How hard can it be to make $5000 a month?

For the 2 readers of this blog:  I have come to realize I like writing about my transition from home to work on my personal blog more than trying to extract those specific thoughts for a separate blog.  I was thinking about deleting this blog but still like the url for what I am instead going to blog about, my journey to replacing our income with self employment income.

I keep asking myself the same question as I think about trying to start a business, "How hard can it be to make $5000/month?"  I mean right now it seems hard.  John and I are both working and we fall short of that most months.  But conceptually it just feels like a doable number. 

I thought maybe other people were asking themselves the same question and so decided I would blog about my process.  I just watched a yahoo video that claims by the end of the decade 40% of us will be self employed.  Hurray for us, hurray for taking back contrl of our lives while still supporting and caring for our families, hurray for believing in ourselves and our skills enough to go on our own.

I realize that while in my head making $5000/month in self-emloyment income doesn't sound to daunting the reality is that it will take a lot of time, work and dedication to create a business that consistantly cash flows and meets my goal.

I have decided the key is multiple streams of income.  Not one big business on which my monthly sucess or failure teters but several smaller enterprises that together help me reach my goal.

The two main things I need to keep in mind as I look at business opportunities is number one, my family is my priority so I need flexibility to work around their schedules and, number two, I have to pull any start up capital I need out of our monthly family budget.

So right now here are the areas I am thinking about:

• Home based direct sales business.  Stella & Dot, Mary Kay, Tupperware, Pampered Chef, Thirty-One, etc.
• Freelance work. Both finding my own and checking out sites like "Elance"
• Blogging.  I love writing both my personal blog and am looking forward to monitizing this one as well.  So if you are reading this thanks for helping me reach my goal.
• Web site.  A basic information site with ads
• Web store.  Selling stuff online either through sites like "Etsy" or "Ebay" or becoming a distributor for products that I buy and re-sell.
• Product development, I have some product ideas I would love to try to create and market.
• Writing a book.  I am just telling you everything in my head.

My hope is that as I go forward and work on each of these I will discover even more ways to make money while keeping my priorities in order.

Each month I will share the process I am going through and the things I am learning along the way and at the end of the month let you know how it is going on my way to the goal.

One last thing, a good goal is specific and measurable so more specifically my goal is to replace my current full time income of $2000/month in 6 months and replace our entire household income of $5000/month in one year using the above business ideas.

Follow me as I walk this journey.  And if you have a goal too let me know what it is in the comments below.