Have you ever been self-employed, and after several months, made the choice to go back to work? The reason I ask is because I’m contemplating returning to the work force, which I’m really scared to do after working for nine months on my own. I feel like a child again, when the last few days of summer vacation are over and the new school year is approaching!
I thought about some of the things I learned while being out of work for nine months. You tend to learn alot about yourself when you’re trying to make it on your own. I figured I would share some of these things with you, athough they may not necessarily be true in your world. Some of these things may also seem trivial to some people, although I had to learn them the hard way:
- Making money is not about running around trying to find ways to make money! Because I had no real plans after leaving work, I kept trying to find creative ways to make money which was not the long-term solution to my problem. It’s better to focus on the one thing that you love to do most.
- More often than not, you will need to spend some money in order to get any type of real business off the ground. This is not a hard-core rule, but serious business owners spend money to get their business off the ground.
- Rental property is an awesome source of income! However, it is vital to have at least one other source of income in order to live comfortably. This lesson was true in my case because I only have enough property to pay the bills each month. I had no extra money! Another strong income source would have eliminated this problem.
- I could have saved most of my money from my job before quitting. I have managed to get by for the past nine months without any job income, so I could have managed to save more income from my job when I worked.
- Buying single-family homes is only a short-term strategy. Buying single-family rental property has created more work in terms of property management. For example, I bought three single-family homes, which means I have to manage three roofs, cut three lawns, etc. My long-term strategy will be to acquire multi-family property which is less management intensive.
