Tell me about your journey to self-employment

[kellykettle]

I find it really motivating to read how other made their businesses successful. I only know a handful of self-employed people IRL.

So how did you end up where you are and how long did it take for you to become successful enough to leave a salaried job (if applicable)..

I haven't even started yet but I really want to be handing my notice in at work in 18 months.

I worked in a day nursery, and over the last year or so of my employment it became clear that while they were happy to boast to prospective parents about my high qualifications and experience, they were never going to raise my wages much above minimum wage, or give me any level of management experience. It is a small nursery, and I was clearly not the "in crowd".
I love storytelling and making up stories for DCs. One day, after spending 5 hours of my "day off" clearing the nursery garden with not so much as a "thank you" or "we'll done" from anyone I did get a comment of "are you still here" from management , I resigned and set up on my own as a storyteller.
I'm doing well, into profit after 6 months even including one-off capital expenditure for books and other materials.
What's more, I am much happier, and family life is so much better now I'm not stressed about work all the time.
I get to meet a range of people, and just finished writing a YA fiction novella in the Grimm fairytale style.
What's your SE idea? What field are you aiming for?

I (marketing freelancer) left a job I couldn't stand any longer. I was concerned for my health re the stress.

The key for me is having a mix of retained work and ad hoc projects. DH and I aren't natural risk takers, so the retained work means we have some element of knowing what £ is coming in.

I would say that having retained/part-time work is a model that lots of SE people seem to do, especially if you are looking to replace a salary. Is that an option for you?

After 2 years am earning around the same as I was earning at the last horrible job. I do work almost full-time and have childcare in place.

Good luck.

Thanks both!

Wow! A story teller! What an amazing job. I often find my best motivation is a shitty day at work. I think I'm naturally spiteful.

I have an idea for a product I'd like to develop and sell. I'm speaking with a manufacturer this week. It feels a bit crazy tbh. It's not linked to my day job - my MIL said called me Diane Keaton in Baby Boom!

MrsMargot I think reducing my hours might work actually. Is juggling the two not really tricky? Especially around meeting clients?

Kelly it can be a struggle at times but generally you can make it work.

I have some flex on the retained work (ie can swop days/hours if needbe) or I can meet clients in my lunch hour/early evening.

I do also think there is something very positive about not being available all the time. Obviously you want to be able to meet clients, but I think offering loads of dates can give the impression that you aren't busy etc.

I just think it takes the pressure off if you have some money coming in.

I also find limiting the time one has to work on your business (ie because you are working/delivering for retained clients) makes you more focused.

Good luck!

I was a dept manager in finance but wanted to make a go of my hobby (with full support of DH).

I negotiated a reduction in my working week to 28 hours over three days.

I paid off my car loan, made sure I had no credit card debts and saved as much money as I could for 12 months.

I used the extra two days at home to seriously researched my new business, building on my previous three years of doing it as a hobby and explored new areas I could move into. I discussed with my DH (who is a business consultant) and worked out a business plan, expansion strategy and financials.

At the end of the 12 months, and also coinciding with lots of stress and upheaval at work, I gave my notice in. A few colleagues thought I was taking a big risk and being foolish but my view is if you don't try, you don't know.

I've been running my own business for over a year now, there have been some steep learning curves and a few tears but I'm glad I did it and my income now is not far off my 28 hours a week salary (but I've no stress and no commute. I've also not borrowed any money to build my business, I used the money coming in from sales and only moved onto the next part of the plan when the money had built up enough.)

Wow Gemma that's brilliant! I'm in the process of doing my business plan but it feels like its taking longer than I want it to.

Yes my family think I'm crazy to consider leaving a relatively secure job to do something like this. However, I am researching the market thoroughly so don't plan on making the leap uninformed.

So glad I saw this thread; last year I received my final accreditation to work as psychotherapist but I haven't been able/dared to leave the security of a monthly wage...I feel very encouraged reading and will start doing some sums...

I always had homers when I worked.
Then I had kids and upped the homers and never returned to work