Be Diverse

In the introduction to this series of blog articles, I mentioned my belief in streams of income.  I said that each stream was a tributary that would feed the river of income that you would want to create for yourself.  If one of the streams experiences drought and the water flow slows down, that’s still OK, because if you are diverse, the other tributaries will still feed the river and leave you an income that is adequate to fill your needs.

How do you create the tributaries?

I am sure some people are wondering just how you build these streams so that your river will be strong.  Well, the answer to that is diversity.  But, maybe you are asking what diversity is, or what I mean when I say diversity?

Well, “diversity” can mean different things.  But in most cases it generally means having a variety, having different things.  For example, in society, diversity can mean that the population consists of all different kinds of people.  Maybe it is diversity in race, so there would be Caucasian people, Africans, Asians, Hispanics and every other hue of the rainbow.  There is also diversity in other areas.  Having males and females is diversity.  Having people of different sexual preference is diversity.  Whatever you can imagine.

In this case, I am talking about having diversity in terms of the businesses that you have.  If you are going to follow my strategy and have multiple streams of income you need businesses of different types that all earn money for you.  So, you need to be involved in diversity in your businesses.

Can you give an example?

Sure, I can tell you what types of businesses I have.  Most of my businesses are online enterprises, but not all.  I am currently getting into a few different brick and mortar (non-online) types of business.

Here is a list of various businesses that I am currently doing:

• I have an online eCommerce business called WowPhilippines which sells gift type items that we will deliver to any address in the Philippines.
• I have a Web Development company called CurvePress which does web design, site hosting, maintenance and such for websites.
• Blogging.  I have a number of Blogging sites that I earn money from.  My biggest site is Live in the Philippines, but I have many others including this site.
• Investigative Services.  I have a business called PointmanPI which does background checks for people.
• I am a writer, and I have more than 100 books on the market.  I have eBooks and also Paperbacks.  I sell my books on Amazon, and also on my Expat Island Bookstore.
• Language instruction.  I offer courses for those who want to learn to speak Philippine Languages.  From 2007 until 2011 I studied and learned to speak Cebuano, the language of the area where I live in the Philippines.  After becoming more or less fluent in the language, I developed a course to teach others, and also added other languages to my website.
• Amazon FBA.  I sell products on Amazon using the FBA program, “Fulfillment by Amazon“.  This has been a very successful stream of income for me.
• I do “X Deals” with local businesses where I trade my services to them in exchange for their products or services.  I have some “X Deals” or “Exchange deals” that have been highly successful for many years.
• I do consult for those who are considering making a move to the Philippines or becoming an expat in other countries.
• While it is not me, it is still related.. my wife does relocation consulting and also helps people moving to the Philippines find apartments, homes or whatever information they need about residing in the country.
• For the past couple of years, I have been doing Santa Claus in the Philippines.  I quickly learned that this is a very lucrative thing to do, and I also enjoy it greatly.  The income potential on this is huge.  This is my first brick and mortar business that I am involved in at this point.  I do work for many malls, hotels and other types of businesses.
• I am just getting into the call center business.  I have several partners and even though the enterprise is very young, we are already seeing some really nice success in the business.

So, as you can see, I really have diversity going when it comes to what I am involved in.  It keeps me fairly busy, but I am doing things that I enjoy.

You don’t have to do that many!

Don’t worry, even though I have 12 different things listed, and I have other stuff that I didn’t even mention, you don’t have to be doing that much!  It depends on how much income you can earn from the things that you are doing.  Be sure that you can earn an adequate income from the things that you have in your stable.  And, be diverse.. have services of different kinds that add to your river of income.

Complimentary

Another thing that keeps in mind is that it is great if your various businesses are complimentary to each other.  They can be totally different things, but they work together to multiply your income.

A good example is my WowPhilippines gift business.  Last year, during December, we added the Santa Claus business to the WowPhilippines.  We offered, for a premium price, that Santa Claus would be the delivery person for gifts ordered through our service.  So, by offering this, it encouraged people to order from my company instead of my compatitors, because my competitors did not have Santa delivering the orders.  Also, it brough more business for my Santa service.  it was a double win for me.

I have many examples of using one of my companies to compliment another of my companies, and with great success, it is something that you should consider too!

Diversity works for me

I do highly recommend diversifying your business offerings.  It has done great for me over the years, and I am sure it will do the same for you!

Plus, being an entrepreneur means that you probably enjoy developing and running a business, and having multiple businesses is fun for me.  I bet it will be for you as well.