Starting up on your own, what gave you the push?
Discussion
What was your motivation?
Was it particularly risky, I.e. Did you have a lot to lose?
Was there a final straw which gave you that push that you needed to get things moving?
Did it work out? Was it to do with the skills you gained through work, or something totally different?
There have been a few threads on here and the employment section recently from people fed up with their work situation and wanting out. I am another one of these people. I don't have a plan yet, but I have a few ideas and burning inclination. I'm fortunate enough to be hourly paid on a self employed basis, plenty of overtime available, so I have good scope for sticking money aside for any projects. If I gave up work to focus on the business I could also get some of my usual work now and again if I needed some cash.
My friend recently finished an evening class on designing websites, and 5 weeks after finishing the course they now have enough work to quit their day job. I was impressed by this and Stories like this make me wonder why anyone bothers working for other people, there must be a way to use your skills or learn new ones in a more self sufficient way!
My motivation for wanting out of normal working life is; incompetent management/coworkers, egos, lack of mental stimulation, colleagues who have accepted their lot in life and all they want to talk about is the pub on a Friday night or the game at the weekend/playing golf on a Sunday, they have no ambition and in a way im envious, but Im interested in my future and want to make a genuinely better life for myself. The lack of ambition or goals among those around me during my working day is quite soul destroying. Even anyone who goes for a promotion in house is pitied by everyone, why would they want to do that when life is adequate as it is?
How did you know when you had the right idea for a business, and did you jump straight in full time or try and make sure you were on to a winner first?
Curious to hear some stories from business folk who have made their business work, doesn't necessarily mean making stacks of cash, but a welcome change of lifestyle and success in supporting oneself without being an employee. My cousin has had lots of success in business, and when he lost the best part of 2 million through some bad choices, started again from pretty much nothing. Already he is doing well and supporting himself and his family with his new venture. I'm convinced that being self employed is a mindset over almost everything else, as soon as someone figures out they can make their own money, it's rare that they go back.
Feel free to include what your business does in your post, or not if you'd rather not.
Was it particularly risky, I.e. Did you have a lot to lose?
Was there a final straw which gave you that push that you needed to get things moving?
Did it work out? Was it to do with the skills you gained through work, or something totally different?
There have been a few threads on here and the employment section recently from people fed up with their work situation and wanting out. I am another one of these people. I don't have a plan yet, but I have a few ideas and burning inclination. I'm fortunate enough to be hourly paid on a self employed basis, plenty of overtime available, so I have good scope for sticking money aside for any projects. If I gave up work to focus on the business I could also get some of my usual work now and again if I needed some cash.
My friend recently finished an evening class on designing websites, and 5 weeks after finishing the course they now have enough work to quit their day job. I was impressed by this and Stories like this make me wonder why anyone bothers working for other people, there must be a way to use your skills or learn new ones in a more self sufficient way!
My motivation for wanting out of normal working life is; incompetent management/coworkers, egos, lack of mental stimulation, colleagues who have accepted their lot in life and all they want to talk about is the pub on a Friday night or the game at the weekend/playing golf on a Sunday, they have no ambition and in a way im envious, but Im interested in my future and want to make a genuinely better life for myself. The lack of ambition or goals among those around me during my working day is quite soul destroying. Even anyone who goes for a promotion in house is pitied by everyone, why would they want to do that when life is adequate as it is?
How did you know when you had the right idea for a business, and did you jump straight in full time or try and make sure you were on to a winner first?
Curious to hear some stories from business folk who have made their business work, doesn't necessarily mean making stacks of cash, but a welcome change of lifestyle and success in supporting oneself without being an employee. My cousin has had lots of success in business, and when he lost the best part of 2 million through some bad choices, started again from pretty much nothing. Already he is doing well and supporting himself and his family with his new venture. I'm convinced that being self employed is a mindset over almost everything else, as soon as someone figures out they can make their own money, it's rare that they go back.
Feel free to include what your business does in your post, or not if you'd rather not.
Edited by Foul Bob on Monday 2nd May 14:59
I did more or less what your friend does, web design, logo design, social media marketing, photo editing etc
I loosely worked in an IT role for a while and I'd had enough of it for various reasons
Ive found that how busy I am is literally down to advertising and reasonable pricing, i haven't struggled for work in ten years. It's been quite lucrative but i have been careful to keep things small enough so that it's just me in my home office, minimum work, minumum stress, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
I loosely worked in an IT role for a while and I'd had enough of it for various reasons
Ive found that how busy I am is literally down to advertising and reasonable pricing, i haven't struggled for work in ten years. It's been quite lucrative but i have been careful to keep things small enough so that it's just me in my home office, minimum work, minumum stress, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
I was made redundant, couldn't find a job client-side but on 14 Feb one year suddenly had a wizard wheeze. I had some interviews pending so decided that if I hadn't got a job by 1 May I'd launch. Spent those weeks getting everything ready to go, then on 1 May pressed the button. 15 months later I was driving a (albeit second-hand) Jaguar 4.0 Sovereign 
I am really, really not a team player.
I am really, really not a team player.
PurpleMoonlight said:
Summer 1993.
My boss failed to pay by annual profit share bonus of £17,000 claiming cashflow issues.
Then a month later he tracked me down on honeymoon and faxed me some work to do.
I left a couple of month later.
haha that made me laugh, some people.My boss failed to pay by annual profit share bonus of £17,000 claiming cashflow issues.
Then a month later he tracked me down on honeymoon and faxed me some work to do.
I left a couple of month later.
For me it was the knowledge that with my qualifications and experience at that point in life, I couldn't have walked into a job earning what I thought thought/knew I was worth so I set up alone. I was lucky in that at the time I wasn't highly geared so didn't have much to lose really.
bad company said:
I decided that the risk was much the same as staying with a company. No job seems that safe long term any more so why not give it a go.
Exactly!I work in Sales, if I got another job there is always the risk I don't sell much (or anything).
In that case I might as well take the same risk but sell something for myself, not someone else.
Foul Bob said:
What was your motivation?
Was it particularly risky, I.e. Did you have a lot to lose?
Was there a final straw which gave you that push that you needed to get things moving?
Did it work out? Was it to do with the skills you gained through work, or something totally different?
Self employed manufacturing consultant, quality/technical/development specialism.Was it particularly risky, I.e. Did you have a lot to lose?
Was there a final straw which gave you that push that you needed to get things moving?
Did it work out? Was it to do with the skills you gained through work, or something totally different?
1- I'd been thinking about iut for a while but it wasn't the norm in my line of work. Thingts have now changed. In addition the T&Cs for employment in my industry have been progressively eroded such that notions of job security, pension, and sick cover are a bad joke, and you may as well be self employed.
2- I had absolutely nothing to lose.
3- I had a near-fatal road accident when I was on a bicycle. My employer dropped me like a hot brick, no notice other than 1 week on SSP. Thanks for that you C***s. If ever I see you drowning, don't worry, I won't see you or any means of saving you. When I eventually recovered, after 18 months on benefits (anyone who tries to tell me beenfits are an easy ride can f* right off, I know at first hand they aren't) I finally got lucky, in the shape of a self employed short contract that needed specialist skills that very few of my competitors have. I did the job and since then I haven't looked back, even if at times I have had a lean period. My recovery took between 2 and 3 years, being self employed allowed me to fit my work around the way I was feeling to a reasonable extent.
4- It has worked out admirably and I've had an (overall) better 5 years than at any time previously. It has worked because I am trading on 20+ years' experience of my industry. It's not all plain sailing and anyone who spends every cent they earn every month should think twice and then do something else. You need to keep money back for the taxman, bills and dry spells. If you can't manage that, you need to get a job with a salary. My income can vary by a factor of 2. Last year was lean, the year before I was loaded, this year is very good indeed. It varies.
I have just had 9 months off work.
I co-owned a business in Scotland, that I moved to Scotland for a number of years ago and last June time, we were bought out by a much larger company. I got a very good figure out of it, which I have now moved back to England and bought a lovely house in a village near York.
I have just set up on my own doing IT Consultancy, The push for me was A) Selling the business and B) working purely for myself, with no employees. I like it....3 to 4 days a week, I choose when I want to work and just keeping my small client base happy!
I co-owned a business in Scotland, that I moved to Scotland for a number of years ago and last June time, we were bought out by a much larger company. I got a very good figure out of it, which I have now moved back to England and bought a lovely house in a village near York.
I have just set up on my own doing IT Consultancy, The push for me was A) Selling the business and B) working purely for myself, with no employees. I like it....3 to 4 days a week, I choose when I want to work and just keeping my small client base happy!
Something I had always wanted to do, no idea why, just like the idea of being my own boss.
I was fortunate in many ways, went into 50/50 split with my employer on a new limited Company, he funded it & provided logistics, I did the hard work.
Started when the industry was in it's best years so never had a month where I didn't pay myself easily.
10yrs later, partner long since bought out, recession kicked in along with internet sales etc & the business is struggling. Still plugging away, changed direction slightly over the last 12mths though which has helped a lot.
I was fortunate in many ways, went into 50/50 split with my employer on a new limited Company, he funded it & provided logistics, I did the hard work.
Started when the industry was in it's best years so never had a month where I didn't pay myself easily.
10yrs later, partner long since bought out, recession kicked in along with internet sales etc & the business is struggling. Still plugging away, changed direction slightly over the last 12mths though which has helped a lot.
One of my bosses announced his retirement, so I had a choice - either hope that whoever he sold the business to kept me on, or take a big chunk of debt on and buy him out. I chose the latter. Roll on June '17 when the debt is repaid! I do miss just leaving at five and forgetting all about work instead of taking the worry and stress home with me, but it is more satisfying working for myself. Well, mostly...
My market was getting tougher, the politics were getting out of control as the business grew, rampant materialism was depressing (but then give a 19 yr old £10 a month and what do you expect?) and the environment was dreadful (lower paid staff literally prostituting themselves to better paid staff, massive drug taking etc). I was working longer and longer hours as I was paid more and more and my family were really suffering as a result.
I also was getting bored of it all. I needed change.
I had a friend of the boss, who by his own admission knew nothing about the tech we were selling, who was made my boss. He rang me one morning in a foul mood after one of my sales guys had complained about being given a talking to about his performance and sthe exual harassment of a member of staff - he should have been fired but I couldn't). Anyway I had enough and quit there and then. I had been planning to leave anyway so it only came a few months before the inevitable.
Ran a life style business for a good few years but it was becoming tougher and tougher and then I noticed that Microsoft were starting to move to a cloud model (when BPOS arrived) so I designed a IT business that would make me first to market deploying O365 and a MSP type offering. Best decision ever made. Sold that after 4 years. Think the MSP model is going to get tough and anyone in voice is going to struggle.
Now just formulating my new business ideas. Think people are generally getting a raw deal and bad advice/service even if they don't realise it so thinking of just doing consultancy that brings actual value to SME's. Like a outsourced CTO role but for peanuts. I will only work a couple of days a week as I want to do other voluntary stuff and start looking after myself.
I'm also working on something else. The upshot is that by 2019 I am hoping to be able to earn just enough to live without a great deal of effort and from anywhere in the world.
INWB said:
My market was getting tougher, the politics were getting out of control as the business grew, rampant materialism was depressing (but then give a 19 yr old £10 a month and what do you expect?) and the environment was dreadful (lower paid staff literally prostituting themselves to better paid staff, massive drug taking etc). I was working longer and longer hours as I was paid more and more and my family were really suffering as a result.
I also was getting bored of it all. I needed change.
I had a friend of the boss, who by his own admission knew nothing about the tech we were selling, who was made my boss. He rang me one morning in a foul mood after one of my sales guys had complained about being given a talking to about his performance and sthe exual harassment of a member of staff - he should have been fired but I couldn't). Anyway I had enough and quit there and then. I had been planning to leave anyway so it only came a few months before the inevitable.
Ran a life style business for a good few years but it was becoming tougher and tougher and then I noticed that Microsoft were starting to move to a cloud model (when BPOS arrived) so I designed a IT business that would make me first to market deploying O365 and a MSP type offering. Best decision ever made. Sold that after 4 years. Think the MSP model is going to get tough and anyone in voice is going to struggle.
Now just formulating my new business ideas. Think people are generally getting a raw deal and bad advice/service even if they don't realise it so thinking of just doing consultancy that brings actual value to SME's. Like a outsourced CTO role but for peanuts. I will only work a couple of days a week as I want to do other voluntary stuff and start looking after myself.
I'm also working on something else. The upshot is that by 2019 I am hoping to be able to earn just enough to live without a great deal of effort and from anywhere in the world.
I get the gist of what you say BUT seriously for normal mortals WTF is BPOS, 0365, MSP or CTO? I also was getting bored of it all. I needed change.
I had a friend of the boss, who by his own admission knew nothing about the tech we were selling, who was made my boss. He rang me one morning in a foul mood after one of my sales guys had complained about being given a talking to about his performance and sthe exual harassment of a member of staff - he should have been fired but I couldn't). Anyway I had enough and quit there and then. I had been planning to leave anyway so it only came a few months before the inevitable.
Ran a life style business for a good few years but it was becoming tougher and tougher and then I noticed that Microsoft were starting to move to a cloud model (when BPOS arrived) so I designed a IT business that would make me first to market deploying O365 and a MSP type offering. Best decision ever made. Sold that after 4 years. Think the MSP model is going to get tough and anyone in voice is going to struggle.
Now just formulating my new business ideas. Think people are generally getting a raw deal and bad advice/service even if they don't realise it so thinking of just doing consultancy that brings actual value to SME's. Like a outsourced CTO role but for peanuts. I will only work a couple of days a week as I want to do other voluntary stuff and start looking after myself.
I'm also working on something else. The upshot is that by 2019 I am hoping to be able to earn just enough to live without a great deal of effort and from anywhere in the world.
The day I sat with by boss for a performance review.
I acknowledge that you have blown your targets out of the water this year, despite me moving the goalposts 20 times a year, you haven't communicated your success to the wider business so I am marking you down for no bonus and also putting you on performance review, please sign this"
Me: No I won't be signing nor agreeing to your performance plan, please call HR I can no longer work for you, you are a f
k knuckle who makes a muppet look competent . Ps hope the presentation goes well on Monday to the CEO, there is a massive flaw in your model, hope you can find it before monday"
Called an agency and started contracting a week later.
I acknowledge that you have blown your targets out of the water this year, despite me moving the goalposts 20 times a year, you haven't communicated your success to the wider business so I am marking you down for no bonus and also putting you on performance review, please sign this"
Me: No I won't be signing nor agreeing to your performance plan, please call HR I can no longer work for you, you are a f
k knuckle who makes a muppet look competent . Ps hope the presentation goes well on Monday to the CEO, there is a massive flaw in your model, hope you can find it before monday"Called an agency and started contracting a week later.
After 15 years working for the same company, factory was shut down and everyone was offered redundancy or move to the sister factory. The package offered was ok and with 15 years in service and in a good pension scheme it was a tough decision as i loved my job. The sister factory was 40 miles away, crap shift pattern and it would have meant lift sharing / longer hours / all for the same pay.
We looked at the figures and it was a now or never moment. I went for it.
If i had been mid 40's instead of late 30's i would probably have stayed just for the pension
Do i regret it ? Sometimes alot, you miss the sick / holiday pay / bonus / leaving work at work / social / other perks of being employed.
Glad i did it and after nearly 3 years still in business so cant be all that bad, although feel more tied to the job now than ever (Ecommerce 24/7)
We looked at the figures and it was a now or never moment. I went for it.
If i had been mid 40's instead of late 30's i would probably have stayed just for the pension
Do i regret it ? Sometimes alot, you miss the sick / holiday pay / bonus / leaving work at work / social / other perks of being employed.
Glad i did it and after nearly 3 years still in business so cant be all that bad, although feel more tied to the job now than ever (Ecommerce 24/7)
I had always questioned if I wanted to work for someone else or for me. The motivation came when I planned to move out of my parents place and out on my own with my girlfriend, it was now or never.
I could chose to stay at home with my parents for one year, quit my job and start up on my own and postpone moving in with the girlfriend. OR
I could chose to continue in full time work and move out immediately.
Spoke it over with the girlfriend and she was supportive so I handed in my notice and started to prepare for working on my own. I gave myself one year, if I was doing well and hitting my monthly income target then I'd keep at it after the year and if I failed then I'd let it go and get a job with someone else.
I was already working semi-professionally in my spare time or using up holiday days so already had a few clients. When I went professional I bought myself a very expensive DSLR and a lens and started doing photography. Since handing in my notice I had managed to book a few jobs and was ticking over nicely. My first 3 months were extremely quiet then in month 4 - 13 I quadrupled my income targets.
I've now been doing it 18 months, I moved out of home and in with my girlfriend after 8 months. I'm generally earning enough for a decent salary and really enjoy the freedom of working for myself. This year has been slow but it is picking up and I'm making up what I lost in January - March.
The best bits of doing this is I no longer have to text my boss to explain why I'm going to be late because of train delays and then get told off when I eventually get to work. I no longer have to work for incompetent people who I dislike and don't respect. I don't have to fake being happy at work or force myself to go to work. I'm not living my life working to make someone else wealthy and successful. I'm also not living month to month on a crap salary.
I work for myself. Any money I earn is all mine and I answer to nobody but myself. My clients are MY clients and I'm proud to represent myself to them. It's tough, there's no defined hours so you end up working more. But then if something goes wrong at home, or you need to help a family member you don't need to ask for holiday time or compassionate leave. I've not had a proper holiday yet but plan to go away in August.
This life as being self employed suits me much much better than working for someone else. It is not easy but I'm definitely happier for making the jump!!
I could chose to stay at home with my parents for one year, quit my job and start up on my own and postpone moving in with the girlfriend. OR
I could chose to continue in full time work and move out immediately.
Spoke it over with the girlfriend and she was supportive so I handed in my notice and started to prepare for working on my own. I gave myself one year, if I was doing well and hitting my monthly income target then I'd keep at it after the year and if I failed then I'd let it go and get a job with someone else.
I was already working semi-professionally in my spare time or using up holiday days so already had a few clients. When I went professional I bought myself a very expensive DSLR and a lens and started doing photography. Since handing in my notice I had managed to book a few jobs and was ticking over nicely. My first 3 months were extremely quiet then in month 4 - 13 I quadrupled my income targets.
I've now been doing it 18 months, I moved out of home and in with my girlfriend after 8 months. I'm generally earning enough for a decent salary and really enjoy the freedom of working for myself. This year has been slow but it is picking up and I'm making up what I lost in January - March.
The best bits of doing this is I no longer have to text my boss to explain why I'm going to be late because of train delays and then get told off when I eventually get to work. I no longer have to work for incompetent people who I dislike and don't respect. I don't have to fake being happy at work or force myself to go to work. I'm not living my life working to make someone else wealthy and successful. I'm also not living month to month on a crap salary.
I work for myself. Any money I earn is all mine and I answer to nobody but myself. My clients are MY clients and I'm proud to represent myself to them. It's tough, there's no defined hours so you end up working more. But then if something goes wrong at home, or you need to help a family member you don't need to ask for holiday time or compassionate leave. I've not had a proper holiday yet but plan to go away in August.
This life as being self employed suits me much much better than working for someone else. It is not easy but I'm definitely happier for making the jump!!
Edited by ashleyman on Thursday 5th May 15:37
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