How do you choose?
Posted by Stephen on
February 4, 2006
Futurelooks has been doing very well for a while now. After seeing how LaptopLifestyle has grown in the course of a week or so, the difficult choice is now upon me: Do I continue to work for “The Man” or do I become “The Man”? Although I enjoy making a double income now, I really miss the free time that I used to have to go do other things. Currently, I’m pulling in over 60 - 70 hrs a week and it is starting to wear on me. I know that if I stop working for LD, I have the potential to make more money with my own company. With that extra 40 hrs freed up, I can finally push myself in promoting my two web properties.
I know that this is possible because last year, when I was involved in a car accident that left my back and neck in a mess, I spent a full month on Futurelooks, and ended up tripling the revenue the site took in. Those gains have grown and stabilized for the long term. I was amazed at how much more I did without having the interruptions of going into work for my daily shift plus, I enjoyed waking up early every morning to get a good start on the days tech news, and seeing what other sites were working on.
It’s not that I don’t like what I do at work. When exceptional clients come through the door, I feel empowered to do more. When I get a client who is an ignorant ass that demands that he or she is a “Consumer” and is rude and demanding for no other reason but to satisfy ego, then I feel turned off for the rest of the day. I receive the extremes of both rudeness, ignorance but at times kindness. Also, to add fuel to the fire, the company decided to trade away my extremely good Assistant Manager for someone that is clearly not at the same level.
I appreciate this person’s confidence, but the proof is in the pudding: This person is does not have the ability or ambition to fulfill the role and step into mine. This is truly unfortunate, and I feel pity for this person. Because I know I am someone with an extremely strong work ethic, I would feel very upset if I was kept around because no one had the heart to tell me I wasn’t the right fit. It would be a waste of my time, and it would have prevented me from finding a position elsewhere in which I could excel. I guess this is both a blessing and a curse because it means that the company is extremely committed to its employees. However, at the same time, it makes life a living hell for others, it brings down the level of performance in the company, and ultimately, it makes someone like me want to leave.
I guess I feel somewhat held back because I am having to put in so much time and energy into trying to train someone that should already be my equal. An advantage that I had when I came into the department due to a strong assistant in waiting, but was later taken away because this person was so exceptional. I had such plans to build the business knowing that the general business was taken care of. Because things were so smooth, the extra hours I put in outside of the job seemed a whole lot more fun.
Before taking my current position, I interviewed for another job that would have given me the challenges equal to what I encounter with my two web properties. This was a position that would allow me to interact directly with vendors of products that the company sold. Since I deal with companies every day to ensure a steady stream of content and product, I thought it was a good match. Since I was turned down, I’ve found myself wondering where else I could fit in the company. I guess I could always talk to someone and just find out where they thought my skills would be able to contribute.
On the other hand, quitting a regular job with an employed income does have its downsides. I will be responsible for my own medical. I will no longer look as good in the eyes of the bank when it comes time to upgrade my home. I’ll also miss out on vacation time and retirement contributions. I can see why people have such a hard time leaving their day jobs to take a risk. Speaking of the people, I will really miss the people I work with. There are a lot of very smart and talented people in this company.
This is a tough one. Any advice folks?
Quit already!
How about a leave of absence???
I should look into a leave of absense. That might not be a bad idea to see if I am really able to sustain, but it might be a mental block to take risks and make it big since I have somewhere to fall if I fail.
“Life begins when you jump off the cliff”. So jump man…i’m surprised it’s taken you the better part of ten years to get to the cliff in first part. You did what you needed, and if you need to put off upgrading the house for a couple years, oh well…you’re under 30 ffs. Think of this: even if things fail miserably, it’s not like you don’t have marketable skills you can take back. Remember when I had to return to retail a couple years ago? It’s not that big of a deal man.
What about working part-time?
Actually, I let the management know what my plans were, and I told them that May, is when I would be leaving, so yup! I did it!
They asked me to stay, reconsider, at least work part time, maybe 8 - 16 hrs a week. I told them I’d need to think about it.
Time for a BLOG entry about this!