Our 2018 personal finance survey of 139 Gambians shows that 53% of the respondents have only one source of income. The results also revealed that those respondents who have multiple income streams have higher savings account balances than those with only one source.
The positive relationship between the number of income streams and financial freedom is not peculiar to the Gambia alone. Tom Corley, the author of “Rich Habits”, studied the habits of U.S.A millionaires for five years and he reported that 65% of millionaire had more than three streams of income.
Having multiple income streams is the same idea as not putting all your eggs in one basket. When one income source suffers, the others can help. It is a form of income diversification.
If you are employee note that the employer can relieve you at any time, if you are an entrepreneur note that economy can go wrong and if you are a politician, then a new government can send you out of the office.
Question: How many streams of income do you have?
I have at least two monthly sources, and I intend to make it three by 2020. You too can create multiple streams of income if you have a strong desire and willingness to make it. Recurring stream of income is the easiest way to increase your earnings.
You cannot be doing the same thing every day and expect your earnings to increase. Therefore, you should be prepared to learn, change and execute for your future financial position to be better than today’s situation. You are only competing with one person, that is yourself. You want to see that your life is improving year on year.
In this article, I have discussed some of the ways you can start doing to increase your income and without over-depending on one source of income.
Let’s start.
1. Learn new skills and ask for a pay increase
Due to the global economic environment, there are possibilities that you had no promotion or significant pay increase for the past few years. However, do you know that acquiring new skills or qualifications can lead you to more responsibilities, promotions and pay increase?
New skills can improve employees’ performances. That is why corporate leaders are always looking for employees who are very productive and can impact the overall bottom line of their organisation.
You must be deliberate about the skill acquisition and plan accordingly. Make a plan to acquire a qualification that will be relevant to your career. The new skill should be relevant to your current job or the other part of the business. It may be easier to earn a pay increase if the qualification relates to your current work.
For instance, if you are an accounting clerk with AAT qualification, you can consider studying ACCA or any other financial professional qualification. You are sure that such a decision will move your salaries to another level.
However, as we live in the information age, I will recommend that you do not purposely acquire new skills to earn more salary, an active income. You can learn business management, investing in other businesses and financial assets.
2. Change your Job
Millions of people go to work every day, but they feel sad and complains about their jobs. They are not passionate about their career and some even dislike their managers. One of the reasons for such dissatisfaction is the low pay offered by most companies or job functions. Well, there are two options if you fall under this category. You can either change your employer or make a career shift to another job function.
If you are working as a technology administrator in a software development firm, you can learn about product sales and join the sales department. You can potentially earn more income as front sales officers are generally paid more than the back-office functions.
Data analysts have shifted to data scientist, so do tailor changed to fashion designers with more pay.
3. Side small business
Doing a part-time job is the most common way for most employees to increase their earning, however starting a part-time business can be more rewarding. Your part-time small business can be converted to permanent full-time business as you manage and succeed in the industry. You need to look at some business ideas and check which one aligns to your passion. It is never an easy way, but it can lead you to a long-term career.
4. Blogging
Originally, blogs were used as a personal diary. However, today blogs are making both passive and active income for most bloggers around the world. In simple term, there are websites where a writer or group writers share their views or news articles, images, videos etc.
You can blog about health, current affairs, business, relationship, fashion etc. Write about something you know or willing to research. In the beginning, it can be tough, but over time as your website traffic increases, you can make money from blogging. Bloggers make money through adverts, affiliate marketing, own digital products.
5. Published a book
One of the recent decisions that impacted my life is book publishing. I stepped out of my comfort zone and started blogging in 2015. In 2017, I published my first book (PASSED) on Amazon stores across the globe. This book made me an international bestselling author in the USA, and the news was published on over 50 news sites, including our Gambians press houses.
Book publishing can generate additional income from royalties in addition to personal branding growth. My first book was published on 12 October 2017, and it has generated over $1,500 sales in the first 12 months.
6. Freelance
Freelancer previously used to be a technology job market for coding and design. Today, there are multiple jobs you can do as an online freelancer and almost for every profession. You can offer accounting services, translation, writing, legal services, interview etc.
There are website platforms for buyer and sellers to enter service contracts through the online freelance system. www.freelancer.com etc.
Earning more money is a game of thinking about opportunities, execute them and preserve. It can come easy for those who are focused and persevere than for the individuals who believe that employment is the only source of income.
Question for you
If you are making extra income, tell me your idea in the comment box below
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