Dad, I’m SELF-EMPLOYED and proud of it!
The first time I told my father I was going it alone, setting up my first company and becoming self-employed, he couldn’t believe it.
What’s more, the word AUTONOMOUS (as the self-employed are called in Spain) is so alien to him that he said to me: Son, why on earth have you become an AUTOMATON? Find yourself a permanent job, you’re worth a lot.
Well, that’s exactly why, Dad (RIP): because I’m worth a lot, and when I’ve worked as an employee, in many cases they’ve given me a really hard time, treated me like a number (as the saying goes), frozen or cut my salary, cut or stopped paying my commission just because they felt like it, ignored me…
In short, working for someone else isn’t always fantastic when you come across bad bosses or bad colleagues, or when the company lets you go at the first sign of difficulty.
Mind you, being SELF-EMPLOYED isn’t a cure-all either, but it has certain advantages, especially for those of us who have worked as employees for 5, 10, 15 or 20 years, like me, and who know what we are good at, how to make the most of it and how to live off the business we are able to generate.
My own story, or grandpa’s war stories, basically:
More than 25 years ago, before I was 20, I launched myself into the world of work. First, while studying in Barcelona, I worked at La Caixa in customer service, and it was great: a big company and very well paid. Then, once in Madrid, I spent 5 years working at CESMA Escuela de Negocios, also with an excellent working atmosphere, but a new director arrived who, as I said before, pushed me around and stopped paying my commission, and au revoir 😉
I stayed in the education sector for the launch of ESERP in Madrid, then an advertising agency, and in 2000 I jumped on the multinational bandwagon. (That’s where I discovered people’s naked ambition, the bootlicking and all that.) But I certainly learnt a lot, and above all I learnt about and discovered my sales streak and key account management, which have always served me well. I took advantage of a redundancy programme and spent a year freelancing and looking after my son.
I returned to the field at Regus, a superb company where I triumphed, selling with the best of them, travelling a lot, with a very professional team, but… after a few years I drew the short straw and once again I got fed up and left. I did it in the middle of the crisis in 2008, but it worked out well, because I jumped to a startup, Xing.com: good salary, great atmosphere, learning, visibility, equity, amazing. But once again along came a nasty piece of work, whose name I have no desire to recall, who stabbed me in the back.
In 2009 I moved into the general management of a business centre with 25 people reporting to me, and in 2011 to AJE Madrid, also with a great team and the challenge of launching the garAJE. Probably my best period, but then the lean years came and I had to fend for myself.
The entrepreneurial bug bit me (I had done it before) and I decided to take the plunge.
Types of entrepreneur you can come across:
- I’m a born entrepreneur: someone who has it in them from birth; their passion is starting businesses and they don’t even consider working for others. Their boss can be no one but themselves. As a child they already showed promise, and they never stop coming up with new ideas to change the world. Washing cars, selling T-shirts, events…
- I’m a late entrepreneur: professionals who have worked as employees and, over time, get tired of producing for someone else, and thanks to their experience and knowledge of the sector they launch their own new business.
- Opportunity entrepreneur: an alert person who spots trends or fashions and rides the wave. To ride the wave they need a financial cushion and, if they have no previous experience, a partner.
- Necessity entrepreneur: self-employment when you see that you can’t find decent job offers, or that they’re going to pay you peanuts. Since you’re starting a business out of necessity, do it in a sector you know well.
- Accidental entrepreneur: during your studies or at work you suddenly discover something powerful and unique that could do very well on the market, and you’re not going to leave it on the shelf. You analyse the market and go for it.
I’ve been the late one. I looked back at my previous experience and what I think I’m good at, and I launched “Conectando Empresas S.L.”, a marketing, sales and communication consultancy.
Cobbler, stick to your last: I do what I can do well, marketing and sales strategy for everything from startups to multinationals, sales training, client acquisition and, of course, organising events.
So don’t dive into the pool if there’s no water in it.
- Think about where you can offer your clients a value proposition
- Look at who you can team up or collaborate with; find good partners
- Turn to former clients and colleagues when you’re starting out; ask for recommendations
- Design a good corporate identity; you have to give the best image
- An attractive commercial offer: study the competition and have a good pricing policy
- Get yourself seen, go to events, give talks, collaborate and go for it.
One of the self-employed people I admire most, and whom I always hold up as an example in my classes, is Richar Garcia, aka @taxioviedo. What better example than a taxi driver who does something extraordinary.
This year, 2017, I’ll celebrate 5 years as a SELF-EMPLOYED professional, and proud of it.
If you want more advice, while I’m at it let me sell you my book Quiero ser emprendedor (I Want to Be an Entrepreneur), a practical guide for DUMMIES 😉
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