Having multiple income streams can really be one of the best ways to become financially stronger. Because you are gaining income from multiple different places, that all will generally vary of their own accord, independant of the others. You are creating a way to build income that is more secure than just a single stream that might be what you would expect from working in a job, or running a business from a fixed office.

Creating multiple streams of income while something that is often talked about it not something that is always easy to do. However can be easier when you have no fixed office. This is because you are not required to focus on the one thing all the time. It gives you more creative space to freely develop a range of different products and services. While it would be pretty much impossible to go into nay sort of detail on all the possible options, i just really want to give you some ideas today, on potential area’s that you can look.

So where do we start, well the best place is what your current business is. That is if you have one. But a business generating a profit, is your first stream of income. This for many reading here may currently be your predominate or only source of income, however of course you do have to start somewhere. Although a business may be classed as a single course of income for yourself, that doesn’t mean that the business itself may not have multiple sources of income itself. This could be through multiple product ranges, or different services or such.

So then you wonder, what other options are there. One option is to take a look at your hobbies, maybe you make hand made jewelery, that you have just given as present’s to friends and family so far. It may be a potential area that if people like the jewelery that you make, you could look to start selling it on a market stall or via the internet on your own website or even eBay. This may start off as a small thing, just selling the odd item or two to friends, and can really take as much or as little time as you can give it.

Another option could again come from a hobby, maybe you really enjoy photography. You could take a lot of photo’s of places or things that people could potentially use for their website or other graphic design needs. Then you can join a stock photography website that allows you to post your work, and have people purchase it and you receive a royalty for each photo each time it is downloaded. Again something that does not use a lot of time, and can be something that you do in your spare time on a hobby that you enjoy.

A third hobby might be writing, you may enjoy writing, and be able to apply this to writing something about a topic others may enjoy. Maybe you think about it and decide to write a short e-book on how to get started with Hand made jewelery. You can include information on the tools you need, the different types of jewelery that you can make and some simple step by step’s for a couple of different designs. Then sell this via a website. This could easily expand to offering the tools you may need, as well as the products to make the actually jewelery, becoming a couple of different income sources in itself.

Finally there are a number of options depending upon how you are positioned that could give another source or two of income. One option is if you have savings in the bank, ensure they are in an account that maximizes the interest you are receiving or a term deposit is another option. You can also look at making some investments in shares which may return some income in the form of dividends. If you have the finance available an investment in property may also be an option, which would return a rental income. These are just three other potential sources of income, of course they all depend somewhat on having a potential source of money to invest.

As you can see creating multiple sources of income needs not be something difficult. It does not have to involve a lot of time, and the money that you make does not have to be the sole form of income that you survive on. However combined the income can provide a very good point to start from, in adding even more income streams.

The ultimate issue comes down to the perception that many things are needed to make the business successful. Things like having a big office, having staff, and all the latest gadgets. These things are seen to be what is needed to make a business successful. The fact is that often these things are not what make the business successful, what makes the business successful is the people, and what those people do each day. Most importantly what the owner of the business does and how they do it.

Now of course as I have said previously there are some businesses that do need these things, to function at a level of consistency that is needed from them. Businesses that require a large amount of space, that are not easily portable, and that do have a need for some employee’s to expand to certain level’s that may not be achievable without an office. In fact there are many businesses that this is essential, for example banks, major retailers, and really any large company, that needs to deal directly with people.

While there are these businesses that do need an office, these are often the exact some businesses that are not the sort of business that people working with No Fixed Office want to be running anyway. There is a lot of incumbent politics to them, and tend to require a lot of time most every day of the week. As well as being extremely formal and often quite rigid.

So what does it take to create a business that works well with No Fixed Office. Well there is one large step that needs to be overcome initially, and that is changing your own mindset about what a business is. For some people this can be a giant challenge, however in the long term, unless you are really planning to create a massive company quickly, you are going to find this change of mindset to be more of a benefit then a problem.

Changing your mindset about a business, is something that is not easy. It means displacing some fairly hard seated believes about what a business is and should be. Some of these believes will differ from person to person, however following are some of the more common beliefs that need to be displaced.

YOU HAVE TO HAVE STAFF – While it is true that if you want to expand your business beyond a certain point you need to have some staff. There is also the fact that some very successful businesses, do manage just fine with few if any staff. Or at least direct staff as such.

YOU NEED ALL THE LATEST GADGETS AND TECHNOLOGY – Again while some of these items are nice, and often can save some time, the actual need you may have for them is not as you really believe it to be, the perceived need often when you truly look at it is not of as much value as you may have initially thought.

YOU NEED AN OFFICE – The real reason this blog is online comes from this perceived need not being true. This is probably the most detrimental need for most businesses as well. Really you don’t need an office to run a successful business. Because having an office often leads back to the first item where you need to change your mindset and that is having an office brings you to believing you need staff to fill it. Both are things that just are not needed for a successful business as such.

These are really just three of many other potential mindset changes that you may need to make. Now the more difficult question when you consider the need to change these believes is what are some of the potential businesses that come from displacing these believes. Really there are more then you think, and it is some of these potential business idea’s that I want to share with you over the coming months.

Just for a small idea of some of the business that you could potentially get started with absolutely no need for an office. Things like consulting, this is often done on site with the client or via phone. Marketing, again needs no office, you can make full use of the technology available in laptops and the Internet to do all you need to do. Finally how about running a network of web sites, a blog, some information sites, etc. Could all be done from a laptop where ever you feel comfortable.

So take a little time out today and rethink your idea’s about what really does create a successful business, and keep reading for a kick start article in getting a simple business going with No Fixed Office.

THE DIGITAL WAY

Of course if you do all your work digitally, then you are already well on the way. You can maintain a directory on your computer for files, and also you have programs such as OneNote in which you can separate all the written information. This can work great for website projects or other online activities, however the problem here in lies, that you are always thinking and don’t always have your computer around.

THE PHYSICAL WAY

While a computer may be easier to track everything in a single stream or area for a project. Keeping some things physical is often an easier option for some people. However then you end up with the problem how to keep everything for one project separate from the items for another project.

The best way is a number of A4 Plastic Organizers, these can be purchased from most stationary stores, and are basically a plastic box a little bigger then A4 (so they will fit an A4 page inside) and have a capacity of about maybe 150 sheets. Or really anything you want to put in related to that project. they clip closed to ensure things don’t fall out. This also makes it really easy to take everything for one project with you when you head out to a coffee shop or some other place to work.

For larger projects you really only have an option of keeping everything in one designated area. In this case having some shelves, or cupboard which you can easily seperate space on can come in handy. Having things in cupboards or on shelves makes it easier for you when you decide to work on something as you can straight away see everything you have for that project in place, rather then something like a box, where you often need to take everything out, and it ends up more effort then is really needed.