The “safe path” is changing

Life seems to present us with two choices when it comes to our careers: 🤔

We can play it safe by landing a stable job in a surefire industry:

• Doctors

• Lawyers

• Accountants

…you know the drill.

Or we can take a risk, starting our own company or chasing our passion.

But the truth is, we’re dealing with a false dichotomy here. Safety and risk exist on a spectrum — it isn’t all or nothing.

So what does this mean for our kids’ futures?

It means encouraging them to explore a third option — the best of both worlds. 👇

A steady job + an entrepreneurial side hustle = the surest path to success.

Tech layoffs continue to climb

The 9-to-5 grind and climbing the corporate ladder used to be comforting indicators of safe and sensible decisions.

But what happens when your job ceases to exist?

Think about it. You’re getting 100% of your income from a single source — that can disappear at any time.

Sounds a little risky, doesn’t it?

Especially when you consider that this year’s running total of tech layoffs has surpassed 224,000:

That means layoffs have already exceeded 2022’s total, when tech firms laid off an estimated 165k employees (a number that made headlines then).

Here’s our point: No one should put all of their income eggs in one elusive basket.

They need a better way. 👇

There’s another option available: multiple income streams

Preparing your kid to diversify their income streams is a smart choice in today’s world. It gives them a shot at big rewards without sacrificing their safety net.

Investor Codie Sanchez (whose financial advice has drawn hundreds of thousands of followers) agrees:

“In a world that changes as abruptly and drastically as our world does, it is no longer smart to hyper-focus and centralize. You need many income streams.” 💸

Having multiple incomes is rapidly becoming the norm — already, 7.7 million Americans hold two or more jobs.

This number is considered an underestimate, and it’s only projected to increase.

Percentage of US Citizens with Multiple Jobs:

Raising kids to think about their careers as collections of multiple income streams isn’t just a smart move financially –

It’s good for their wellbeing, too.

It removes the pressure on kids to find that one perfect dream job they’ll need to love doing for 40+ years.

“The problem with this gospel — your dream job is out there, so never stop hustling — is that it is a blueprint for spiritual and physical exhaustion,” says Simone Stolzoff, author of The Good Enough Job.

Multiple income streams give kids permission to try new things.

Like BETA Camp alum Charlotte Marron, whose resume includes:

• Working as a professional actress

• Starting her own media company

• Interning with bestselling poet Rupi Kaur

• Working as a producer and the financial director for an Emmy, BAFTA, and Peabody award-winning filmmaker 🤯

Your kids shouldn’t have to choose just one way to shine.

Three tips on starting a successful side business

By this point, starting a side hustle to bring in extra income (and explore other passions!) probably seems like a no-brainer.

Here are some of our best tips for launching a successful side biz:

1. Find a problem you want to solve.

Every business starts with choosing a problem to solve.

👉 Isha’s business began when she overheard a family friend say their company was losing money on meat deliveries that were going bad on customers’ doorsteps.

👉 Max’s business started when his team saw how much time people were wasting gift shopping.

👉 Shreeya’s startup was born when she and her sister realized all their friends had the same pain points while studying online.

Seeing the world as an entrepreneur means seeing problems as opportunities — and you can find these opportunities everywhere.

2. Iterate.

No one can create the perfect product in isolation. The best businesses are constantly experimenting and improving over time. 📈

Even the story of Jobs and Wozniak “creating” Apple in a garage is highly romanticized.

They still had to design, prototype, plan, and manufacture their product, a process that took over a year before they had something ready to sell.

And just look at how many iterations Apple computers have undergone since then:

If your kids want to be successful entrepreneurs someday, they need to be willing to iterate.

3. Join a community of other entrepreneurs.

Being part of a community of other ambitious people is one of the best things your kids can do for their future.

When you work alone, you learn only from your mistakes.

But when you work alongside others with the same goals, you learn from everyone’s mistakes.

The wildly successful YouTuber Mr. Beast attributes the speed of his success to working in a community:

“You’re all constantly studying 24/7…After a year, you’re like two years ahead of the guy who was just solo. It really does make a difference.”

Your kids can find that community:

• At school

• On the Internet

• In programs like ours 😌

The important thing is finding peers who are just as ambitious as your kid is.

Until next time,

Ivy

CEO Prequel, BETA Camp, Apollo, AI Masterclass

Follow my journey on LinkedIn