In nine days time, it would be a year since I made one of the biggest choices of my life. I decided, almost a year ago to leave an incredibly safe job to pursue my own career path. I've always wanted to run my own business, and every employer I've had has known that. High career aspirations run in my family, and it's very apparent I had the same drive that my parents (all of them!) share.
A year ago, I was working for a company that had grown quite substantially and that was rolling out a product destined to make waves in the industry. It was a learning curve, with plenty of great and low points. Without a shadow of a doubt, I attribute some of the skills I use today to the lessons learnt with that company, and it's CEO. On the whole, it was a great working environment, and I am incredibly grateful for the progress I was allowed to make within that company. After four years there, my job was safe and I had others in my team running the customer services, sales and design aspect. I'm sure, had I wanted to, I could have stayed in that company and rewarded myself in the fruits of their success. But that isn't me, and that isn't what I've picked up from my parents.
A year ago, I was having a hard time with that company. My heart wasn't in it anymore, and my own business (sole trader at the time) was picking up. I had a selection of brilliant clients at that point which were keeping me busy "out of hours". The buzz and excitement I was getting from working with my own clients wasn't the same as the experience I was having with my day-to-day job at the time, and it was making it harder and harder to stay positive.
I knew at this point that I had a window of an opportunity to progress towards my life-long dream of running my own business, full-time. I had to follow my gut, and take a risk. If any of you have been in this situation, I'm sure you'll agree its a tough decision to make.
I saw a tweet that eventually led to me being hired by another small web development firm, full-time. It was an odd experience, and a very risky one as well. Having been in a safe working environment for four years, any change was a risk. The hiring process was incredibly laid back. I didn't show my C.V. (was never asked to) and swiftly became established in that company working on a wide range of projects. It was fun!
I was working from home, and was enjoying the freedom it gave. Don't get me wrong, I find it very easy to work from home, and would argue that I put more into that company than the company I had been with for four years. I was continuing to work on my own projects as well, and was getting ever busier!
Then I got news that changed everything. I was being made redundant (thankfully not because of anything I had done!).
In fairness, I had been building up my own business over the previous four years and was at the best point to jump over to running [codepotato] full-time. At the time, I remember how scared I felt about not being able to meet my financial commitments. I was being egged on by some truly great people, none of which I had met in real life! I remember receiving a voicemail from a certain @ovationchris basically saying that if I'm going to do, I can't do it "half-baked" and need to make it work. I remember the voicemail like it was yesterday, and it's been incredibly helpful on many occasions.
Making the leap was the best thing I've ever done (short of saying hello to my now-fiancee in College!). I'm now in my sixth month trading as a limited company, and the company is growing from strength to strength. It's profitable, established and getting out there like I wouldn't believe. It's only been six months and I'm striking deals with companies that I would have never have thought I would be dealing with.
So, what's the purpose of this blog post? It's twofold really. Firstly, to anyone out there that had a dream, but isn't sure how or whether to follow it, you're doing yourself an injustice. My message to you is to MAKE it happen. Life is too short to not try to achieve them. It seems everything I achieve at the moment is as a result of a "what-if" moment. Seize the opportunity, and if nothing comes of it what have you lost? Nothing.
The second purpose of this blog post is to say thanks. Thanks to my previous employers, my colleagues, my family and my friends (including my twitter followers). Without you, as corny as it sounds, I wouldn't be here. I would probably still be working in a safe job, that wasn't testing me.
So what does the future hold for [codepotato]?
- I've now struck an exclusive deal with Mortgage Brain to offer their incredible mortgage sourcing plugin at a price you won't find elsewhere.
- I'm in conversation with a major UK support service company to be recommended as their bespoke website developer.
- I'll be launching our first web-app later this year, which will aim to solve your email / FSA security woes.
- I'm edging ever closer to finishing my super-network of like-minded professionals. These companies are tried and tested to ensure they share the same values that I push.
- At the tail end of this year or start of 2012, I'll have to take on my first member of staff!
- UPDATED : Forgot to mention that after testing, i'm going to be releasing the incredibly simple CRM i've built for my own company as an open-source project. Hoping this will help other professionals lay the foundations they need to nurture their business to success!
All I can say is thanks!