Options
Believe it or not, you are always selling something to earn money. If you are employed, you are selling your time. If you own a business, you sell either products or services. Yet there is a third option: productized services. Let’s deconstruct.
When I was teaching, I made my students use the word “decomposition” which is simply breaking things apart. Decomposition is part of computational thinking, where complex problems are taken apart. I find it useful in any situation, so let’s decompose earning money and include the concept of time.
employment is selling your service for a period of time
business may sell products that you create with time other resources
business may sell products you bought from someone else (reselling)
business may sell services per hour, day or other time limit
business may sell services per project (that involves you giving time and services) and so on.
Productize to Earn Beyond your 24 Hours
But there is a 3rd option: productized services where you take away the time element by packaging your services and selling it like a product. Examples are:
instead of coaching one-on-one you create an online program or course
instead of cooking for a group you sell recipes and video yourself cooking
instead of tutoring you create and sell workbooks
Productized services also include royalty from books, songs and other artwork, membership subscriptions and other business systems that can run without you most of the time.
Who am I and what do I know about this? Well, it all began during my first job as a writer for a government publication. I usually finish all my articles early and do not have anything to do afterwards. I thought it was a waste of time to stay in the office just to punch out on time but I passed time learning how to use an old Mac computer and laying out our newsletter.
I left that job when I had my first baby and found a part-time gig as a corporate newsletter editor and writer. That gig paid me a month’s salary for a week-long job. From then on, I saw that earning money should not be equated with my time. Years later, my younger son was diagnosed with autism and I became a SPED teacher.
I started my business while I was still a SPED teacher. I did retail arbitrage which was a fancy term for buying stuff on sale that I can sell for a profit through Amazon. I was simply scouring sales items from a nearby Target and CVS then sending everything to Amazon via its FBA program. From then on, I explored other ways to earn and now specialize in educational products and services.
Today, I am recreating my business based on what is best for me and my family. I will deconstruct options that I tried or will try and share them with you here at Teacher Career Change. My goal is to give you career options that are not usually discussed elsewhere. They are unusual options that might resonate with YOU based on your own understanding of your unique situation. Subscribe for free and journey with me.
