Creating multiple income streams with Alisha Marfatia

Transcript

* Transcript created by AI – may contain errors or omissions from original podcast audio

CLARE: If you want to get inspired about how to create more financial security, you are going to love today’s episode of the podcast. Today, I’ve brought back on a repeat guest of mine, Alisha Mafadia, to talk about how she has created multiple streams of income, both inside and outside of her business to create more financial security and confidence.

This is a good one. Make sure you stick around.

Welcome back to the podcast.

ALISHA: I’m as excited as I was the very first time I came on your podcast. Is this the third time?

CLARE: I feel like I should just have a monthly spot or something. I know, pretty much. She’s a V. I. P. V. I. P. Very important person. I will take that. I will take that. Well, thank you for agreeing to come back on the podcast again.

 I do, you know, you’ve been a long term client turned friend of mine, and You’ve just got so much wisdom to share with my audience and I’m really excited for the topic we’re going to dive into today. But before we get started on chatting about it, can you do a quick intro to yourself for the listeners?

ALISHA: Oh, goodness. I should have been prepared for this, but I wasn’t I have actually done a bit of a shift and I’m about to sort of rebrand what I am, who I am. So you’ve caught me at a very cheeky time, Clare. But no, I’m, I am a Instagram and business mentor. And my passion really lies with. Creating content and creative work for business owners seem to be such a, for some easy, but for anyone else, they’re like, I’m not creative.

And so my passion has really shifted recently to not just reels, not just video marketing, but the whole world of business. When you can tap into that inner creative, that so many business owners say they aren’t or they haven’t got. You’re, you were a child once where you imagine things, you played with things. And when you can tap back into that energy and that space, that’s when your business is going to absolutely explode both financially, both, you know, opportunities. That’s where you’re going to find your magic. And that’s, that’s really what I help business owners find and then bring out into their marketing and their business.

CLARE: Love, love, love. So we’ve caught you when you’re at the precipice is, no, is that the right word? Preposes? That sounds, that sounds right to me. On the preposes of a big, a big change in your business. Are you able to tell us anything about what that looks like or will all be revealed soon?

ALISHA: It’s all, it’s all coming to shape in a really, yeah, it’s, it’s not a case of like, I know I know what it is and I’m holding back the secret. It’s a case of like, you know, when I first started working with you, Clare, we took such a big leap and you would, you did such a great job in the sense of really allowing that time and space. You were like, she’s going to give you the question and you know, and I was like, oh gosh. And one day I realized I was like, Clare, we need to change my business. And for so long, I’m sure you’ll remember, I felt like I was just in a building phase, a building phase, a cleaning phase, And it’s really just been over this past year where I’ve made these really scary decisions and big decisions and, you know, big changes that I’ve realized what, you know, how I said, you know, I’m not sure what I’m building towards.

I don’t feel like I’ve really hit that next level. You know, I feel like I’m ready for a quantum leap, but what is that leap to? And I just feel like it’s coming together. In a really beautiful way. And so for me, it’s just a case of I’m about to rebrand what the social impact is known for. So that’s definitely what I can tell you there.

CLARE: Yeah. Exciting. And the reason I brought you on the podcast is because you have also recently launched your very first product based business, Full & Filled. Can you tell us a little bit about this project?

ALISHA: This one was a really big one for me. It was a pretty natural progression. And I remember for a while, I so wanted a product and I would come into our sessions. I’d be like, Clare, I had this cool idea and we’d just brainstorm on it, but nothing really felt quite right until I came up with this product. So Full and Filled are these stunning affirmation glasses, but there’s so much more than just a gorgeous glass. They are physical reminders, you know, we sit at our desks for a long period of time and we forget as especially women, we forget to fill up our own cups.

And I’m not just talking about a physical cup. I’m talking about us, you know, when we’ve got businesses, when we’ve got kids, when we’ve got you know, family members, partners, dogs, whoever it is, we’re constantly giving to them. And it’s so easy for us to not even realize that our cup has hit empty before it’s too late and you need some time off work or you’re hating everything and you’re, you’re not in a great place. And unfortunately I’ve, I’ve hit that rock bottom in myself so many times, I’ve crashed and burned so many times. And so for me, I’m a very, I love to think in analogies. I love analogies. And so this right here is seriously a reminder sitting right in front of you. And it’s like, Oh, my glass is getting a bit empty. Let me just check on in and where, where am I, where am I? Do I need really refilling as well?

CLARE: And they’re absolutely beautifully designed. I put my order in this morning. I am so excited to get my hands on my own cup. Fantastic. And, and I guess this is what leads us into the topic that I wanted to chat about today, which is about income diversification.

So this project for you was more of a passion project initially than necessarily, you know, an an additional income stream. But of course, being a business owner, you’ve now, it’s one of the, the key things is obviously it is, it’s another form of revenue for you in your business. So what sort of has made you become, I guess, curious about creating other revenue streams outside of the social impact?

ALISHA: I think whilst I may have denied this for a long time. I think I’ve been very, in my head, there’s a very clear difference now of someone who’s an entrepreneur and someone who is a business owner. And it’s one thing to own a business, but it’s another thing to build a business. Beyond that business, and that’s a really, really big difference between the two. And I think I’ve actually been that entrepreneur minded person since I can really ever remember, you know, as soon as I could. Work. Well, technically, legally, I wasn’t able to yet, but because it was a family business, I did. So I was there at eight saying, check savings credit, you know, and, and people were like, do you even know what this is?

This is a credit card. And I was like, yes, which account would you like it on? And so for as long as I can remember, I’ve loved working. And when I was 15, I had. Over the summer, I had four jobs, and I think in my head, it was a case of there’s lots of different passions, and then there’s lots of different ways to be bringing in money. And that has just really continued, you know, because I was earning money from such a young age, and I didn’t really necessarily, I liked spending it on gifts for people, but I didn’t necessarily just spend for the sake of it.

So I was very fortunate. I had my dad, my parents are both very just sort of savvy. And they’ve, you know, they’ve built what they have themselves by being savvy and by taking big risks that a lot of people wouldn’t necessarily take. And for me, I’ve learned the worst place for my money is to be sitting in a bank account doing nothing. So that’s really where it started in the sense of I started to invest into shares. And that was my big first investment that I kept building on, you know, and It was a little bit confusing and the best way that someone described shares to me was you’re literally just buying into little, like little parts of more companies. And if you’re an entrepreneur, if you’re, you know, business savvy, like hello, you know, you are literally Oh, I love what this business is about. I reckon they’re going to go really big. You know it might be big businesses like Facebook, Meta or whatever. It might also be smaller businesses where you’re able to get a lot of shares for, you know, 50 cents or whatever, you know, per share. And so that was my big first investment that I’ve kept building on and building on and building on. And it’s great because if at any point I do need money, then I’m able to, I’m able to sell a bunch of those shares. Right. So that’s great.

I was then, because of that move, because of that, I was then able to buy my first property at a young age. And so it was actually before I started my business, I was able to, and and I had really, really good support in actually figuring out those next steps. And so then because of my business, I’ve been able to develop that portfolio further and it’s always been, yes, I want to create my own business, my own purpose, you know, my own vision, my own path.

What if your business disappeared tomorrow? Hmm. What if it was gone? What if you woke up tomorrow and there was no, you know, your Instagram account?

 That’s going to be sad if that disappears, but I’m talking your business. You’d have your money in the bank account and that’s it. And so that’s, you know, you’re going to spend that, you’re going to use that, whatever. And that’s why for me, it’s so important.

Full and filled is my new business venture, it’s, it’s a new source of income. It wasn’t necessarily, Oh, I need another one. So let’s, you know, come up with something else. There was a lot of passion and love into this brand, but it is another source. So if the coaching industry is/ might be going through a bit of a tough time or the e commerce space might not be as, you know, people are struggling. You’re able to have these other, these other areas that you, you have this security with. And so you always know, like if I, if the social impact disappeared tomorrow, I would have my new business. I would have my investments, property, shares, and that, that is the life.

You know, people say I’m building an empire. For me, I’m like, an empire isn’t something that can be disappear, it can disappear the next day. That’s not an empire, right? That’s something that has to disappear over a long time, right? And so that’s what I’m talking about here. I know I’ve gone off on a really big tangent but,

CLARE: No, this is so, so good.

And something that I find so incredibly inspiring about your journey is how you have, been able to build this at such a young age. What if people are later on in their life and they’re like, Oh my gosh, I haven’t even started thinking about these things yet. What would be your advice to them of how to get started?

ALISHA: It would definitely be educate yourself on it first, educate yourself on it, find a mentor or find somebody who is an expert in that field. And you can sort of really trust and rely on them. Because, you know, it is as simple as, and my partner, he just got into shares a few years ago, it was just through COVID and, There wasn’t really much to do or spend on really. I mean, e commerce, sure, but like shopping online. Cool. But otherwise it wasn’t really. So we started to invest in shares and you can start really small, you know, save up a thousand, save up $10, 000 and then start investing in that and I did a share course with him as well, just to sort of build my understanding. I still found it really confusing. And it was more about just doing, whether it was shares, whether it was property or anything like that. I think it was really about just that, yeah, there’s a real big difference in, I’m going to buy a property so I can live in it. And then there’s a difference between I’m going to buy a property so I can, it can, you know, become over, you know, over a few years, I can potentially sell, it’ll be worth a lot more, much better my money going into that rather than sitting in the bank account.

And so it’s just really about what’s doable for you. And then actually just taking, taking the step, almost every single one of those, I mean, shares are a little bit different because obviously you can say, I’m going to buy, you know, a hundred shares and they’re worth. Whatever, you know, whatever you can choose your amount, but that’s a bit different. But if it’s property or, you know, next year I’m looking to invest in my first, first commercial property. And so I’m constantly looking and planning for that next, that next step and what I’ll need to do it. But almost every single one of these has been so scary. And if you look at the numbers, which I know you love looking at, Clare they don’t always make sense. They’re so scary and I think it’s a case of, you know, it’s not necessarily going to work out, but because they do have all these different streams of income, it makes me feel a lot more confident that I’ll be able to find that money or whatever if I need anyway, it’s not like everything’s relying on one thing to work, but it is, it’s big risks. And I think it’s sort of, yeah, big educated risks, I would say.

CLARE: It’s about yes, taking chances, but doing it in like a, like, it’s not like the, you’re throwing your last cent at any one of these things. You’re doing it in a, knowing that you’ve got the comfort of a portfolio of income streams, et cetera, behind you.

I think when you’re making any investment, it’s, it’s scary. My husband and I, when we bought our investment property, we didn’t see it, we bought it sight unseen. And I know people were like, you guys are flipping crazy. But for me, I’m like, this is not an emotional decision. We are never going to live in the property. We’re looking at the numbers on a page and We know that this property is in a high growth area. When we eventually, a couple of years after, maybe a year or two after buying it, we went and saw it. It is so disgusting. Like, it is so bad. The design of it was really poor, but we’re like, it kind of almost doesn’t matter as well though because we weren’t buying it as somewhere that we were ever intending to, to live in.

And I think that there’s, there’s something really cool about having like a forced I don’t know if savings is the right word, but do you know what I mean? Like if you were to go and actually save up that amount of money before you purchase something, sometimes when you’re like, you make the commitment and it’s like somehow you just make it work. And like, you know, you’re talking about with the commercial property, like you’ll put that commitment down and you’re like, okay, cool. I now need to come up with this money. So I love, love, love that.

And I also love your description about buying shares because my kids we gave them the option with their birthday money, if they wanted to buy toys or buy shares. And of course they wanted to buy toys, but they said, we want to buy some toys and some shares. So we bought them shares, like 50 worth of shares. And I think that we then tripled it just so that they, you know, rounded it up and they keep going, where’s our money, where’s our big payout? And I’m like, Oh, darling, it doesn’t, it doesn’t work like that. This is something when you’re much, much older, you’ll appreciate that right here, right now, you’re not going to be, you know able to buy your Lamborghini but yeah, it’s such a great point and something that I think a lot of entrepreneurs, you know, don’t think about is about having other ways that their revenue is coming in.

 Anything else that you wanted to share with the listeners in this space about diversification or anything in that space before we move on to next?

ALISHA: I think it’s just a big case of like, everyone I speak to about this wants to start, and it’s a case of, I just don’t know what to start with or get started with, and it does require you to really go out, do a bit of research, find the people, understand it, you know, whether it’s taking, taking a course, I, you know, for the shares I was in it for a long period, and I didn’t truly understand exactly what was going on. I just had trusted people that I was like, okay, well. They got it figured out and it got to the point where I was like, I need to know this. I need to understand this. So I did take a day, a day course to really get into it all. And that’s when I I got really excited. Cause now I’m walking around being like, I own a little bit of that company. Yes, it might be tiny, but I still own a little bit of you. So it was really cool on that front, but it is a case of, don’t just listen to this episode today and think, oh, whether it’s, you know, whether it’s a property or whether it’s shares or whether it’s, you know, whatever it might be.

Don’t just listen and be like, I’m going to do that at one point. I would be like, do it today. What’s one thing you can do today to start that process? Because I know I said it before, but I really want to just say this again. Cause it, it, it used to leave me with fear. If I woke up tomorrow, my business was gone. Who am I? Where’s my money coming from? How am I going to pay for X, Y, Z? But if you’re able to have that safety, think about that. And it doesn’t require a lot, it just requires some, some steps forward tweaking and moving some things around.

CLARE: A good tip that I’ve got too, this is how I got started with, cause I used to be shocking. It’s funny for someone who’s like such a numbers person, with my personal money, whenever I’d build it up, I’d be like, I’m going on a holiday. And one of the ways that I got started on saving was just to put an automatic transfer. And it was like, that is money that I never touch. And then what I’ve done, I think it was only 20 a week initially. Like it was such a small amount. And then what we’ve done over the years is we just keep increasing it, increasing it. And what I find is that if you just creep up the amount as well, it doesn’t feel like you don’t even notice it. It’s like, it doesn’t make a difference. And then you’re like, Oh my gosh, that’s building up. And then I’m reinvesting it. And that feels really amazing.

Just getting started, I think, is the best advice that you’ve just shared. Just take that first step and Let it grow from there. Now, the other thing that I wanted to talk to you about on the topic of diversification, and this is a bit of a an interesting one is diversification within a business.

So you’ve obviously now got a couple of businesses, and I presume that what will happen with Full & Filled is that you will also expand what’s available within that range, you’ll expand your product offering, et cetera, et cetera.

Something that can happen to us entrepreneurs, we love bright, shiny objects, is that we tend to add more and more and more products. And it’s funny, because I was talking to you off air about this, about how My big thing for 2023 was simplification. I said it again and again, I want to do less and do it better. And then when I was thinking about my product offering, I’m like, I’ve got my book. I’ve got my first course. I’ve got my second course. I’ve got my mastermind. I’ve got my private coaching. I’ve got my strategy sessions. I’ve got my VIP days. I’ve got my speaking engagements. I’ve got my retreats. And I’m like, it’s not exactly a, Simple product offering and all.

So I want to have this conversation with you about, about what, what, I guess, what services you’ve got about the diversification that you’ve got within the social impact, but also like, where’s the line between diversification and just being spread way too thin and not doing any of the things well.

So let’s start with inside the social impact. At the time of recording, what are the services that you have available inside the social impact?

ALISHA: Yes. This is a really, really good topic because I think it also comes from, it comes from a place of shiny object syndrome, but it also comes from a place of scarcity in the sense of.

We don’t have enough time. So let’s just do it all now. I’ve got to jump on this now. Otherwise, someone else is going to come up with this idea. So I think that’s a big case of that as well. And I think that definitely where I am today comes from a place of fast action, but definitely looking back, there’s been times when I’ve taken fast action because of, oh my gosh, someone else is going to take, I’ve got to do it right now. And it’s actually, it’s not left me in the best place because of that. I’m not, I’m making a decision from an emotional place or from that sort of lack of clarity rather than. So at the moment we have the social impact, our key offerings, and I said the same thing, I was like, simplifying, cleansing, but no, I do feel like I’ve simplified it quite a bit.

But at the moment we’ve got, so I have my private mentoring. I have our reels management, which is where we handle businesses reels for them. And then I’ve got my two new, oh, I ran a eight week eight week mini mind a few months ago, and that was epic. So we’re doing that again, start of January, where you pretty much come out understanding how to use AI for your content and also coming out with four months of content, just. But the big one is my new membership, which will be haven’t announced but that’s coming in 2024. And so that’s going to be my new space for everything that I’m about.

I’m still working around with the names, but we’re leaning towards the playground where it’s about sort of connecting with that, the community in a creative that in a child creative, bringing more wealth into your business and coming up with really fun ideas especially for, you know, for coaches and, and service based business, we get really caught up in processes and setting things up. And that can be one of the biggest killers of the love for whatever you’re creating. So it’s, it’s been a long process to get here, but I’ve really found what I’m passionate about. So those are my offers there. And that’s come a long way, hasn’t it, Clare, from our first call together when I was like doing social media management, all of the things.

And I think the best part about it is I was saying to someone the other day, they said, I want to start a business, but I don’t know what, and I don’t want to start it and then change my mind. And this is something you really made clear with me, Clare, a long time ago was. You have your purpose. You have who you’re trying to help. You can change your offers. You can change what you do. And the funny thing is, is that Full & Filled, yes, it’s a new business, but it helps the same people I’m trying to help within the social impact. It’s great because it means that, you know, I’m able to market Full & Filled through the social impact as well. That purpose, who I’m helping is still the same. And it does mean you can easily change things up and not get so stuck in, I’ve created this, I’ve made the offers, I’ve done the webpage, I’ve, you know, made the course, I have to continue. So that’s been a big part of it there.

CLARE: Yeah. Interesting.

So where do you think the line is? Because I question this myself all the time. And then when I look at my offering, I might. There’s nothing I want to, you know, there’s a saying about kill your darlings or kill your children. I don’t know. You know the saying. I haven’t heard that one actually. It’s, it’s like basically saying that like you’re in, in business, everything becomes your little babies.

And it’s like, sometimes you’ve got to kill your darlings. Like sometimes you’ve got to kill things that you love. But anytime that I do that, I’m like, But I love like that. I’m getting paid for speaking and I love my retreats. Cause there’s such a beautiful place to connect with people in person. And obviously like my books done, I’m obviously going to keep selling my book.

And so you sort of look at everything and you’re like, how do I simplify this? So, you know, what would, what are your thoughts around that?

ALISHA: Yeah, it’s, it’s really funny because. You know, over the past few months, this has been a really, really big thing because I have had to let go of a lot of things that, you know, courses that I’ve created.

And for so long, it’s been making me really unhealthy. Because I’m offering something to help people, but I’m no longer feeling aligned with it. I no longer feel good off, you know, I know it’s helping people, so that’s why I’m doing it. I know it’s helping the business, so that’s why I’m doing it. So the only person who it’s not helping is myself.

And that’s a big thing is like, you can still love it. You can still love that offer. It can still be helping people. It can be still making really good money. But when is the time to retire or let go of a service or an offering? And I think again comes to that scarcity factor was when I was trying to decide, I was letting that really come into it.

I was like, but it can still help so many people. It can still make so much more money. We’ve, you know, spent X, Y, Z on this. I can’t, that would be stupid. You know, that would be such a stupid business move. And sure. Maybe it, maybe it was, maybe it is, but at the end of the day, can I just reflect on the fact that created something?

It’s been incredible. It’s made X, Y, Zed for all these people. It’s made this happen for my own business, my own journey. Can it just be that rather than focusing on everything I might be missing out on or losing? Because at the end of the day, once I was able to come to terms with that, I was able to really see, this is where full and filled comes. I was able to see my own cup and when it came to holes in my glass, this was one of the biggest holes. Cause I was like, when you are offering something that doesn’t light you up anymore, anytime you sell it, you’re not showing up in the same way. You know, anytime you sell it, it drains you quicker.

So it’s really a case of that mindset of. Why are you offering it? Who are you offering it for? How do you feel about it? And, and really going a bit deeper because it doesn’t. I find that your moves in business don’t always need to make sense. But I feel like that gut, that, that gut knowing if you’re, you give yourself that time to think about is this right, or let’s think about this a little bit more, you’re able to realize a lot and perhaps retire or remove a service that you once completely loved.

CLARE: Yes, that feels like such great advice. And I think that this is probably why. I’m still doing all of the things that I’m doing because they all light me up so much at the moment. And I think that’s the thing too, is that it is, it’s going to change over time, isn’t it? Like what used to make you jump out of bed in the morning a couple of years ago might just feel like a big energetic leak.

And even same with pricing, this is something I talk to people about as well. Like, you know, I, I know when I first got started in business that my first client paid me a thousand dollars a month and I was… I cannot believe someone’s paying me a thousand dollars for four coaching sessions. Like it was just so unfathomable to me.

And now I’m like, there’s no way I would coach someone for a month for a thousand dollars. That does not feel good or aligned to me at this stage of my, my journey. So it’s just checking in and I love, you know, this is a beautiful full circle moment coming back to the ethos of full on field. Because when you look after yourself, when you.

You’re focusing on your own energy. That’s where you are able to inspire, empower, and really live your most successful life.

ALISHA: Absolutely. And, you know, even coming back to what we spoke before, not just financial risks, but big risks that you take in business. It’s, it’s those, those choices, those decisions, those moments that end up having the biggest impacts, majority of the time, biggest leaps in your business. And rather than playing it safe and doing it step by step, you’ve been able to get in touch with that mindset, figure out the meaning of, you know, why you’re actually doing something is it for the right reasons? Is it, you know, whatever it might be. Taking the big decision, making the big change. And then all of a sudden just that’s when like the quickest crazy moments come.

CLARE: Oh my gosh. I love that. I actually did a live about this today saying how, how your life changes in a moment. It changes with the decision and Yeah. You know, the outcome doesn’t happen in that moment, but the decision is where the pivotal change happens. Well, as always, I feel like I could chat to you for hours, but we need to wrap up this episode.

Congratulations on the launch of Full & Filled. How do you say that all the time?

ALISHA: It was really funny because when, when we came up or when I came up with the name, I was going over it all the time. And I think I have the Instagram handle of like a cup, a cup nice and full. I don’t know. Something horrible. Right. And it was only at brunch with my partner that he was like, what about fulfilled? And the problem with fulfilled was that Australians spell it differently to Americans. So I was like, well, it’s all about like fulfilled. Your cup being full and filled. So that’s sort of where it, where it came down to.

CLARE: If people want to get their hands on one of these beautiful affirmation glasses, how can they do so?

ALISHA: So you can jump onto our website, fullandfilled. com and you can pre order your glass, providing we still have them. Because like. Well, like the women I’ve created them for, you know, you’re one of a kind and that’s how I’ve sort of created the brand as well.

We’ve got five designs. You can choose your affirmation, you can choose your style, if you’re, you know, abundant finance, you know, we’ve got our, I’m a money magnet inspired by yours truly. So you can choose your design and the way I’ve created is, is a limited edition. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. We’ll create our new designs for our second collection, but just like you, it’s not something that can be repeated, recreated.

CLARE: So jump onto our website, find your favorite glass. Well, I’ll pop the link in the show notes for today’s episode as well as the links for the social impact if people wanna connect with you and find out how they can work with you in another way. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast, for talking about diversification of income streams.

* Transcript created by AI – may contain errors or omissions from original podcast audio