“You need a blog to succeed these days” But do I? - I mean - I'm about to turn 41 and have never written one but I've done OK, I think. Then again, I've only quite recently struck out on my own and I would like more people to know that. So, despite being a fairly introverted numbers geek, here I am. Blogging.
Scroll to end for TL;DR
I have no clear idea what I'll be writing about in the future, or how frequently, but in my journey from employment to freelance I have learned not to be fazed by this and I am actually enjoying these unfamiliar new challenges that starting a business has tossed at me. I guess for this first post it may be useful to explain why I left employment and how I came to start my business.
Almost two years ago to the day, my husband and I put our house in London on the market. I had handed in my notice and had a few weeks to serve. My husband had started a new job in London working part-time and had negotiated to work mostly from home. Our move took 8 months and during that time I mainly project managed the relocation, but I did undertake a short contract that would end up being instrumental to my decision to start a business.
I wanted to settle properly in our new town of Newark, Nottinghamshire and had planned a career break for up to a year. I used some of that time to research all sorts of new career options and also started volunteering in my local community. After 5 months another contract opportunity came up with the same firm - this time mainly remote with a fortnightly visit to London.
That second contract was much longer and so I was able to really learn whether remote work was for me (or my client), if the long commute was feasible and if it was possible to work the contract around my volunteering. It was still a trial phase so I used an umbrella company rather than strike out on my own. I loved it and accepted an extension.
Then another volunteering opportunity came up, to train and then help children to learn to enjoy reading. I started that application process just days before another paid opportunity came in. That was when I realised that if I was going to pursue paid work and fit it around other fixed commitments I would need to work for myself so I could fully control that.
So last September I set up Jo Gordon Consulting Ltd. I’ve recently finished that first paid contract and I am now taking the break that I promised myself to do some training and market myself properly. So here I am. Blogging.
TL;DR
Left full time employment because planned to move somewhere those roles don’t exist or the commute is too long to get to them
Took a career break to research alternatives, but realised freelancing in same industry was compatible with new location and lifestyle
After umbrella contracting on and off for about a year set up Jo Gordon Consulting Ltd 8 months ago