Drugs, (and absurd job updates)

[Beany]

No gin, but they take my opinions seriously and put up with my unending babbling so I'm happy with that.

[Rich B]

No gin, but they take my opinions seriously and put up with my unending babbling so I'm happy with that.

yep, that's worth a surprising amount!

[Beany]

I think the landlords accountant got back to him about how hard capital gains tax would hit him if he sold up everything at once, and as he knows I'm looking for stability, he's asked if I fancy sticking around a bit longer. Possibly a couple of years longer.

Sure I can do that

Solves a lot of problems if I'm not thinking about moving house come the end of the year.

[Gwaredd]

It's not often you get to say this, but after reading this thread over the last few months, Beany inspired me to do something.

During idle chat a while back, my Sister in law was complaining about the lack of installers in the lift company she works for. I mentioned that I'd always fancied fitting lifts in another life, and she enthusiastically said I'd be really good at it. No more was said, and life went on.

Over the next month, this slowly percolated through my brain and I suddenly realised how unhappy I was running my own company. The work was OK, most of the customers were great, but lots of small things added up to make a giant steaming turd. Mainly, the running of everything. There just wasn't enough time in the day to fit it in. Add the fact that some months I could earn 10k, the next three I'd struggle to bring in 2k gave me the overwhelming feeling of I was working far too hard for too little money. My skill level massively undervalued by myself and the industry. Ergo. A Beany.

Unspoken, my wife was feeling the exact same thing and one night it all came tumbling out. So, what to do?

We either go in big, invest in staff, kit and premises, or get out.

The decision wasn't easy, but we got out. Overnight we made the decision to sell the business, pay off any debt and apply for new careers. Fortunately, as promised, the lift company bit my arm off and my wife found a job within the same company too, albeit a different department. We were immediately better off financially, and the weight off my shoulders was immeasurable. I cannot express into words how much happier we are, even 6 weeks in.

There are many things I could, and definitely should have done with the company over the years, ( I won't go onto tgat now) but we look back with no regrets. It served us well, I got to see my kids grow up and it paid for my house, but my God I was tired. 29 years was enough, 19 of those solo.

So, no more Steele Signs. No more late nights. No more chasing money in. No more deliveries to old addresses! Onwards and upwards as they say. Here's to a stress free life, and here's to you Beany, for finding the courage to better yourself, you inspired me to do the same. Cheers!

[Rich B]

Just a word of warning, working in lifts has its ups and downs..

[Broccers]

@Gwaredd sounds a good change. Guess our industry as a whole still isnt back to normal. I don't really care, it is what it is. Would be a whole lot different if I was sat on a massive pile of debt.

Onwards and 'upwards' (altho hoefully your lifts come down too).

[Broccers]

Just a word of warning, working in lifts has its ups and downs..

Beaten to it

[240PP]

Can’t have been an easy decision to give up working for yourself but glad it’s worked out.

I’ve been bored with my role for a while. I was contacted on LinkedIn for a job with a hedge fund in London. Sole responsibility for their entire DC estate and a lot more cash. I went through five interview stages over four days (with 8 staff) only to be told the next week they thought I wouldn’t be happy doing some of the lower level stuff that was inevitably part of the role, despite me telling all eight people that not only had I done that kind of thing in the past I was more than willing to pick it up again. FFS.

[mik]

Big change @Gwaredd - respect due and good luck with the new plans.

[V8Granite]

Pretty great news all round then

Dave!

[Explosive Newt]

Changed jobs and of course they have cocked up my pay. My banding (supplement we get based on the number of weekends/nights/etc we do) was missing so pay 25% lower.

I wouldn't be so riled as this is par for the course but this comes through the day our mortgage is approved, based on a salary that appears to no longer be correct.

[Beany]

It's not often you get to say this, Beany inspired me to do something.

It's a rare occasion, although usually it involves inspiring women to run away screaming, not career changes.

Big fucking props to you, though - going from twenty years of being your own boss to going back into the meat grinder of a corporate structure must be far, far trickier to get your head around than new jumping from one regular job to another regular job

Well done

[DeskJockey]

Congrats @Gwaredd ! That's a big decision.

@240PP if that's your kind of thing send me a PM with some info, I've got some contacts in the SME financial sector courtesy of a previous job, don't mind asking around.

[Beany]

Oh, I accidentally nominated myself as the company photographer cos I have an SLR and knows how to use it.

Best buy some batteries for it I suppose

[McSwede]

Oh, I accidentally nominated myself as the company photographer cos I have a potato and knows how to use it.

Best buy some batteries for it I suppose

EFA

[Beany]

The sad thing is that I actually do have a 40D and some decent glass, but when I pulled it out a few months ago and tried to charge the battery, the battery was so fucked it 'fully charged' in about two minutes and wouldn't power the camera on.

BP511 time. Or perhaps, now that they're cheap, a battery grip, so I can look like a total nob

[Mito Man]

Erm what
You can use an SLR?
You can’t struggle to aim a point and shoot camera

[Beany]

I've done light painting and stuff, young man, I'll have you know.

About a decade ago, which was probably when the camera was last powered on

(my old 'boss' had a Nikon SLR that he was going to use for the new company Wordpress site that he somehow managed to spend 160hrs on (even though he wasn't developing it...) and he took it in to do headshots of the staff - I picked it up to do photos for him and every shot I took was better than the best he managed because I understood the concept of, you know, lighting your subject properly, etc and not just assuming the pop up flash will fix everything for you )

[Gavster]

So, no more Steele Signs. No more late nights. No more chasing money in. No more deliveries to old addresses! Onwards and upwards as they say. Here's to a stress free life, and here's to you Beany, for finding the courage to better yourself, you inspired me to do the same. Cheers!

Congrats Gwarredd, after my 10 years working in design, print and signage, I can understand why you got out. Small business syndrome is rife in that industry, but it also seemed to be a large cavernous jump between being a couple of guys in a workshop/studio and going after the big fish instead. Getting a lot more space and expensive machinery seemed to be the key, but it's a huge jump and big investment.

It would be great to hear how you get on. Does that mean you can go home during fixed hours and actually switch off from work now? OMG you get annual leave too, that must be a pure joy! Also how you find it getting into corporate life. It must go both ways, because you've got a lot of experience solving your own problems, you're going to use your initiative, which either makes you very good at getting things done, or a rule-breaker, depending on how strict they are!

Best of luck with it! Hope you get to work on Schindlers Lifts too for the lols.

[IanF]

Best of luck G-man..

I’m seriously tempted to start my own business at the moment but financial commitments make these types of decision harder the older you get.