Let’s begin with two truisms when it comes to your money.

First, you can’t invest if you don’t have any.

Second, with the economy as it is, being completely dependent on your employer might not be a great idea: Your paycheck could disappear overnight, as the millions of people who have filed recently for unemployment have unfortunately learned.

Chris Guillebeau, whose daily podcast is called “Side Hustle School,” thinks he has a solution for both problems, which he presents in the novel “The Money Tree” (Portfolio, $26.) His answer: Start a business.

Image Credit... Penguin Random House

Ideally, do it while you have a day job. Bootstrap your way into starting a business on the side, one that could supplement your current income and potentially even replace it. But many of the ideas he presents will help, too, if you find that your job is gone or suspended.