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 LEASE

May as well go with the biggest expense first, and for the most part, it will be the biggest expense by far. However the cost can vary greatly depending upon the location that you choose. I have found that in the local area near where i am now that a 55sqm office, can be leased for $1,300 per month plus tax and outgoings. All up this comes in at about $20,460 for one year. This is located in a area just south of Brisbane, if you were to look at leasing a similar property in Brisbane it self you would be looking at closer to $40,000 per year.

THE FURNITURE

At a minimum for an office you would want to have an area that at least resembles a reception area, whether you actually decide to have a receptionist or not, the area allows for a separation of your work area and where clients may enter your business. For your office, you would look to have a desk, maybe a bookcase, and a sideboard, which can act as storage and a place for your printer, fax machine etc, plus a chair for yourself and 2 or 3 chairs for visitors. Purchasing these items alone from a office furniture store would come close to $3,000.

For the reception area, a reception desk a chair behind and a maybe again 2 or 3 chairs for waiting visitors, plus coffee table which you could hold a more casual meeting with your client at. Again a conservative estimate for this would come in close to another $3,000. Which would give you a total of close to $6,000 for furniture.

THE TECHNOLOGY

Really this is an area that having an office means you need to do a bit extra then you may otherwise. Just like with the furniture you need to prepare for future needs, even if it is just for one additional person. So your basic needs would be 2 x computers, a Colour Laser Printer (or mono laser printer, and colour ink jet), a fax machine, a basic phone system, external network drive for backup, and an ADSL router. You could replace the 2 computers with laptops, however this would not really cause much saving. Your total cost is likely to be around $1200 x 2 for computer, $400 for printer/s, $400 for fax machine, $1,000+ for a basic phone system, $200 external network drive, and $100 for ADSL router. For a total of $4,500.

THE SERVICES

There are a few services that you need to have if you have a office, these generally all cost money and will quickly add up over a year.

- Telephone : It is a good idea to get at least 2 lines, so that you can be on a call and another call can still come in, additionally a separate fax line also ensures that faxes can get through without being affected by other calls. While two lines may be suitable it really depends upon how many calls you get. The costs associated with phone lines can vary greatly depending on the level of service and additional features that are enabled, however i would estimate a minimum of $50 per line, for someone who makes a low volume of outbound calls and faxes.

- ADSL Broadband : A fairly standard business grade ADSL service can be connected for about $100 per month.

All up even for these basic two services you are looking at around $250 per month or $3,000 per year.

JUST THE BASICS

So really this is just the basics that you need for setting up an office and when you put it all together for just the first year it does quickly add up

Lease $20,460 + Furniture $6,000 + Technology $4,500 + Services $3,000 = $33,960. This assumes that you are not considering also employing someone for reception, which if you do happen to get busy is almost a necessity with an office, if you plan to be in and out during the day. You are probably looking at a minimum of $40,000 a year for a receptionist when taking into account the expenses associated with employing someone.

THE CONCLUSION

While some businesses literally may need an office because the clients do visit them more often, especially if you are selling to retail customers. The general cost of having an office is quite high, considering that you need to make this money as profit above the expense of product before you actually make any money for yourself. While it will get a little better in the second year when you don’t have to purchase new furniture or technology, there are other costs that just happen to come up, like the almost constant need for stationary supplies, printer toner, and other supplies that you don’t expect.

THE LEASE

This is probably the best part of having no fixed office, the fact that there is no fixed lease. You may end up using some of the space in your house, or maybe a table in a coffee shop, but at the end of the day you are not committing yourself to an expensive lease which you need to cover before you can pay yourself.

THE FURNITURE

Again in essence you do not really need to spend anything on furniture, while you can use an existing table or such at home, you may like to spend some money on a desk to differentiate your spaces. Buying a desk for at home is quite different to buying on for an office where clients are going to visit you. So $300-$400 should be more then enough.

THE TECHNOLOGY

Unfortunately this is one of the area’s that it is hard to compromise on for a portable office. You still need a laptop, @ around $1,200, and if you want easy access to a printer, a portable printer will cost around $500. A portable backup drive will also cost you around $200. However even with these few items you are only out of pocket $2,100 or less then half of what you may expect to spend having a fixed office.

THE SERVICES

Rather then a phone line you are better off having a mobile phone, which will run at about $50 a month, if you don’t over use it. Again for internet you are better off using a Mobile broadband connection, which again is around $50 per month. Overall saving you up to $150 per month.

JUST THE BASICS

Again like in a fixed office there is going to be the total of just the basic’s which can show a good comparison between the two options.

Lease $0 + Furniture $400 + Technology $2,100 + Services $1,200 = $3,700

That is less then 10% the cost of a fixed office and the best part is that in year two you are down to just $1,200 ongoing. Which is actually considerably better then what a fixed office may cost you both upfront and in unrecoverable ongoing expenses.

THE CONCLUSION

The cost of having a portable office is so much less per year as well as up front as a fixed office that unless there was a very major compelling reasons to set up an office then why would you want to. The extra costs eat away at the profit that you could be earning and leave you wondering how much will be left for you.