Today's scheduled post was going to be on a frequently-requested topic:
how do you make your own income/become an indie business owner/make a living as a self-employed person? It was ready to go but felt hollow. I've written on the topic many times before and this article added nothing new. I need to know your problems so I can help address them!
Working for yourself is truly The Dream for a reason. You set your own hours, avoid demanding bosses, and live exactly the way you want to. It's not for everyone. You work longer hours, and you have to have a deep abiding passion for your independent work to survive. It can be hard, scary, and stressful, but the rewards outweigh the risks. I'd love to help everyone live this liberated lifestyle if they want it.
Working for myself and setting my own hours allows me to: (
Photo 1) Hit the gym with AJ at anytime, it's 1AM in the photos. (
Photo 2) Explore my beautiful historic neighborhood whenever I'd like. (
Photo 3) Help start a long-dreamed organic body care business with mom. (
Photo 4) Take creative/holistic classes/certifications to my heart's content
and start teaching classes at
Green Lotus Studios. Captured, the herbal cooking class I'll soon take over.
What are your indie biz struggles? What are you trying to accomplish? What road blocks do you have? Let's discuss in the comments. I want to help you do what you truly want in life, whether it's to escape an unfulfilling day job or make more time to spend with your kids and/or family. I know you can do it, I'm here to help.
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I know no life is perfect, but yours sounds/looks pretty close! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm at the point where I don't even know what I'm struggling with, I'm just... stuck. I work a typical 8-5 and dread coming in everyday. I have so many dreams of starting my own business of some kind but have no direction or idea of how to get started!
Sorry for the negative sounding comment, I think it's so great that you're willing to help others follow through and make their business dreams come true!
(That wasn't a very helpful comment on the questions you asked, sorry!)
http://indianaheart.typepad.com/
Haha, I left out the anxiety fits I get from time to time that the new business won't work. They happen when I'm carb deficient in particular. The brain needs its glucose fuel or you go wacko :D Aaand my apartment is trashed again. Can't do it all.
DeleteNo problem at all with any negativity, I prefer honesty. I was there dreading the alarm and rolling out of bed to go to my cubicle and write search engine optimized articles. It sucks.
I'll write more about it soon but I recommend keeping the day job and just STARTING. Play with ideas and see what you like because the dream is often different from the reality. Sell stuff on the side and see what works for you. Take classes.
Fear. Just plain ole paralyzing fear. Of not choosing the right thing, of overcommitting, of not being able to work hard enough (after the 8-5 I am pretty wiped out), of letting others down, of not having enough income. I, too, struggle with finding my way. I have a lot of interests, but none that I excel at. I have more frustration than inspiration at this point. Your blog has helped me stay on the path.
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel exactly. You get these feelings even working a 'dream' job? Right now I'm scared of my new business venture even with two intelligent, qualified partners and start-up capital to go on. The "new" is scary. Always. I've read about some practicing at failing, like going around and asking strangers questions they'll likely get a "no" to, like randomly asking a cop if they can drive their car. It's a good exercise for showing (1) people actually don't usually say 'no' and (2) failure isn't all that bad. I've flubbed a lot and each time I make it out of it I realize it wasn't as earth shatteringly horrible as I imagined it would be.
DeleteIt also helps to lower expenses if at all possible. I think mine are now well under $1K a month, so even if it's a bad month for some reason, I will have enough to eat and pay all the bills.
Will write on it more, but found this older post on conquering fear: http://www.thriftcore.com/2012/02/tip-for-conquering-fear-dont-let-it.html
DeleteSounds like fun to take a class with your mom, and I'd love to read more about that cooking class!
ReplyDeleteWe've been having a blast :D as of now we've finished dozens of crafty/herbalism types, finished stage one of our herbalism training, nearly done with nutrition training, and we're going to start aromatherapy tonight. I'll do a follow-up on the cooking classes. I'm going to do basic raw vegan techniques, the very-requested raw vegan deserts, cooking locally/with herbs and make info books to go with the classes.
DeleteGreat question! I run a small indie biz, and I think my biggest problem is finding new ways to get my products and services in front of new eyeballs online. There is SO much competition these days. Google SEO is a monster, social networking is flooded, and even sites like Etsy have stiff competition. I hate to pay for advertising, because I'm on a tight budget. I'd love to hear if you have any tips for fresh ways to do online marketing!
ReplyDeleteOh, that's a good one. Keeping an engaged community/audience and sharing your story is a big one. You're doing and awesome job with your blog and I know that was my #1 game changer with transitioning to working for myself. I'll research, experiment and continue to share here on creative marketing. Stephanie just shared an honest article on how she's increasing her followers via social media and using that new audience to increase income: http://www.the-loudmouth.com/2015/02/life-blog-tips-how-im-doubling-my.html
DeleteRight now I've taken a break from casual marketing to focus on switching direction and getting my ducks in a row there and I've seen the drop in sales/interaction from it. Keeping social media up to date is a huge help.
I used to write SEO optimized articles for a living so let me know if you have any specific questions there :)
Discipline and perserverance are character traits a person thinking about becoming an independent business owner absolutely requires! Of course there's a whole lot of other details to consider. Clever investment is one of them. Partnering with your mom to run an organic body care business sounds awesome!
ReplyDeleteLooking so cool information you shared here and I really enjoyed a lot.
ReplyDeleteIndependent house builders in vellore
I ran my own large antique and vintage mall/shop for 10 years 7 days a week. I had a dozen vendors and 3/4 of the space was mine. It just got to a place where I was burned out. I went online and I am slowing starting all over. I sell handmade and vintage/antiques on Etsy and Ebay, have B&M "booths" and do shows. It is so easy to get scattered. My next step is my own website for the wholesale decor items I have sold on EBay and can't sell on Etsy. As a 53 yr old woman in a small town,my only hope of a good job is to create one of my own! I didn't even know how to copy and paste on the computer when I started.Still a long way to go, but I am teaching myself!
ReplyDeleteI ran my own large antique and vintage mall/shop for 10 years 7 days a week. I had a dozen vendors and 3/4 of the space was mine. It just got to a place where I was burned out. I went online and I am slowing starting all over. I sell handmade and vintage/antiques on Etsy and Ebay, have B&M "booths" and do shows. It is so easy to get scattered. My next step is my own website for the wholesale decor items I have sold on EBay and can't sell on Etsy. As a 53 yr old woman in a small town,my only hope of a good job is to create one of my own! I didn't even know how to copy and paste on the computer when I started.Still a long way to go, but I am teaching myself!
ReplyDeleteI can definitely imagine you can get burned out. I took a long break from acquiring and the antique mall because it's mentally and physically exhausting. This is the type of work you have to do to make vintage selling successful now-a-days, there's a lot of competition and you have to keep trucking. Hard. Good for you for teaching yourself and working so hard.
DeleteFirst up thanks for popping by the blog the other day Van, it's always a delight to see you pop in. To answer you the only challenges I have are relating to time management and routine around three young children five year and under. We've just had some major changes within our family and we're all adjusting to new routines and rhythms here. I know in my heart I'm going to get to where I want to be because I can not think if anything else. I'm finding my way around the changes this year and slowly a new way is being carved for me.
ReplyDeleteWas going through past post and it made me wonder how you were doing. You still do a lot with so many family responsibilities. I'll share time management/note taking/scheduling/etc. tips as they come up. I think interviewing some successful biz owners for their tips would be helpful :D especially ones with family. 'Tis hard.
DeleteThanks Van, all things considered I'm doing well. Up until the start of this year everything I've been doing I've done around having one or all three kids at home at some point during the week. But I have jaunt started to have two child free days a week with the kids at school or in Childcare. These two days a week have already done so much and increased my productivity immensely which as result has increased my profits significantly as well. I'm still in the juggle working out new domestic routines so that they don't spill into my two days. But I have set pretty strict boundaries around it all which I wrote about on the blog recently. I guess I'm in the middle a great bug transition period but it's all going well but time management is always going to a juggle with three young children, but I'm getting there.
DeleteI may have to do a write up on how you do it all to help other moms reading if you'd let me :) That's all very inspiring.
DeleteGosh yes of course honey, that would be wonderful. I always want to encourage other mummas to keep on pushing through to keep their dreams alive too.
DeleteVan i loved all the answers you gave in the comments, did you ever think about studying psycology? =) as a long term traveler i cannot see myself working for someone else, actually i never did. So i started learning about my skills and get money with it, for example learned to work with polymer clay and sold necklaces and bracelets. Its important to keep your 8-5 job until you feel like your own business is a sucess and you earn enough money doing what you love without a boss telling what to have to do. The process of change takes long time
ReplyDeleteYep, I agree. I saved up for years before I took the leap and left the day job. I can't see myself going back to conventional work ever again after experiencing the freedom I have now! Glad you like the answers :) I read a ton of self-help books and study about this subject a lot so I can teach myself and others better.
DeleteAnd a lot hard work, keeping positive and faithful also helps! I think everyone should go for their dreams with no fear. I can't imagine myself working my entire life on something I dislike. Right now I'm in the process of changing my blog to a website and start orking on it in a professional way. I love travels and will travel forever so why not earning money from my passion? I know to be sucessful I need to advertise, monotize, be smart, work with partnerships...
ReplyDeleteYep, I agree. If that's exactly what you want to do, go for it and try your hardest to make it happen. It's very possible. I definitely agree that hard work, faith, and positivity are all huge helps and important in making your dreams happen. They're all more connected than most think.
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