working for yourself?

[Puddleduck]

Hi all, I am mega nervous/excited right now because it is market day and I will be selling my jewellery to the public. EEEEEP! Tbh, I am terrified that it's all going to go a bit Pete Tong, that nobody will like my lovely stuff and, essentially, that it will all be a massive flop. However, I'm more terrified about spending the rest of my life in a dead end job so off to market I go!

Has anybody on here managed to break out of the corporate world and make a living on your own? I would greatly appreciate any advice on how to make it work, so I can move one tiny baby step closer to being self sufficient. I already have a facebook, twitter and instagram page, and esty and folksy shop and am setting up a blog. I get plenty of traffic through the sites but no sales yet.

Sorry if this all seems a bit much for first thing Saturday morning, the nerves have got the better of me

[Green Aura]

Go for it, Puddleduck, it's very exciting. The thing I found hardest was pricing and consequently wasn't able to earn enough to live on. I think if you get that right all will go well.

Best of luck.

[Abi]

Oh wow, you are brave! Good luck; I'm sure you'll have a great day.

I'd love to work for myself... a friend and I are hoping to start up soon making wheelchair etc accessories for disabled and elderly people. We're currently doing a bit of research. But neither of us will be giving up the day job any time soon, I suspect!

[diggernotdreamer]

You have to take into account with markets, distance, how much fuel used, time spent loading and unloading, making display and pos material, cost of the market stall so you need to sell ex amount before you start making any money, time spent on the market stall not doing anything productive, etc, sometimes it is not worth the bother, but good luck with it, hope it is a good market

[Flo]

I've worked for myself in a family business. It's great fun, full time, stressful, sometimes productive, sometimes not.
As dnd says, the pricing is the important thing.
1. Cost of materials to made your products
2. Travel expenses
3. Display and advertising; product placement is a great thing too
4. The competition - up here the small makers of jewellery are many and the competition fierce
5. Whether a market is the place to be and where else you should have your products (and the costs of that where else)
6. What else you can do as a sideline to keep your business going - it's fine being a full time plumber, electrician, decorator, locksmith, house cleaner as these are all things that may well be in demand in your area. In the crafts area up here it does seem to be a second line against something else.

But if the first day doesn't go well, then you need to stand back and work out why. Is the market well supported or are there just passers by looking as something to do but not buying ? Was your stall in the right place in the market? Do you like people or do they scare the living daylights out of you? Should you be on a specialist crafts market rather than a general market? What's the competition like?

But good luck and don't give up the day job till you have thoroughly explored your own business - you may find that you actually prefer the dead end job for the security in the end.

[ina]

And don't forget that these days lots of people simply don't have the money to buy anything that's not essential... No matter how lovely I would think your products, I personally don't have a spare penny to spend!

I've read a lot about people taken up self employed work. On average, they work much harder than employed people and earn a lot less - mostly not enough to pay the bills, let alone have a decent living. I see more and more ads from folks offering dog walking etc, window cleaning, help with gardening, ironing, knitting - all people who simply can't find a "normal" job and are desperately trying to stay away from the bl**dy jobcentre (suicide assistance, as I call it...)

[Puddleduck]

Thanks everyone, it is a really well supported market run by a very enthusiastic lady who works very hard to make it a success. I had a great day and came away with a profit but, more importantly, I now have a much better idea of what will sell going forwards. And, most exciting of all, I had an interview for a national radio programme! If anybody is interested in listening to it I can send you the link, it will be broadcast on Thursday evening!!! Not able to give up the day job just yet, but I am feeling a lot more positive!

[Green Aura]

Well done!

[Flo]

It's nice to hear that you had a good day which has given you ideas about what will sell. This will help all your online activity.

[Uller]

I gave up the corporate world and we now live on the income from OH's graphic design business - which is him doing the design and me doing the admin. I earned about 60% of our income in my corporate job and we adjusted our life considerably so we could afford to work for ourselves. We left the UK and were able to buy a property with the profit from selling our house there so have no mortgage or rent payments (plus reduced costs in other areas). If we hadn't done that, we wouldn't be able to afford to live on what we make from the business but we don't do much about promoting it or looking for more work - we are comfortable with the hours we work, the income we receive for that work and the life we are able to live outside work. Good luck with your business!

[contadina]

That sounds very positive indeed PuddleDuck. I have a friend who is a single mother who began selling fused glass items at a few markets. I remember her saying that she tailored the products she would take to each one depending on what had sold well previously (men's cufflinks were really popular in Greenwich market if I recall).

She still does a few markets, but has gone from strength to strength - winning small business awards (enabling her to rent bigger work space and buy a bigger kiln to make larger pieces), she gets lots of exhibition requests, magazine features and has received a number of commissions from notable worthies so that her work can be seen in many public buildings and hotel lobbies etc.

Her business can now support her and her daughter fully and she's just been offered a part time place at art school, so a leap of faith and a lot of hard work can often pay dividends.