Don't Give Up Your Day Job For A Side Hustle
Build wealth faster by doing both
I love side hustles and love reading about new opportunities. But I see many people not being able to build wealth because of one massive mistake they make.
There are countless variations of the mistake, but it generally goes like this. Joe Bloggs has a job that either doesn’t pay well or that he doesn’t like. Sometimes it’s both. Maybe he earns $40,000 a year. It’s enough to live on, but like most people, he wants more. He can live month to month but doesn’t have any left over for investing.
Joe decides to investigate a few side hustles because he read about some guy making $20,000 a month while sitting at home in his underwear. Joe likes to imagine that the best-case scenario will 100% happen to him even though a ton of evidence suggests otherwise.
Joe buys some fake guru course that promises he’ll be rich very soon. Great, thinks Joe. I have $3,000 saved. That will last me 3 months if I’m frugal and live in my car.
F%&k my boss.
First thing on Monday morning Joe hands in his notice and tells his boss what he really thinks about him.
He then makes a grand announcement on Reddit. He chooses the r/entrepreneur sub for the announcement. After all, he’s a big-shot entrepreneur now.
His announcement gets 876 upvotes. The other wantrepreneurs (because that’s what they really are) congratulate him on going into business and telling his boss where to shove it. You’re guaranteed to succeed they all tell him.
Of course, none of those that upvoted or commented on his announcement have actually run a business. They’re just a bunch of people that don’t like their jobs.
Joe decides to build a website. He’s not sure what he’s doing but plods on anyway. A month later he’s back asking for advice on how to get customers. He hasn’t had a single sale yet.
Another month goes by and he’s back asking how he can make a few thousand dollars by the weekend. His $3,000 didn’t last as long as he expected. Now he’s desperate.
If he’d kept working he’d have had another two paychecks of $3,300. So he’s already down $6,600 just because he gave up his job too soon.
He decides to get another job. He can only find one that pays $30,000 a month.
Meanwhile, Dave kept his job and built a side hustle. It didn’t work out. That’s ok because he still has his regular paycheck. He experiments with a few other side hustles. Eventually, he finds one that starts making $500-$1,000 a month.
Two years later this side hustle is earning Dave $40,000 a year, the same as his job. His day job isn’t the best and neither is his boss.
But Dave has a goal of financial freedom. He focuses on his goal, not on the boss he doesn’t like.
He continues to live on his paycheck and invest all the side hustle profits. He’s able to invest $40,000 a year.
Joe Bloggs advises Dave to ditch the job and go all-in on the side hustle. Joe doesn’t like seeing other being successful.
Dave ignores his advice. He would rather earn $80,000 than $40,000. Joe Bloggs just doesn’t get it. Joe also wants to be wealthy but hasn’t set any goals. All he has is some impossible dream.
Dave sticks to his plan. In 5 years Dave manages to invest $200,000. It’s now grown to $300,00. Dave decides he wants to try something new so sells the side hustle for $150,000. He invests it. He now has $450,000 invested. He still has his day job.
Joe keeps posting on Reddit and complaining about how tough life is.
Dave knows that his investment will likely grow to $1 million within the next 10 years.
That, my dear friends, is the mistake so many make. They give up what they have without having any concrete plan in place.
That is exactly how some succeed while others don’t. The ones that don’t succeed then go on to complain how unfair life is.
If you want to build wealth and become financially free, set some goals, make a plan, and have some patience.
Becoming wealthy usually takes time. Yes, some can become wealthy quickly, but they are a small minority. Be realistic. Make the right moves, and becoming wealthy is pretty straightforward.
Don’t be Joe. Be Dave.
Good luck.
