So many people want to be their own boss, but it is a scary thing. Certainly I suggest having a plan before you start and having money in savings or having another sure income stream while you get started.
In our case, I started working on some side hustles before giving up my 8-4 job and my husband is paid well as a millwright. Further, I know that there are plenty of jobs available in my community so I certainly have a safety net. These practicalities aside, let me tell you how I approach this adventure.
Hobby Homestead Income
Our goal raising chickens was to be able to sell enough eggs to buy their feed and supplies while still having enough eggs for us. It might be possible to extend the chicken income by selling their pretty feathers and their used bedding/manure as fertilizer. However, we have not found this to be useful at this time.
We intend to add fish bait to this income by raising our own worms and catching baitfish (we have the licensure) but we have not actually invested into this yet.
We have taken first steps towards breeding specialized dogs, but we are just at the baby investment steps thus far.
Side Hustles
Rachel participates in a variety of side hustles and is busy with them every single day even though she isn’t working on each of them every day.
Affiliate or Ambassadors
Affiliate sales are something that are very lucrative for some people and not at all for others. We do sometimes share discount codes on our social media and this can garner us gift cards or credits. We only do this for companies that we use like dinner meal kits at EveryPlate or Tailwind. We even have a page on this blog with these helpful links. We just started being an affiliate for Tapestri as we believe that we should all be paid for our own data being sold. Yesterday we signed up to be an affiliate for Just Strong clothing right after I bought clothes of the site. These affiliate sales will not make us rich, but maybe they can be mutually beneficial for our readers and for us. For example, if you would like a discount for Just Strong clothing you may use this code on the Just Strong website and I also receive a 10%commission plus a 20% discount at no additional cost for you. This benefits the company, by the way, in that they are receiving relatively cheap advertising to all of my readers, and hopefully gaining customers. We would not consider this if it were not a brand we already use.
Farmers market
Rachel began selling at the farmers market about two weeks before her school year job ended. From May to October, this is a commitment to two days a week for five hours a day. This winter that time commitment will be less. Then it will be time to reevaluate whether we want to do farmers markets again, or whether we choose to expand to more markets.
Farmers Markets allow one to sell what they are passionate about. Our markets have everything from fresh vegetables to soap, CBD to wooden bowls, catnip toys to popcorn. We have expanded our wares to: our surplus garden vegetables and sometimes berries that Rachel picks, fresh eggs, canned goods of preserves and pickles, and crocheted & sewn items just like we sell online. It is vital that one check on their state and local laws regarding sales, as well as market rules regarding insurance, etc. This has been a lot of fun for Rachel, and not cost us very much to start. Should we participate again next summer, we will buy more chickens for more eggs next year, and have inventory built up ahead instead of starting at the last minute (as soon as we received an invite).
Online money
We have been selling crafts online for a few years. We have been terrible at actually getting all of our items listed. Hard to sell them when they aren’t being shown. This is an area that we should market more as these are mere drops in the bucket. These crafts are the same as what we sell at farmers markets and use as gifts and donations. We do have them for sale on this site as well as others such as Shopify.
Freelancing
Freelancing is interesting. In some ways this means not working for yourself since you are only paid if your work is approved, but you are in control of what jobs you accept. Rachel has done some freelance work through the years, but this is the first year that she is actually focusing on it. Currently she is signed up on platforms like Freelancer and UpWorks. I have been able to work with authors proofing and reading their books and it has been great fun. Locally I have worked with a business to revamp their safety manual and write an OSHA acceptable safety course as well. That job might not have been “fun” but I did learn a lot!
Contests
Very seldom do we participate in contests, but we do occasionally. Rachel has been in a weight loss contest every couple months. The focus in the group is more about making healthy challenges but we do pay into the pot and if we manage to make the goal of losing 5% of our weight we at least get our money back and maybe more. On her second attempt she achieved this goal. There are some other contests that we participate in as a donor or a player, but nothing that will pay our bills.
Passive Money
Money Making Apps
We have an app on our phones called Tapestri which pays us for phone data ALREADY being sold. We don’t have to do anything and we earn money every month. Or we can work to promote this app and make just a little bit more every month.
eSales
As I sat down to write this post I had to choose between working on this post or putting in time on our ebook and ecourse. This is a lot of up-front work, but then it is passive income.
Blogging ads
Unless I want to pay a ridiculous amount of money on my WordPress account there will be several ads on the page. I can choose to make a small fee from having these ads on my pages. With my traffic now I earn about $.10/month. This is not a get rich scheme, but since you will see ads no matter what, I may as well make a little.
What is your side hustle or little bit of passive income?
Perfect tips. I am just starting to do some of these things.
Fantastic! Good luck as you move forward!
I’d love to be my own boss. I’ve had several ideas for businesses over the years but I’ve been unable to follow through on them as I have no capital and my health has been a huge issue. Being a blogger is the closest I’ll get at the moment
Blogging is a great way to start. Especially with the deep posts that you write!
Thanks for all these tips. I’ve never been around chickens before. I wonder what it would be like to get my own eggs for breakfast. Affiliate sales sounds like a good idea.
Fresh eggs are the best! Fresh and better tasting, they would be so good for your breakfasts!
I’ve been didn’t the contest thing for a few years now. Maybe 30 minutes a day using the Martin Lewis free competition finder. Can go months without anything but every so often it does work. Won an Xbox and some other stuff.
That sounds kinda fun. Who doesn’t like winning?!?
I feel like you are slowly finding your feet, working out what is working and reaching your goals. And it is showing on your blog too! But yeah, get more chooks for more eggs.
Thank you! This comment means a lot to me!!