New Business Basics: Multiple Income Streams
The #1 new business killer is lack of seed money. Not having enough cash to invest in a new business can starve it to death.
So really, the #1 reason why businesses fail is poor financial management skills.
In the first month of Fempreneur Marketing School, I invested about $300 in swag and Instagram ads. Since then I’ve invested an average of $100 per month in Instagram ads and giving away swag and my books. These are the key ways I’ve spread the word about Fempreneur Marketing School and grown our community.
If you want to have $100 per month to invest in attracting new people to become your Instagram followers, email subscribers, event attendees and clients, you must get a grip on your money. You must understand your numbers: the dollar amount you need to pay for your basic expenses each month and your income total each month. If you’re like me, the income number fluctuates, so it is important you have two cash reserves: one for your business needs and one for your personal needs.
***If personal financial management is a problem for you, or you’re not sure where to start with knowing your numbers, get your hands on my first book, Money & The 39 Forever Mom. This book explains simple, effective steps to understanding what’s actually going on with your money and how to correct harmful financial habits. If you aren’t a mom, this book is still an excellent tool! It has many of my most embarrassing money fail stories too ;)
I believe in faking it til you make it, however, this mentality can get you into trouble financially. I’ve been there.
Back to early 2012 when I was a new Financial Advisor, my investment and insurance advice-giving skills were improving, until a few asked for help with budgeting. My finances were a mess. I had never made a budget and had no idea where to start with budgeting. Although I was doing a decent job of looking the part on the outside, with my brand-new vehicle and professional clothing I’d purchased at thrift stores, teaching people how to build and follow a budget was NOT something I was going to try to fake. I called my favourite mentor at the time, a senior advisor at the investment firm. He recommended a book that helped him in his early Financial Advisor years: The Wealthy Barber Returns by David Chilton. That book gave me a healthy dose of reality and improved my money mindset - the basic stuff I’m sure you wish you’d learned in high school too!
Not only was this book fundamental in helping me straighten out my personal finances, I began gifting it to new clients. Technically I couldn’t afford to give my clients gifts, but by then I’d learned the importance of giving personal gifts that would remain in their home or office and remind them of me. This was a good reinvestment of my limited income which I definitely paid for with a credit card because my income was barely covering my expenses!!
I gifted that book to 4 or 5 clients and the ROI was insane. This is an example of when “fake it til you make it” really works; a credit card helped me grow my business.
Multiple Income Streams
My first adult business income stream started when I was 18 and still I still have it today: cutting and colouring hair. Back when I was an employee at the investment firm, I technically wasn’t supposed to have other businesses. I kept my hairdressing quiet while I earned a bit of grocery and beer money doing hair. I couldn’t advertise publicly that I wanted more hair clients, so luckily the word spread through referrals. Thank God I decided to become a hairdresser when I was 18!! Some months I made more money doing hair than I did from my Financial Advisor job!!
I moved to Cochrane in 2010, and a year later I had completed all of my financial course exams and was working as a new Financial Advisor. So technically, I was growing two baby businesses during my first years living in Cochrane. I remember the pain of those first few years so well - growing my hairdressing business as I built my career in finance, not able to marketing either one the way I wanted to!!
In my Financial Advisor job, I was a commission salesperson who was taught to do what’s best for the client, while knowing if I didn’t hit my commission target, I’d get fired. I could see that my method of growing a financial practice would be more effective: focus on educating women about money in a safe place where there are no stupid questions. Empowering women to make profitable financial decisions was what I felt called to do (and I still do today!), but my way was a slower process and required me to have other income streams.
I couldn't do it their way without sacrificing my values. That wasn't an option. I had to find a way to create my dream business, not theirs.
While I was trying to figure out how to blend their way with my way, I was fired. Problem solved.
As soon as I was fired, I immediately discovered new income streams that were a great fit for me. I couldn't have discovered them without getting fired. I created my own boutique financial consulting business with a product shelf and events that I CHOSE. I added more and more income streams to my life as the years went by, still adding new income streams today.
When it comes to marketing, we are taught to be super niche and to avoid distractions. This is great advice, but if you are not able to pay your bills and you are expecting your baby business, or one income stream, to take care of all your needs, you must start looking for other options.
I'm not saying you need to pivot or quit - just be open to discovering additional income streams that align with your values.
For me, starting a marketing school was never about starting a new income stream. I thought I was doing it to nourish my existing income streams, yet here I am today with many income streams I didn't have six years ago: business coaching, marketing, and hosting hosting retreats and events for Fempreneurs. Starting my free six week marketing school and teaching it to over 100 women in 18 months was about growing my community and feeling less lonely - for myself and other like-minded women. I got so much more from taking that leap of faith, building relationships with and serving those first 100 women.
If you have recently started a new business, do you have income from a job or another business to feed it so it can eventually become your main income stream? If you answered yes, I am high five-ing you right now. You need to have savings or income from elsewhere to fund a new business. Thinking you will start a business and right away be profitable is unrealistic. If you know people whose businesses have been profitable from day one, or even within the first year, assume it won’t happen to you. It didn’t happen to me. Creating multiple income streams from your talents is always the best way to go.
Have you started a business recently but do not have other income streams to support it? If this is you, I suggest you hurry up and fix this. You do not need to share publicly that you are making money doing something that’s not your public mainstream career. For example, no one needs to know you are driving for Uber or Skip the Dishes a few nights a week so you can buy swag and Instagram ads. I turned to credit cards for those investments for years and although I don't regret it, I would do things a bit differently if I could go back in time. The stress of wondering how or when you will pay off debt comes out in our marketing. People will see and feel your financial desperation on social media. You don’t want this. Offer to take care of your friends’ lawns and gardens. Start a dog walking business (have you heard of Rover?) Bar tend a couple nights a week. Do something that requires zero to very little upfront investment (say NO to multi-level-marketing businesses which require you buy a bunch of product up front) and use the income to feed your business before it’s too late.
If you’re curious about the best way to add a new income stream or two to your life, let’s hop on a call to discuss ideas - my gift to you: click here to book.
Improve Your Financial Picture
Do you want help with setting up cash reserves or knowing your cash flow numbers? I'd love to assist you.
If you are looking for ways to create wealth by setting up a TFSA, getting answers to your burning financial questions, or improving your money mindset, I’m here to help. Book a free call with me: click here!
The best way to grow your income is to invest in proven ways to get more clients. This looks different for every Fempreneur. Some of you reading this need to improve/clarify the way you communicate what you offer. Some of you need help with packaging and pricing your services. Others simply need to get out there: BE THE FACE OF YOUR BUSINESS ONLINE.
