Today I was contact by an ex-colleague in Bangkok who has decided to start up a company on his own. It is a small business and he seems to be doing fine for the past one year after he left the company after facing much unhappy situation. Now this is not to say working with a company is not a good thing. If you have a good relation with your boss, a company can provide you with many benefits not afforded when you go on your own.

But sometimes when faced with unhappy situation, the emotional impact can be quite severe on a person’s psychological well being. It is like having your head stuck between a clamp with the screws getting tighter and tighter leaving finally no choice but to quit your job and look elsewhere for your income.

Ok. So you may say you are not facing this kind of situation in your work place and you have good relation with your immediate superiors as well your colleague. That’s good and very conducive for an office working environment. But seasons change and so does the office climate. You never know when there will be a shuffle in the job assignment of your various co-workers, and then bam! You got somebody who just hate you, hate the way you look, hate the way you do things even though there is nothing wrong with your approach to solving a problem. And start favouring another co-worker who is sucking up to his every demand. So what do you do then?

So it is best that you start having a contingency plan. After all, big corporation always talk about contingency plans in the event that some unforeseen or foreseen situation that may arise, they have some kind of plan to guide them and steer them out of their troubles.

Even if your situation is amicable at the moment, it doesn’t hurt to have some kind of a second income. Best of all if it is a passive kind of side income.

Just a week ago, my school mates had a 20th year school reunion. My, how times flies! Granted not everyone made it, but those who did turn up had change a lot since the good old school days. Some are doing well, some are not so. Many of them are professionals and some are entrepreneurs. And of course some are struggling along too as an entrepreneur.

But for those who are working for others, I asked them whether they have any plans to come out on their own and be their own boss. However their reply is that they have no idea what to do and feels the current economic climate does not warrant them to risk starting a business.

True, to risk it all from being an employed to a self employed really takes a lot of guts and there is just too much uncertainties. Especially if you are not receiving a regular paycheck and you are not sure when your next paycheck will be coming in. Therein lies the fear. The fear of the unknown.

So coming back to making your own contingency plans. You have to look at yourself and see what kind of risk you are willing to take while you are still employed. You have to see where you can put in some time and money to generate a sizeable return that you would consider as good enough to survive should you ever need to quit your job.

Some suggestions for looking at the second possible income are the leveraging on the passive side of income earning. Where even while you are at rest, the business is still generating an income for you. This are the best kind of business if you were to ask me. Very much like what Robert Kiyosaki would recommend. You own the business, not the other way round where the business own you. Where you can afford to take time off without worrying that there will be no money coming in.

So where on earth can you find this kind of passive earning business? Well you have to keep your eyes open for opportunity to look for business that have the potential to give you this kind of returns. Don’t touch mutual funds or stock option trading. The former gives you returns that are pittance while the latter requires you to concentrate fully to ensure you get the returns and not to get burn in the share market.

Home business opportunity abounds if you just keep your eyes open. They are just there around the corner. All it need is some capital from you and some time and effort. Rope in your spouse to help out too and share the work load. Who knows you may find yourself a good second income, but don’t go splurging with it, but rather to reuse it to further look for other chance to fund your other work at home business opportunity.

So happy hunting!