I balance a bunch of gigs as an acupuncturist and a musician. Last year the split was 70/30 in % of income.
This year music tanked but I said yes to new acupuncture opportunities. I guess I took some risks that others wouldn't have (I know a lot of people working minimally or not at all; I get it)
Right now I have 3 acupuncture jobs and have been offered a fourth which would take up 2 days a week, leaving me probably with only one day off:
Job 1: 2 6-hr days a week. Guarantee/hr, plus more if I see more people, plus most people tip. 1099
Job 2: 3 4-hr days every other week. Eventually they mentioned expanding but it's not looking anytime soon now. W2 guaranteed income
Job 3: 1 5-hr day a week. 100% commission. 1099
potential job 4: 2 8-hr days a week (if it's possible for me to schedule). Unsure on payments, probably % of take (40% of practice is insurance 60% cash). Cash rate is $90 I believe. 1099 most likely
In around 5 years I'm hoping to meet my FIRE goals at which point I would leave job 3, probably job 2, and potentially job 1, if it's not flexible (most possibility for flexibility there). I would also want to have my own business where I see patients, mostly on medicaid that pays out pretty decent here. My vision is also to do more "wellness" events (meditation events, retreats) and related, non medical services (energy work, astrology, life coaching). In my free time I want to do more long distance hiking, travel with partner when he FIREs (no idea when it will be), do more music gigs including tours. In the past had to turn down music work due to acupuncture jobs.
I am wondering if I should take job 4 which will really limit my time and I'll have to hustle a lot more, or if I should start trying to build my own business now even if financially less lucrative.
I'm in a situation where I don't know if I should take job 4- which is nebulous about pay as of now- they are finalizing their offer over the holidays. Job 4 is all profit, but then doing my own biz sets me up for the long term even if a small loss now. Job 4 would be much more restrictive with my time and freedom which is a really high value for me. COVID has curtailed all that though and made me realize I can handle A LITTLE bit of more normal person schedule. Job 4 does have a good possibility of learning a lot tho from the practitioner. Financially potentially could pay really well- in most upscale neighborhood in my city. They want me to specialize in fertility which means high patient compliance which is cool. I'm more of a GP but it's fine for me to focus on that at this point, job 1 made me learn a lot for this. But it's really unclear how many patients, and then money, it would translate to. In the long term I would definitely leave bc they want me to be a more normie US experience- only taking off like 1-2 weeks a year.
Really having a hard time deciding what to do.