Five years of Self-employment

Just celebrated an anniversary

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

On 2 November 2001 I left my last job to go self-employed. I have now survived five years quite successfully and my financial status is significantly better than it was when I was employed.

I was in engineering and manufacturing and I still get occcasional job vacancies emailed to me from employment agencies. When I look at the terms used in their adverts I get a tremendous feeling of satisfaction that I am no longer part of that particular Jungle.

"Well-organised self-starter, who can multi-task, and keep focus on quality results under pressure"
"Must be capable of working under pressure"
"Must have at least BEng."
"Our client is a global leader"
"You should be self-motivated and able to work on your own"
"Must have good experience of managing a multi-disciplined team"
"Leadership personality - role model, standard-setter, coach, motivator"
"Able to communicate at all levels"
"Personality - dynamic, accountable, assertive, communicative, respected, resilient, very driven"

Salary up to £23,500.

Am I glad I am out or what? :)

[asusplay]

Congratulations.

Yes in the UK (and elsewhere I suppose) they ask for the world in return for crap wages. Getting past the hurdle of being considered by the recruitment agencies is hard enough!

I wish I could go the self employed route...one day I'll pluck up the courage!

[vite_rts]

Bravo BDDU

[rj87uk]

Well Done mate, well done.

[Wlauzon]

Best thing that ever happened to me was to get into a tiff with my stupid (ex) boss. It came down to I quit before they could fire me.

Now I make 4x (or more) as much, choose my own hours, work at home, and choose what I want to work on and when.

Did not happen overnight because I flopped around for a year looking for what I wanted to do. And the first two years were pretty much 80 hour weeks. But never regretted it.

[ItsAllBallBearings]

congrats, i am coming up on year #1 on November 15th. And except for the occasional, split second panic attack of "oh my g-d, what if something happens", its been a dream.

[G_Smitty]

Congratulations! I am at 4 years. For me the choice was easy when the company I worked for went out of business at the end of 2002. I also have seen my income increase 3 fold.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

And the first two years were pretty much 80 hour weeks.

Only 80? I must be doing something wrong. :)

[Wlauzon]

But it was 9 days a week!

[vivalasvegas]

Congratulations on your "anniversary". You made me realize how fast time flies. I"ll be celebrating 5 years of self employment next year. For me the choice was obvious beause I live in a country where wages are much lower than the UK or US. The first year was the toughest with a lot of work and no earnings.

[topr8]

hey well done!

it sure is the best way ... i think ... as i've never actually had a job working for someone else - except when i was still at school ... and i'm now over 40

[percentages]

Congrats BeeDeeDubbleU,

I reached my 7th anniversary of independance in September, and I know exactly how you feel....ain't, it great :)!

Keep it going for as long as you feel you need to work ;)

[smells so good]

My first year is done and it wasn't great. There have been more than a few 'What have I done' moments. This weekend I opened a new production facility and I stopped for a moment to reflect - this is exactly what I planned to happen one year ago. Nice, I'm on track at least.

I look forward to looking back from five years. Congratulations.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

I wouldn't worry about your first year. It's generally not a good one. I started on 2 Nov 2001 ... less than two months after 9/11. Beleive me, this was not a good time to be trying to start a business. ;)