I've recently been thinking especially hard about how important it is for those of us that fly for a living to be super smart with money. The most obvious reason for this is that our jobs are very much dependent on being able to maintain good health. All of us have what are called first class medical certificates which allow us to operate airliners from a health standpoint. Those of us that are under the age of 40 renew this certificate yearly, and everyone else renews their certificates twice a year. This certificate is the reason I tell anyone who wants to start their flying career that they should first make an appointment with an AME to acquire this medical certificate before they spend any other money. Some people have pre-existing conditions that disqualify them from ever flying an airplane. It's a sad thought but unfortunately the truth, and it's better to find out before you spend thousands on flying lessons.
This certificate is also the reason that I think whenever possible, it's important for pilots to have additional streams of income on the side, or side hustles as they are most commonly referred to these days. On the off chance that something happens that medically disqualifies us from flying either temporarily or even permanently, having something in place to support ourselves is never a bad thing.
What to Choose
I thought about this quite a bit before I got to my airline, and now that I've been settled into my schedule, I've been thinking more about what that could be. There's quite a bit that I enjoy doing when I'm at home, and many of my hobbies could easily be monetized. The real trick is to try and pick something that you don't mind monetizing because inevitably it will wind up feeling like work. We don't want a true passion to feel like work because we all need something that we can do for fun that we don't rely on for money. See my burn out article to read about how trying to monetize a true passion backfired for me (it'll give this article more context as well). Aside from the topic of that article, I actually considered trying to sell my home roasted coffee when I dove into home roasting. It didn't take long for me to decide that coffee roasting should never be used as income because I enjoy it and don't ever want to feel like I have to do it.
In any case, I've determined that I have a couple ways I could create streams of income on the side that don't put any of my true passions at risk. One of them involves my drone; some of you might have noticed the newer Drone Photography tab at the top of the page. When I bought the drone, I actually bought it with the intention of using it for professional photography work. The other way for me to possibly create a stream of income is my 3D printer. I bought it a couple years back so I could prototype an idea that I had for a product. I had to pause that specific project, but there are a number of ways I could use it to make a few extra bucks here and there. In any case, there's no risk of me burning out on a passion for 3D printing because the printer was only ever a tool for me in the first place.
Getting Started
Depending on how these ideas work out, I might do some more writing about them on here. Whatever happens, they will at least be excellent exercises in marketing and branding. I've got to market both my photography skills and my 3D printing to potential customers, and I've got to present myself in a way that allows people to trust both me and the product. This is part of creating a brand as well; think about your favorite products and how the companies that sell them portray both themselves and their products. It's actually quite a bit of fun to think about how to portray products to people.
It's also important to just get started. It's pretty easy to get caught up in a whirlwind of ideas and planning but never actually get started. Eventually the idea has to go to market, and then you can make adjustments based on feedback from the customer. One of the best books I've ever read about the subject of starting up a business is called Unscripted, and it set me down this path of looking for ways to create multiple streams of income. The author is quite successful and is able to provide some great context and some actionable advice that is valuable, so it's well worth the read if you're interested in any of this. Especially if you're a fellow pilot!
Notes
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