Working for yourself

[Wai]

but there's a few people here who work for themselves, right? either freelancing for projects ... or running their own business.

how did you make that transition, and would you ever go back?

Why did I make the transition? Because I was retrenched three times even though I was working with top Fortune 500 companies. When you are retrenched three times, you will come to the same conclusion I did years ago: The only person who cares about me is me.

How did I make the transition? I learned as much as I could. I saved as much money as I could and I took the plunge by simply resigning from my last job and starting my business the next day.

If you want to start your own business, please do not do it the way I did. Start your own business and work on it part-time while you are still working for the corporates, if you can. Only when your part-time business becomes more stable, then you can leave the corporates and work on your business full-time. The most crucial time for a small business is the first two years when you have very few customers. You will need money to tie you over these two years as you build your business.

Will I go back? During the early years, there were moments that I wanted to go back as running a business was really tough. Nowadays, with my business more established, there are moments that I regretted not starting my own business earlier.

One benefit that I never expected is becoming more aware of human nature, psychology, and honesty and fair play. When times are bad, I will do some self-reflection on why things are not as good. There is always be a reason: bad service, lousy products, quality standards are slipping, bluffing the customers, unfairness and dishonesty towards staff and customers. And once I correct these bad practices and treat customers with respect and honesty, they will be back. It is like heaven is also noticing and you will have their support. Perhaps they do!

Incidentally, it was during my more difficult years running my business that I discovered “The Diamond Sutra”, "Seth" and “The Law of One”.