How to Earn Supplemental Income Doing Consulting Work
 So, you're considering doing some work on the side. You aren't alone in this.
Side jobs have become quite common in the last several years as families everywhere
have experienced increased debt and uncertainty. The stigma that some companies
associate with working a side job is all but gone for many
companies. If you play your cards right, many businesses will even see advantages
to you broadening your experience through side work. These benefits are real,
and more than just spin on your part.
Why Work On the Side?
Increase Your Income
The most common reason that someone working for one company would take side
work is, of course, money. Maybe your money motivation involves getting out
of debt once and for all by increasing your income. Maybe you just simply want
a little more "play money". Either way, working on the side can pay great rewards
and help you meet your objectives quickly.
Why does even a small side income makes such a difference? Because it adds
to the money you can spend, not just to the total earned. What do I mean by
that? Here's an example. If, for instance, you make $2,000 per month after
taxes at your present job, how much of that do you get to spend? I guess the
short answer is that you get to spend all of it, but what I really mean is
how much can you spend on what you enjoy? For instance, in the example above,
if you have $1700 per month in mortgage, credit cards, utilities, and other
bills, what you keep is
$300 ($2,000 - $1700).
Increase the Money You Keep
Here's a fun example. If you take an average bookkeeping client, you will
earn $300 per client each month. It takes you in the neighborhood of 8-10 hours
per month to service a small-business client. With the example above, you would
now earn $2,300. Sure, that's wonderful, but that is not the exciting part.
The reason for rejoicing over the additional $300 per month that you now earn
with a single client is that you now get to keep $600, DOUBLE what you used
to keep. What you will see is that by spending 8-10 hours per month, you have
doubled your spending money. With two clients, you have tripled your spending
cash, and so on.
The graph below illustrates how with just a few clients, you could be making
a great supplemental income to what you make now.
If you want to give up your full-time job eventually, fine. Maybe you don't
want to. Working for a company can have some great benefits. Health insurance
can be more expensive for individuals, one reason that many workers continue
to seek employment with mid-sized to large companies. There is a lot to be said
for working in a stable environment that can provide a very stable paycheck.
Variety Is the Spice of Life
Allen Bostrom, the president of Universal Accounting, worked for Exxon for
years. He took a few bookkeeping clients on the side as well. What he found
out is that working for small businesses was just a lot more fun. When you
do the accounting for a small business, you find that your advice is worth
so much to them. Your viewpoint matters to the financial health of small companies,
and they value your suggestions. You will find that they much more often will
implement your suggestions than a larger company ever would. Because of the
one-on-one nature of working with small business owners, many of them will
count you as friends, not just as business associates. It tends to just be
a friendlier atmosphere.
Reduced Stress
One of the greatest contributors to stress in the workplace is a feeling of
not having options. When you run a small accounting and bookkeeping service,
you have options. Why? As you build up even a limited client base, you will
see how easy it is to get clients. If your work environment at your full-time
job goes sour, you know that you have something to fall back on. Likewise,
if you keep your full-time job and one of your clients on the side is not enjoyable
to work with, you can discontinue providing accounting services for them, because
your full-time job pays the bills.
You learn that you are now in control of your financial future. If you keep
your full-time job, it will be because you want to, not because the bills have
to be paid. You may find that you are one of many that just have a lot more
fun supporting small businesses. And you'll love the income it brings in. Because
it takes so little time to service a small business client, you will make $30
to $60 per hour servicing your clients. If you build up to 10 clients, you
will be earning $3,000 per month, likely as much as you are making now full
time. What's more, 10 clients is considered half-time work. Does working half-time
and getting paid as much as full-time sound appealing? Sure, it does.
If you want to add more clients and make even more, that's great too. Many
would just like more time with family and friends. There is no right or wrong
solution. We are describing having options, and choices mean you are doing
what you want to for a change. You may always want to work for a larger company
as your primary source of income. Side income just means that you are doing
what you want to, not what you have to. That small difference can make all
the difference when it comes to how much you enjoy what you do.
Greater Experience Base
When you do accounting or bookkeeping tasks for a large company, you tend
to see a very limited view of what is going on in the company. The larger the
company is, the more compartmentalized that things become. If you work in accounts
receivable, you likely have very little idea what happens in the payroll department
because it simply isn't in your job description.
When you work for smaller companies, you get the big picture. You see across
what would be departmental boundaries in larger companies and you are in the
best position to advise small businesses how to improve their financial position.
Because you record data in the journals and do the reports, you see the complete
picture of how money flows within a company. Your insights become extremely
valuable to the business owner. You contribute to the success of their company
and gain valuable skills along the way.
Because you have worked the entire breadth of the accounting process, you
learn skills that put you in an ideal position to be ready to move up when
a position opens up in your full-time job. If you have been limited to the
operation of accounts-receivable, you are not in a good move-up position if
a promotional opportunity presents itself in payroll. Because you work as a
full-charge bookkeeper when you service small-business clients, you get broad
exposure that makes you a great candidate for promotions where you work across
divisions at your full-time job.
Because the kind of learning that sticks is the hands-on experience you gain,
you will be uniquely positioned at your full-time job when the next great position
opens up. So many employees find themselves unable to move up because of limited
experience. The experience you get from even a few clients enables you to break
out of your present limitations.
You need not be shy with your employer to
admit that you take a few clients on the side. As you show them how your
new experience and knowledge makes you a better employee, they see what's in
it for them.
The Tools and Support to Get Started Now
Even if you have worked your entire career in a traditional job, the Professional
Bookkeeper program teaches you how to get started small. If you want, you can
easily grow your accounting service to earn $80,000 per year full-time if you
wish. But even if you just want to learn how to make supplemental income in
your spare time, the Professional Bookkeeper program will more than pay for
itself with your very first client. How big or small that you want your business
to be is entirely up to you. What the Professional Bookkeeper program really
buys you is choices. The path to financial freedom starts with choices, because
you know that your course is set by you, not by external forces. Learn how
to get control of your life and be ready to move up.
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