20 years as self employed
Yesterday I got a fine ball-pen in the mail. It was a marketing present from a office articles supplier, who look up companies in the registers and send them a ball-pen when they have anniversaries in the hope that the recipient will buy a whole batch - my company is 20 years this year.
I have been self deployed most of my adult life, which has been privileged, but also rather hard at times. The good thing about it is that it becomes better with time. The first years are almost always hard, but with time you get the routines together, save up, invests and are able to enjoy the freedom of it.
I am not going to give any advice... my company has been involved in so many economically reckless artistic projects that I am the last person to advice anybody, but I do recommend being self-employed to people if they ask. I was never a person that enjoyed having a boss, even though I am a good employee (they've said the few times I had to take a short period with a paid job), and if people asks they often feel the same way.
And the future looks good. I have always been a first mover (@evilhippie says so) and having discovered crypto-currencies has been a exiting new opening for me. Right now I am using a lot of my time on projects here on Steemit, my comic, where I have had a great and fun cooperation with @shortcut and @vcelier , a promising collaboration making Nigerian pulp-fiction with @nevies and quite a few other projects in the pipeline.
20 :)
Congratulations on the 20 years! The thought of being self-employed is daunting to me, because I'm an utterly boring goody two shoes rule follower worry wart. You are brave! hahahah. I do like a level of independence at my work. I am mostly left to my own devices and complete my own to-do list and interact with my clients. The thought of having no bosses sounds awesome though. Freedom is pretty great. I wish you continued success in your business. :D
You are funny for a boring goody two shoes! I never saw it as a question about being brave or boring. Some of the bravest people I know have a job. But freedom is great! Sadly my kind of freedom has always been the freedom from money... but hey ho, CRYYYYYYYPTOOOOOO!
Hahahahahah FREEDOM FROM MONEY - such is the life of an artist... this is why I am a corporate slave. JK. My bosses are pretty amazing. I've been lucky. And thank you always for your kind words!
Congrats on the first 20 years! What a stupid marketing idea... you certainly know your address, so why print it on the pen?
I'm self employed since 2000, so just 2 years until my anniversary. I guess, I have some similar problems with having a boss and think, that working on the (steem-)blockchain could be a future model for many likeminded creatives.
I think they want you to buy 200 and then use them as calling cards :) Now it is my new favourite ball pen!
I look forward to seeing your pen in two years time - at that time I hope that technology has made it much easier for small businesses to reach their audience/customers and that people finally has understood that the large multinationals are feeding them garbage. Not the best odds, but you can always hope!
Og god bedring!
Thanks, already feeling better today.
I hope to get a pen with my steemit handle and a built in hardware-wallet then. The more garbage those companies will create, the more likely there will be a demand for handcrafted and original works. It's just a matter of time.
By the way, here is an interesting link, I discovered yesterday.
Cool! I'll check it out!
20 years is a great achievement. Being self-employed has its ups and downs as you say but I definitely find there are more 'ups' especially the freedom and opportunity to mould a business in your own way and to seize opportunities as they arise.
It sounds like you are seizing lots of new opportunities - things that you might have missed had you been full-time employed....
Yes, that is the way to see it! I am pretty content.
Listening to this song, that I have known for 60 years, I realized that I knew almost all the words, although I have not listened to the song for years.
I still remembers the day when she died, the same day as Jean Cocteau.
She was something special. I have known this all my life as my father used to play it. I have a friend that is a house DJ and he was in France to play a gig, and he told me that this German guy made fun of Edith Piaf and people, even in this electronic music community, had to tell him that no one made fun of her and her music when they were around.
Congratulations with the 20-year anniversary of your company! That's a really great feat, and most companies don't even last this long.
Thanks! I have always operated with as little expenses as possible and no loans - it gives you a better chance of surviving, but growth is slower of course. As an artist my main concern has always been to be able to work on what I liked, and when I have made the reckless projects I mention in the post it has mostly been with investors or with my own workforce as investment.
That sounds like a smart plan! I would definitely prefer to to the same if I were to start my own company, but it seems very difficult to start without any loans at all.
Of course you need to make some investments initially, but I have paid them off as fast as I could. I think that it is very often a good idea to make the necessary purchases when you start. If you have to save the money up first you will loose a lot of momentum. But being an artist it has shown to be a good plan.
Ah, that makes sense :) I guess it also depends a lot of if you are able to even get a loan. I have heard that lots of businesses have a lot of problems with this here in Norway, but it might be different in other parts of the world.
Yes, especially after the financial crisis. I have been good to invest in things when I had a little extra income.
This is so amazing to read! Only just recently I myself started to go down on the misty path of self-employment. For me, its main selling point was the potential to time manage yourself - which can be a huge downside for most people, hahh. So far so good!
20 years is impressive, cheers for that !
Often you will work a lot more than other people, but you can take a day off whenever you need it. I work a lot, often in the evening while my family sits together reading or looking at the pads and phones - my wife also has her own business so she is also often at her computer. But the flexibility makes up for it. I always put the family first (I am the Trump of family-life) and that is really possible when you are your own master.
Good luck with the enterprise!
Thank you very much - I am looking forward to it! If only that huge black void of uncertainty which comes with being your own boss wouldn't exist (Was inspired by the entrerprise gif) :D
Yes, it is there all right. I am not sure that there is anything to do about that. But you could also think of it as the final frontier!
Congratulations for 20 years self employment. Nice pen. Excellent photography.
Thanks!
Really great post.
Good job . Carry on your activitys
Thanks for sharing your great post...
Congratulations! It must be a thrill to be able to support yourself on your own imagination for 20 years. I found this clip from the movie Hook, where adult Peter Pan learns to use his imagination to feed himself. I feel like this movie clip is symbolic for your accomplishment! :D