Depending on how you found my little business, no doubt you’ve seen that I tend to work on a lot of different types of projects. Even if you are a client of mine, you may know me as a photographer, or as a web designer, or maybe you know me as a painter. There are many reasons why I keep several businesses going at the same time. The most simple reason behind this is that I love all of these business ventures and also I just love to stay busy. But aside from my love for my work, this tactic has been a huge part of how I’ve been able to work from home for the last two years.
Some of the benefits of having multiple business ventures:
Multiple Incomes
Contrary to what a ton of Pinterest posts would have you believe, most entrepreneurs don’t start businesses and overnight start making 6 figures. I know, not what you expected to hear, right?
The fact of the matter is, when I took the leap to work for myself 2 years ago I had no earthly clue how I was going to get my name out there, find clients, and make money. I had been taking on photography clients here and there, usually friends that wanted portraits or engagement photos, but I also was starting to work with website clients, and I loved both lines of work. As each business grew I quickly saw that it didn’t take many clients with either business to bring in a living income. Diversifying my workload was actually allowing me to stay afloat without being fully booked with either job.
Currently my website and branding clients still help fill in the gaps between weddings. I use this ebb and flow of work to give me a more steady paycheck.
Passive Income
What in the world would I do without passive income?! Not only do I keep my daily schedule busy with editing photos and designing websites, I also LOVE paper goods and it’s been a huge passion of mine to create a line of prints. My coffee stain prints have been a favorite from day one. Selling these on my online store and in brick and mortar shops has helped my bring in a little bit of passive income, and any sort of paycheck is a welcome thing in my book.
Passive income basically means that I’m not continually working on whatever is bringing in the paycheck. With my prints I create the original and then print stacks of copies. After that, the work is done and I can keep making money off of the same designs over and over. This is not something I can do with my photography or with my website designs (until I bring back my themes very very soon) so it’s a wonderful way to keep money coming in without adding anything else to my plate.
Beating Burnout
I think the most tragic thing is when a creative gets burnt out with trying to turn their passions into a living. It can happen to anyone and is something to be extra cautious of in the beginning stages of a business when you hustle non stop for months, or years, on end.
I find that having all of these different business ventures keeps me from getting burnt out with pursuing one avenue. My web design work satisfies my love of layout and typography, photo shoots get me away from my desk, and my prints allow me a chance to draw and paint.
Too Many Passions, Too Little Time
I find that most creatives like myself have MANY passions. So honestly, why choose just one?! If you have a lot of passions and want to pursue them all, having multiple business ventures allows you to spread your creative wings and pursue to your heart’s desire. What an awesome thing to get to explore different passions without any inhibitions.
That being said, I’ve pursued passions that didn’t make me any income. Pursue to your heart’s content, but also know that if a business venture is to become a permanent addition to your work schedule it needs to bring in some kind of income.
HOW TO MAKE IT WORK
Seasonal Businesses
Some of you fellow entrepreneurs may be thinking “Okay, that sounds great and all, but honestly how do you find time in the day to pursue more than one thing? I have enough on my plate with one business!” I get it, I totally do! Sometimes it’s tricky, I’m not going to lie. HOWEVER, a little perk to my business ventures is that one of them tends to be seasonal: Photography.
While we do have winter and early spring weddings, the bulk of our wedding photography and videography takes place in the summer and early fall. That allows me to take on more graphic design clients in the winter and lighten up my design load in the summer to make room for photoshoots. Since weddings are planned so far in advance, I can typically plan out what each month’s workload will be like and decide if I can take on graphic design project inquiries or not.
Any sort of seasonal work is a great place to start when taking on multiple business ventures, at least until you can get a handle on the workload.
YOU CAN FIND THE COFFEE RING PRINTS FROM THIS POST ON MY ETSY!
Do you have multiple business ventures? What are some business ventures you’ve been daydreaming about adding to your work schedule?
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