Legitimate Home Based Business Opportunity – The "Portfolio Lifestyle Approach"
There is a new and innovative concept emerging that is attracting both those choosing it as one of their options, as well as those who no longer have an option through having been laid off and find this approach their only alternative. More and more people are choosing this alternative approach which is being referred to as a “portfolio lifestyle approach”. This leads to ongoing discussions about what is the most desirable and legitimate home based business opportunity for people currently still employed.There used to be a notion that jobs were for a lifetime. It’s clear from what we see happening all over the world that this notion is dead and buried. Where I live in South Africa, with a population of around 45 million, we hemorrhaged 1 million jobs in 2009 alone. 1 in 5 adults in South Africa is out of work. With our already dismal unemployment rate – the picture is dismal but not without opportunity.In the world motor or banking industries, people felt safe and secure about their futures. Last year Merrill Lynch the world’s largest brokerage company went broke, while General Motors, the world’s largest car company lost 95% of its value.The traditional concept of a life-long career of working at one company is history. Having a package accompanied by a medical aid scheme, pension and ultimately a gold watch, is done and dusted.The Portfolio lifestyle approach is where an individual discover the various talents that they have, and begin to offer these by way of services to different people or businesses on a “time slot” basis. In essence this is no different to a professional, offering consulting services in a specific field. The essential difference here is that “variety” is the nature of the game. Each individual will have more than one service that they offer that form part of their Portfolio.To operate a Portfolio lifestyle, the idea is for an individual to operate a series of services for which they charge a fee in different areas of their expertise or passion. The result being, that firstly, people begin working in their areas of both talent and passion, and secondly they generate an income from a variety of resources.I often wonder how many people in corporate positions would remain there if they felt they had a choice. What seems to be the case, is that most corporate executives feel that they are locked in and don’t have a choice. They seem to retain this belief until, like the execs at Merrill Lynch or GM they find that they are no longer locked in because they no longer have a job at all.The truth and reality is that executives and employees do have a choice. However, mostly we feel immobilized by the fear of the unknown. The fear of a different job in a different environment. The fear of what it would feel like to be doing something different in an unknown environment. What is unfortunate is that in maintaining this attitude of inertia, many people deceive themselves in believing in the security of a job, and end up exposing themselves to far more stress than they actually needed to, than if they simply read the writing on the wall. Executives and employees need to consciously making the move towards taking responsibility for themselves earlier. Those that wait until being laid off expose themselves to a far greater risk.The nature of the world and the economy is that everything is changing faster and faster. Nothing lasts forever. Businesses need to be recreating themselves daily to remain at the leading edge of their fields. We, as individuals also need to be recreating ourselves all the time.The safest route today is the age old concept of having multiple passive income streams. But this takes time to set up. In the mean time the most secure option you can create for yourself a Portfolio lifestyle. Finding your passions and following them. Identifying your talents and focusing on monetizing them. Earning income from different services you provide based on your individual talents and passions. Finding a legitimate home based business opportunity to start part time is becoming more often the norm as more and more of my clients recognize the danger they expose themselves to as executives and employees.
