To ask how to practically help my husband change career?

[Hormonecure]

My DH has been running his own business for years. It brings in a good income, is flexible so he gets to spend a lot of time with me and DC, and also be flexible in terms of childcare to support me and my work - but he's deeply unsatisfied. He fell into his line of work...and never got out of it.

This has been an issue since we met. The problem is he literally has no idea what else he could or wants to do. He left school without university, as his parents did nothing to help signpost him towards further education, and he's been 'lost' ever since, really.

In practical terms, how could I help him try and break down what he could do? There must be lots of people who career change...where do you start?

He doesn't want to analyse why he's stuck...he wants to find practical ways to move himself along.

What is he doing just now?

He's running his own business.

He's running his own business.

That’s not very helpful!

What is he currently doing?
What are his skills?
What sort of things does he like doing/not like doing?

Can he go and see a careers counselor? Can he look here: nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/

Is he a member of any trade or professional bodies who could offer guidance?

If not, then can you answer the following questions:

1. What is he doing at the moment?
2. What skills does he have?
3. What does he enjoy doing?
4. What did he enjoy doing at school?
5. Does he have any qualifications/training/Skills?
6. How old is he?
7. How much does he need to earn?

This will help us direct him.

Well u need to be more specific about the type of business.

Running your own business within an industry can help someone reach senior positions very quickly. What is his current industry? How many years experience does he have? Why does he want to stop running his own business?

Plenty of mentoring type people around that could help him, you know, ‘life coaches’. They could run through it all and help him to make the changes he wants to make

OP, you need to be more specific.

Alan Sugar runs his own business, so does my next door neighbour (he's a window installer). The advice given to Lord Sugar would differ hugely to that given to my neighbour.

Sorry, I meant to write a longer post but the phone rang and I pressed SEND by mistake.

He distributes medical supplies. He doesn't want to stay in the industry. He is a brilliant writer and editor, sold some scripts some years ago, but then got deflated and found it hard to pick up and move himself forward. The fact that he hasn't found success with his writing is part of the issue, I guess. Not that he aspires to material scuccess, but feeling like that part of his world has moved on. I'm a writer, i know how hard it is to make a living doing it, and whilst I'd love him to do more with his writing, he also does need to make a living.

He's mid forties, been doing the business for about 18 years. He has A levels/o levels and that's it. No other qualifications.

Thanks for the career guidance link. That sort of stuff is really helpful.

Has anyone used a career coach?

What are his A Levels in? I'm assuming English Language/Lit?

So just to clarify, he distributes medical supplies. So he's a distributor, acting like a medical supplies warehouse? He buys in supplies and forwards them onto NHS/private practice. Does he work alone doing the marketing, sales, finance, accounts etc. himself? If so then he has good organisational skills, marketing/sales skills etc.. possibly accounting skills too unless outsourced.

So could he sell the business as a going concern to fund his new career? Does he have partners?

To be honest, I think he would need to sit with a careers coach or careers guide to help him fully assess his current situation and plan a path to his desired outcome. At 40, he's no longer young and will struggle to compete with others who are younger doing, for example, writing for healthcare sites (not medical as he's not qualified).

I'd find someone by word of mouth and get him to make an appointment in the new year. Is he motivated to do this do you think or is it something he just likes to complain about to maybe justify the fact that he never made it as a writer?

I used Coutts Careers Consultants years ago. They were excellent.