- RT @Dave_Champion Obama asks DOJ to look at whether AZ immigration law is constitutional. Odd that he never did that with #Healthcare #tcot #
- RT @wilw: You know, kids, when I was your age, the internet was 80 columns wide and built entirely out of text. #
- RT @BudgetsAreSexy: RT @FinanciallyPoor "The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money." ~ Unknown #
- Official review of the double-down: Unimpressive. Not enough bacon and soggy breading on the chicken. #
- @FARNOOSH Try Ubertwitter. I haven't found a reason to complain. in reply to FARNOOSH #
- Personal inbox zero! #
- Work email inbox zero! #
- StepUp3D: Lame dancing flick using VomitCam instead or choreography. #
- I approve of the Nightmare remake. #Krueger #
My First Major Side Hustle
This post was published a year ago as part of Budgets Are Sexy’s Side Hustle series.
On a chilly February day in 2007, I went with a friend to get a permit to carry a pistol. It was partially on a lark, and partially because a right not exercised is a right lost and I am a strong believer in the right to self-defense.
I spent the morning in an overcrowded classroom and the afternoon on an outdoor shooting range when it was -9 degrees Fahrenheit. I was cold numb, but I had the paperwork I needed. As my friend and I slowly thawed out on the drive home, we looked at each other and said “We can do better than that.”
After picking up teaching certifications from the NRA, the Minnesota Dept of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Association of Defensive Firearms Instructors and finally, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, we started teaching as Metro Defense Training, LLC.
We’ve been doing this for 3 1/2 years, holding one class per month. In the first two and a half years, we taught about 80 people what they needed to know to legally carry a gun. Last year, it exploded. By March, we had made more money than we made in all of 2009. The rest of the year rocked just as hard. We turned ourselves into one of the top 10 training organizations by volume, among a field of 200 competing agencies.
This isn’t a huge market, and it will never make us rich, but it is bringing us a decent chunk of extra cash. It’s made a huge difference on my debt repayment. I don’t include this money on my budget, so every penny I take as pay goes straight to my debt. This has pushed me two whole years ahead of my debt repayment schedule.
What did we do right?
The most important thing we did was to partner with each other. We make a good team. My partner is a natural-born salesman, while I’m an introvert. I couldn’t have built this without him. I am a super-geek, so our technical costs have been nonexistent, aside from a domain and hosting. I’m also a bit obsessive about my passions, so I keep us up to date on any legal issues and developments. He’s working on an MBA and has run small businesses before, giving us valuable knowledge and experience.
We’ve never cut any corners. We give the best possible class we can, no matter what. No extra fees, or sardine-packed students.
We answer questions for our students for years after class. If a student wants a refresher, they can come back for free as often as they’d like.
Word of mouth has been a godsend. The local sheriff–in the most populous county in the state–recommends us when people call. You can’t buy ads like that.
What did we mess up?
Marketing. If a tree falls falls in the business district, does anyone care? If you run a business, put up some ads or fliers and get the word out. No matter how good your business is, you’ll never make a cent if nobody knows about it.
Scheduling. The nice thing about a business like this is the flexibility. We can run a class whenever we’d like. Unfortunately, we forget to schedule the next class until the end of the current class. We could do better. That still leaves a full month’s notice, but some people have to request time off from work far in advance, or do things like going on vacation.
Would I do it again?
Absolutely. We found an accessible niche that serves a need in the community. We’ve turned a passion into a healthy side income, without having to devote full-time labor to it. The buy-in cost was low. It only cost about $1000 and a few weekends to get the equipment and make our training presentation.
It has been an excellent learning experience. I’ve learned a lot about running a business, and I’ve become something of an expert on the related laws. It’s led to my involvement with a non-profit, which has put me in contact with a number of lobbyists and politicians. I’m learning more about how our legal system works than you’ll ever learn watching C-Span and sending letters. Even if the business failed, I’d still be ahead of the game when you count the skills and knowledge I’ve acquired.
The most important thing I’ve learned is that, when you are looking for a side-hustle, you should find something you care about and chase that until it turns into money. Not every hobby or interest can turn into a paycheck, but many can. Ultimately, you have to do something you care about and care about what you do.
Carnival Roundup: Launch Edition
This week, I’ve launched a new site. It’s The Money Makers: A Financial Education From the World’s Elite. This is where we get to learn from the rich and famous. Unfortunately, that usually means we’re learning by their bad examples. Take a look.
Live Real, Now was included in the following carnivals recently:
Yakezie Carnival hosted by Financially Digital
Carnival of Money Pros hosted by Nickel by Nickel
Yakezie Carnival hosted by The Ultimate Juggle
Carnival of Money Pros hosted by Financial Conflict Coach
Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #77 hosted by Free at 33
Carnival of Retirement #66 hosted by Dividend Monk
Carnival of Financial Independence #6 hosted by Reach Financial Independence
Yakezie Carnival hosted by Young & Thrifty
Carnival of Money Pros hosted by Family Money Values
Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #75 hosted by My Personal Finance Journey
Carnival of Financial Independence #4 hosted by Reach Financial Independence
Thanks for including my posts.
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Invisible Cushion
Earlier this year, we experimented with abandoning the strict budget in favor of automating as much as possible on our credit card, and keeping our discretionary spending under control, but on the same card.
We failed. It was 2 parts lack of communication, 3 parts lack of discipline, and 1 part “we’re dumb”. Transitioning back to cash hasn’t been that smooth. The problem is that we went over budget for a couple of months and our renewed budget had to shrink to cover the credit card.
To recap: Coming off a few months going over budget, we had to tighten our belts even more than we had before…after breaking our good habits.
It didn’t work out well.
If one of us forgot to grab cash, we’d just charge whatever we were buying, which gave the month’s budget a spanking, every time.
Last month, I added a new category to our budget. It’s just a cushion. I’ve got $200 whose sole purpose is to make sure we don’t go over budget.
But there’s a secret.
The cushion is a secret.
I’m not a fan of hiding money from my wife, but I’m hiding this. Generally, I think that money and relationships and secrets don’t mix.
However…
She’s told me that, when she knows there’s extra money, she has an urge to spend it. If I told her there was an extra $200, she would spend it. If I tell her that we have $40o to cover our discretionary spending, and she goes over by $50, we’re still $150 to the good, which leaves me room to have lapses in discipline or memory, too.
Then, at the end of the month, any of the invisible cushion that is left over can get applied to our debt payments.
This system should let us keep rolling, with less stress and fewer arguments, while still helping us get rid of our remaining debts. The biggest flaw is the secret. I’m bad at keeping secrets from my wife, especially about things that affect both of us, but if i let it slip, the invisible cushion will go away.
What do you think? Am I a jerk for hiding part of our budget? Do you hide anything about your finances?
A Moment of Clarity
Ten years ago, I buried myself in debt. There was no catastrophic emergency or long-term unemployment, just a series of bad decisions over the course of years.
We bought a (short) series of new cars, a house full of furniture, electronics, hundreds of books and movies, and so much more. We threw a wedding on credit and financed an addition on our house. We didn’t gamble or drink it away, we just spent indiscriminately. We have a ton of stuff to show for it and a peeling credit card to prove it.
What changed?
In October 2007, we found out brat #3 was on the way. Don’t misunderstand, this was entirely intentional, but our…efficiency caught us by surprise. It took several years to get #2. We weren’t expecting #3 to happen in just a couple of weeks. #2 wasn’t even a year old when we found out she was going to be a big sister. That’s two kids in diapers and three in daycare at the same time.
The technical term for this is “Oh crap”.
I spent weeks poring over our expenses, trying to find a way to make our ends meet, or at least show up in the same zip code occasionally.
I finally made my first responsible financial decision…ever. I quit smoking. At that point, I had been smoking a pack a day or more for almost 15 years. With the latest round of we’re-going-to-raise-the-vice-tax-to-convince-people-to-drop-their-vices-then-panic-when-people-actually-drop-their-because-we-made-them-too-expensive taxes, I was spending at least $60 per week, at least.
Interesting side story: A few years ago, Wisconsin noticed how many Minnesotans were crossing the border for cheap smokes and decided to cash in by raising their cigarette taxes. The out-of-state market immediately dried up. Econ 101.
So I quit, saving $250 per month.
Our expenses grew to consume that money, which we were expecting. (Remember, we were expecting a baby!) Unfortunately, our habits didn’t change. We still bought too much, charged too much on our credit cards, and used our overdraft protection account every month. At 21% interest!
Nothing else changed for another year and a half. My wife would buy stuff I didn’t like and we’d fight about it. I’d buy stuff she didn’t like and we’d fight about it. When we weren’t arguing about it, we’d just silently spend it all as fast as we could.
Bankruptcy was looming. We had $30,000 on our credit cards and our overdraft protection account was almost maxed out. Have you ever thought you’d have to sell your house quickly?
One day, while I was researching bankruptcy attorneys, I ran across Dave Ramsey. When I got to daycare that evening to pick up the kids, I noticed they had The Total Money Makeover on the bookshelf, so I asked to borrow it.
I read the book twice, had a very frank discussion with my wife about the possibility of bankruptcy, and we set out on the path to financial freedom together.
What made you decide to handle your finances responsibly? Or, perhaps more importantly, what’s holding you back?
What is the financial prize for winning the Super Bowl?
When you win the Super Bowl, you get a big ring and your team takes home a giant trophy. But for most guys out on the field, there’s a bigger prize waiting elsewhere. There are financial incentives associated with winning the big game. Some of them are direct, while others come later, in ways that most people will never see. The financial incentives are even different for coaches, players, and the owners who already have billions of dollars anyway. So how do the finances of the Super Bowl shake out?
A Direct Bonus
When Seahawks coach Pete Carroll threw away the Super Bowl, he cost his players and coaches a significant amount of money. Each player from the winning team receives $97,000 as a bonus. The losers are not left empty-handed, of course. They make off with a cool $49,000 each. Still Carroll’s mistake cost his players $48,000, as they had to settle for the consolation prize.
Endorsements Galore
Where things really get interesting is when one considers the marketing gains that players make when they become Super Bowl champions. The calculations are necessarily very indirect when talking about things like sponsorship value, but there is definitely some benefit to winning the big game. In the wake of winning the Super Bowl in 2014, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman signed endorsement deals with Campbell’s, Nike, and Microsoft. Running back Marshawn Lynch used his Super Bowl win to propel him to a deal with Skittles.
It’s difficult to know just how value the Super Bowl win was to these players and their financial futures, but it’s clear that winning the big game elevates players in the marketing sense.
Ownership Rewards
Super Bowl wins work out well for owners, too. The New England Patriots have won four big games over the last 15 years. In doing so, Tom Brady and company have turned the franchise into one worth over $2 billion. In addition, the Patriots “brand value” alone is worth $350 million. Some of these gains would have happened without wins in the big game, but it’s clear that taking home trophies helped the franchise grow in value.
What’s in it for coaches?
Winning a Super Bowl is the brass ring for coaches, and they are often defined by their ability or inability to take home a ring. When Pete Carroll led the Seahawks to last year’s Super Bowl victory, he was signed to a five-year extension that made him the NFL’s highest paid head coach at around seven million bucks per year. While he might be the goat in this year’s Super Bowl for his horrific goal line call, he’s living proof that if you can win the Super Bowl at least once, you can cash in on financial rewards in a big way.
There’s something to be had for nearly everyone when a Super Bowl win is in the offing. This year, the Patriots will get to enjoy those rewards. Next year, it’s bound to be some other team, some other coach, and some other owner.