UBER – THE CEO DRIVEHER

NO MORE FUNDING MY DREAMS, NOW IS TIME TO ALLOW MY DREAMS TO FUND MY LIFE

Here at the CEO DriveHer community our tagline is “Driving to Fund our Dreams”, but have you ever considered when that time would have you to fully transition in being solely sustained, dependent on the income of your business dream? Well I have over and over again and can now say I have officially reached that point and I am terrified, but ready for the full transition into full-time entrepreneurship. I’ve done enough in the gig economy and it is now time to utilize that knowledge obtained in it putting it to use. I was good at leveraging the platform, but like most things and most humans sorta became codependent in it all. The saying “a creator of habit” never rang so true and like some habits you outgrow them, sometimes forceabley.

So now that I have stepped away from the gig economy, what now? How do I manage without it now? Well I tell you how, I am thrusting myself face forward! I have nothing to lose, but everything to gain at this juncture in my life. I must admit I was still playing it safe working part-time in the gig economy, but was beginning to even hate the few hours I was on the various platforms, not because of the gig economy, but more so I was plagued with mental torment of not finishing and working on my true passions and goals. Can you believe it, here it is I am making money, doing well in the gig economy, but failing to work my dreams! Yes I funding them, but I wasn’t working them to my full capacity, as a writer and aspiring author dreaming of writing numerous New York Times Best Sellers, honestly work was getting in the way of my thought process and creativity. As a writer and creator it’s a bit complicated in regards to the process of developing in projects. There was so much that always needed to be done, but then I’d think of a bill that needs to be paid, investment in other software or add-ons for my businesses, and it was this constant feeling of running in a circle and getting nothing done, spending money to make money and seeing no return and if so, it didn’t last long. I knew with clarity that I had reached a point of drawing the line in the sand and having to call it quits for now in the gig economy, and honestly it is kinda forced. I’ve been at this point in my life before and it always works out for my betterment. But, I am almost petrified, I feel gripped with fear, but I am in survival mode and know I must move forward in this. Movement in thrusting myself in this position in life is my only option and I am willing to do it with vigor. God has me in all of this! I am literally casting all my doubts, fears, thoughts, business plans, ideas, even my writing into his hands. I throw my hands up and trust he, God, is throwing his marvelous hand down towards me to lift me up out of the wreckage of fear.

My dreams I know are multi-million if not billion dollar concepts, my books will sell massively and my clientele will be too numerous to count yet even fathom, I know this to be fact, I see it, I hear it, I feel it! Something I know to be so true seems so distant, yet so within my own reach. What is this called? What is this conundrum? I don’t have the answers, but what I do know is I must move on faith and not look back for now. The gig economy is on the backburner as for working within the field, I am solely focusing on creating content and information to help other giggers, entrepreneurs, freelancers, etc. using my gift of speaking and writing to maximize my reach.

So what is it that I am looking forward to? I am looking forward to having a solid schedule! No more late nights and working into the early morning. No more working off hours and filling my weekends with gig work. I plan of expanding my social life and enjoying activities I’ve placed on the backburner for so long. I am looking forward to going to bed early and early morning workouts like I use to do. I am looking forward to only working for myself and creating all the day long. I am looking forward to putting that same driver, hustling, go pro mentality to my businesses at 200%, this use to bother me the most because I knew if I gave my businesses a fraction of the attention I gave my gigs I’d be producing like crazy and making money hand over fist! I have come to the conclusion that the gig economy at some point began to serve as a security blanket of sorts, a blanket that’s now ripped from off me leaving me exposed to my dreams to manifest them in their totality.

Is it now time for you to let go of that job, the gig, the part-time, that side hustle, and now time for you to put in that work in your own passions? Was that not the point, working to fund your dreams right? Whelp all the money that’s been made is beginning to dry up to force your hand to allow your dreams to now fund your life. I am now going, who else?

If you need help transition out of the traditional workforce into the gig economy, or out of the gig economy into your business checkout my services provided on both sites http://www.ceodriveher.shop and http://www.knbresume.com where I offer an array of services to help you build your business and maximize your earnings!

DELIVERIES IN THE GIG ECONOMY CAN BE A CASH COW & GRANT YOU HUMILITY SIMULTANEOUSLY

the wins….

The delivery aspect of the gig economy I believe is overlooked and underrated. Maybe because of our culture viewing the proverbial “delivery boy” as the low income high schooler side job, no real effort required or needed, just go from point A to point B, easy enough; right? Well I will show you in short how much monies are left on the table because of pride. In this era, in this day academia accomplishments and status still reigns, but at what costs? So many people are choosing jobs/careers/work for status and not essential living, not quality of life, not even money, but reverence from family and peers. Success is cloaked in an illusionary tale and the gig economy has aided in my ability to see what true success is.

I must be honest, I am writing this from both perspectives, I was that judgemental person that thought of these gigs as worthless having no ability to add to the development of an individual’s professional career. Now, do not be mistaken you must, you must, you must ultimately see how to use the gig economy to leverage and develop in your profession of choice; allow its intricate paths to be a guide towards your success. If your only fulfillment in the gig economy is money it will be short lived and not as profitable as you’d like for it to be.

It took me awhile to see the endless possibilities in the gig economy. Once I got over my bitterness, depression, and lack of worth due to my layoff of my job of 15 years, I was truly transitioning as a person in so many ways. It has been 2 years and 6 months roughly since my layoff and I am still learning aspects of myself as an entrepreneur, leader, employee, and individual. I have learned more in this period of my life than any other. I have compounded information, data, and experiences that I would’ve never obtained if not for the gig economy, and I am grateful for that. I thought as an officer dealing with the general public and criminals (usually in crisis) granted me a wealth of knowledge, and it did, but it was one-sided. In law-enforcement I had lost hope, compassion, and patience for people, for society, for government. The gig economy cultivated my ability to care again, to have some patience, and most of all to serve others.

You are probably asking “what the hell does this have to do with the gig economy being a “cash cow”” well I will tell you. I say it’s a cash cow when you see the benefits in it that helps develop you as an individual, you begin to see the fault lines of opportunity so you perfect your craft to be profitable. I have met and watch on YouTube many drivers that for some reason or another make decent/mediocre money doing gigs, but they are unfulfilled as individuals primarily because they lack from my observation, mastery of the gig economy and personal development. They are so fixated on being their own boss that it clouds their ability to be a servant to their craft. They appear to believe they’re owed something, when in fact their entitlement mentality keeps them in a loop of despair and unprofitable. Whether you like it or not, whether you agree of not the gig economy primarily is a gig that requires you to serve others. The good thing about this is the ability to generate more tips for the great service you grant to others. Tips generate $400 – $500 extra to my monthly earnings. My positive attitude, smiling, and common courtesy I attribute to this.

Another aspect of the “cash cow” ability is knowing how to sign up on as many platforms as possible and developing in each one as much as possible; that is in accordance to your market. This takes skills. You must know when it is best to work each. You develop a six sense on these platforms, effortlessly you’ll be able to earn.

I see myself as a professional! I don’t think less of myself or anyone else for that matter for earning a honorable wage, but as a professional we must be and maintain humility, serving in this capacity does exactly this for me. The earning aspect is high and easy when you simply consider the following:

Serving. I assure you you will not like everyone and you will come in contact with some disgruntle individuals, but sometimes those were my best tippers. I have come to learned that most of the time it isn’t personal they are dealing with their own stuff and realize their actions.
Skillset. This takes skills, trial and error, and discipline. The market changes constantly and you must be able to discern the contents tempos.
Goal Setting. This should be done weekly and mini ones set daily. Shoot for numbers. Body counts are my favorite. I know on average every trip averages out for me $10 a ride; 20 rides/deliveries can equal $200.
Time. You must commit the time daily on days of choice. Factor in at least on peak hours slot of the day and work it for at least 2-3 hours. Learn to meed demands at these times in accordance to your market.
Multiple Platforms. You must serve on at least 3-5 delivery platforms in my opinion. Again the demands changes and you don’t want to box yourself in with just one platform.

MONDAYS ARE THE BEST DAYS

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If you ever wanted a great reason to restart anything or to get a fresh start on what you’ve already been doing, then Monday should be a great reason for you too. Mondays are filled with possibilities, you get to from scratch map, plan, set, and visualize your goals and intentions. Monday starts the countdown of a seven day plumb-line (a measuring instrument), it allows you to measure short-term and long-term goals.

Monday – Write out your plans, map your week, itemize your goals from greatest to least. Write out what is of most importance and how much time you need to commit to it for completion. You also want to set a budget! What needs to be paid, what are you planning to invest in, figure out how much money do you need to make this week. As a gigger, freelancer, entrepreneur we have an income that has many variables, so this is key. You do not want to be playing catch-up on anything. If there are bills that need to be paid, go ahead and pay them! If you have to cut back on expenses and you clearly see this, DO IT! Don’t assume the money is coming in, this creates a more stressful environment on yourself mentally.

Tuesday – Execute hard! Go full throttle on you mapped out goals, go as hard as you can, work that day like you have 1-hour to turn in your last assignment which is the biggest grade of the semester. This is a method I use because I notice it gets me way ahead of the curve ball later in the week, plus it sets the tone for good momentum.

Wednesday – REPEAT Tuesday. Review your Monday Mapping plan and see where you are on the plan, are you making progress, are you behind. Read over it daily so you’re reminded of what needs to be done and you don’t risk forgetting.

Thursday – Calculate what percentage of your goals have been completed. See what needs to be dropped and can be reassigned. This happens, don’t worry focus on what can be done and completed. Until you get good at setting measurable goals you often will have to tweak them. Again don’t feel like a failure, we tend to over stretch over reach on our goals, that’s okay; over time you’ll get better and know instinctively what needs to be niched down so that you’re successful accomplishing your mapped out goals/plans.

Friday – Reflect, reflect, reflect. Be real with yourself, ask yourself if you’ve given your best to your goals, have you stuck to landig? Now, while reflecting you’re still working, but working with full intention of completing tasks. Seeing where you can add more umph and drive to what it is you’re doing. Are you gassed up or all gassed out? Calibrate yourself and again be realistic, but know how and when to push yourself more. This degree of self-awareness and mental calibration breeds self-honesty plus you see areas in which you may need to outsource. We cannot do it all, but initially as business owners it is not a must it is vital to the success of our business(es).

Saturday – Coast on out! Ride the wave accept what you’ve done and begin to polish up and close out all tasks left or completion.

Sunday – Rest & Reflect. While going into reboot mode, at this point you’ve slowed down, you’ve accepted your projections, you’ve accepted what you’ve completed or not completed, and you are game planning mentally of what you can do better next week.

In closing I know this may seem like a lot, but in fact what I am asking of you may require only 10-15 minutes of your day exempting Monday which may require 60-minutes and that’s okay. You committing 60-minutes to the rest of your week on a Monday can save you hours of your time and money. Don’t sell yourself short by skipping this weekly ritual. Many businesses, corporations, and government entities use Mondays as a means to power-up and motivate their staff. I worked in government and we always set agendas, quotas, plans of execution so that we all could work optimally. If you’re going to be in business for yourself you must begin to do this immediately! Go in God’s speed, be motivated my fellow entrepreneurs!

IS YOUR CAR AN ASSET? WELL DEPENDS HOW YOU USE IT.

I believe in this emergence of the gig economy our vehicles and homes, but in this text we’re focusing on our cars, can be liken to the modern day mule. It’s a valuable work-beast if you allow it to be. I am constantly met with an unjust argument that me, you, others are fools for using a car rental service or our own personal vehicles for the gig economy. I often see on my YouTube channel Kimberly CEO DriveHer these statements “what about the wear and tear on you vehicle” “don’t your car depreciates?” “you’re making less money due to wear and tear and fuel costs” the comments are endless and moronic if you ask me. I believe the only ones that see it that way are those that simply have lacked being profitable in the gig economy and rideshare. Newsflash people, every piece of property you buy, own, rental depreciates on some level, even your bodies people. Now this blog will be not be loaded with statistical data and facts, I don’t have analytical numbers and charts to prove my point, but what I do have is common-sense and perspective. I plan to quickly help alter your perception and mind in how you can and ought to use your vehicle in such a way that you make it more of an asset than what it already is. This is opinion based, but opinions based upon facts for certain. So hear me out and hopefully you can begin to yield a greater return on your investment, that being your vehicle a tangible asset.

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Let us begin with the word “asset” asset is defined in Merriam Webster dictionary as a: an item of value owned; which I believe best sums it up! Whether you are renting, leasing, financing, or own your car in this day to make a valuable return on it, you must use it optimally. Cars and meant to be driven. They produce new vehicles and the production of many of them are low quality and cheap, they are not built to last so you may as well work that mule to the death. Yes take care of your car, yes keep up with the maintenance, yes use it wisely, but for goodness sake USE IT! The argument of wear and tear to justify not doing rideshare is just ridiculous. Now if you have a vehicle on it’s last leg maybe you need to stick to primarily deliveries and not rideshare. Be smart, use your vehicle wisely. If you have a beat-up pickup truck maybe gigs like Byrd, LIme, and Roadie are best suited considering the caliber of jobs and heavy loading.

In the rideshare gig community I believe some people tend to overthink this process, you don’t utilize what they have appropriating it properly. Don’t go out purchasing a new vehicle stay on middle ground, remember things will happen. Newer vehicles cost more insurance wise, that’s risky. Your vehicle in the gig economy is an instrument, an investment, keep all costs low in reference to it so that it yields a higher return financially.

I currently use the Uber rental program and really like the option of not have to pay car insurance, nothing is in my name, and that is one less loan on my credit. As a minimalist to some degree this option works best for me. I use the rental for many of my gigs not just Uber. I maintain the vehicle, keep it clean, get it serviced regularly (at no cost to me on the servicing), and keep it damaged free. The entire cost for me to rent it monthly is $980, but if I complete 75-90 rides I get an extra $120 or $195 weekly bonus. If you subtract that I am actually paying less than $400 a month for the rental! Now, it still requires you to work a bit to get all those rides, but the trade off is sweet overall. I get unlimited miles, can take it anywhere I want, work where I want, and use it to do my other gigs!

So, if in the gig economy stop focusing on wear and tear and focus on profitability, focus on how you can make this “modern day mule” your ultimate work horse. Here are some rules to recap on:

Don’t go into debt trying to get the nicest pricest vehicle.
Use what you got and until you can afford to upgrade using cash no financing!
Keep costs low. Use fuel points, cash back rewards on fuel, etc.
Keep up with the maintenance but but in a cost effective way.
Use you vehicle for multiple gigs, not just one.
Start to see how your vehicle brings you value on a daily basis.
Consider which gigs are best for you to do in relation to the type of car you have.

IS YOUR GIG JOB(s) A LLC?

In this day of the ultimate gig economist, contracted worker, independent contractors, digital nomads, etc., if you fall in any of these categories it is a must you establish your business construct as a LLC. Now, let me preface this with that I am not a financial advisor nor am a business lawyer, these are simply my opinions drafted from my own personal experiences, research, and conclusions. You are free to do what best fits your need, I just want you all to weigh your options so that you:

Protect your employment
Grant yourself some job security.
Be cost effective. maximize your earrings, and cost savings.
Take full advantage of the rewards and opportunities that serve businesses more than individuals.
Limit co-mingling and maintain good bookkeeping.

What is a LLC.? LLC stands for Limited Liability Company which is a corporate structure in the United States whereby the owners are not personally liable for the compan’s debts or liabilities. They have the characteristics of a corporation with those of a partnership or sole proprietorship. Every state differs a bit but the benefits outweigh any other option if you’re an individual (sole proprietor) owner of a company.

Why to create a LLC. compulating all your gig jobs allowing your LLC. to serve as an umbrella/cover (insurance policy) over your businesses. Establishing a LLC. is releatively easy and cost less than $500 which includes everything, but I will explain how to later in this blog. You want to create a LLC. for legal protection, but mainly to use as leverage for your own personal and business finances. Once LLC. is established you can easily acquire the following:

Fuel Cards: these are really good for bookkeeping purposes and you save more money on fuel cost. Most of us are using our own vehicles to complete these gigs.
Electronics: when you use your business credit for tools i.e. phones, computers, laptops, instruments, apps, etc. you can really build business credit and save build using entities such as Dell, Apple, Microsoft etc. They are really good about extended credit which is helpful when you’re first building credit. As a digital nomad and freelance writer this is big for me because I use 2 cell phones, 1 ipad, a laptop, and numerous software. In the event I need a replacement or better equipment I’d prefer to use my LLC. business line of credit instead of straining my own.
Affiliate Partnerships: this allows other businesses to see that you have established a legitimate business and there’s some accountability on your part. Hence they’ll want to do more business with you or even invest in your company.
Better Tax Incentives: hands down if you run your books right and you leverage it right you’ll be able to really save! Rideshare drivers are now seeing tax laws change on mileage and tax write-offs that now is chipping away at their returns.
Financial Protection: this is a highly informative area and varies from state to state so I suggest you research this area for yourself, but to summarize it’s better someone come after your company than you as an individual!
Multiple Streams of Income: self-explanatory, you can structure your business in such diverse ways that allows you to create content, passive income, and merchandise.

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In short I will outline what you need to become established as an LLC., now this is a generic listing being certain requirements differ in various states some more lenient while others can be heavy-handed in acquiring; overall it’s still relatively easy. Ok to get started I suggest the following in this order:

Business Name (make sure you verify it hasn’t been trademarked at
http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=4801:opytx7.1.1 from the https://www.uspto.gov/trademark website for trademarks and patents.
Logo: create an unique logo easily for cheap on http://www.fiverr.com
Purchase a Virtual Office: includes actual address and business line this will vary in need contingent on your business structure.
Website & Domain Name: you can purchase this for cheap, no need to be fancy, you can always upgrade, keep it simple to like a landing page or 2-3 pages listing products/service, about page, and pricing. Again keep it simple.
Bio: this needs to be professionally done, you’ll be surprise how many seeks out your credentials. This needs to be short, sweet, but highly informative. FYI I do these professionally part of my http://www.knbresume.com business. If you need one I’d love to write one up for you.
Certificate of Organization: you usually obtain this through the Secretary of State (you must have this for a DUNS# and Business Checking account)
EIN#, Duns & Bradstreet Number: this is your tax i.d. AND IT IS FREE (beware of sites that charge, only go to the IRS website
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/taxpayer-identification-numbers-tin after received apply for your DUNS# at
https://www.dnb.com/ this will allow you not to have to use yourself as a personal guarantee to obtain business credit. Both are free!
Legal Docs: this simple depending on your business, start off with Release of Liability forms, and Non-Disclosures. These help protect you and your intellectual properties.