The Entrepreneurial Mindset

A different way of looking at the world

I was talking to a friend recently, and we started talking about work.

My friend mentioned wanting to move to another job, as it would probably be better-paid.

Making an extra million or two a year would make a huge difference, he said. Unfortunately his wife thought it was too risky, so he would probably stay in his current job.

I found the conversation a bit strange. After all, a couple of million a year is the extra revenue my wife's school would make if we recruited 12 extra students, something that wouldn't be particularly difficult to do.

This is the difference between being a salaried employee and working for yourself. As a salaried employee your pay scale is pretty much set. You are unlikely to greatly increase your salary, no matter how hard you work or how much value you provide.

On the other hand, as a freelancer or business owner, a couple of years of all-out effort could lead to very profitable results.

One of the best books I have read about entrepreneurship and the building a business is The Millionaire Fastlane. It's a great read and really gets into the entrepreneurial mindset.

One of the great things about being alive at the moment is the sheer range of opportunities we have to create our own revenue streams by harnessing the power of the internet. Online advertising, product creation, and billing mean that individuals can now do things by themselves at very low cost that used to be restricted to multi-national corporations.

We don't have to choose between the safety of a normal job and the potential of starting a business. It is possible to do both, working on pet projects in the morning, at night, or at the weekends while doing your job during working hours. It's tough, but it can also be incredibly satisfying.

From renting out your house on AirBnB to writing ebooks or designing a new product, getting it manufactured in China, and having it shipped to customers by an order fulfillment agent, or even just hanging out and posting on Steemit, opportunities are everywhere.

How about you? Do you have a side hustle?

This post first ran on RetireJapan in June 2016