Where to Begin

Escapees - 

Thank you for the words of encouragement. 

So, you got the memo, no employer is going to protect you – but the tension is that you are comfortable with what’s worked in the past (money, benefits, etc). Today, we’ll address how I changed my mindset around corporate work.

A friend of mine is about to enter a transition. The organization he works for is in decline, and starting to make difficult short-term decisions that will hurt the business down-the-road. You unfortunately have to assume that this safety net is going to end soon. He has patiently listened while I have rambled endlessly about this topic, and understands my journey. I’d go so far as to say he has drunk the Kool Aid, and would like the same for himself. 

That said, my guess is that he is going to immediately go find a similar job for similar money - because everything else is unknown. Changing from high tech to anything else has to start with exploring if something else is better than his current situation. I’d encourage him, and you, to at least peek at that alternative reality.

In this case, the timing couldn’t be better. His current dependable income allows for trying a few things out before desperation time. Who knows, maybe he finds an alternative income stream that acts as a bridge until the next full-time gig appears. This may create an option that doesn’t currently exist - maybe he can double down on this side hustle and turn it into something more sustainable.  The confidence that he has at least the start of something will also help stabilize some shaky nerves (personal experience with this point).

So, where do we begin? To me, the answer is a trifecta: exploration, education and experimentation. Ready?

Explore

Step one - check in with yourself. How much time do you have (and every second of social media is free time)? Do you think you could sustain five hours a week to get a business off the ground? I can, and am using those five hours to write this article. I think you have as much time, too. 

What about money? Can you scrounge up $500? If so, you can start a pressure washing business, be a window washer or countless side hustles that get you outside and learning the ropes of running your own business. You don’t want to wash windows for a living? Great, do it for a month to learn marketing, then pay your kid to be your first employee (and take a percentage off the top). The point is that there are few legitimate excuses to starting this journey.

For many of us, we’re thankfully well beyond starting from nothing. I started my real estate hustle with a home equity line of credit (HELOC) from the equity in my home. Starting that real estate business gave me a unique perspective about side hustles that makes this nascent newsletter possible. 

You almost certainly have some expertise, relationships and money to at least start something. Ask your loved ones what you are good at. Write those things down, and start thinking creatively about how those talents can be put to use. 

Let’s take my wife, Jen, as an example. She has been through a lot with one of our kids, and her handling of that has been more graceful than I could have ever imagined. Combine that with her amazing attention to detail and planning, and now you can visualize several opportunities that she would just crush. 

Or, if that’s too hard –

One of the things that has changed in the last twenty years is that you can make money with almost any passion. I have watched more youTube about pick up trucks than I care to admit. The number of folks making money from DIY truck videos and 3D printed accessories is astronomical.  

Maybe all this cutting edge stuff is daunting. That’s ok, there are traditional options, too. The silver tsunami is upon us well.  It is estimated that 2.3 million small businesses are owned by aging baby boomers. From my research, it seems like a profitable opportunity could be bought for a favorable price and has plenty of room for you to make an impact. 

Don’t laugh at me, but I think that owning a dumpster rental business would be really great, and checks a lot of boxes for me: durable, recession proof business, requires some physicality / movement, seems like there is a viable market in the community where I live. Ultimately, Jen and I didn’t pursue because there’s a reasonable chance that we will be moving in the next several months.  

The point is, check in with yourself, and understand what is appropriate for your current situation. Write down a few ideas, and pick the one that seems like it has the easiest or most enjoyable path to monetization. From there, it’s time to start learning.

Educate

Before I started real estate investing, I did my research. My approach - listening to podcasts. A half hour commute or walk can provide real knowledge over the course of a few weeks. For me, I probably had a hundred hours of podcasts, masterminds and books under my belt before buying my first investment. The resources are out there, you just have to prioritize.

Right now, some savvy folks I follow are writing newsletters on same platform as me. I know a little about how newsletters can make money and have a few pointers for where to begin. This, of course, is foundational, but at least for me, I want to learn from others before I jump into something new. 

Experiment

Before I started this newsletter, I tried to provide this same content via YouTube. The first newsletter is basically a transcription of the first video. I even borrowed video equipment and tried. It sucked. Finding a good background, lighting, my hair, my face, my voice, you name it, all contributed to me walking away after about ten hours of effort. Will I ever go back to it? Who knows. But for now, I went far enough to know that wasn’t for me.   

And, to call it like it is, you (and I) are part of my current experiment which is running through the end of April. Can I write content that you would read? Do I enjoy writing? Can it make money?  Let me give you two concrete examples from this newsletter.

You may observe that there are some referrals to other newsletters below. If you click on one of those, I theoretically make $1.29. You can bet that if one of you clicks on that, it will drive me to push harder and encourage me. It is instructive to know if that referral is no big deal, makes money, or is just a source of frustration for you, my reader.

Secondly, so far, all eleven of you subscribers (thank you!) are friends and family. Could my newsletter grow organically? We’ll never know until there are enough of my best-effort articles out there to see if some of you start forwarding this beyond my immediate circle.

Lastly, I have been pleasantly surprised that writing about this topic is fun for me. Walking in, I expected that I would not want to sit in front of a computer (like my day job), but have found that writing is entirely different and satisfying. It is creating something rather than sitting in meetings.

All of these lessons have come from a few hours of work, and I am thankful for the spirit to just try this on and seeing if it sticks.

Summary

I am asking you to consider looking outside of what society has ingrained in you. There is no better time than now to at least try on a different path for your future than now. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but do believe that introducing a new way of thinking may help you to look beyond your comfort zone.

Erik

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