branching out the business

One of the things that I focus on with my business is the concept of "multiple streams of income". It is something that I have seen mentioned quite often, and it makes sense from a diversification point of view. It's like investing. You don't want all of your eggs in one basket. Your income source should be no different. Imagine how one could minimize the effects of layoffs by having multiple streams of income. You lost one job? Darn. But at least you've got a few others to pay the bills while you fill that income void.

It's difficult to pull this off, though, when you spend so much time at one place of employment. When you work 40-50 hours or more per week at one job, how do you have time to establish another? Especially if you've got family, or a social life in any way? For me, multiple streams of income has often meant as many different internet based opportunities as possible. There's affiliate marketing, paid blogging, advertising, web design, etc. It's the subject of countless ebooks on the market today. But is this really a new concept?

Although we like to think of traditional forms of employment consisting of only one paid job, I have discovered that the "multiple streams of income" philosophy has been working in small towns like mine for years. As an example, I recently had to mail a package via Fedex. Being in a small town, we don't have a Kinko's or large office center. We do, however, have a second hand consignment shop that is also a Fedex authorized shipper. They also ship packages via UPS. They also offer copies, faxing, and other office assistance for a fee. They also put out a weekly flyer with paid advertisements for local business. They even sell skin care products and cosmetics from companies like Avon and Mary Kay. In a nutshell, they do it all. And it is probably the only approach that could have allowed them to remain in business for so long in a town of only 2500 people. It's either that, or appeal to the tourism market.