In the previous post I started sharing ideas of how you can create multiple streams of income or invest in recession-resistant areas of the economy. And all of this advice came from the ancient wisdom of the Proverbs 31 woman.
The first four income or investment sources were
- Trade (owning a business)
- Income-producing land ownership
- Housing, and
- Food
Here are four more areas to explore how you can generate income, either directly or indirectly through investments:
Clothing
She looks for wool and flax
And works with her hands in delight…
She is not afraid of the snow for her household,
For all her household are clothed with scarlet.
She makes coverings for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple (Proverbs 31:13, 20-21)
Fashion may ebb and flow and styles may come and go, but everybody still wears clothes. And in our economy those clothes have to be designed, sewn, transported, wholesaled, retailed, cleaned, and in some cases, repaired. Every stage in that process represents a segment where somebody is generating income to meet a need.
I know people who generated extra income by opening a fashion boutique. I know someone else (a widow, by the way), who farms organic cotton and started a global non-profit organization to advance organic farming practices. I know someone else who does embroidery, someone else who knits, and still another person who owns a dry cleaning and laundry business. And that’s not to mention the hundreds of people I know who own stock in retailers and clothing manufacturers.
Education
She girds herself with strength
And makes her arms strong.
She senses that her gain is good;
Her lamp does not go out at night…
She opens her mouth in wisdom,
And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
This all speaks of preparation, training, and learning. Simply put, this woman educates herself, trains herself (or gets training), and stays up late at night discovering new things, then teaches others.
Did you know that people love to learn, and because knowledge really is power, they are willing to pay people to educate them? Yes, that includes formal education as I know all too well, but it also includes training and informational delivery on a corporate, group, or individual level. Somewhere, someone is willing to pay you to teach them something you know well, or is willing to pay for something you have written.
There are also companies that have recently purchased struggling colleges and taken them private – and you can invest in those companies. There are training organizations you can invest in. There are media delivery services, not the least of which is Amazon, and computer and software companies where you can invest for income.
Government/Civic Infrastructure
Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land (Proverbs 31:23)
The reference to her husband suggests that he is in civic government. Homeboy ain’t just sittin’ around! He’s in charge of the welfare of the city, and we all know what that means. It means he had a wife who helped put him there.
There is an important reason that successful business people invest in political campaigns. There is a reason people choose to go into public service. There is a reason that people invest in municipal bonds and treasury notes. All of those ideas and more are examples of ways to profit from public services and government. Add to that the many different contractors and organizations whose primary customer is the federal or state government and there are many ways that you can put yourself on the receiving end of some of those tax dollars.
Transportation
She is like merchant ships;
She brings her food from afar (Proverbs 31:13)
This is a bit of a stretch, but hey, merchant ships are a means of transportation. So are freight companies, airlines, taxi and courier services, and airlines. I know of people who started transportation services for elderly people to help them run errands. I know of others who started a business running errands for very busy people. And I have known several people who got a car dealer’s license just to have a couple of vehicles for sale to generate cash flow.
The Point in All This
This can all be mind-boggling if you make it more complicated than it has to be. The whole idea of investing money is to create future income based on today’s financial decisions. And the point of “investing like a girl” is to look for ways to profit from every-day goods and services that people are already spending their money on.
A second point is to recognize that your primary source of income will change sooner or later, and sometimes you have no control over when or how that happens. Wouldn’t it be good if you weren’t depending on one source for all your financial needs?
One final note. Where does this Wonder Woman get the wisdom and insight to create all these streams of value and income? Hard work, to be sure. But there is one other hint to her source of wisdom:
Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised (Proverbs 31:30)
Her financial genius is found in her reverence for God.
What? God would actually give somebody the wisdom to make wise investments and generate multiple streams of income? Would He really do that?
Well, while we boys sit around and try to vainly analyze such philosophical and theological matters, the girl just keeps on establishing the work of her heart and hands… and laughing all the way to the future.