I am so, so lucky (but perhaps sometimes I take it for granted!).
Why am I so lucky?
I work from home. I have done for the past 2.5 years and it’s FAB!
I love it. I work when I want (well most of the time) and I have the freedom to do want I want (to a certain degree).
Of course, it’s not always a bed of roses…I do work hard but it is the freedom, the lifestyle I love. The fact that I can take a break WHEN I WANT TO IS PRICELESS.
Honestly, if someone had told me a few years ago that I would be sitting here in my home office on a sunny afternoon, running my own on-line business, I would have laughed in their face. And then probably stayed away from them, because they would have been clearly insane. And yet, here I am, working from home running my own on-line business, which over the years has become viable and lucrative.
But it has taken a long time to get to this stage and over the next few blog posts…I’m going to share with you exactly how I gave up the 9-5 (or was it more like the 8-8!) and now work from home.
Just a little about my corporate career:
I left colleague (well I gave up) when I was 19 and went straight to work…in the City of London. Close to the Bank of England. I worked for an Insurance company. I quickly moved departments and was lucky enough to join the IT department.
Many years later, after a few company moves I ended up being a senior IT manager of one of the largest UK Insurance companies.
With the job came an awesome salary, pension, health-care, company car and wonderful yearly bonuses.
In summary, I was rewarded well and I loved my job. I worked hard. I loved the hustle and bustle of an energized working environment. My job, my career was extremely important to me…and the income (of course!).
Why am I telling you all this?
I want you to know that I was working hard and in return was very well paid in a fairly secure role. There had been many mergers and acquisitions along the way and I had survived numerous staff cutbacks.
That was the worst part of the job…telling some of your work colleagues they were out of a job…no longer required. Very tough!
I knew my name could easily be on the next list of personnel no longer needed.
I needed a plan b.
I needed my own backup in case I was made redundant.
That was the easy decision…the fact I needed a plan b.
But what? What was my plan b going to be?
For 30 years, I had worked in the corporate world. That’s all I knew. I suppose I was experienced and could get another job but that wasn’t really a plan b. Get another job if made redundant is not a plan b
Well not the sort of plan b I wanted.
I wanted to be in control.
Over a beer one evening, I was discussing this situation with a good friend.
He said, “Have you thought about selling stuff on-line?”
“What like e-bay? Tried that. It’s not really my thing.”
“No…I mean sell your passions, knowledge, experience. Many people are doing it and making a fortune”
(Please note this was about 6 years ago).
“Really?”
“Yeah…you should investigate”
I finished my drink and thought I will investigate…I have nothing to lose.
Next day, I did some on-line investigation and I was shocked and excited at the same time.
I was reading so many product sales pages telling me I could earn a fortune by selling my knowledge on-line…within weeks.
Shocked that this sort of thing existed and excited because I thought I could do this.
But I knew very little about the internet. I didn’t know how to register a domain or build a website or know where to start.
But I was keen…I was eager to start and was happy to invest.
I needed an internet mentor!
In the next post in this series I’ll tell you how I found my internet mentor and what we did next.
We all have been there but sometimes it takes things happen to us to get on the right track of success.
“Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”
I was just thinking the other day how distinctly different corporate IT and “Internet” IT are. I’ll look forward to the rest of the series.
-naima
Andrew,
Looking forward to read the rest of the series.
I guess you could say that I’m on transition phase myself: I have a day job, but I want to build my online business and switch to online world full-time at some point. This means that I have to work every day to move closer to that goal.
I think that your story is very important, so that other people too will realize it’s possible to jump from corporate (or your day job) into your online business.
Timo
Timo,
You have made a huge step forward…making the decision to start your on-line business while having a day job.
Not many people do that.
Many just say they will or wish they could.
You have and that’s a big thing.
It does take time (well it did me) and I shall share my whole story.
See you soon.
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Sharing your personal story on transition from a full time job to online business is always inspiring.
We have tons to learn from this series of post. I will be looking forward to the next series.
Thanks for sharing.
Lye
Thanks, Lye.
I’m actually going to enjoy writing it and I hope it inspires one or two others to take action.
Andrew
was reading so many product sales pages telling me I could earn a fortune by selling my knowledge on-line…within weeks….if this a really life that on internet..then ur soo nice….
Thanks for this info. Nowadays jobs are now becoming difficult to get and when gotten are not up to what can maintain your family. thanks for this anyway
This is what inspired me, as well. I realised that supervising people all the time, cutting hours, etc, were not things I enjoyed, combined with a general feeling of unease about how permanent and secure any job really is.
Although there is often a belief that self-employment is “unstable”, and employment is stable, I think in recent years this is getting shown as the myth it really is.
In reality, employment is portrayed as “stable” because it benefits the employer to with-hold information about threats and weaknesses of the company, and helps to keep staff motivated. If we know what is discussed at a boardroom level, we may think otherwise.
Tim,
Have you ever read, ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’?
Well the Poor Dad was the one is the high flying job earning lots of money.
The rich dad started his own business.
It’s worth a read if you get the chance.
Andrew
In fact, starting an online business isn’t easy like we talk and we need many things as much as possible to build it out. Many people getting success on this share but almost is fail rate.
Tony
Many fail because they believe the hype…they want quick returns for little effort.
Then give up when it doesn’t happen.
Andrew
Very motivational and interesting story. Selling your passion, knowledge, experience is wonderful. It not only helps you build a stable business but makes you sharper everyday (in terms of the passion, knowledge and experience that you are selling).
Jane.
Jane
…as long as there is an on-line demand for your passion, knowledge, experience.
Andrew
A nice motivational story.. But too many entrepreneurs are jumping into the web business..and most are finding it hard to create a niche..
…finding a niche that sells and is not too competitive. I agree. You have to find your unique angle.
Andrew
>>>With the job came an awesome salary, pension, health-care, company car and wonderful yearly bonuses.
I do a lot of freelance work and find myself working on projects in all sorts of places — coffee shops, my home office, etc. The thing that can be tricky when you don’t have a running gig with one company is the lack of health care… I didn’t have health care for the majority of my 20s. It can also be difficult not having a steady reliable paycheck every two weeks.
However in the end I would still recommend going for it if you have the drive and believe you can make it work. It looks like you have made it work!
Fred,
As you will see as this series ‘unfolds’ it took me a long time to ‘make it work’!
Andrew
P.S. I’m glad I took the leap though
Looks a bit too optimistic! Looking forward to read the next episodes.
Malik
What looks a bit too optimistic?
Andrew
Leaving one’s job and starting something new. As you said, it’s not a bed of roses and you really need to work hard and have patience until you get some ground under your feet. I do believe, there is nothing magical in making money online unless one opted to become a scammer.
Malik,
I agree – took me 6 years! Hence I didn’t understand why you said “Looks a bit too optimistic!”.
Andrew
Andrew –
Thanks for sharing your story! I have been thinking about working from home for some time, and all of these success stories are making it look more and more appealing. How many hours would you say you work a week now that you’re doing it for yourself?
Natasha
Natasha
I still work long hours (I have numerous personal clients) but the difference is I work when I want to. That is a huge difference to my lifestyle.
Andrew
Your story so far is inspiring. Were you fearful at all?
Liam
I was scared, yes. But my fallback was to go back to the 9-5 (if I really had to). I had many years of successful management in the corporate world and I was confident and getting another job if I needed to.
Thankfully, I have not needed to.
Andrew
Hi Andrew. It’s nice for you to start getting more success in your online business. I’m interested in doing one too, but I just don’t know. I don’t think I dare enough to quit my job just like you.
Andrew
Remember it toiok me 3 years of working part-time on my on-line business until I was ready to take the big step.
Andrew