Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi, I started selling online about 17 months ago. My realistic calculations tell me that I will have a profit of about $10,000 for 2008. I have a full-time day job, so it`s not my main means of support.  I was hoping for $20,000 this year but unless I find new products that sell well, $10,000 is where it`s at. I have calculated how much time I put into it, and it translates to about $20/hour, which is a little less than I make at my "day job". Sometimes this number sounds good to me, sometimes it seems very small. I do want to find other products to sell, and will start looking in earnest in March, when my taxes are done. I am very frankly looking for encouragement! My family advises me to find a higher-paying "day job" and save my energies. This is possible and not irreconilible with increasing my sales, so I suppose is besides the point.

My family wanted something different for me too.  I`m sure their advice was given with the best of intentions.  But I didn`t want to be a cog~ I wanted to be The Wheel!  Sometimes I have rolled in the right direction and with great speed.  Sometimes not. Chuck holes and detours aside, it`s been a great journey.

All in all you should do whatever it is that keeps you a happy, healthy, contributing member of society.  Sounds like you`re off to a good start with your side biz.  If you enjoy it~ keep building! 

It comes down to which is the higher value---making money, or your quality of life. Sure, a lot of people believe that money *creates* quality of life. If that were true, though, then many primitive societies would have no quality of life at all, since they don`t use money. They DO use other means of exchange, but that`s not money...it`s business.

If you believe that money creates quality of life, then the more money, the better the quality of life---the more happiness, joy, interrelations, art, creativity, and so forth. Conversely, the less money, the more misery and lack of quality of life.

On the other hand, if you believe that quality of life stems from something other than money, then the question is....what? What "causes" a person`s life to be higher or lower in terms of enjoyment, satisfaction, interest, energy, and so forth?