, Periscope, Instagram... we’ve done it all. It’s a significant investment – about $7,500 in startup costs, which my mom, sister, and I split three ways. But the return has been incredible and we’ve all three been able to earn a great side income over the year we’ve been doing it. We’re also currently getting ready to go on a LuLaRoe incentive cruise and renovating the garage to be a LuLaRoe shop! Not to mention all the free clothing… :D.
Lots of hard work. Lots of using my business degree. Lots of playing dress up. Awesome side hustle. If you’re interested in becoming a consultant and selling LuLaRoe let me know, I’d love to help you get started.
So there you have it. Multiple income streams. Lots of hard work. Some risk. Lots more hard work. Money management. More hard work. And that’s how we fund our vacations to and fro.
It’s doable for you too. There are lots opportunities out there and creative ways to fund them. I encourage you to get researching! Let’s put those tax refunds towards creating more income instead of just buying something! Leave your ideas and what you're saving for in the comments!
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