Major Key: Revenue Streams

Want To Secure The Bag? Then Start Looking Beyond Your 9-to-5 If You Want To Accumulate Real Wealth

- Tamara E. Holmes

When rapper Soulja Boy appeared on the hip-hop talk show Everyday Struggle in January, one of the hosts, Nadeska Alexis, asked him, “Why do you have so many businesses?” His response: “I’m trying to be a billionaire. Why don’t you have that many businesses?”

Whether you’re a fan of Soulja Boy or not, his strategy of cultivating multiple streams of income deserves some serious thought. Tom Corley, who has researched the habits of self-made millionaires for his Rich Habits series of books, found that 65 percent of self-made millionaires had three streams of income, 45 percent had four and 29 percent had five or more.

When we rely solely on a 9-to-5 for our income, the only way that we can earn more money is through promotions and pay increases. But the cost of living often outpaces those raises, says Nicole Cober, a Washington, D.C., small-business consultant and member of the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC), which advises the White House on issues facing women entrepreneurs. If we want to get ahead, Cober agrees that we need additional ways to get paid. “We need to stop thinking of it as a side hustle when it’s really an essential hustle,” she says.

Some of our most successful entrepreneurs and celebrities are using this approach to build major wealth. “We have to think about our legacy,” Cober says, “and build with care.” Read on to discover how you can get started.

THE CELEBRITY BOSS

When we think of our favorite stars, we often view them through the lens of sports or entertainment. However, behind the scenes, many are making other entrepreneurial moves.