Right!! - i've had enough!!!!

[dlstephenson12]

Success stories please - no disasters!

Keep going on about it, but IM FED UP WITH THE OFFICE, ITS DRIVING ME NUTS!!

I have in mind a few options:

1) Becoming and Installation Engineer (I'm C&G Qualified in Electrics)
2) Become a postman.
3) Become a delivery driver (not multi-drop, just a nice easy place to placer).

Anybody taken any kind of leap to the grassier side - please let me know before they take me away!!

[bandit666]

yes thats exactly what i did, was a window cleaner before i went self employed window cleaner, built up a nice little business then before you know it some plonker driving a car wrote off my work van ( same old story, didn't see you...i always come this way and there is usually nothing coming ) again plonker. After recovery time i decided to turn my passion for bikes into a business, studied hard and made do without things i needed, got qualified to DSA standards then after much blood sweat and tears opened my own motorcycle training school. Had done my homework properly cause location really works and now i am turning work away so am looking to take on staff. Easy peasy...dont kid yourself, being self employed is great, it has its ups and downs and you have to be 200% committed to make it work. If you dont mind putting in the hard graft and everything else that goes with it i would say go for it....but deep down if you're really a desk jockey at heart and like a regular incme at the end of every month...then stay where you are....the grass will always be there and its not always greener...

Good luck in all you do

[Calibre Designs]

Hi there,

Understand your frustration. Its a big leap and you loose that security. However the grass is greener on the other side if you plan and put effort into it. My advice to you :

1. Find associate/partner to join forces and must have the the same drive and attitude.
2. Do lots of research - that never ends.
3. Market yourself professionally
4. Do the job well and gain 'word of mouth' credits.
5. Utilise the bridges you have made. Never burn them.

You know yourself better than anyone else so you have to decide what type of business is best for you and your market area.

All the best!

[Peter Bowen]

I dumped a job after the boss irritated me for the last time. It's tough going on your own and I made a lot of mistakes the first time.

I had no plan, knew nothing about running a business (very different from being able to do the work) and had no money to start off with.

I lasted about 9 months before I found another job.

The second time I built three sideline businesses (with employees doing most of the work) for a couple of years till they was making enough money to justify having me on board full time. The businesses grew rapidly (too rapidly in hindsight) once I started working in them full time.

That lasted a couple of years until I burned out, sold everything and took a year's "retirement"

Can I suggest that although having a partner to share the pain and joy with is nice that you avoid it like you would a case of herpes. My experience has been that there are more problems with partnerships than benefits.

[andyf]

Yeah Pete you are right
We should avoid partner in our business, we may loose our freedom and sometime we have to suffer due to our partners mistake and vise-versa better work hard and keep patience, your business will grow on your devotion and hard work.

[dlstephenson12]

I Love a good success story me!! - thanks for your replies.

Good news is I have an interview next wednesday regarding a job as an installation engineer for a big audio firm - so fingers crossed, bye bye office!

[andyf]

All the best for your interview If they are paying you good amount for you work and you think you will enjoy you new job then keep going......

[peterjhale]

yeah, let us know how you get on

[simonr]

Originally Posted by dlstephenson12

Success stories please - no disasters!

Keep going on about it, but IM FED UP WITH THE OFFICE, ITS DRIVING ME NUTS!!

I have in mind a few options:

1) Becoming and Installation Engineer (I'm C&G Qualified in Electrics)
2) Become a postman.
3) Become a delivery driver (not multi-drop, just a nice easy place to placer).

Anybody taken any kind of leap to the grassier side - please let me know before they take me away!!

I know how you feel. A friend of mine who was very (very!) high up in the technical support division of a big (very big) consulting firm (frankly as far up as you could get in a company as big as you could get!) used to tell me he only ever monitored one website, ever... he didn't care if his staff looked at porn, booked holidays or whatever... but if he noticed a spike in the number of hits on the Dilbert site he sent one of his team to investigate the office in question....

S

[eequals]

I'm glad to see from your latest post that you seem to have discarded the notion of becoming a postman.

Had you pursued such a course you would have found yourself out on strike in no time with the prospect of losing your new job once the realities of the market place inevitably force Royal Mail to get its act together and improve its technology, while reducing its workforce.

Joe