Today was a tough day.

A coworker—let's call him Mike—was laid off. Since I arrived in Brazil, I've always worked at the same company, and he'd been there for a while when I joined. Mike was always one of those cool, charismatic, and intelligent guys. He helped me a lot in my first steps within the company, when everything was new to me (even the language). Seeing him leave today was a huge blow, because beyond the work aspect, it feels like a piece of our shared history has been ripped away.

In these two years here, I've seen it all: the departure of my first boss, the disappearance of the department I started in, my transfer to another department, the purchase of the company by a larger one, and even the dismissal of a high-level manager. And now this. Each of these episodes reminds me of something we sometimes want to ignore: in the corporate world, we're always one step away from being "dispensable."

This fragility makes me think a lot about how we manage our financial lives. That a monthly salary isn't enough, that you have to be cautious with your expenses, that you have to save something for when the unexpected comes—be it a layoff, an illness, or an accident. Because a job loss hurts, but it hurts more when you don't have a financial cushion.

BTC strikes me as a powerful tool for building independence, protecting long-term value, and, little by little, escaping the cycle where everything depends on a salary that we don't know how long it will last. I'm not saying it's a magic bullet, but it is a way to start sowing something that can grow independently of the ups and downs of business.

That's why I'm seriously considering starting something on the side, a business that generates extra income and doesn't depend on a boss or a cutback committee.

Today Mike is fired, but tomorrow it could be any of us.

Do you have any business ideas? Do you have a job outside of your corporate job, or are you self-employed? Can I have some ideas?