The Danger Of Too Many Income Streams

There is a danger in too many income streams.

When I first got into business I was given a lot of bad advice. Most of the bad advice was camouflaged in layers of what seemed to be good advice. These things sounded like good ideas on the outside but the reality was they did not work, or they would not work for me, so I had to figure that out. Unfortunately the journey takes a lot of time and work and one can die on the trail of good ideas if they get lost there simply because real income is not being made in the process.

One of these seemingly good ideas was this one of having multiple income streams. It sounds good. Who wouldn't want to be diversified. This makes sense because: 

• If one is only in one country doing business we can be taken out by one disaster that happens locally.
• You appeal to more people if you have more product lines.
• You can reach more people with a variety of ventures.
• If you lost one source of income you would have another to replace it.
• You can use one source of income for living and another one as your savings, or your investment fund, or your educational fund, or whatever you need as a safety net.
• There is power in leveraging. Whether that means having more money to leverage, or having the skills of many people working with you in a network marketing venture. Leverage is a good thing.

If I had a job, I would definitely want a side business to protect me from losing my employment. I would want the tax advantages of owning my own business and I would want to get more back that I paid needlessly to income taxes.

So if all of this is true. What is the danger of too many income streams?

The danger in this ADHD world is a lack of focus. One can get too busy doing too many good things and never focus. Real, lasting success and success that produces income really happens as a result of focus. So anything that takes you away from your mission in life is not a good idea after all, no matter what it sounds like or looks like on paper.

Are you going to change your whole life to put your focus into the new venture? If the answer is “yes” and you can do it with all your heart, then go for it, but you will have to let other things go. Focus on the new idea and give it the opportunity to give you success in it. Otherwise it is not profitable to change course or to even shift off the course you are on by a little bit. A ship that is off mark by even 1% will arrive at the wrong destination.

Does the new idea go with the other big idea that is your real focus? If it is complimentary and does not take a lot of time there may be a reason to add it to your portfolio, but you need to count the cost before you begin to build. Are you already doing most or some of the things required? Is there someone you could partner with or bring in to do some of the additional work? How realistic is their involvement level going to be? Can you hire and pay someone to handle the excess workload? With partnering or hiring it may be a good fit if it works alongside what you are doing, but questions need to be asked and answered before beginning.

How many things can you do? Most people can do one or two well. A few people can do four or five things well, but usually as one of those things gets busier the others lag for need of attention. Then one needs to be able to delegate. Do you have anyone you can delegate these tasks to? If the answer to that question is “no” then you need to STOP adding more to your plate. You don’t need many good income streams, you need a couple of good income streams that have commonalities so you can manage them better.

Self-made millionaires have a common story. They were intensely focused for a period of their lives to attain what they have. While others yacked about balance, these people lived very focused and unbalanced lives for 2-25 years to get to where they are. They gave up other things. They said “no” to many good ideas and said “yes” to other ones that fit their long-term vision. While others jumped from company to company, they stayed focused. While others got into every multi-level business that came along, they said “no” to most and occasionally “yes” to one that added some kind of value to their existing plan. If it did not work, they learned quickly and moved on. They created seasons in their life where their focus may have shifted from business operation, to real estate investment but they stayed focused on the big picture. They bought and sold but they stayed true to their passion.

It is good to have options but too many income streams can make you lose focus.

Always Loyal2U,

Kerry George

Here is Tyler Perry talking about how he focused on one thing for a long time and then he had a breakthrough. It will inspire you!