So I did it

Best of luck Koosi! Sounds like a dismal place to work (your last employer). Still, I know so many who diss their boss until they became one themselves and saw how difficult it is to build a succesfull company and keep all the staff happy. Anyways, sounds like you are on the road to finding that out. Personally I am more than happy to be working for a great boss at a great company with great benefits and an insanely good package in general. I seldom have to work overtime and for my qualifications and level of experience I seem to be earning about double the industry average. There are good jobs out there but its all dependant on the manager and the team in question.

Anyways, best of luck with the new endeavour! Just remember working for yourself is not getting rid of a boss, its getting thousands of new bosses (every customer).
 
Koosi said:
Thanks Guys
It is the best thing I ever did with my life, honestly. I will do this a hundred times over.

Unfortunately my ex-employer didn't take it very well. They are featured on MyBB every so often so I won't name them for legal reasons, but, just so that you know, they feel so threatened they went to great lengths to discredit me. Here is the list:

* Tried to discredit me with suppliers, told them I am incompetent/dishonest/etc.. A total waste of time since most of the suppliers have known me since 2003 and know me personally. So that was an EPIC FAIL, so they went up a notch.
* Got someone to replace me and said replacement dissed me to my face twice in 10 minutes.
* Told me to my face my business will fail
* Slipped malware onto my PC by demanding I fill in a timesheet for my notice month (they embedded a trojan in the Excel spreadsheet) and got hold of some correspondence I sent to a client in my own capacity, from home, using my bona-fide registered company e-mail account. Fortunately that is all they got hold of until I found the malware and dealt with it manually because the anti-virus doesn't detect it.

Many will say their is two sides to the story. My side of the story is an honest one, I did my best there, I kept my nose clean because I knew, they would pull these, and other stunts the day I left. Now I have the upper hand and it grates them.

In any case I have now turned my back on them, the moral of the story is don't look back, and trust me, you are always better off working for yourself. If I can do it, so can you, if you want inspiration or a reason, PM me.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the working-for-yourself-club. :)

Personally I would not willingly return to corporate employment unless it is under duress of an urgent need for food money.

The hours are long, short, harsh, easy. But at the end of the day, week, month you can see what you earned.
 
Congrats Koosi. I wish I had the balls to do something like that.

I saw my old man try to start three different companies and all three were failure which destroyed the family financially so I am risk averse.

That and I'm so overworked and under so much stress at work that the last thing I want to do when I get home is code.
 
For those that are wondering... its been around 28 days now working for myself, never been happier, more healthy, and I am making the money. Company is all registered, and besides my school fees with Sage Pastel, everything is on track, and I have customers.

Yes I work like a dog... I work from 8:00AM to sometimes 11:00 PM and with just two meal breaks. I don't even have the time to post here. But its rewarding work, come Friday afternoon to sit back, and see the efforts of my labours, going into my own bank account, not me making some douchebag boss rich at the expense of my health and sanity.

My previous company can go sit on it and rotate and shove their 8% increase up their arse.
 
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Awesome! Glad to hear it. One question I have regarding the long hour's etc is are you earning more per hour now than what you got from your boss? So for instance if your old work month was 200 hours at a company and you got 40K then your hourly rate was effectively R200p/h. If you do the same calc now are you ahead or behind and what are the prospects for changing the rate? I'm guessing your first month involved a lot of innitial setup and the second month would be more comparable but it would be an interesting exercise to do anyways!
 
Congratz,

BUT please leave the corporate hate/grudges in the past. It is time to move forward with a hope and cheer for what the future will bring.
If not that dislike will spread like a rot and infect that which was positive.
 
Inspirational thread. Congratulations, koosi and I wish you everything of the best. I wish you could name and shame those ripe old bastards. That's utterly the disgusting behaviour on their part. I'm also looking into doing my own thing. Tired of making other people rich.
 
For those who want to know.
I have about tripled my take home pay. The longer hours are not that much anymore because I am here all day every day so I can work fulltime on customer projects. In the past I used to work until 2AM every single night and then collapse into bed on Friday night at 6:30pm and sleep until 12 the next day. The first month (July) was really a tight month because I had to pay a lot of stuff i.e. company registrations, documents, company stamp, tools, extra equipment, etc... etc...etc..

For the first time in 2 1/2 years I can breathe financially. And that with a little bit of bad debt on the books, which is actually legacy bad debt from when I still ran this thing while employed. Some of that has been paid though. That does not mean I can do a spending spree of note. I am crushing some minor debt and busy making plans to buy a vehicle cash to do my rounds to customers and such. We have also allocated a budget to brand the vehicle from top to bottom as advertising.

I have been granted credit terms by at least one major supplier, so that is standing me in good stead. FNB also came to the party and gave me a sweet deal on banking facilities.

My aim for this remainder of the financial year is to get really on track and have a healthy income statement, then I can really start to look at employees, to assist me with some of the tasks I just cannot spare the time to do. It will also free me up to solicit new business. On Monday I went to a conference and I dished out my business card to all and sundry, which has so far produced one lead. MyBroadband has also been instrumental in helping me to find at least one good customer who keeps me busy.

My wife has also lamented me for not putting what happened at company X behind me so I won't mention it again. Apologies.
If I ever become a douchebag like any of the people I have worked for, please kick me in the balls. I doubt it though, I have been through so much to know better than to treat anyone in that way.
 
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BTW I agree with your wife.

You learn from your experiences and then put them behind you and move on, making sure that you never repeat their mistakes!

Harping on past, bad experiences creates a negativity that can become a disease and destroy your future...
 
Hi Koosi. Did you take some of the clients with you or are your current client base all newly solicited clients?

Good work thus far. Now just to get to the point where you consistently achieve a set guarenteed income each month...in the beginning there will be some bad months so you need to hedge yourself against those by saving any surplusses from your current good months (or by reinvesting those back into your business).

If you think about it, the only real benefit of working for a salary is that you are guarenteed X amount per month, without any risk. And it is work now, get paid now kind of thing where having your own business you often get paid only later (or not at all). Downside of salary is that income is pretty much fixed unless there is opportunity for promotion where working for yourself you can decide how much you put in and get out.

If you can get a handfull of good clients, and service them well, it is better than having lots of crappy clients that take all your time and dont pay.

Anyway good luck.
 
No these are all clients I got that had nothing to do with my previous employ at all. I am very careful about that. What has happened is the customers have been finding me, through word of mouth. The first customer I got in 2011, they went quiet for more than a year and suddenly in 2013 they wanted me to do a boat-load of work for them. I somehow also found a marketing strategy that works for me, 9 out of 10 times I get the business. When that was working, I woke up on that fateful morning of the 27th of June 2014 and decided, today is the day, I drove to my employer's HO, asked to see HR, and handed in my resignation. Done and dusted in 10 minutes. Later that afternoon my name reservation went into the CIPC... and just after the 18th of July I got my company documents.

The day word got out in the industry that I resigned, I have had people knocking down my door to come and see me. Approximately 100 people have been here from the industry, suppliers, customers, interested parties, etc... The phone started ringing from the 5th of July, and now I am being invited to every seminar, every conference...


And that is what I do, save surplusses and use an emergency fund for the not so good months.
I did give this a trial run earlier in the year and it went well so I decided to take the plunge.
Service accounts i.e stuff like the internet is in credit, so if I can't pay one month, the credit will cover me.

There is only one customer who is a problematic payer, and its not their fault, they do eventually pay, when the government pulls the finger out and pays them.

I will be honest, most of the customers experienced a dip from me during some of the hardest times I had while still employed, but now that I am able to service them every day, things are much much better. I found honesty is the best policy, I went to them and explained that it was kind of very hard to get all the work out while working 8 hours a day for a company who wants everything done "by friday".
 
Koosi said:
No these are all clients I got that had nothing to do with my previous employ at all. I am very careful about that. What has happened is the customers have been finding me, through word of mouth. The first customer I got in 2011, they went quiet for more than a year and suddenly in 2013 they wanted me to do a boat-load of work for them. I somehow also found a marketing strategy that works for me, 9 out of 10 times I get the business. When that was working, I woke up on that fateful morning of the 27th of June 2014 and decided, today is the day, I drove to my employer's HO, asked to see HR, and handed in my resignation. Done and dusted in 10 minutes. Later that afternoon my name reservation went into the CIPC... and just after the 18th of July I got my company documents.

The day word got out in the industry that I resigned, I have had people knocking down my door to come and see me. Approximately 100 people have been here from the industry, suppliers, customers, interested parties, etc... The phone started ringing from the 5th of July, and now I am being invited to every seminar, every conference...


And that is what I do, save surplusses and use an emergency fund for the not so good months.
I did give this a trial run earlier in the year and it went well so I decided to take the plunge.
Service accounts i.e stuff like the internet is in credit, so if I can't pay one month, the credit will cover me.

There is only one customer who is a problematic payer, and its not their fault, they do eventually pay, when the government pulls the finger out and pays them.

I will be honest, most of the customers experienced a dip from me during some of the hardest times I had while still employed, but now that I am able to service them every day, things are much much better. I found honesty is the best policy, I went to them and explained that it was kind of very hard to get all the work out while working 8 hours a day for a company who wants everything done "by friday".
Click to expand...

Oh ok, so you did have a few clients on the side while still being employed...as extra income and to feel the water? That is important as you dont start from absolute scratch when you eventually decide to go full solo. Did you ask a very low rate at first to compensate for not being available during work hours?

I am in the accountant/auditing profession so this is something I am considering. A few friends have gone solo with practices a year or so after finishing articles instead of becoming CA, and seem to be doing ok. I am still trying for my CA though as I feel I have more to offer that way.

Doing clients on the side is an idea, and relatively easy to get but I just feel a bit uncomfortable justifying charching a customer X when you cant see them during work hours because you are employed. Also they might feel it is not legit or that you have another "real" day job and that this is just on the side and they can easily misuse you because of that. My boss is not the problem, as long as I get my work done. That is how he started while doing articles at one of the big 4 and even afterwards, seeing clients at 9 at night in his garage. Many clients eventually came over to him when he started his own firm.

I guess you just have to be open and go for it. Luckily a lot of what my work entails I can do from home at night, as long as the client sends me the info.

Something I will definately consider.
 
Get your CA. Will do wonders for your charge-out rates (and the juniors you will hire to carry out work for you).
If you can't finish CA, then specialise - tax consulting, IT Risk, etc - specialise.
And go for it!


Stefanmuller said:
Oh ok, so you did have a few clients on the side while still being employed...as extra income and to feel the water? That is important as you dont start from absolute scratch when you eventually decide to go full solo. Did you ask a very low rate at first to compensate for not being available during work hours?

I am in the accountant/auditing profession so this is something I am considering. A few friends have gone solo with practices a year or so after finishing articles instead of becoming CA, and seem to be doing ok. I am still trying for my CA though as I feel I have more to offer that way.

Doing clients on the side is an idea, and relatively easy to get but I just feel a bit uncomfortable justifying charching a customer X when you cant see them during work hours because you are employed. Also they might feel it is not legit or that you have another "real" day job and that this is just on the side and they can easily misuse you because of that. My boss is not the problem, as long as I get my work done. That is how he started while doing articles at one of the big 4 and even afterwards, seeing clients at 9 at night in his garage. Many clients eventually came over to him when he started his own firm.

I guess you just have to be open and go for it. Luckily a lot of what my work entails I can do from home at night, as long as the client sends me the info.

Something I will definately consider.
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Still alive and kicking here, for those that are wondering.
Not frequently present on the forum anymore, too much work and too many client interactions = zero internet free time.

Here we are November the 2nd 2014, feels like a decade ago I last worked for a company. Felt like that hard working holiday you take when you finish Matric. You work, but its a holiday ;)

My wife joined me as a part-time employee, the rest of the time she runs her own business too.

I am now stressed, but not about anything that I am doing, but because I woke up today to bad news about Eishkom. If they cut the power here for 4 hours a day, I may as well give up now and emigrate. I cannot tolerate losing 4 hours of work a day, that will tank me.
 
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Koosi said:
I am now stressed, but not about anything that I am doing, but because I woke up today to bad news about Eishkom. If they cut the power here for 4 hours a day, I may as well give up now and emigrate. I cannot tolerate losing 4 hours of work a day, that will tank me.
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So sorry, man. I hope you're not hit and can pull through. We need people like you.
 
Koosi said:
Still alive and kicking here, for those that are wondering.
Not frequently present on the forum anymore, too much work and too many client interactions = zero internet free time.

Here we are November the 2nd 2014, feels like a decade ago I last worked for a company. Felt like that hard working holiday you take when you finish Matric. You work, but its a holiday ;)

My wife joined me as a part-time employee, the rest of the time she runs her own business too.

I am now stressed, but not about anything that I am doing, but because I woke up today to bad news about Eishkom. If they cut the power here for 4 hours a day, I may as well give up now and emigrate. I cannot tolerate losing 4 hours of work a day, that will tank me.
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Probably a stupid question but wouldn't a generator cover those four hours?
Cheaper than emigrating.
 
Pho3nix said:
Probably a stupid question but wouldn't a generator cover those four hours?
Cheaper than emigrating.
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Indeed it is, if I can convince my wife. She hates them generators for some reason. I have never had a problem with them.
Well she is here now so she can see firsthand what happens, I am pretty sure the green light will come after the first few unproductive days ;)
 
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