I quit.

[fatnewt]

I just quit my job. I've been wanting to for a long time... not to leave that job specifically - it was a good job. But to work for myself. So now it's consulting, web publishing, blogging and business-and-world-domination-plan execution time -- full time.

I know some of you guys are already self-employed. Any pointers you have would be great ;) ... heh, wish me luck!

[samwoodfin]

No pointers, here, but good luck! And congratulations!

[pbradish]

Congratulations :).

As a self employed consultant my biggest tip is to do thorough research
on all aspects of running a business. Unfortunately you not only have to deal with consulting for your clients, but marketing, lead generation, accounting, and everything else as well (unless you can afford external help).

[snookca]

Congrats to a fellow freelancing Ottawan. w00t. Best of luck!

[HAWK]

Stay on top of your taxes. That's the bit I hate the most!

Good luck with your new venture.

I didn't have the guts to do it your way. I kept my day job and run my own company outside of hours.

[ses5909]

Congrats to you! I have had my "feelance" business for 5 years now and like Hawk, I didn't have the guts to give it up completely as my other job I enjoyed and paid awesome. It took me moving across the world to decide to go for it. This was just a year ago and so far so good. I make significantly less than I did but I am proud of what I've done so far. Good luck Colin!

[Jelena]

Good luck on your quest! It will be hard at the beginning, but I'm sure you'll find your way through it.

[GnomeyNewt]

Congrats on quiting your day job! Goodluck with your next step in life.

[fatnewt]

I didn't have the guts to do it your way. I kept my day job and run my own company outside of hours.


That's what I've done up until now, but I have way more fun doing my own thing. And it can support me.

It might be a while before I've replaced my full-time income, but I'm only 23. I was paid pretty well but I figure if I'm going to do this now I'd better do it before I'm making too much to walk away from!

But thanks everyone!

[SarahG]

I quit back in 2001 with nothing to go to but I landed on my feet and haven't worked full time for anyone since.

Personally I would say to try and be strict with yourself despite working from home, not having to get up for work etc. I still get up around 8am and try and ensure I'm at the computer at 9am. Come 5/6pm I've finished for the day and start to prepare dinner and plan my evening away from work (I'm not saying away from the computer, just don't get sucked into working at 10pm at night!). Of course you can easily lie in until midday and work until 8pm, but if you keep the day time routine it's usually easier to stick to.

Make sure you give yourself time off away from work. That's often the hardest thing. I use a virtual switchboard to control whether we get client calls or not. When we fancy a day off we put this straight to answer machine and usually go out. Also if you can prevent it, try not to give out your personal mobile number to clients, they'll call you any time of the day or night without a concern for you. I've had clients call me at 8pm when I'm out or eating dinner!

Also when you're not busy with client work, try and spend the spare working hours learning something new or working on something that could make you money in the long run. I certain wish I spent my spare time more productively when I first started out. Besides learning PHP, I wasted a lot of non-billed hours and now I don't get a lot of spare time or energy to do much extra!

Oh and good luck if nothing else ;)

[shyflower]

I've been doing this in one way or another since 1999. I'd advise you to read some of the SitePoint articles by Rachael Goldstein and Andrew Neitlich on starting your own freelance business. Put together a strategic business plan... one that tell you where you want to go and helps you decide how to get there.

Don't undersell yourself. Lots of new freelancers are tempted to drop their prices to increase their client list. You'll get what they're willing to pay for and from experience I can tell you that it's a long climb upward if you start at the bottom. Remember that the majority of your business will come from referrals. Good clients bring in good clients and poor clients bring in more of the same.

My two cents. :)

[fatnewt]

Sarah - yeah, this is what I'm trying to do. My wife still works full-time, so I'll basically be getting up with her and working from then until she gets home. I have Skype with a call-in number so I'm going to try to use that for clients when possible.

In terms of working, I have a number of Web sites that always need work, so when I'm not working with clients that's always a solid time investment.

shyflower - Yep, I've been reading SitePoint's articles for years - especially the business ones. I also have a general price that I charge for consulting, and I'm not going to put much flexibility on it.

I have been doing this part-time for a while now. This is just time to bring it to the forefront.

Thanks for all the tips!

[Michael Martin]

No advice here other than to say good luck. I hope everything works out, and that you enjoy it!

Let us know how things are going in a month from now? :)

[adalante]

Get some sort of organizer, a PDA or something and like HAWK said..get on top of your taxes, it's the same problem i face daily (i am self-employed too).