If you’re tired of working for a corporation, you might fantasize about ways to break free from the tedium of following someone else’s notions on what you should do all day. It might also feel frustrating earning only just enough to pay your monthly expenses.
Unfortunately, it’s not immediately clear how striking out on your own will improve your life beyond giving you more freedom. After all, you won’t have a regular paycheck, secure benefits, or get to take advantage of employer matching funds to your 401(k) contributions. What’s more, the idea of hustling all day long and organizing all aspects of a business alone could be exhausting.
Fortunately, if you choose the right type of business venture, then all these concerns about leaving the security of a dull but predictable 9 to 5 job will quickly fade away. Besides having fun doing something you enjoy, you’ll also have the satisfaction of earning more than your boss at your current job without spending years climbing the corporate ladder.
Here are some examples of lucrative income streams that will make it easier to become an entrepreneur:
House Flipping
If you’re a hands-on person who likes to fix things around the house, you might find house flipping a rather fun way to make money. As a flipper, you’ll find dilapidated homes selling below market price. After fixing them up, you’ll be able to sell them at market price, earning a handsome profit after deducting all your costs.
One way to decide if a house is worth buying is to find out if you can fix its problems at a low cost. When estimating repair costs, it’s important to know which repairs you can do yourself and which require a professional due to safety concerns. You may be a whiz at plumbing and drywall, but things like insulation removal or electrical repairs should probably be left to the pros.
Blogging
Blogging can be a simple yet powerful way to become an entrepreneur. In fact, you can even start your blog while still working at your regular job, devoting just a few hours a week to growing it.
To start a blog, you need to know your niche, choose a domain, select a hosting provider, pick a theme, and install plugins. After implementing those steps, focus on setting up your main pages, creating a content strategy, and writing posts. Once your blog is ready, work to drive traffic to it. You can monetize your blog in numerous ways, such as publishing ads, sponsoring posts, and doing affiliate marketing. After you’ve developed a popular blog, create your own products, like an online course, or selling your own specialized services, like social media marketing.
Transitioning From Employee to Entrepreneur
It’s always challenging shifting from being an employee to becoming an entrepreneur for a wide variety of reasons.
Here, for instance, are two challenges you will face:
- Scheduling your day. When you work for someone, you need to be somewhere at a certain time and place to perform a variety of tasks based on a carefully outlined job description. As an entrepreneur, your freedom to do anything you want all day long makes it easy to procrastinate on doing many of the more tedious aspects of your new business.
- Calculating a realistic budget. When you work for someone, you always receive an expected amount of money at a certain time of the month. As an entrepreneur, there will be feast and famine cycles — which makes it difficult to budget your expenses.
The best way to transition from an employee to an entrepreneur is to start your own commercial venture as a side hustle until you are earning more than you are earning from your day job.
