Money-making Mom| How every woman can earn more and make a difference

Financial freedom is attainable and here are the first steps to take

Financial freedom is the heart of the “Money-Making Mom”. Author Crystal Paine wrote this book specifically to show women that it's possible to rise above perpetual insufficiency and become truly independent financially. For many people, financial freedom is a reality only meant for a special group of persons — but this is the first limiting believe you must trash on your way to financial independence.

Perhaps the reason many people see financial freedom as an impossibility is that they are judging financial freedom by a different set of metrics. If you have the wrong ideas about reality, it will be hard to live in it. Pause and ask yourself what financial freedom means to you. Do you see it as having a mansion in an upscale area and driving the latest Benz while working your life out and having no time to spend on the things that really matter to you, or does it simply mean the ability to live below your earnings, have money to save and still have some more left to give out?

True financial freedom is not marked by greed and covetousness, but in the heart of financial freedom is time freedom. If you don't own your time, or you aren't debt free, then you are not yet financially free. Some people see financial freedom as having every possible luxury at their disposal, others see it as simply being able to cater for their needs, save for the future and still have to support others. None of those views are essentially wrong, it all depends on your family goals.

Crystal defines financial freedom as “being in the place where you can be intentional with your money. Where you’re not constantly living paycheck to paycheck, trying to survive, trying to make ends meet, hoping that you’re going to be able to pay all of your bills this month. It’s being able to plan ahead, save ahead, and give generously.”

One last truth you need to know about financial freedom is that it doesn't happen overnight; it's a reality you have to intentionally create for yourself, and patience, perseverance and hard work are essential to make it happen. But the rewards are worth it. Imagine what your family would look like if you're able to achieve financial independence. Imagine what that would mean for you, your husband and your kids. If that look like something worth fighting for, then let's get deeper into how you can make it your family's reality.

How to set up a profitable side (or full time) business

Business is the vehicle to financial freedom. You won't get money from the market, if you don't have a product, service or idea to exchange for money.

No matter your current working condition, education or age, understand that you can start your own business today and watch I grow.

Growing a business is not a day's job, there will be ups and downs and a lot of struggles, especially in the early days of your business. In such a situation, the only thing that will keep you going is the passion you have for what you're doing. That's why it's incredibly important that you build a business around what you're passionate about.

For example, the author has always had a knack for writing and computers; it's something she always loved since she was a kid. In her adult years, it was easy to run a blogging and book writing business since she knew so much about the Internet and was a good writer.

What is that one thing you're passionate about that you could turn into a full time or side business?

Other things to factor in when thinking about starting a business include: your skills/talents, knowledge, and the needs you see around you.

Skills can be learned through formal training or self-education. Examples of skills are web design, computer networking, forex trading and so on.

Talents are natural abilities you possess. Born orators, actors, writers, cooks and what have you, fall into this category. Actually, everyone of us has at least one talent, only that some people grow in environments that make it possible for them to discover theirs early enough, while some of us are not so privileged.

When you hone your talents and skills then marry them with your passion to meet a local or global need, then you've started your entrepreneurial journey.

For example, Sarah was a school teacher before she got married and gave birth at 30. Because of her kid, she and her husband agreed that she quit her job and become a full-time housewife. But that meant living on only one stream of income. It wasn't easy for the family.

When her Baby turned three, Sarah knew she had to work to support Jeff, her husband. However, she didn't fancy the idea of returning to traditional classroom teaching.

So she researched online and offline for jobs she can do from home. Finally the light bulb came on: Sarah realized she could use her knowledge and experience as an ex school teacher to start a blog where she provides educational material to pupils in elementary school. What started like a bizarre idea is now a profitable business that brings monthly income to the family. Sarah and her family are no longer in the same financial condition as before. The online training she does is even bringing much more money than the regular job she left.

What did Sarah do to start her business? She married her knowledge of the educational sector with her passion to teach kids as well as her skills in doing so. This helped her meet a need the market has always had.

You can do the same. Don't try to figure everything out before you begin, it won't work. For now, pick a pen and paper (or a notepad) and write down your talents/skills, the areas you're passionate about, and the knowledge you can monetize. Certainly, not every skill or passion or knowledge you have can be monetized — for example, your passion for magic and fairy tales may not be something you can easily translate into a business — so brainstorm to see how you can marry all those components and build a business you will be proud of.

Here is a soft caution: make sure your business is meeting a definite need. And be sure to invest a lot in marketing, especially when you just got started and only your husband knows what you're into.

The different business opportunities available to you

If you followed the last section properly, you should now have a rough business idea you would like to pursue. And sure enough, you don't want anything that will waste your precious time and bring little or no returns while being exhausting as hell.

Do you know if your business idea will be successful? Answer the following questions to find out:

• Will it provide steady income? How to know: have you done quality research and discovered the market desperately need what you have to offer?

• Will the business be fulfilling or stressful? How to know: how many hours do you think you have to put in weekly to make it work? If it means sacrificing sleep and family time, then it's probably not worth it.

• Does the business align with your passion and strengths, or are you just doing it for the bills?

If you're still wondering the business opportunities to venture into, below are the available options.

Online service or product

You could sell products on your personal website or on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. There is also the option of rendering services like graphic design, writing, web design or social media management. You can find your first clients on freelance sites like Upwork and Fiverr. The major advantage here is the flexibility to work at your own pace, but the competition for online businesses is high.

Home – based, face to face business

Businesses like consulting, home organization, interior decoration, and house cleaning, are home based and face to face, but you may need to use the web in some cases. Still, a good chunk of your working time in businesses in this category is spent offline, servicing the needs of your clients. There is also the flexibility advantage, but you will have to deal with distractions coming from housework, your kids and unannounced visitors.

Direct sales and multilevel marketing

This is best suited for individuals with experience in sales and marketing, or people who are interested in those two fields. This is no doubt a highly profitable business, but don't jump into it, if you're not a people person who enjoys sales and marketing, because you will get frustrated.

Brick and mortar business

This is the last on the list. Some businesses will require that you own a physical shop. Examples include clothing shops, spa, or grocery stores. In such situations,it makes sense to establish your business in a location that you will most benefit from — in terms of customers, rents and taxes.

No matter the business option you choose, ensure to conduct proper research of the secrets of succeeding in such ventures. You should also know the laws binding your business so you won't be taken unawares by the authorities.

Lastly, set scary and lofty business goals when you start, and ensure you commit yourself turning your goals into tangible reality. Without goals, your business will not grow and you I'll be running in circles.

Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.

It's time to think about passive income

 Traditionally, your paycheck is directly proportional to the amount of work you do. If you stop working, you stop earning; and the more you work, the more you earn.

But this is the case only for active income. When you have a stream of passive income, you're earning won't be directly related to the amount of work you do. Passive income comes from your investment of time, money — or both — ideally, much of the investment is done in the early stage, and little or no effort is required to maintain such stream of income.

For example, Crystal Paine is an eBook writer. Her ebooks are a source of passive income her because they are still bringing monthly income, despite that she wrote them several years ago. The initial time and monetary investment she made in writing, designing and marketing the book was all that needed to be done.

Apart from eBook writing and blogging, what other things can you do to create passive income for yourself and your family?

Buy a residential home or commercial building and lease or rent out the property.

Open a savings or investment portfolio that earns interest.

Create how-to videos and upload them to your channel on YouTube. When you reach a certain number of views, YouTube will pay you a small amount for each view if you add advertisements to your videos.

Take beautiful pictures and sell the rights to stock photography sites like Dreamstime or Shutterstock.

Create a mobile app or game and sell it in the Apple store or on Amazon, etc.

Learn to create a work-life balance

Let's face it; it's hard to create a balance between your health, work, and family, when you're just starting out in your new business or when you have to work long hours to pay the bills.

But, if you don't learn to strike a balance in all you do, you would soon become unhappy with the results your life is producing.

The most significant step in creating a work-life balance is finding creative ways to manage time and be more productive. We all live in different life conditions, so there is no one size fits all rule to this. However, to increase your productivity and time usage, learn to set goals and priorities.

Determine the number of hours you must work daily, to meet your goals. They see how you can make it in such a way as to not disrupt your family time.

If your family is your number one priority and motivation, then you may have to reject opportunities that will compromise the time you're to spend with your husband and kids.

Again, this varies from person to person. A new mom whose kid is still a preschool toddler will not have much time for work, whereas someone who's youngest child is in college can work as much as she desires. Understand your family's situation and set your work goals accordingly.

Live generously

Money makes more sense when it's acquired with a purpose. If all your money goal is to acquire more and more of it, then you haven't started living.

Learn to spend less, invest more and give out some. Establishing your purpose for making money is the secret to financial freedom. Do not just earn for your family, people around you (or in other parts of the globe) should feel the impact of your money, no matter how small your contribution is.

This is not an advice to send all your money to charity organizations, have a giving budget. And it doesn't need to be a charity organization, look around you, identify the people who seriously need financial support, and help in the way you can.

Conclusion

Financial freedom is a possibility for anyone who is interested and ready to do their homework. The first step to financial independence is believing that it's possible for you and your family. Next up, build a profitable business around your passion and talents/skills. Patiently grow the business, and be careful to maintain a work-life balance. Lastly, don't forget to give!

Have you decided on the passion you want to marry your natural abilities or skills to create a business you love? Do that now. And remember, you won't see the full picture now, so bother less about that. Your focus right now should be on determining how hungry the market is for that which you have to offer.