The value of a second income source

I moved back from the US after having decided that a naukri was not for me. I had to try and make it out there in the big bad world on my own.

When I first started working on my current business idea, I knew that revenues in the consulting and data analytics space were going to be lumpy. I figured that my income needed to have two component streams: first, a relatively stable monthly stream that I could count on to pay for the bread and butter, and second the highly desirable but unpredictable high-revenue gigs - money for jam.

I started teaching on the weekends to pay the bills. My visit to a B School in Pune to ask for teaching work has been the best cold-call I have made in life, for it helped me find my calling.

Perhaps, more important, I have realized the value of a second source of income that is out of phase with economic cycles, for teaching is relatively recession proof too, while data analytics revenues are often in lock-step with economic cycles.