How Long To A Living Wage?
January 27, 2008
A great guestion from Cathy:
“Hi Kelly, I’m a member of Mom Masterminds and have been listening to your podcasts for several months. I know you are a single mom. How long did it take you to get to a full time living wage in wah career?”
I started my first internet effort in early 2002 but I mostly stumbled around bumping into things for the first year.
My first goal in having a home business was to make ends meet. My day job paycheck wasn’t cutting it and I was $14,000 in debt with little hope for every getting out.
Do you know that I only wanted to make $200 a month?
Oh how small I thought about things back then!
The good report is this:
Between 2002 and September of 2005 - I paid off that $14,000 in old debt!
Then, when I didn’t have to send every spare dollar to some bill collector I realized that I was making quite a bit of money online - more than I had imagined… more than I made at my day job!
So in 2006 I quit the day job and came home full time. Now I earn more than I have at any other time in my life and enjoy the freedoms that come from being self employed.
I guess the answer then is: Five Years
For some more inspiration:
I blogged over at Work at Home Moms Talk Radio last week and shared about how my residual income has grown over the years.
Last 5 posts by Kelly McCausey
- Podcasters Take Care with Wordpress Upgrade - August 8th, 2008
- I Want Guests! - July 8th, 2008
- Is it ok to take a Hiatus from your Podcast? - June 17th, 2008
- Build A Community Around Your Podcast - May 27th, 2008
- Podcasting Alphabet: P, Q & R - May 23rd, 2008
Congrats Kelly. It does take a lot of work and dedication that’s for sure. But the end result is so nice, isn’t it?
Congrats on getting there! And here’s to much more to come :)
It usually does take some time. I worked part time from home for many years and was able to come home full time in 2004 partly because of my husband’s income.
Had it just been me and my internet income I wouldn’t have been home that soon. It would have likely been in 2005-2006 if it were just my income alone.
Not only does it take time to build and grow a business, but it takes a lot of time for trial and error, coaching, learning, trying things…etc.
When it happens, it’s such an amazing accomplishment!
We decided, after 11 years of marriage and then FINALLY having our first child, that I would stay home instead of put him into daycare. I’ve tried direct sales as a means to help with our income, but never really had any success with in. I’ve had more “success” since I’ve begun working online than I ever did in direct sales. And, the great thing is, I don’t have to go out and have parties!
I think the hard work and effort pay off, if you apply yourself. I would highly recommend any mom that desires to be home to give it a serious look and decide what’s best for them.
It’s great that we have “experts” to turn to that will help make that transition from work to home a reality. :)
Thanks for the answer Kelly! It’s nice to know it’s possible to make a living wage at home for those of us who have to make a living, not just supplement the family income. You give us hope!
This is so great to see stories like this Kelly. You are living proof it’s possible even for single moms. My hats off to you and everyone else who has made it happen.
I still get the “You’ll never make decent money working online” comments and snickers every now and again and it really frustrates me because it IS possible…more than possible.
As a matter of fact after only 1 year and 4 months in business, I was actually quite shocked myself at the amount of money I brought in in 2007 with my VA business. More than I ever made outside the home that’s for sure - and I was a lead accounting clerk for a pretty big company.
Maybe I’ll show them my books from this year when I get those responses from now on, hu? ;)