Does Creating Multiple Streams of Income Produce Multiple Personalities?
There is a slight dilemma within the business world, the home-based business world, to be more precise: "To create or not to create multiple streams of income" - is the question! But depending on who you ask determines the answer.
A fellow marketer once told me not to "put all of my eggs into one basket".
But not long before that, someone else (another fellow marketer) told me that being involved in more than one business would spread me too thin and would almost guarantee my failure, not to mention cause me to appear unstable.
"Geez...
who's right and who's wrong?", I wondered.
I actually had an ongoing battle within myself over this little dilemma for the longest time until I just sort of stepped back and took the time to really see each person's statement for what it really was and come to my own conclusion.
I can see validity in both statements, but I can also find a few flaws as well.
Let's start with the first statement: "You shouldn't put all of your eggs in one basket!" Where I agree: I realize that businesses come and go all the time and ANYTHING can happen such as a company going bankrupt or just closing down, period.
Where I disagree: There is nothing wrong with showing some loyalty to your business, especially when first starting out.
This can be with any business be it a home-based business type or a brick and mortar or a personal service business.
You definitely want to be focused and get to know the ends and outs of your business and sometimes trying to focus your attentions or your affections on too many ventures may result in one area or the other lacking in some way, shape or form.
Now, let's address the second statement: "Being involved in more than one business would spread one too thin, almost guarantee failure and cause one to appear unstable" Where I agree: Joining too many businesses or trying to promote too many things at once can take a toll on you and yes, in the eyes of some, it can make you appear as a program-hopper or that you're a "jack of all trades-master of none".
But I believe it also depends on motive and intent.
Are you seeking to promote another venture just as a means of adding additional income or is it because you didn't give the first thing enough time to see results and you dropped it to move on to the next thing or is it that you are just having an issue of staying focused? I am of the mind that one should give themselves time in one thing before moving something else, regardless of the reason.
Where I disagree: Sometimes different things have different benefits.
For example, there are businesses that pay out on a one-time basis meaning, you only get paid once per person who joins you in business or purchases something from you and you have to keep getting new, fresh sign-ups daily in order to make money.
Then there are businesses where the pay structure is residual meaning, you get paid monthly (or even weekly or yearly depending) so even if you got five people to join you and then stopped promoting, as long as they (and their members/customers) remain active, you still get paid.
So it stands to reason that a person may want to have both a direct, one-time paying business as well as a residual-paying business - two different types of businesses to satisfy your payment preferences.
Not only that, but what about offering choices for your potential business associates? Perhaps your main program is a very high-ticketed program but you are noticing that a lot of people who wish to join you simply cannot afford to get in.
Now, some people would not care about that and would simply tell the person, "If you want it badly enough, you'll find a way - perhaps this just isn't for you" and go on about their business.
But perhaps you are the type of person who wants to help people where ever they are economically and so you opt to not only have your high-tiered business available for those who can, but you also have a lower-cost business available for those who may need it.
So, there are definitely other reasons to look at for promoting multiple businesses aside from wanting more money or being a program-hopper.
Now if you, like me, have one centralized location that you promote - one website or one facility, etc.
- you may want to offer more than one option (not too many, though) because not everything is for everyone...
what appeals to some may not appeal to others.
But even in this case, I recommend having your one, MAIN business that you promote the heaviest and then have those other businesses as something you promote more passively.
But all-in-all, I believe that creating multiple streams of income is a good thing - but as a good friend of mine once told me, "dig out one stream and get it running smoothly and then move on to digging out yet another stream!"
A fellow marketer once told me not to "put all of my eggs into one basket".
But not long before that, someone else (another fellow marketer) told me that being involved in more than one business would spread me too thin and would almost guarantee my failure, not to mention cause me to appear unstable.
"Geez...
who's right and who's wrong?", I wondered.
I actually had an ongoing battle within myself over this little dilemma for the longest time until I just sort of stepped back and took the time to really see each person's statement for what it really was and come to my own conclusion.
I can see validity in both statements, but I can also find a few flaws as well.
Let's start with the first statement: "You shouldn't put all of your eggs in one basket!" Where I agree: I realize that businesses come and go all the time and ANYTHING can happen such as a company going bankrupt or just closing down, period.
Where I disagree: There is nothing wrong with showing some loyalty to your business, especially when first starting out.
This can be with any business be it a home-based business type or a brick and mortar or a personal service business.
You definitely want to be focused and get to know the ends and outs of your business and sometimes trying to focus your attentions or your affections on too many ventures may result in one area or the other lacking in some way, shape or form.
Now, let's address the second statement: "Being involved in more than one business would spread one too thin, almost guarantee failure and cause one to appear unstable" Where I agree: Joining too many businesses or trying to promote too many things at once can take a toll on you and yes, in the eyes of some, it can make you appear as a program-hopper or that you're a "jack of all trades-master of none".
But I believe it also depends on motive and intent.
Are you seeking to promote another venture just as a means of adding additional income or is it because you didn't give the first thing enough time to see results and you dropped it to move on to the next thing or is it that you are just having an issue of staying focused? I am of the mind that one should give themselves time in one thing before moving something else, regardless of the reason.
Where I disagree: Sometimes different things have different benefits.
For example, there are businesses that pay out on a one-time basis meaning, you only get paid once per person who joins you in business or purchases something from you and you have to keep getting new, fresh sign-ups daily in order to make money.
Then there are businesses where the pay structure is residual meaning, you get paid monthly (or even weekly or yearly depending) so even if you got five people to join you and then stopped promoting, as long as they (and their members/customers) remain active, you still get paid.
So it stands to reason that a person may want to have both a direct, one-time paying business as well as a residual-paying business - two different types of businesses to satisfy your payment preferences.
Not only that, but what about offering choices for your potential business associates? Perhaps your main program is a very high-ticketed program but you are noticing that a lot of people who wish to join you simply cannot afford to get in.
Now, some people would not care about that and would simply tell the person, "If you want it badly enough, you'll find a way - perhaps this just isn't for you" and go on about their business.
But perhaps you are the type of person who wants to help people where ever they are economically and so you opt to not only have your high-tiered business available for those who can, but you also have a lower-cost business available for those who may need it.
So, there are definitely other reasons to look at for promoting multiple businesses aside from wanting more money or being a program-hopper.
Now if you, like me, have one centralized location that you promote - one website or one facility, etc.
- you may want to offer more than one option (not too many, though) because not everything is for everyone...
what appeals to some may not appeal to others.
But even in this case, I recommend having your one, MAIN business that you promote the heaviest and then have those other businesses as something you promote more passively.
But all-in-all, I believe that creating multiple streams of income is a good thing - but as a good friend of mine once told me, "dig out one stream and get it running smoothly and then move on to digging out yet another stream!"
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