Why is it that most people seem to wait until they have been laid off or fired before they get serious about developing a second income source?

Have you noticed that? Have you done that yourself?

Personally, I refuse to participate in any recession. It’s all a state of mind in my opinion. Sure, you can lose a job, and that is not a state of mind. But they used to call them Depressions and Panics. Why? Because it’s an emotional state of mind.

Part of not giving in to the fear and stress is being prepared for the possibility. Most people who are in the so-called Generation X age group never truly knew a recession of any kind in their adult lifetimes until recently. This left most of us ill-prepared for the economic and social shock our country has taken and will take.

How do you prepare yourself for a second income?

First, you develop yourself into a desirable quantity. Do what you can to make yourself indispensable at your job. That makes the next part easier, because it’s hard to develop a cushion in the form of a second income when your primary source may go away!

Second, find some kind of home-based business to run. Home-based businesses are the best hedge against loss of income and also rising taxes (which may also be a consideration, unfortunately). This type of second income is as diverse as you can get too. There’s almost nothing you can’t do from home now.

My advice is to choose something that can be done part-time and expanded later. It should require relatively small start-up and operating costs. By “relatively small” I mean $500 or so on startup and a couple of hundred on monthly expenses. Neither number is set in stone. Many second income home-based businesses can be entered for as little as $20 with a $50 a month (even less) overhead.

Many require several thousand dollars to start and hundreds to operate. You shouldn’t choose your business based solely on startup or operating expenses. Both are flexible. Most companies will have multiple amounts you can start for and your operating expenses are also largely up to you.

You can create a second income business from your own skills by marketing personal services such as programming, web design, resume services, courier services, etc. The only problem here is that you are trading dollars for time. You will likely be unable to build a stable income that continues when you stop working.

Or you can go the non-traditional route, and the one I recommend, by joining a network marketing or direct sales company for your second income. The really good ones offer low start-up costs, great training, mentoring and a good residual income… If you are willing to follow a plan and work it for anywhere from 2-5 years, you can replace your current income in that time frame with many companies. The key is to focus and not give up.

For instance, if you put $50,000 into opening a small flower shop, if you are not making money after the first 2 months, are you going to quit? Of course not. It takes time to build a clientele of regular customers and to get referrals from them. The same is true of almost any business. Traditional small businesses leave you in debt when you start by tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Rarely will you go into serious debt (and I don’t mean putting the business kit and initial product order on your credit card) to begin a networking business.