Would I go back to full time employment?
June 8th, 2007 | Posted in Freelancing, Jus' Ramblin' | 3 Comments
I am now in my third year as a freelance web developer. Prior to this I was a senior developer at a Nottingham based development agency. I was on a good salary with a full pension plan and a private health care package. I got 21 paid days off a year as well as perks such as the latest software, conferences and training.. all paid for. So why would anyone want to leave such a cushy little number like that? Simple, I was bored.
Perks, benefits and pay rises are merely short term solutions to a more deeper problem of a serious lack of motivation.
If you do not have that passion for what you do, then the rest falls by the wayside. I lost that desire to learn new technologies. I couldn’t find the motivation to install and test drive that new CMS. As for languages and software, I got used to the way I worked and the tools I used to work with. Stuck in what I constantly referred to as my hamster wheel ebbed away at the pleasure I got from what I decided to do as a career. When that goes then you are in serious trouble.
Even a pay rise merely masked over the issues which eventually re-surfaced. This was when I realised that I was simply not happy. I needed to be happy in what I did, it’s an old adage, but a happy worker is a busy worker. I was a pissed off worker therefore a bored worker. Something needed to give. So began my tentative venture into the wilds of freelancing.
Once I built a small list of clients, I decided to close my eyes and jump. Years later I am happier than I ever thought I would (or could) be. Admittedly , I am absolutely knackered, but a happy kind of knackered.
It could have so easily gone the other way. i.e. No work, No clients. What magic did I use to steer myself down the busy route? Bugger’d if I know. I simply found work on all the usual freelancer sites, did the work for next to nothing and it snowballed from there. No real secret, no magic formula. What I would say is to have a thick skin, there will be times when you will be pitching for your 20th project without success. Treat every missed project as a lesson, look for and implement improvements in your approach. Go that extra mile, its what may land you that golden client with years worth of repeat work.
Working from home isn’t for everyone. You can read why in The reality of working for yourself.
To answer the opening question, would I return to full time employment? Hell no!
What you described regarding your professional working life prior to making the jump is what I generally refer to as “stagnating”. And yes, I’m petrified of it. I have felt it more than once in previous jobs, and it’s what’s made me up and leave. My fear of stagnating is what drives me forward. I don’t want to get stuck in a rut without feeling like I’ve achieved something, or learned something.
Right now I’m in a bit of a tough spot, and as I’ve said in other comments, I’m keen to make the jump. The problem, as always, is the income, and the fact that I don’t have any clients. Right now I’m working on a plan (a mini biz plan for want of a better expression) as to how I’m going to tackle the problems.
My goal, in the next 2 years maximum, is to be working from home 100% of the time on projects for clients of mine, and possibly (depending on how things go) be doing some work for an employer if I don’t have enough income from my own clients. Fingers crossed!
Anyway, congrats on making the moves you made. I hope that soon I’ll be sharing in your joy of being happily exhausted, rather than drained and frustrated.
OJ
What spurs me on is the fear. The fear of never having work and ending up living out of a box under a bridge. I worked my arse off to get clients before i actually left full time employment. Made the transition a tad easier.
That’s exactly what I need to do, and am in the process of doing :)