Recently I spoke with a friend that I had not spoken to for years. He and his family moved to California 20 years ago or so and I think I have only seen him once since then. While it was great to talk with him, learning of his experiences over the past couple of years was a bit distressing.
When Ray and his family began their journey to California, they felt they were living the dream. They sold all their assets where they were, packed up and looked towards a bright future with new opportunities. In the beginning the adventure was just that. Arriving in California, they bought a house and with lots of hard work and cash, they made it a home – their home. How great is that?
Little did they know that the economy would go to hell and change everything as they knew it. His wife lost her job and his hours were cut due to the downturn in the economy. Without both incomes they were finding it impossible to make ends meet. Worse than that, the housing market where they were took a huge nose dive and selling the house was not an option. They would not be able to get anywhere near what they owed out of it. (This happened about a year and a half ago, before short-sales and refinancing was an option.) They ended up having to walk away from the house losing everything they had put into it, as well as their credit rating.
Unfortunately, theirs is not the only story like this. There are many that are experiencing the same or similar situations.
Sharing Ray’s story with you was probably not necessary but it really does draw a clear picture of just one reason why creating multiple income streams is so important. Not just for business owners, but for anyone that is motivated to do so.
We’ve talked about things that a few different kinds of business owners could do but most of them are not exclusive to business owners. For example, anyone that has a passion for cooking could create another income stream based around cooking or if your passion is pets, create your additional income stream around pets and so on and so on. Be creative – think “outside the box” – and then do it! It’s important.
Don’t be bashful. Share with us your ideas, success stories or even failed attempts of creating multiple income streams. Others, myself included, could benefit from any experiences you have had. We’d love to hear from you.
