DJ Nelson is an entrepreneur and founder of All Diva Media, the women’s blogging community. She’s also the founder of WorkAtHomeWear.com, a line of clothing and gifts for people who work from home.
When you were a little kid I’m sure your mom or dad told you to always have a Plan B. Sure, you can be a superstar, but make sure you have a backup plan just in case that doesn’t happen.
It’s such a shame that after adulthood people tend to forget that little piece of wisdom. We get a job, or start a business, and think we are all set. But unfortunately it doesn’t always work out that way.
What if something happens and all of a sudden your business isn’t relevant? Where will you be?
No, I am not saying you should play the “what if” game to the point of driving yourself insane, but your mother was right when she told you not to put all of your eggs in one basket.
When you work from home you especially have to be careful of getting too comfortable. There’s a tendency to think, “I work from home, this is my business, I am in control”, but if you fail to properly plan, you might find out that you aren’t in as much control as you think.
When I began freelance writing I never relied on one client. Even when I was booked to the max I always made sure that I had something else going on. Maybe an affiliate site, perhaps content based website, maybe I’d sell unpublished articles, my ideas never stopped flowing.
And would you guess what eventually happened; a major client flaked out on me. That could have been a complete disaster but it wasn’t. In fact, I didn’t really care because my livelihood was not based on that one client.
Now that my work is mostly web based, I still don’t rely on one source to bring home the bacon. With the way the internet works, it’s just too risky. Something can be bringing you maximum profits one day, and then you turn around and find your balance at zero.
It doesn’t matter if you are a writer, consultant, graphic artist, or ecommerce site owner; you need to have a strategy in place before it’s actually necessary. Your clients could bail, your website rankings could tank, and your niche could lose popularity. Don’t be caught with your pants down.
Here are some ideas to help you find a Plan B:
- What’s your specialty? Can you think of a way to expand while still maintaining your original focus?
- If you rely on clients, what will you do if you lose them all within the next week? Where will your next client come from?
- Do you have other talents you can use to make money?
- Do you have a savings account? Can you increase the amount you save, or decrease the amount you spend?
- Are you basing your home business around a third party like eBay or Facebook? How can you balance that with having something of your own?
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