For some of us it is not feasible or maybe even imaginable to earn our living from home. It is a huge step and ‘culture shock’ when we have spent our working lives tied to one or more corporations. We may have been accustomed to a job that provided health insurance benefits, holiday and sick pay, cost of living increases, retirement “pension” and/or 401k etc, and maybe the possibility for ‘advancement’.
The days when we could depend on a job including all of those benefits or in fact even being a stable situation have long gone, what with going ‘global’ and outsourcing, off-shoring, mergers, workforce reductions and bankruptcy. However many jobs today still have some or all of those promises that ‘self-employment’ does not include. In fact when you are starting a business you may not only not have holiday and sick pay, you may be working long hours without pay until you get it going on track!
Obviously this will not be possible in many cases since we need money to survive – food, shelter, and other necessities for ourselves and our families. So the ideal time to try to start an Internet marketing business would be part-time or in our ‘spare’ time. Depending on how little or how much time you have to spare to yourself, you could even look at it like a hobby – and this might be just the ticket since there is not much stress or dire consequences associated with a hobby.
If we start eventually to earn an income from home, and have a job that provides for our needs sufficiently, then we can just put our earnings into either an ‘operating’ or a savings account. Most businesses, even online from home will have some expenses associated and we can use the extra income for that and then later on start to think of it as savings for a ‘rainy day’. In either case it is a very wise idea to have some extra money for who knows what tomorrow may bring.
Others may look at their home business ‘hobby’ as a way to get something extra that their salaries do not allow. These days there is very little left over after expenses to save or to splurge. Some may even need this type of goal to motivate them to work more than the normal number of hours, or to come home from work to work some more, and/or to work on their days ‘off’. So holding a nice fat carrot in front of them like that shiny new car or that exotic vacation is sometimes much more compelling to people than ‘savings for a rainy day’.
In any case, it is a very good idea to start something when it is not a critical need – such as if you should lose your job and have a limited amount of time to find a way to replace your income. At a time like that we can be somewhat hysterical or feel desperate and it is just not the best time to make decisions; we certainly don’t want to have to accept a job we know we are not suited for.
Ideally if we lose our jobs, we will have a certain number of weeks of unemployment insurance and have some other savings we could rely on to get us over the bridge to a new source of steady income. Many however are not that fortunate or the amount they are left with would not even cover their expenses.
If you are in this situation you might want to take a few DAYS to recover from the shock and to get organized by creating a plan. Then you should treat looking for new income as a full-time job – don’t think it would be a nice time for a mini-vacation because the day is coming when the ‘wolf is at the door’ and you want to be prepared. Now can you see how nice it would be to just realize, ok, I have been saving money from my Internet hobby(s) and that will help get me through this?
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