Thinking about being a self employed cleaner cleaner and giving up nursing

[typicaltuesdaynight]

Hi just needing a bit of advice . I’ve been a nurse for 20 years and basically worked in social care since leaving school at 16. I do constant nightshift and have done for 19 years due to childcare .
due to politics and things changing a lot since Covid I’m at breaking point . I’ve been speaking to a friend who has been a self employed cleaner for 4 years now and was in very similar circumstances as me.
just feeling a bit nervous . I may still stay on the nurse bank, just want a bit of advice and hand hold to say if I’m doing the right thing

Our Trust is now getting rid of Bank staff as much as possible, so be wary of thinking you can book a night shift a week to keep your PIN. Check this carefully with your Bank Team.

I work in a nursing home they’re always looking for cover

Well, good cleaners are in very short supply and certainly where I live they can earn around £20 an hour or more. End of tenancy/house move/student let cleaning is also fairly lucrative. But would it not be better to retrain for something else. Perhaps whilst you are working as a cleaner. My ex-nursing friend retrained as a chiropodist for example. She's self employed and does home visits. She's makes a good living and seems much happier.

Yeah maybe . I just feel so confused just now on what to do with my life now . I’ve still a primary age child at home . I feel I’m missing out on a lot now as I’m always tired or starting work when he’s needs picked up from cubs etc

I say go for it … you know you will always have your nursing to fall back on.

Is it worth starting small so do both some cleaning and some nursing so you can be picky with clients?

Yes I only work 6 night shifts a month so was thinking about cleaning on the week I’m off . Just don’t know how to start out really . Maybe I’d be better on the nurse bank as I don’t want to muck folk about

Hiya @typicaltuesdaynight , my area of expertise is digital marketing, so while i can’t advise on the Serious Stuff of leaving your job and going self employed, I can give you an easy start guide to getting the message out there whenever you’re ready.

1. Come up with your business name and branding - include a logo, slogan, main font and 1-3 main brand colours. Canva is great for playing around with ideas. Also work out your services and pricing at this stage.
2. Create a page on your social media of choice. Facebook is great for this as you will already be interacting with friends and family. Instagram or TikTok are good too if your followers are friends and family here.
3. Create short videos of you cleaning your sink/hallway/whatever you like. Between 30 seconds and 1 minute is ideal. You can then post these as reels/shorts on your new social page. They could be shown to anyone as Facebook/Insta pushes out content people might engage with, but if you then share them from your business page to your personal account, it will definitely be seen by your network.

Feel free to PM if you have any questions! Good luck with the venture!