Being self-employed sucks… but only sometimes. This coming from someone who’s typing this from a park bench while the world around him is going mad on the crazy commute homewards. I’m not sure working for yourself is a job. It’s more like a vocation. It kinda needs to be to put yourself through the relentless ups and downs that come as part of the territory.
I’m sure someone out there has said this but “The only certain thing about self-employment is uncertainty.” What I’ve found is that people like myself seem to thrive on that kind of thing. I’m not sure why but there’s a sort of organised chaos that becomes part of your everyday existence and life without it somehow doesn’t feel the same.
I’ve always said I’d make an useless employee. I really believe that. I’ve never been a big fan of being told what to do and even less of a fan of someone telling me how much I’m worth. Now don’t get me wrong, there are times that I’m incredibly jealous of people who get a good wage week on week, month on month. I understand how the security that comes with can be incredibly desirable and there have been many times when I’ve thought about packing it all in and getting a ‘real job’.
I’ve had a couple of different companies that were successful in their own right but I could never shake the feeling that there was something else out there that had a hold of me and wouldn’t let go.
It took years and years to get to where I am at the moment but for the first time in a very long time it feels like exactly where I want to be, right here, right now. All my experiences, successes and failures are coming together to inform what I’m now doing. It hasn’t been easy but I’m more comfortable and aware of who I am, what I’m good at and where I want to go.
There are lots and lots of people like me trying to take a seed of an idea in their head and make it into a sustainable reality. It takes guts to do it that. Maybe it was easier for me because I’ve never known any different. I was once told at an interview that I was mad for wanting a ‘real job’ because I was already self employed and ‘living the dream’! My bank balance would have told a different story!
It’s not easy but nobody ever said it was. It’s a cliché but if it was easy then everyone would be doing it. It takes guts, passion, a certain amount of naivety, a tonne of risk and no little heart to take an idea and create something incredible and I have infinite admiration for those who do.
If you have an idea that you can’t shake, one that’s still in your head morning after morning, go for it. At the very least do some research and weigh up all the pros and cons cos this momentary thought, this spark of genius, could very well be the beginning of the rest of your life. And always remember, no-one else is gonna do it so… make it happen.
