Forum Moderators: open
Well, the aforementioned job is thinking otherwise. They'd like me to leave by early December. They want me to leave on amicable terms and under my own free will.
Don't think I'm eligible for unemployment if I do that, but am understandably reluctant to kick and scream as they shove me out the door, given that I'm not prone to those sorts of things...
But. Am relocating in a few months, so don't want to look for a fulltime job here in the interim. Can't afford to relocate early-- trapped in expensive lease, & can't afford to lease two places at once. Don't own a car, which complicates things.
Freelance business is *not* off the ground. I have a couple of clients, some volunteer gigs, several arrangements for other freelancers to outsource to me next time they get overloaded, etc, and a couple people have proposed setting up businesses that I'd be included in, and so on. All very nebulous! Nowhere near fulltime income!
So...
How would YOU build up a freelance business in a month? How can I quickly finish assembling my safety net? I am so stuck!
So far (from friends and other forums) I've gotten the following hints, which I might as well write up and post here because people will be interested in reading them:
Promote, promote, promote.
Get a website completed and published. Doesn't have to be great, just has to look professional and explain clearly what you do, and have clear contact information. Calls to action and the like help.
Forums: Put the website in your sig at forums that allow it, and try to keep your posts professional and well-written (especially for copywriters), and helpful. Network with fellow forumites.
Business cards and other print materials. Get good, professional-looking ones printed up. Distribute business cards in relevant places. Hand them out at networking functions, put them up on bulletin boards, distribute them whenever you get a chance.
Articles. Submit them to places that'll pay, sure. But also submit them to places that'll pay you by putting a bio and a link, or just putting your name on it. You can get more business by becoming established as an authority in your field.
But it's all easier said than done and I don't know where to start!
Good Luck
Deep breaths. This isn't really any different from what I meant to do. Really, truly, honestly. So. I'll be fine. Really. I'll just be tossed into the air a little higher than I meant to be with a whole lot less cushioning than I'd intended on having.
But bruises heal.
Did you tell your current job that you want to leave in the spring? When you did that, did they say you'd have to leave earlier than that? Why not force them to fire you so you CAN collect unemployment while building the business. If you said spring and they said December, I think you're justified in forcing them to act since they shouldn't penalize you for being upfront about your intentions (which allows them to plan accordingly).
If you're going to move, what about a part-time job in the interim?
Well. The reason I'm leaving is that I was miserable, because I really wanted to do well at my first job, and they could never get their act together enough to tell me what they wanted and then verbally abused me when I failed to produce it.
So.
It seems to me that they ought to be assessed an unemployment insurance tax that fairly assesses what an abysmal employer they are.
So they're not going to get me to walk through that door. It goes against my natural inclination in every way to do this, but I'm going to sit there on my butt and make them fire me.
Shall I try what the Office Space guy did?
No... I think I'll just work on my new business from work... It goes against my natural inclination, but my natural inclination in this case just makes me a sucker. I'm not giving them what they want. I tried to give them what I thought they wanted for nearly a year now and it didn't satisfy them, so I suppose I should start looking out for myself instead.
Please pardon what may sound like an unprofessional tone; I'm merely disgusted at this realization and upset by the situation. I worked damn hard for them and it got me straight nowhere.
feel no guilt. think they would? If you've worked there long enough to be eligible for unemployment insurance, then you aught to have some insurance against being unemployed. no?
In the meantime I'm trying to get some Adsense sites going-- will have to make a few posts about that, but given that I'm a compulsive content generator, I should be making a few bucks off that as an insurance policy on the side! I'm working on the safety net, and glad for the incentive and warning. But I'm not so grateful to them that I'll oblige them. ;)
I think I'll just work on my new business from work
I'd advise against this. It might harm your ability to collect unemployment.
Don't think of it as, "They are trying to save money". Think of it as, "What is best for me?" You didn't create the system, you're just working within it. That's not unprofessional at all.
Your situation reminds me of when I was getting my first jobs and I lamented to my father that I was going to quit a job where I was in high demand to take another job and I felt bad for my employer. My father said, "Don't sweat it. If they wanted or needed to lay you off they would do so with little regret. It's business." While I don't advise an adversarial relationship with any employer, ever, I do advise that people act like employers do -- in your own self-interest.
I haven't actually been working on my own sites from work-- it just takes too much concentration to look busy. Har har! Just kidding. No. I'm trying to be professional about it.
But, they're trying to smoothtalk me into leaving when *they* want me to leave, and I lack the ability to smoothtalk them into letting me stay until I'm ready.
So the only way for me to stick to my guns (because I'm too nice a person, honestly-- I'm gullible and the first hard-luck story someone tells me, I totally fall for) is to view it as adversarial.
I'm not going to behave adversarially, I'm just trying to keep myself acting in my own best interests and not being snowed by their glib explanations of what's best for the both of us. Because they're not concerned about what's best for the both of us; they're concerned about what's best for themselves. So I should be concerned about what's best for myself, and not allow myself to become too concerned with their business because if I do, there's nobody looking out for me.
because I'm too nice a person, honestly
Yep. There's the kicker. The problem is that some people will try to take advantage of that (ask the ex- and current dotcommers here how many hours of unpaid overtime they worked because they wanted to do good things for the company or their boss).
But you know what? They started the business. They know how the world works. They know the consequences. It sucks that you have to do it that way but that's the way it is sometimes.
Don't turn their problems into yours.
Best of luck. Going out on your own requires a lot of bravery.
