Three years ago, I started my own business. I decided to be a corporate language and speech trainer; I got certification in my area, did some market research, rented an office and hung out my shingle. I knew that I wouldn't be able to earn an entire living from this work immediately, so I hung on to my other work, teaching language as an adjunct at my local community college.
I love both jobs, and I love the lifestyle that being my own boss affords me. The idea of sitting at a desk 40 hours a week kills me. I knew that opening my own business was risky, and that even pre-great depression 2.0 only about half of all small businesses last even two years. So I've already beaten the odds, but things are sort of dire, and I am forced to consider working for someone else. One of my major corporate clients decided to do all training in-house (thus getting rid of consultants, like me, upon whom they had relied for much training), and others are cutting back dramatically, due to the recession. I currently only have one client, and my contract with them ends on July 1st.
I just finished reading an article in the NYTimes magazine section about people like me -- self-employed and flailing in the recession/depression/downturn. It made me feel less alone, but it also convinced me to look more earnestly for a "real job" working for someone else. I've been toying with the idea all spring, and have submitted a few applications. I even had an interview for one position this week. I consider myself a really good, hard worker, and my self-concept includes the idea that I can "always just find a job" if self-employment doesn't work out. Well, I think that time has come. I'm hoping to be offered the job I interviewed for, and hoping I can finagle a flexible schedule that allows me to still teach at the community college. Whatever happens, I plan to re-locate my business to a spare room in my house ("right-sizing it"), and laying low for a few years. The economy has to turn around at some point, right? Maybe after a few years of putting in my time working for the man (and earning enough money to live, having health insurance, and making some much-needed home repairs), I'll be able to go back into business for myself.
