- Mr. Chicken Gets a Day Job by Snitterdog on Etsy
I’m still trying to get back into the swing of things after a couple of weeks of Superbowl and Mardi Gras craziness (more Mardi Gras pictures here), but there’s something that’s been on my mind lately, the whole “quitting your dayjob” thing… Well, it’s been on my mind off and on for a long time, but this recent thread on Etsy really struck a nerve.
It seems like a lot of the people out there who focus full-time on craft businesses, Etsy shops, blogging, freelance design businesses, etc, have a partner or spouse with a steady income stream. That steady partner in crime helps make it possible for so many of these people to take the leap and devote more time to their creative business endeavors. But what about those people who are single? And what about people like me, who have a partner, but we’re the one with the steady day job (and a crafty biz on top of that!) and our partners are ALSO trying to make a go of it with sometimes-not-so-steady freelance income.
My boyfriend is a freelance filmmaker for a living. Sometimes the work is steady. Sometimes he’ll have lots of jobs lined up for a month, and then one by one, some of them might decide to cancel or postpone shoots at the last minute. He does a lot of commercial work for local small businesses (he works with this company that is offering a free custom video for your website for 3 months… if you’re in NOLA & interested, let me know and I can hook you up). I can understand that things come up, and people need to cancel for whatever reason. But it sucks. It sucks for him and it sucks for me too. Sometimes he manages to land jobs on the major Hollywood film productions that come into town, but he’s also had plenty of experiences with those types of jobs where things fall through and people flake out too. (It’s kind of ridiculous how many major film production jobs he’s had where he’s had to struggle and fight to get paid after the job is done.) So how do you deal with 2 unsteady freelance incomes? And as a freelancer, how do you prevent people from screwing you over?
I’m not ready to quit my job yet, but I’ve been working to get myself to that point. I’m planning to launch my new online store next month (sneak peek here), and I’m hoping that once that takes off, I’ll have a steady enough income to make it possible to quit my job. Some people have flexible jobs where they can switch to part-time work first and make a smooth transition. I tried investigating that already. Unfortunately that won’t be possible. I’m a little bitter about it, but I’ll deal.
Anyway… there have to be more of you out there, right? People who are trying to make a go of it full-time with your own business but don’t have the support of a partner with a steady day job with benefits, etc? Creative types attract other creative types, but how do you make a life together with two completely unsteady streams of income and never mind the health care situation in this country and how hard all of that is… (I currently have health insurance through my day job, for the first time in my life. My parents owned their own business growing up, and just paid for everything out of pocket. My mom almost bankrupted herself when she was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of years ago. My boyfriend doesn’t have health insurance currently since he’s self-employed. Who knows what we’ll do if something horrible happens.)
Tell me your stories… maybe you’ve already quit your day job, or you’re trying to quit your day job? Doing it on your own or with a partner in crime? How do you make it work?
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
This is a good one, I just took the plunge and did it. Had a terrible car accident and an epiphany. My life goal now is to do something you love passionately and make money doing it. I’ve read so much about others who have done it, I just CANNOT see why I can’t do it too. So it’s time to take action!
It’s tough seeing your savings drain but I’m lucky to have a husband with a steady job although I really want to be self-reliant. I’ve always been and can’t wait to get there
Amy, sorry to hear that a car accident was the cause, but glad you made the plunge! Maybe it takes crazy things… my boyfriend actually made the plunge after a co-worker threw a Blackberry at his head. (He worked in IT before he quit to work freelance.)
Mallory, I hear everything you are saying. It is tough for sure. Heather Elizabeth Designs is my full time job. I pay for my own health insurance and everything else. It is not easy and with the recession it has only gotten much harder. I love being my own boss. But, when it comes to filing taxes, business paperwork, etc. I want to drive a nail through my head. Recently, I have been very sick. I am so glad that I got the health insurance b/c I have gone without until very recently. After this experience of being so sick, I strongly urge anyone who is about to become self employed to make sure you have health insurance. I was healthy as horse and suddenly got struck down out of nowhere. If I didn’t have the insurance, I would be in some serious trouble right now. The other thing I would strongly suggest is to make sure to put away as much as possible in a rainy day fund. It’s another thing that comes in handy if business is slow or if you can’t work the monthly art markets. You never know when you may need extra cash on hand and I am not a trust fund baby, so I am reliant on myself to get the bills paid. All in all, I think it is very rewarding to be your own boss. But, it certainly has it’s challenges. As it is right now, I have to get my taxes done and I AM DREADING IT!!!
But, if I don’t sit down and do it, the paperwork just sits there. That was certainly one of the perks with my 9-5 job 10 years ago. I got off at 5pm and work was over until I got to work the next day. Now, being self employed for the last 8 years, I have learned the hard way that my job is 24-7. Weekends are no longer “mine”, they belong to Heather Elizabeth Designs. I have to make a real effort to take a break and I will be honest and say that I haven’t done that in a very long time. (is probably why I got so sick). My best advice is to make sure you have some “cushion” before doing it all at once. I did it all at once and it was soooo hard those first 3 years. I had to move back to parents house at one point! But, I was dead set on building my business b/c it is my heart and soul. If you are going to jump in full time, be ready for some serious sacrifices. I wasn’t prepared for that and it was really tough in the beginning. In the end, I think it is well worth it and real self confidence builder! Keep up the great work, Mallory! I am very proud of you.
Much NOLA love, Heather Elizabeth
The situation you are describing in your post is very similar to mine. I have worked as a school psychologist for many years, but yearn to retire as early as possible and run my own business. Towards that goal, I am already selling antiques at two antique malls, sometimes on eBay, and I also design avant-garde jewelry to sell in my Etsy shop. I have a blog too, which is great fun but also consumes a lot of my time. My husband stopped working for a local law firm and struck out on his own, starting his own law office several years ago. Therefore, I’m the one with the steady paycheck, health insurance, etc. So now I need to really promote my Etsy shop, improve my blog, and try to start generate some income online. That’s my goal for this year! I am very, very passionate, focused, and driven to reach my goal. I get up each morning at 5:00 a.m. to work on my blog and making connections with others before I get ready for work. I won’t stop until I am successfully running a profitable business. Just watch me!
Heather Elizabeth, I was sad to hear when you got sick, but I’m glad to know that you had picked up health insurance in the nick of time! It’s definitely something I need to investigate more closely before I leave my day job. And the rainy day/emergency fund is a big one, I’ve been working diligently to build that as well.
Mitzi, it does sound very similar! Best of luck with all of your own endeavors, you sound very passionate so I’m sure you’ll achieve your goals soon enough!
Made the leap last November, and been trucking along ever since… the money hasn’t run out yet, anyway. I do admittedly have one big safety net- my parents own the house I live in, and while I do pay them rent, it’s good to know that if a crisis really does come down, I’m not going to be homeless. (I might be sitting in the dark eating cheese sandwiches, but at least not homeless!) I don’t think I would have been brave enough to make the leap before this house-thing happened. Interestingly enough, ditching the day job has made me free to take up more freelance jobs that I would have had to pass up in the past, so it’s working out. However, since a lot of my money comes from costume design, I sense a drought on the horizon now that Mardi Gras is past. My other source of income is acting, so being free to go to more auditions and pick up and travel if I need to is being VERY convenient. —-VR
Veronica, yes housing does seem to be one of those other big issues. Some of the full-time self-employed people I know locally have that same sort of situation… they have a great living situation (inherited the family home, fully paid off, etc. or have extremely cheap rent) and that makes it simpler. We cut our costs some when we moved into a more energy efficient home last spring; electricity is included, so that’s one less bill to worry about! I do think there are a lot of other ways I could branch out and make supplemental income, if only I had the time. And if things really came down to it, my mom only lives an hour away and has plenty of room for us, although moving along with our two businesses into her home is something I’d like to avoid.
BF and I are both freelancers. He tends to get more work than me, but I’ve managed to land a contract that seems like it’ll be a done deal forever, if I decide to stay and if I do a bang up job until March.
So in essence, I’m making the salary of a freelancer, working a pretty steady job.
For when we both were benched, we just lived way, way, way below our means and relaxed.
I guess that’s my biggest tip — making sure you save lots of money from the fat times so you can wait out the lean times.
Sometimes when you make $100,000 in a year, it may have to last for 3 years — $33,000/year, if you don’t get anything in between (as an extreme case).
And in our line of work, being a freelancer is just as steady as being an employee — companies lay off consultants all the time when times are rough to save money.
i got some very good advice 10 years ago when I started selling my work and that was to have a good part time job for insurance and when times get tough. fortunately my job dovetails what I do- i encourage students to follow their dreams, and in turn have something left to give creatively. i have never wanted to do art markets full time but they forced me to create on deadline, which i needed. selling from etsy encouraged me to make the things i wanted but didnt know to reach those customers. you are going about this all the right ways- research, seeking council and sowing the seeds. it will happen for you! you can never go wrong with hard work and a positive attitude!
I left my day job because it the work environment was unbearable. I was the one with the steady job in my house, too. I don’t know if I was really ready to quit, but it is working out. Having a safety net is definitely important. I also made sure I was really stocked up on everything I needed business-wise before I left. (jewelry supplies, office supplies) I have been full-time crafty-business for 5 months now and it’s been fabulous so far. It’s been kind of stressful since the beginning of the year because things have slowed down (like they always do at the beginning of the year) but even that stress is nothing like the stress I had with my day job. I think it was easier for me to quit because I knew I had to leave my day job either way – it was that unbearable – and figured if it didn’t work out, I would just find another job.
I truly believe now that if you do what you love and are supposed to do, the money will come somehow. I heard that before quitting and being that I am very much a planner, I couldn’t image how that could work and how I would know if I would be able to pay the rent, the electric, etc…but I am telling you that it somehow it does work out when it needs to.
I also think it’s important to get a lot of different income streams coming in. I could never make on Etsy alone, or just one shop on it’s own. I am in several shops, sell online, do shows, teach workshops and do custom orders for people. Just one of those incomes would not work….but pulling all the different incomes together does.
I agree with Heather Elizabeth, it is a 24-7 job. It never turns off. Weekends are not your own, and you don’t get to be done at 5 pm. Of course, on the other hand, no one can tell you that you can’t take a day off to go on a road trip with your boyfriend or if your mom is sick you can’t go to her house for a couple of days to take care of her. I do those things, too.
Good luck with your decision. It is definitely a difficult one. I don’t think that anyone can tell you if you can do it, or how to do it. You have to know yourself it will work and be as prepared as possible.
I shared my story with the Etsy last year: http://www.etsy.com/storque/spotlight/quit-your-day-job-tigerlillyshop-5917/ I found it helpful to put it all down in writing to help others learn from my experience. And because of the exposure on etsy, CNN called and you can see that here: http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/business/2010/01/26/feyerick.dream.jobs.cnn
I think this conversation is one of personal choice in life. How do we make a life for ourselves in a sustainable way as women and as creative individuals? Each of us will do it in our own way. We have to think about what is important and make it happen. Education, opportunities in the regions we each live in, the people we surround ourselves with all play into one’s own success.
Thanks for all of your stories and your support! It’s encouraging to hear the different experiences that people have had and the way people have approached this. It’s definitely a find-your-own-path kind of thing… I’m still working on finding mine!
Currently, I do happen to have a spouse with a “day job”. However, I’ve spent most of my life working for myself in one way or another – like now with said spouse, in the past with a boyfriend running a shared business, and as a single girl running a sole proprietorship.
Each has had their advantages, and each their disadvantages. When I got chemical poisoning from my painting career, having a partner to keep a roof over our head while I tried to get better and then figure out what the heck I was going to do with the rest of my life was amazing. That said, I definitely run my business differently than I would if I were single. I take fewer chances and find myself working around his schedule, which is not a natural one to me and definitely cuts into productivity.
I guess I’m trying to say there is more than one way of looking at the “safety net”. I was most definitely hungrier and more daring when I was single, and I am still trying to figure out how to make those qualities work for me now, without creating conflict with my spouse.
That’s something I rarely hear people talk about in those quit-you-day-job essays, and sometimes I wonder what’s really going on behind the shiny story…
I will admit that I’m always somewhat disappointed when I read those “Quit Your Day Job” stories and the person who quit their job is being supported by their partner while they pursue an artistic career. Of course, I can’t lie: I am a teensy bit jealous, but I know that this is something I have to do on my own and hopefully that will make it all the sweeter when I get to where I want to be. I know that starting my own business and everything I’ve learned from it has provided me with waaaay more confidence than I had before.
I do have my fiancee as a source of inspiration though. We both worked at the same restaurant I’m currently employed at, but he quit last September to pursue his photography full-time. Money is tighter now than it’s ever been, but I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.
I work 4 nights at the restaurant and that really motivates me to work harder during the time I have off. I fill all the remaining hours with my art because all I want is to get out of the service industry forever. Living with someone who’s done it is a constant reminder that it can be done. No matter what it takes, no matter how hard it is, no matter how poor I might be, I’m going to keep putting one foot in front of the next until that awesome day when I hand in my 2 weeks notice and can finally say that I’m free.
Lauren, you GO, girl! Putting one foot in front of the other is the key. You don’t get anywhere by dreaming, wishing, or talking about what you want to do. My favorite saying is “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.
Oooh, Lao Tzu! I love that quote of his, too. I know any big goal can seem daunting and frustrating, but it is never impossible. Thanks so much for your support!
I’m so happy to read this thread and hear from all of you in similar situations! I work full time and run my small business on the side as well. My boyfriend is a contract film editor and is also without insurance. Right now we’re in the mode of saving as much as we possibly can to create a big safety net for when we’re ready to completely cut the strings from the steady full time day job. It’s scary, but also exciting. I figure I’m that much more likely to make it if I’m completely dependent on doing so. I also adore the fact that Vivi Dot has become more and more of a partnership between my boyfriend and myself as we both work hard to make it a reality for us as a team. Though having a partner that would make it easy financially may sound nice from time to time, I also realize that a set up like that would be so far from my do it all myself roots that I’m not sure how I’d even deal with it.
Molly, your situation sounds remarkably similar to mine! Best of luck in your quest, I’m sure you’ll pull it off. Cute shop by the way!
I’m so glad I found this post! My husband and I both have Etsy shops, and he has the income… but with only one job we really struggle. I’m trying everything to make a go of my shop, and his. Otherwise, I’m going to have to find work out of the home and our 3 girls will go back to spending most of their day with a sitter. We have to stick together, right? Good luck!
I only got to the 8th line of this post before I had to raise my hand and say Amen! This has been on my mind lately, and for a while I found that I was growing increasingly envious of people who have a partner to support them & take care of the basic necessities while they pursued their dreams. “If I had that safety net, I’d be all gung-ho indie business, too!” I thought.
Such thinking was less than productive to say the least, so I’ve started to focus on ways to generate multiple streams of income so I CAN reasonably quit my 9-5. I’m doing better, but still get frustrated when I don’t have enough time to execute the ideas that could lead to financial independence because I spend so much time at work! It’s like a never-ending cycle!
Thanks Miss M. and everyone who responded for sharing their stories. I definitely feel encouraged.
My significant other has a very unsteady income as do I. Granted, we are both in college, but I think that our situation is just as important as those in the “real” world with “real” jobs and “real” bills. We still have to pay for rent and utilities, gas and food, classes, books, fees and all kinds of other expenses. We don’t have time to work enough to make enough money to pay the bills, I live off my Etsy shop and a scholarship here and there. He lives off of grants and his measly job. We make it work because we have to, we don’t really have a choice. I know that’s not exactly what you’re looking for, but that’s how we do it. We need to pay for rent so we make it work. We need to eat, so we make it work. We need to stay in school because otherwise we’d be super crazy broke, so we make that work too.
My boyfriend supports my endeavors, and I his. I hope to be able to work for myself after graduation and not have to work for “the man” very long, if at all! I am trying to boost my shop and get a firm footing before I graduate so that when I do, I have a good foundation and don’t have to tread through the beginning stages of business.
So I guess if my dreams came true, it wouldn’t be so much “Quitting My Day Job” as it would be “Avoiding a Day Job Altogether” and its a nice dream
Great topic.
I’m a 54 year young guy in Toronto Canada who does online and/or offline marketing.
I was kicked to the curb at 51 years young in a sense by the job market.
Best thing that ever happened to me.
I say in a sense because I could go out and get something making maybe 9- 12 bucks hourly….max to give me the opportunity to have a 26 year old kid as my boss.
Tried that a couple of times…. no more.
My wife and I did not do that. Instead we parked our car …I’ve had one since 17 (tough one) down sized our monthly bills and since we have zero debt my wife has a job which keeps us paying bills so I can keep rocking online.
That takes maturity, vision and team work for my wife and I.
She also knows though that I am a hard worker when I’m home.
I will surpass my wife’s income this year and reitre her on her 50th birthday.
So we get rid of some “stuff” temporarily to build wealth online.
There are many folks out there who don’t have support as you say of the other half or are single.
So what.
Get busy. There are many like minded folks you should be able to connect to and learn from. I did and still do that daily.
Is it tough? Of course. So what.
The reason the internet to me is so great is LEVERAGE.
Obviuosly folks know this but do they use leverage properly?
We teach this in our systems.I build MY BUSINESS but MODEL LEADERS in my niche.
Anyone can do the same.
Listen folks: The only free cheese is in the mouse trap.
“The only free cheese is in the mouse trap”
Wow. How profound. I love that! I’m going to keep that quote in the back of my mind for whenever I get frustrated.
Hi Missmalaprop,
I think you are so right regarding how much today’s society has changed and the dramatic change in occupations. I do feel that a lot of women turned to the blogging sphere as they were at home (after doing the 2927262 chores) and wanted to express their feelings and keep themselves occupied. You still see that nowadays, but it has changed as well.
As to quitting the job, with today’s economy it seems many would die for a job; nonetheless, you have your feet planted in awesome soil – I wish you the best of luck with your online store – I am sure it will be an overwhelming success.
To show you how much I feel the blogging sphere has evolved, I have included a link, written by a student, concerning what she feels the job world is like. Please check it out if you get a chance.
Best Wishes.