More Americans are embracing entrepreneurship when extra cash is needed

By Keshia McEntire

When Michelle Calbert’s son was accepted into a prestigious private college to study engineering, she was not going to allow any barriers to stand in his way — not even the $50,000 a year bill.

“I had tried several times to get promotions at my job by going back to school and working on my professional image. Everything was met with, ‘No, not this time, we love you in your current position,’” she said. “We refused to tell him we couldn’t afford it or to accept an offer from another school.”

While monetary frustrations have led generations of the past to take on more than one job, some people today are opting into various forms of entrepreneurship when extra cash is needed. According to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, 40.4 percent of the U.S. workforce is now made up of people who don’t have what are traditionally considered secure jobs. This includes people who work for temp agencies, on-call and contract workers, self-employed people and part-time workers. In addition, increasingly more full-time workers are finding creative ways to bring in extra income. A publication from the Bureau of Labor Statistics calls this new trend in self-employment the “gig economy.”

The gig economy is where Calbert found the funds for her son’s tuition.

“I figured I would create additional income through my own business opportunity. It was a no brainer. You need more income? Go create it,” said Calbert.

Today, she is a senior level sales director with Mary Kay. Not only has she earned enough income to walk away from her previous job doing credit and collections for a marketing firm, but she also has a free pink Cadillac, to boot.

People looking for part-time work that pays decently and allows flexibility have more options than generations of the past, because in today’s world, there are a multitude of companies assisting entrepreneurs in finding their perfect side hustle. Options include driving for a ride-share company like Lyft, becoming an on-call courier with Postmates, or selling makeup and jewelry via companies like Mary Kay or Chloe and Isabel.

Many people are also using the internet to find ways to bring in extra income from home. Tech-savvy entrepreneurs might look into web developing or graphic design. Multilingual people might choose to teach a language via webcam from a service such as VIPKID. People who enjoy making things with their hands might opt into selling their creations with the help of an online platform like Etsy.

Janel Bland studied mechanical engineering in college and worked as an engineer for six years before devoting herself to her job as a stay-at-home mom. Despite the many responsibilities that come with raising three boys, she found a way to make money from home doing what she loves.

“I love to sew. I found it to be a really fun hobby, and I am drawn to creating things; that’s one of the reasons I loved engineering. I make clothes for myself, but there is a limit to how many dresses I can have in my closet or how many button-downs my husband needs,” said Bland.

This prompted Bland to create 1redleaf, an Etsy shop that sells handcrafted scarves and jewelry.

“Etsy makes it easy for anyone to get started, and they encourage you to have a lot of products. I read tutorials on how to do it. They also recommend being active on social media and using Facebook and Instagram, so I spend a lot of time focusing on that,” said Bland.

Success comes in many forms. For many entrepreneurs, it’s less about money and more about having an avenue to do what they love.

Brenda Groce says her side hustle is all about passion. Groce started Country Wedding Spaces, a business where she works as a full-service wedding coordinator and rents out her home and the 12 acres surrounding for couples to host weddings.

“I got interested in wedding planning after helping my two daughters plan their weddings. They both took place at my home,” Groce said. “I don’t look at it as a business; it’s a joy to do and a passion. I am a people-person, and the Lord has gifted me with creativity and this property. I have so much, and I am trying to see what I can do with it.”

Groce says having a side job takes great organizational skills to balance business with everyday responsibilities.

“I work (a traditional job) in the evenings, so I have the whole day to work on weddings and other things that I like to do. I have always had great time management skills, because at my past jobs, everything was time sensitive. You have to know what a couple wants and be stern enough to carry it forward. You also have to be open-minded, flexible and able to let what the couple wants come through.”

These entrepreneurs have advice for others who may want to start their own side hustle.

Groce believes if you start a side hustle half-heartedly, you will not be successful.

“First of all, you have to be devoted. You have to have a passion for it. And you have to have the discipline to follow through,” she said. “Without those things, you can’t get it done; you don’t have the heart to do it. When you want to do something outside of your natural realm of things, if you don’t have devotion you will never get it done.”

Calbert thinks if you truly want something, you cannot make any excuses.

“I almost said no, because I thought I was too busy. I was working full time and in college full time. When you are determined to be successful, you will figure it out, and that’s what I did,” said Calbert.

The ability to make money doing what you love has its roots in the American dream, but the demands of day-to-day life often prevent people from following their passion. In a world full of actress-baristas and Etsy-shop-owner-accountants, who is to say which hustle is truly on the side?

For more information on Country Wedding Spaces call (317) 985-0148. For information regarding One Red Leaf, visit 1redleaf.com. For information regarding Michelle Calberts’s Mary Kay shop, visit emeraldexplosion.com.

Find your side hustle: Five ways to start making money on the side today

Start an online store

Websites like Shopify and Etsy make it easy to sell your creations online. Use social media to spread the word about your online shop.

Share your skills as an online coach or consultant

If you have expertise in anything that might be of interest to others, become an online consultant. Websites like Clarity.fm allow you to get paid by the minute for consulting calls.

Work as a tutor

Everyone has something they can teach. Put your skills to good use and help others get where you are. Tutors often earn $20-$50 per session.

Become a Postmate

Postmates is essentially Uber for food, groceries, supplies and other items. Get paid up to $25 an hour by working with this delivery service.

Start a blog

If you have a passion, write about it. Earn cash from ads and affiliates who pay you to mention them on your site.

By Glendal Jones

You may have heard of them and why some business owners wouldn’t go without them: Vision boards are a relatively new craze for people interested in goal setting, and for many, they really do work. Just ask India Gary, who opened Shodah Spalon salon in Indianapolis more than five years ago, with a vision and a dream.

“I knew I wanted to open my own beauty salon, but I was stuck on how to get there,” Gary said. “One day I was watching the Oprah Winfrey show, and she had a segment on vision boards, and I was hooked.”

Vision boards are used to help clarify, concentrate and maintain focus on a specific life goal, using any sort of board to display images that represent whatever one wants to be, do or have in life. The idea is that good things come to you if you write them down, and the larger the photo, the greater the rewards. After eagerly pasting pictures of what her salon could be, Gary imagined the decor, what kind of clientele she wanted and more. Also included on Gary’s board was a photo of rapper/actress Nicki Minaj.

“I had pictures of clients and the word ‘yes’ for inspiration on my board, as it was a reflection of what I wanted,” Gary said.

With only knowing what she wanted, a salon decorated with dark chocolate custom mirrors and Italian Belvedere-style chairs, Gary says she got emotional and overwhelmed, since she didn’t have the budget for it. But client Deb Oatts suggested looking at an Ikea store where similar mirrors were priced less than $30. With a desire to find specific mirrors and more, Gary says she drove to the Ikea in Cincinnati, Ohio, in a snowstorm, where she also found light stands with the exact color and look from her vision board. Later, she found the styling and dryer chairs she needed through a Craigslist ad posted in Kentucky. A family member picked up the chairs and drove them back to Indianapolis, and Gary began to see her vision taking shape.

“That’s when things started to really click, and I felt like Superwoman for finding the furniture on my vision board at a fraction of the price,” she said.

Her dreams became reality again two months later when she prayed for dozens of clients she could service while allowing other stylists and makeup artists to participate, too. A client contacted Gary about styling hair and applying makeup for 23 models and dancers for Madonna’s team for the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis. After speaking with Madonna, she also learned Nicki Minaj, the person she placed on her vision board at the beginning of the journey, was also part of the halftime entertainment.

“I was so surprised and excited, because I got to meet not only Madonna, but also Nicki Minaj, and attend the show,” she said. “That was my ‘a-ha’ moment.”

With a well-established client base, Gary is ready to create a third vision board to help her focus on her next steps.

Shodah Spalon is located at 5945 E. 86th St., in Indianapolis. Learn more at (317) 570-7330 or vagaro.com/shodahspalon/about.

Creating and using vision boards serves several purposes, some of which include helping you:

• Identify your vision and give it clarity

• Reinforce your daily affirmations

• Keep your attention on your intentions

For more information, check out makeavisionboard.com.

For some, internet interactions make a big difference

By Miranda Miller

Starting your own business? Promoting it via social media is a great way to spread the word and attract customers, but with so many sites and apps available, where should you begin? Since building a social media community is an investment of both time and money, you should view it as such and do what smart investors do: diversify. Take a cue from the following small business owners and lawyers, who dabbled in multiple platforms to see what would happen and reaped big rewards.

Damsel in defense

New York City lawyer Genavieve Shingle Jaffe jumped from the corporate world to entrepreneurship, and while teaching other women to do the same, the self-professed “sparkly lawyer for entrepreneurs” earned six figures in her first nine months of business. To market the online legal program in which she teaches women how to protect their businesses and provides them with contracts, she tweeted, uploaded photos to Instagram, offered free webinars via targeted Facebook ads, followed up with registrants by email, and paid affiliate marketers to publicize her course.

An affiliate marketer “promotes one or multiple products and tries to attract and convince potential customers of the value of the merchant’s product so that they actually end up buying it,” marketing guru Neil Patel said. Affiliate marketers use social networks, blogs and even digital billboards alongside highways. Jaffe credits her successful launch to the help of affiliates who put her in front of people she wouldn’t have reached otherwise.

They also helped her pay for a New York City wedding, two rings — one for her and one for her bride — a designer couture gown and a house.

The streaming lawyer

Knowing that people don’t trust lawyers, attorney Mitch Jackson began uploading videos to the internet so potential clients could get to know him before contacting him. Today, the Streaming Lawyer has 26,000 Twitter followers, 16,000 Facebook fans on the page he shares with his wife and legal partner, 3,000 Periscope followers, 1,722 Instagram followers and more than 500 LinkedIn connections. He can also be found on Snapchat, Vine, Google+ and Anchor, a free app that enables users to record and share their voice.

How does a lawyer draw such an audience? Jackson shares legal tips for consumers, trial lawyer tips for attorneys, how-to pointers, political views and travel and drone photos. He attributes his seven-figure salary to social media, according to social media guru Andrea Vahl, who made lists in Inc. magazine, Entrepreneur, and Social Media Today of the “21 Best Blogs That Will Help Grow Your Business,” “50 Favorite Online Marketing Influencers of 2014” and “10 Women That Rock Our Social Media World,” respectively.

If you’re interested in using a live-streaming video app, heed the social media-savvy lawyer’s advice. “When it comes to Periscope,” Jackson told podcast LivestreamUniverse.com, “it’s so important to engage your audience. You have to learn how to do your scope, but at the same time, check your comments and respond to comments. In fact, incorporate the comments into your presentation. That’s the key.”

After all, everyone wants to be heard and acknowledged.

By Kelly Patrick Slone

We’re taught from a young age that failure — that huge red “F” marked on our school papers, not being cast for a starring role in the school play or not qualifying for the starting lineup — should be avoided at all costs.

Yet many successful entrepreneurs see experiencing failure — and learning lessons from it — as a critical and inevitable step in the journey to success.

In fact, one Indiana entrepreneur thinks so highly of failure that he created an annual event to celebrate it and the role it can play in innovation and eventual success.

John Wechsler, founder and CEO of Launch Fishers, hosted his third annual FailFest in July, and an offshoot — Failfest Wabash Valley — came to Terre Haute in September.

IMBM talked with three Indiana entrepreneurs who have been invited to speak at FailFest, to learn their insights on failure: Oscar Moralez, managing director of VisionTech Partners & VisionTech Angels; Polina Osherov, editor-in-chief of Pattern Magazine; and Cassie Stockamp, president of The Athenaeum Foundation.

Here are the key takeaways:

Learn the lessons

Since failure is inevitable, why not look for the silver lining?

“Recognize that, many times, you’re going to fail, and don’t let that knock you down,” Moralez said. “Use that to learn from. Risk is OK. Failure is OK, too, as long as you learn from it and apply those learnings to your next investment or venture.”

Osherov said many of her moments of failure stemmed from simply trying to take on too much.

“You have something, and it starts growing, and people get excited, and all of a sudden there’s all of these opportunities that open up,” she said.

The need to feel liked and tell everyone what they want to hear compounds the issue, she said.

For one, Osherov said, her failures have helped her learn to say “no.”

“Most people will understand if you explain, ‘We just literally can’t right now,’” she said.

Choose the right people

Moralez said any success he’s had can be attributed to the people he’s worked with, and he sees the same story play out with other successful organizations. But surrounding yourself with the right folks is as important to navigating failure as it is to having success.

When Stockamp’s construction company went under, the support of her friends and family kept her from collapsing in on herself.

“I had surrounded myself with some really good people, from a friend perspective … you do want to turn inward, but you also need to look outward and have other people help you through the process,” she said.

Osherov said she knows the people she works with are all-in with the magazine’s mission, and that keeps her going.

“I get feedback on a regular basis from folks who see this as something incredibly important and progressive,” she said. “So from that standpoint, I’m like, I can’t quit.”

Keep it in perspective

Osherov said failure has a tendency to shake someone to the core, but keeping a positive outlook is imperative.

“They will turn on themselves and have incredibly negative conversations with themselves … I don’t go there. I find it incredibly counterproductive and not true,” she said. “As long as you’re breathing and you can have conversations and meet with people and explore new ideas, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t keep trying.”

And though it sounds trite, Stockamp said maybe everything really does happen for a reason. After her company went under and she made it through the initial shock, she discovered she was ready to go in a new direction anyway.

“It was very, very clear that I did not have the fire in my belly anymore,” she said, so she sought a new path. With her current position, she’s found a renewed sense of purpose.

“People think I’m crazy, but I’m so grateful that happened. I’m in such a better place.”

Put your business’s future in good hands

By Keshia McEntire

Hanna Cho has accomplished a lot in her life. In addition to serving at the Indiana Assembly of God Korean Church that her husband pastored for more than 30 years and raising four successful children, she is the owner and professional seamstress at Joy Alterations on East Washington Street in Indianapolis. She has owned and managed her alterations shop for the past seven years. Prior to this, she worked in alterations for more than 13 years. Now Cho is looking to retire and wants to find the right person to pass her business on to.

“My sister-in-law started and operated this business before me. I don’t have a retirement plan, and my kids and family will not take over the shop, because they all have jobs,” said Cho.

Cho’s situation is not unique. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, many small business owners have no exit strategy for their businesses, because their time and energy is focused on business survival and future growth. Succession planning is the process of creating an exit plan for whenever a business owner is ready to step down. Though Cho does not currently have a succession plan, she says she will likely stick around for the next two years until she finds and trains the right person to take over her shop.

Two succession-planning experts offer IMBM readers their input on this important but overlooked topic.

Stacey Poynter is the U.S. Small Business Administration Indiana District Director. The Small Business Administration is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. Bill Petrovic is the Indianapolis SCORE Chapter Chair. SCORE is a volunteer organization that offers free business mentoring services.

IMBM: What is succession planning, and how would you describe this concept to a business owner who had never heard this term before?

Poynter: I would describe it as your written game plan in the event that you are unable to run the business. A lot of people think retirement, but it could be an unknown health situation or an accident. It’s fluid and can be added to or changed anytime. You can plan for the future, but that future can change. After you write it, you will need to update it periodically.

What types of organizations benefit from succession planning?

Poynter: I think all types of organizations benefit from succession planning, whether it’s a family-owned business, a church, a not-for-profit or a large corporation. Some of the bigger corporations already have that in place in the form of (continued) vice presidents. Smaller family-owned businesses don’t always have that. If the owner is not there for any reason, who is going to keep the lights on or pay the vendors? Part of succession planning is making sure someone else is trained for that.

Why is it important that my business has a succession plan?

Petrovic: You don’t want to run a business your whole life and in the end you just shut the door and turn off the lights. You want to be able to sell it or keep it running. To keep a business in top shape, it needs to have consistent good leadership. A lot of times a business might make a reasonable amount when it’s running, but the big payoff comes in the end for the owners when they sell. Instead of saving up during their life, they are investing everything in the business, so it’s important that the business can be sold at some point. As far as keeping it running, it’s not just about naming the next person, but really a big part of the plan is figuring out how to transfer the knowledge to whoever is taking over. If you have a person in mind, you have to figure out how that person stays sharp so that, at the right time, they can step in. A succession plan is protecting your business against having one person who is so critical that if they leave, nobody else knows anything and everything falls apart.

How do I create a succession plan?

Poynter: The first step is to get the plan down in writing. Verbal agreements don’t hold weight at the end of the day. If the owner sits down with a paper and writes it down first, when they go to seek more council, they already have it written. The next step would be to go seek mentorship. The SBA has resource partners who provide free one-on-one counseling and mentorship, such as SCORE. I would highly recommend that you seek out these free resources first for any small business needs, such as succession planning.

So I have this plan down in writing, what is the next step to implementing it successfully?

Petrovic: After you get it in writing I believe having a formal review of it once a year is very important. A succession plan generally does not happen as originally planned, so I am an advocate of constantly updating a plan; people are not as predictable as a plan may say they are. You may think this person’s going to do one thing, but that person may have other ideas. They may even leave the company. Things get written down and put on the shelf. Three years later, you take a look at the succession plan and realize the situation has changed dramatically. A succession plan is not something that should be locked in. It should be worked on every year.

Churches, not-for-profits, small family-run businesses and large firms all can benefit from having a succession plan. How might these unique types of organizations need to think about succession planning differently?

Petrovic: The simple answer is that every organization needs a succession plan. Large organizations recognize that people retire and they bring in new people all the time. They have more options. The smaller the organization the more difficult it can be, because there are not as many options.

Poynter: Small or family-run businesses sometimes don’t plan because they are too busy focusing on the day-to-day functions of the business. It is very important to plan, because you never know what will happen when you walk out the door. Poor succession planning can have extreme effects on relationships in a company, or, if it’s a family business, a family. If employers think the owner is going to retire soon, they will want to know what will happen. They want to know if they are selling the business and if they will still have a job. It can change their attitude at work. The other factor is maybe the employee thinks they have a shot at buying or taking over the business, and they want to be considered for that. Those are discussions that should be taking place.

Do you think companies should hire experts to help them write a succession plan?

Petrovic: My personal opinion is it’s not so complicated that smart people who are already running a business can’t figure out. Succession plans aren’t legal promises. I would be surprised if anyone tried to take someone to court because they were next in line in a succession plan and it didn’t happen. It’s not intended to work that way.

How can companies ensure smooth transitions as leadership roles change?

Poynter: Communication is everything. It’s a good idea for businesses to announce a time period of transition. The sooner, the better to give people time to be more comfortable with changes.

Petrovic: If you are considering the view from the outside of the business from customers or clients, it’s important that the future flow is made obvious rather than a secret. Your transparency is important. From the inside of the company, let the people who are the future leaders get in the limelight as they develop their skills and things move forward, so it will not be a big surprise to anyone