Were you scared about leaving work to go self employed?

[LeavingJ]

Try to keep it brief!

DH owns a business. When it was set up, he left work and went SE straight away. I did a lot of work in the business but stayed employed.

We are now at the point where there needs to be someone there doing what I do, usually around my 9-5 job, properly.

The plan was always that when it reached this point, I'd leave work and go SE as a partner of the business (not just employed by it). We have also now had a baby (I'm on maternity) which means the flexibility will be good in that sense too, we plan to put DC in nursery 3 days a week whilst I work in the business.

I'm terrified of leaving employed work though! The business is doing fantastic even through these strange times so it's not a financial concern necessarily but it just seems like such a huge jump.

Anyone else get really nervous before taking the plunge to go SE? How did you find it in the end?

Can you go part time on return to work and part time the SE business for a while?

Anyone else get really nervous before taking the plunge to go SE? How did you find it in the end?

Of course! I can recommend books if you're interested.

Can you say a bit more about what industry your business is in. Sometimes I yearn for a partner I could go in to business with (I am conscious that that's down to my attachment styles).

I did - I was totally wracked with doubts before jumping ship.

I worked as an employee ("perm") for about 25 years before jacking it in and going into my own business.

The kicker for me was I was in a job I hated (loathed and probably had MH issues as a result it was that bad), and had just inherited a (small) amount of money giving me a cushion.

I had been on (and on) about it for years, and my partner flat out asked me "If not now, when? We have a cushion, the current job is killing you, and you would have to spend time looking for a new job anyway"

And... despite all the above, I was STILL incredibly nervous.

With hindsight, I used to think of being employed by someone else as a bit of a comfort blanket. Uncomfortable to start with, but without a doubt the best decision I could have made.

Yes, but I made sure that I had 50% of the equity of the business before I left. I also kept up my qualifications and other professional development, so that after 5 years I moved back into employment relatively seamlessly and a big step ahead of where I would have been had I stayed put in my old job.

What I SHOULD have done was be clearer on being paid a regular salary out of the business in my own right (not just "we can draw down quarterly" or "yes we can declare some dividends at some unspecified point in the future"). I also should have kept up my pension monthly because by the time the quarterly drawings came around I never contributed as much as I would have monthly.

Mine was also going into business with family and that was the reason it eventually came to an end. I won't say "never do it" because it was the making of me in my current role, and there were some fantastic pros - the flexibility was unquestioned, and completely essential to keep my career going when the kids were young. Also, I gained all kinds of skills and experience I never would have had I stayed put in my old job, so that meant I returned to employment at a higher level, better paid, and a new (better) role in a new sector than the one I had left. However...the cons are that it's hard to have any distance, and any conflict becomes bound up in family stuff so sometimes I'd have my mum or my aunt weighing in on what we should do or taking sides in some business discussion.

I would say you should definitely do it if the business is booming and you have young kids and need the flexibility, but make sure you are a full partner/50% shareholder including with decision making power and not just "working for" your DH. It's a business, so think with your business head on and make sure you wouldn't lose everything if you split up or go back to employed work.

Thank you, reading these replies is reassuring! Just going to be a big big change!

And yes would happily take book recommendations PP!

I did the same 25 years ago, I gave up my shares as part of the divorce settlement, I had to retrain to get back to full time work outside the business, with the benefit of hindsight it was great for him tax wise but I wish I'd kept my job

I would recommend Tara Mohr, Playing Big and possibly Free Range Human by Marianne Cantwell. I'm sure I picked both of these up from MNers.

I was, but at the same time I wasn't because circumstances at the time meant my employment was detrimental to my health and quite frankly I'd have left even without anything else to go to.

Make sure that you have a good buffer of savings just incase and have faith it'll work out