Take the Time to Invest….

Photo by http://973thedawg.com/ 

I am concerned about the economy of this country (USA), and I always have been.  There is a goldmine out there, and I do not think that over half of the people in this country is taking the time to do this sort of thing.  I will tell you in a moment what it is.  Yes, it has to with the title of this post.   Consider the following (I am paraphrasing a Facebook friend’s post from today-My comments in red Parenthesized):

·         68 of Macy’s stores are closing (Including the one ½ mile from my house)  

·         ALL of Limited stores are closed (one announcement on the news is all the everyone got)

·         108 Kmart stores are closing (the last one in the Central Ohio Area will be closed soon)

·         42 Sears stores are closing (not sure of the fate of the one ½ mile from my house, which is in the same location as the closing Macy’s store and already closed Limited store.  This Mall (Eastland Mall) will only Sears as an anchor store for now).

·         Companies are outsourcing and downsizing. (There is no surprise there.)

So, why am I telling you this?  More later….

Consider this…

1.      The largest transportation provider in the U. S. does not own a single car (Uber)

2.      The new largest hotel company in the world does not own a single hotel (Airbnb)

3.      Amazon just surpassed Wal-Mart as the nation’s largest retailer and they do not own a single store.

On this “Makeover You Monday” (Hopefully this is a new segment on my new blog, NOT on this blog), I hope that you have taken some time to think about what would happen if you lost your job due to layoffs, downsizing, outsourcing, or even something such as your boss telling you that you no longer “fit” with this company. (Was there ever such a term in the first place?)

I am not talking about if you have money in your bank, a 401(k) plan in place, a retirement plan, and so forth.  That is great once you retire or become sick, but if you are a seemingly healthy adult, and become displaced for even a moment in time, what do you have in place?  You could go back to school. There are plenty of scholarships and grants out there to use for your classes and learning materials, but there is a problem.  What if you did not get at least a GED once you turned 18 or older?  This is one of the major requirements for today’s college entrance for even a basic course.  What if you cannot afford to go to school (such as family obligations)?  Is your spouse or child going to allow you to study, or even your current employer.  More on that later….

Now for the reason behind this post….

I am talking about investing in yourself.   The backstory:  About a year or more, someone told me, “if I cannot invest in myself, who else would?”  I understood what he meant by that statement, and is true, no one else has your best interest at heart more than you do.  Other than God and maybe your parents and maybe your spouse, you are the best investor in Team You (Team Patricia, Team Phil, Team Natasha, insert your name after the word team).  This is something that money cannot buy, but it helps pay a lot of bills.  People can only help for so long until you can get on your feet.  After that, you are on your own, so why no invest into something that matters…. your career and life.

 So, what does this have to do with the stats I listed before my little talk….

It is merely a reality check.  I am reminding you that if you want a paycheck and want to continue to work for someone else, this is your reality.  Maybe you will be affected by this news and maybe you will not.  What I am about to say on this makeover you Monday can be life changing or it may not.  It is up to you but I have to ask you this question…. What are you passionate about?  If you could wave a magic wand to get you to your dream job, what will it be?  What does the future hold for Team You?

In other words, become an Entrepreneur (Work a home, own your own business, a side gig, whatever name you call it).  It can be in Direct selling, service, tech (which is part selling/ part service), anything.  Is there a service that your current employer does not offer that you wish they did?  Provide that service on the side.  Dissatisfied with the level of service you get at an establishment that you can provide for others?  Do it.  Have a skill that would be a perfect match to assist a company, but you do not want to commit to one company?  You can freelance. 

You do not have to quit your job right away.  Offer only a few hours at a time when you get home or on the weekends.  Your employer does not have to know about what you do in your spare time.  In fact, it is none of their business what you do after hours.  You are off the clock.  The only thing that it effects is the time you spend with your family, but you like everything else, there needs to be a little planning involved.  After all, they want to know when they can spend time with you, and if you have small children, it can affect them a lot. 

I will not go into what you can do to make extra money because that part has been covered (Directly Selling to You, How to Generate More Money to Live).  You can read these posts, read a few Pinterest boards, join a few Facebook groups, or do it the old-fashion way like having a few garage sales, working a second job (or 3^rd, or 4^th), or start a retail store. The last one requires a vender’s license and tax id, both which I have for my homemade business (P. Lynne Designs), which I got for a minimal fee according to each state ($0 for the Tax ID, $25 for the business Vender’s license, and $50 for the name registration for the state of Ohio-Check with your state or country).

Once you get started and you see profits going in your direction (should take about 6 months to 2-3 years), then take the plunge of quitting your 9-5er, but keep your options open, because you will never know what might happen.  If something happens during that trial run of earning a living with your business, you do have something to fall back on.  This is the reason why you should never let your employer know you are making extra money on the side, plus if they find out, you may get a warning to stop or be fired.  BTW it is not illegal to own a business, companies want to know who they can count on in a crisis. 

That is all for now.  I will be coming back to this subject on both this blog (only covering writing opportunities) and the new blog (for other extra money opportunities) from time to time.  I am not here to talk you out of a 9-5 job.  It is not for everyone but that is not for me to decide.  Who knows, you may find an opportunity that I need to know about (no illegals or scams please).