Returning to employment after self employment
Discussion
Ive been self employed for over 10 years now,running my own little business,I make a living from it and its quite flexible.
However i have recently become a bit disillusioned, it seems to be a lot of effort for not a massive reward. Some days i work long hours, very few holidays and as i age the physical side of the job takes it toll (bad knees, sore ankles etc) I am also travelling quite a lot too, so 250 mile round trips and a days work are now common.
One of my suppliers has indicated that he could use a guy like me, an 8 to 5 job within 2 miles of home, no weekends and a salary that isnt far off what i make now.
I get on with them all there,and the job would hold as much interest as my current role. The attraction of leaving it all at work when you go home is also a strong pull.
I guess what im asking the collective is.
Have any of you come off the tools and gone into an office employed role?. If so how did you get on?
However i have recently become a bit disillusioned, it seems to be a lot of effort for not a massive reward. Some days i work long hours, very few holidays and as i age the physical side of the job takes it toll (bad knees, sore ankles etc) I am also travelling quite a lot too, so 250 mile round trips and a days work are now common.
One of my suppliers has indicated that he could use a guy like me, an 8 to 5 job within 2 miles of home, no weekends and a salary that isnt far off what i make now.
I get on with them all there,and the job would hold as much interest as my current role. The attraction of leaving it all at work when you go home is also a strong pull.
I guess what im asking the collective is.
Have any of you come off the tools and gone into an office employed role?. If so how did you get on?
How flexible is you current self employment? Are you able to make late starts, finish early on a Friday? Take a few hours off to visit family? Drop kids at school etc?
Suddenly going to a 8-5, at the beckon call of you new employer may be a strain. Will they suddenly send you on a job at 4 pm which you can't refuse? Please come back to the office at the end of the day and wait until 5pm etc. You're 20 mins late today, why?
On the upside, paid holiday, paid sick, possible pension, no stress!
Suddenly going to a 8-5, at the beckon call of you new employer may be a strain. Will they suddenly send you on a job at 4 pm which you can't refuse? Please come back to the office at the end of the day and wait until 5pm etc. You're 20 mins late today, why?
On the upside, paid holiday, paid sick, possible pension, no stress!
I've gone from self employed to employed and back a couple of times and the biggest issue for me is/was the lack of control and indecisiveness of most companies.
When self employed I was in a position to make a decision and implement it immediately, for good or bad. Not so much now I am employed again, although I am still pretty autonomous and make most decisions without having to go through others.
Politics can be a PITA as well, not stepping on others toes.
One thing I have grown to be a little more careful of is challenging management above. Coming from a SE background where I was the boss and had the final say and going to a much bigger organisation with a few layers above me has been difficult. Especially when you know the decision is wrong, you say so but it takes them two years to realise for themselves by which time a mess has been created which there was no need for.
I think a lot depends on you personality. I am very assertive, challenge peoples actions and decisions directly. You can imagine how well that goes down working for a local authority!
When self employed I was in a position to make a decision and implement it immediately, for good or bad. Not so much now I am employed again, although I am still pretty autonomous and make most decisions without having to go through others.
Politics can be a PITA as well, not stepping on others toes.
One thing I have grown to be a little more careful of is challenging management above. Coming from a SE background where I was the boss and had the final say and going to a much bigger organisation with a few layers above me has been difficult. Especially when you know the decision is wrong, you say so but it takes them two years to realise for themselves by which time a mess has been created which there was no need for.
I think a lot depends on you personality. I am very assertive, challenge peoples actions and decisions directly. You can imagine how well that goes down working for a local authority!
I have also been both during my working career.
As said above, much depends on your personality, and what you want out of life.
I think a lot of self employed people are able to make a reasonable living but only a small percentage are able to grow their businesses to the big time.
Good luck
As said above, much depends on your personality, and what you want out of life.
I think a lot of self employed people are able to make a reasonable living but only a small percentage are able to grow their businesses to the big time.
Good luck
I'm currently looking for work having run my own business for 6 years and I must admit I'm finding the prospect of working for someone else a little daunting. As others have said though, it can be quite nice being able to park work in the office at 6pm rather than living with it 24/7 which is what you end up doing as a business owner.
One of my issues is whether or not working for yourself would have a negative impact on your CV?
One of my issues is whether or not working for yourself would have a negative impact on your CV?
21TonyK said:
I've gone from self employed to employed and back a couple of times and the biggest issue for me is/was the lack of control and indecisiveness of most companies.
When self employed I was in a position to make a decision and implement it immediately, for good or bad. Not so much now I am employed again, although I am still pretty autonomous and make most decisions without having to go through others.
Politics can be a PITA as well, not stepping on others toes.
One thing I have grown to be a little more careful of is challenging management above. Coming from a SE background where I was the boss and had the final say and going to a much bigger organisation with a few layers above me has been difficult. Especially when you know the decision is wrong, you say so but it takes them two years to realise for themselves by which time a mess has been created which there was no need for.
I think a lot depends on you personality. I am very assertive, challenge peoples actions and decisions directly. You can imagine how well that goes down working for a local authority!
Your experience echoes mine.When self employed I was in a position to make a decision and implement it immediately, for good or bad. Not so much now I am employed again, although I am still pretty autonomous and make most decisions without having to go through others.
Politics can be a PITA as well, not stepping on others toes.
One thing I have grown to be a little more careful of is challenging management above. Coming from a SE background where I was the boss and had the final say and going to a much bigger organisation with a few layers above me has been difficult. Especially when you know the decision is wrong, you say so but it takes them two years to realise for themselves by which time a mess has been created which there was no need for.
I think a lot depends on you personality. I am very assertive, challenge peoples actions and decisions directly. You can imagine how well that goes down working for a local authority!
I have despaired at layers of Snr Management unable to make a decision.
Politics and culture often kills a companies strategy.
I was once hauled over the coals at a local authority for being too aggressive, I had suggested that in the next meeting we define any actions points and assign them to staff and if you tell someone to do their job thats bullying.
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