I want to jack it all in and start my own business - help

[spudmasher]

That's it, I've had enough! I can no longer tolerate the drudgery of getting up and going to work for someone else.Maybe it's new year madness but I want more flexibility and autonmy in my life. I am seriously considering staring up on my own, but I am scared. It would mean working for nothing for a while and even though DH is supportive, we would have to cut back a lot. Has anyone done this? Was it worth it? Do you have any regrets? Is it out of the frying pan and into the fire?

He must have been very brave - that's what I'm struggling with. Don't want the kids to miss out on anything. Could not cope with the guilt - ahh my old friend guilt!! Did you have to make sacrifices which affected your kids Ruby, or did you manage to cushion it?

It depends. Can you live on one salary while you are setting up and before you start earning? Also, do you know what you want to do?

I did PR for 10 years in the tech sector and hated just about 9.5 years of it. After my second baby was born, I decided to hell with it, I'm going to switch sectors and go on my own. I now run my own little PR agency targeting mum and baby products/services (it's just me but definitely has the potential to grow once I'm ready to work more days and employ others.)

I love what I do but my biggest challenge is childcare. I only have childcare two days a week at the moment and really need a minimum of 3. I have to try squeeze in a full week's work in two days - plus the nature of PR means I need to be checking email, taking calls every day from journalists on deadline etc. Not easy when you have someone saying: 'mommy I need to pee' in the background. Luckily, given my sector, most of my clients and journalists I work with tend to understand.

I love not having a commute. I love feeling in control of my destiny, getting to choose how much work I want to take on.

But I have taken a big drop in what I earn. I could make it up if I could dedicate more time to it but right now I cant.

Good luck with whatever you do!

PS - This is what I do

We did it and I regret it a lot!

I now cannot wait to go and work for someone else and get paid each month.

DH feels the same.

You make a lot of sacrifices and dont get paid most of the time.

Hard work IMO.

What sort of business do you want to do?

I'd recommened a flick through of the relevant chapters in "What Colour is Your Parachute?". It is faairly thought provoking. In fact the whole book isn't bad in terms of looking at what your ideal job(s) would be.

My dh is in the second year of self employment...we struggle a bit TBH but this year has been better than last year...he is definately on the up.
He works very long hours, and works very hard, and I therefore work very long hours here at home with the kids. We have 3 under the age of 5 so It has been tough.
The kids don't miss out I don't think, we give them everything we can, the one thing they miss out on most is time with their daddy...but hopefully this will get better as his business does.

Well, I am a teacher at the moment and the idea is to use those skills to run reading and writing workshops in inner London in lovely outdoor places which are similar to the settings in the books we are studying.There would be costumed characters and lots of exciting props and activities. The idea is to inspire children to read more books. I have trialled the idea already with the school I am currently working in and it works. Problem is it is not exactly a money spinner so it would have to be some sort of charitable company.I'm confident with the idea but not confident about how my changes are going to impact upon family life. DH is working, job would fit in with school hours and terms. Maybe I am being a bit of a chicken! I'm starting to talk my self round! Cool!

Spudmasher, the idea sounds good, but if you rely on always doing it in outdoor places, it will be a very seasonal business which would have major cash flow implications.

I think as a concept it would a good thing to try and market in your local area first, running classes. See how it takes off. If it looks promising, you can jack in your job and start to run more classes, broadening your area. Then if its truly successful, consider franchising it and becoming a national phenomenon.

Look at www.musicbugs.co.uk or www.tinytalk.co.uk as examples of companies who have started classes and have now either franchised or about to franchise.

What age would you target? You could to different books/scenarios for different ages. Definitely a good thing to run during half terms/holiday clubs - that type of thing.

If you're promoting reading, you might want to hook up with the National Literacy Trust - they have loads of family reading initiatives and might be willing to give you some support.

If you're seriously considering doing this, talk to your local businesslink advisor and start writing a business plan!

Well nothing ventured..........
Dh fixes gearboxes and various things for rally cars..sorts out ratios etc for performance driving. He did this as a hobby whilst working for a company that engineered gearbox parts. He got busier and busier at weekends and people started to bring their boxes to him regularly. Eventually he gave up his shed in the garden and rented a unit. He then had the space to fit several boxes in at a time, and invested in lots of machinery to make the job quicker. He is in demand now!
We really had to bite the bullet...I wasn't working so we had to be sure we could afford it. Two sets of bills!!!! It is worth the stress though.
Your idea sounds like a good one! Pre children..I visited schools to teach about Recycling..as you know yourself, schools welcome outside help.
Maybe you could look into various grants or funding available for this kind of work... I was funded by Landfill Tax money for example as my job was related to the environment. I had to meet their criteria in the stuff I taught but there are companies or organisations that simply have money to burn...you just need to find them!!!

Thanks Joshandjamie!I've got a meeting with the business people tomorrow funnily enough. National Literacy Trust have said they will give me publicity but they can't give cash as they are a charity themselves. Could go into all the ins and outs of how far I've got but it's more the family life part of it that is presenting the problem. You fill me with hope when you talk of choice and control. That's what I crave!

Have you written a business plan? I found I understimated costs (I set up a business making curtains from home last Easter and buy linings etc in bulk up front) but luckily underestimated revenue as well, so overall managed to make the contribution to household budget that I had aimed for. In your case I would think about whether costs are fixed or variable, and then think about what kind of demand there is for the service you offer and what you can realistically charge for that service. It sounds a very original idea but the downside is that you may have to 'sell' it to customers.

On the family side, we are a little worse off financially (I gave up a well paid posiiton outside the home to do this) but we spend more time with our kids than before (we are both self-employed running small businesses from home) and we have the flexibility to take holidays when the kids are off school which is brilliant. The sacrifices - going without a cleaner and fancy haircuts - were definitely worth it in my case, but it is all realtive of course.