This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Special Christmas episode for you today. You're gonna hear from a caller who wants to resell Christmas trees in January. Okay, they've got this great idea. They're like, "In December, everyone wants a tree." Okay, and then in January, like the whole supply and demand thing flips. So, you know, can I in fact make a lot of money or more likely can I make no money?
I mean, that's basically how that whole conversation would go. Probably not the best idea. So we're not gonna take that question today. We're gonna take a different question, even though if somebody out there wants to start reselling Christmas trees in January, I would love to know how that works out. But just in case it doesn't, our listener today is a financial advisor who specializes in helping clients tackle their debts and get their finances in order.
Now, this sounds like important work, just as important, perhaps actually more important than reselling something. And of course, there's a large market of people who need help with their finances and debt and such. Just one problem, however, Julie doesn't like charging for this work. So, what can be done? Stay tuned, quick shout out to our sponsor, detailed question and my answer.
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Hi, this is Julie from New York. I've been listening for a while and really appreciate your practical advice. In my side business, I help people tackle their debt and get creditors to stop hassling them. This isn't usually that hard, but when someone's overwhelmed, they don't know what to do. I'm able to make a real difference in someone's financial situation, so it's obvious this is valuable.
At the same time, I struggle in asking them to pay. It just feels icky, even though I've spent a good amount of time on the work. Is there some way to resolve this conflict? I've thought about asking them to pay later, like after they've fully gotten out of debt, but that might be a while. What do you think?
[Music]
Hey there, thanks for being out there. Thank you for the question as well. Much better than reselling Christmas trees in January. What you are doing is admirable and not surprisingly, I think you deserve to get paid for it, okay? So I understand, you know, the slight disconnect in feeling and vibe and such, but, you know, I also think you're doing important work and you deserve to get paid.
So maybe another way to think about it is like a doctor or another healthcare professional or just anyone else who helps someone, right? You know, they don't do that work for free, usually. There's at least some mechanism or some way for them to get paid. I mean, that's the first thing, so you deserve to get paid. Nevertheless, as I said, I do understand the concern.
So I wonder if there is a sliding scale or a base payment, you know, kind of situation that everyone pays, or maybe just some other unconventional solution, or maybe there's a way to combine this work with another kind of work. That's another option sometimes. It's like, okay, I've got this service that I do and I provide this, you know, really basic service that's not super customized and personalized. And I do that on a voluntary basis, but then I also have another solution that has a cost for it. Mostly I just want to affirm your work and encourage you to think about, you know, just the value of it and how you ultimately are helping people.
And there's a value that needs to transfer to you as well. That's what I think about that. Listeners, let me know what you're up to. I hope you are enjoying this holiday season. If you're not enjoying it for whatever reason, I get it.
I've been there in different times, different years. So just remember, we got a new year coming up. You just got to make it through one more week. And then we're going to be jumping into January. We've got all kinds of stuff coming up.
And I look forward to showing another year with you soon. That's it for today. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
