Would this be a crazy idea?

[Currentlywatchingshrek]

For background, I am late 20's with a toddler DS.

Currently studying at uni a fairly high pressure course. Will lead to a decent job at the end (starting salary approx £25K with progression up to about £40K but would take many years to get there. Would also be unsocial hours and shift work)

At the moment I'm feeling so ground down with the pressure of this and I'm just dreaming of being able to have more flexibility in my life. I don't want other people dictating my schedule, I'm fed up of the stress and just feeling very overwhelmed with it all.

I'm thinking of quitting uni and starting a baby / toddler group where there's weekly sessions, people pay to come and do activities etc. Think like Jo Jingles type of thing. There's hardly any baby groups in my area (have looked this up and from own experience when DS was younger) and the one or two there was there was a waiting list so I feel like there must be demand for this?

Would it be totally insane to give up uni and a stable career in the future to do my own thing?

Op. Life is to short to be unhappy. If it makes you happy, DO IT.

Go for it you will never get this time back enjoy life.

Depends how much you need your income. Do you have another wage earner in the family who can support you if you don’t earn enough this way? Have you done a business plan looking at potential income and also costs eg rent, equipment etc?

You certainly shouldn’t chuck in a good career without more certainty. Or expect to get benefits having chucked in your career for a poorly thought through plan.

How many years into the uni course are you, and how many years left to study? The baby group work isn't as high paying or reliable as your career if you stay in the course. It might be possible to complete your degree and go into another line of work. For example, if you were doing medicine, you can complete the course and then do many other jobs with your medical qualification that are better hours etc.

I would finish the course, get the qualification and then make the decision. At least you will have the degree to fall back on if it doesn't work out.

I run my own business. It's easy tbh. Round my way, I don't know where you are, parents fall over themselves to keep up with others so their baby doesn't fall behind 😂. Anyway, as a consequence, hire a hall - £15ph - sing or throw a few baby toys out, £5 per baby, 20 babies, £85 profit, thanks very much.

Mind, you'd still be able to do that after your course.

I think you'd be mad tbh.

You may find you are much less interested in baby groups when your own dc are older.

At least finish the qualification.

Assuming you don’t need income to live on then go for it. I can’t see how you’d earn enough is that’s your only income, do you have a partner to support you?

What's the intended career?

@arethereanyleftatall

I run my own business. It's easy tbh. Round my way, I don't know where you are, parents fall over themselves to keep up with others so their baby doesn't fall behind 😂. Anyway, as a consequence, hire a hall - £15ph - sing or throw a few baby toys out, £5 per baby, 20 babies, £85 profit, thanks very much.

£5 per baby is cheap! They are £8-10 per week round me

You can always go back and finish your degree (Check first!) and try your idea out now. I understand what a slog it is to get a degree and then have to wait for career progression. I work ina field where you earn that and don’t even need a degree so I’d think about whether the degree is worth it. Good luck!!!

OP Is it nursing or teaching type course?

If you don't have long left on it, complete it and try your idea perhaps part time? If you have years left of your course and hate it then perhaps finish it

I'd be wary. The woman who did my baby sensory class only lasted a year before going back into teaching. It was a lot of set up and cleaning etc as well as travelling for not much money at all.

It isn't nursing but quite similar - is in a healthcare field. I've got two years left.
It's hard because I'm finding it such a slog and really not enjoying it, but the job security and benefits would be great. Just weighing that up against the freedom of starting my own little business

@arethereanyleftatall

I run my own business. It's easy tbh. Round my way, I don't know where you are, parents fall over themselves to keep up with others so their baby doesn't fall behind 😂. Anyway, as a consequence, hire a hall - £15ph - sing or throw a few baby toys out, £5 per baby, 20 babies, £85 profit, thanks very much.

I run my own business too. Not what you're thinking about but my own business nonetheless.

Do it! Here is why - in a salaried job the maximum amount of money you can earn is set by someone else. In your own business, with the right strategy you can earn anything. There is no limit.

I went from a €60k a year job to €100k a MONTH with my business. Go for it!!!

@Cazzovuoi 100K a month sounds like a dream. Might be a tad ambitious for a baby group though 😂

Finish the course so you have a Plan B. Could you try out running a class, say on a Saturday or Sunday morning and see if you like the day-to-day admin-y bits of running a baby group (advertising, accounts, hall hire, logistics of getting equipment to venue, cleaning equipment and venue, etc). Given the closures over the last year and the possibility of further outbreaks, cancellations, lockdown etc. it may lack stability (eg. Some venues here refused to allow baby groups to run even though the group organisers wanted to carry on as a parent support groups).

Can you swap courses? Can you go part time? I'd keep going, your what £36k in debt with it? Being self employed isn't all that it's cracked up to be, it's constant stress. Do you have a partner?

"I went from a €60k a year job to €100k a MONTH with my business. Go for it!!!"

How is it on only fans?

[quote Currentlywatchingshrek]@Cazzovuoi 100K a month sounds like a dream. Might be a tad ambitious for a baby group though 😂[/quote]
If you have the right strategy and ambition anything is possible.

@Ponoka7

"I went from a €60k a year job to €100k a MONTH with my business. Go for it!!!"

How is it on only fans?

That's so fucking insulting joke or not. I've worked hard to build my business with MY BRAIN.

I hate the narrative that women can only make money with their bodies. You might be joking but it's that kind of shit that stops women with amazing ideas starting their own businesses.

Finish the course first OP. The baby years feel like they'll go on forever but it's actually a really short time. When you're no longer in that all-consuming stage, your DS will start school and you may be left running a baby group and thinking "is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life?". That's when you may regret ditching the course. If you finish the course, you'll have options.

@Cazzovuoi what is it you do then?

Personally I'd finish the course first, and get the qualification. It sounds like it might be teaching or nursing. In which case that qualification will never be out of demand, and you can always fall back on it in later years.

On the baby group topic - I belong to a large fb group of teachers who want to step out of classroom teaching. Over the pandemic, I've seen soooooo many posts of people wanting to set up baby groups/baby lessons. Of course, I don't know how many of these people actually go ahead and set one up... but I'd really make sure you did your homework/research before going into this area. Is there a reason there aren't any in your area?