The thought of building my own business crossed my mind
I have been in the same spot many different times. And each time, the thought to start my own business crossed my mind. But I didn’t know where to start. The first time was when I was done studying, not because I had my degree, but because I failed and had no opportunity to go back to school to study something else.I was lost, didn’t know what to do. Eventually I worked for a while, sometimes weeks, or months and then I had to search for another job. That was pretty much the pattern of my early years of employment.
Until I landed an unconventional job. I say unconventional because I had to deal with truck drivers and blue collar workers, and that was not an easy thing to do for a 24 year old, but I loved it. Only, after a few years, I realized I wanted something more.
The greatest part of my career came when I landed a job with a big multi-national. For me, it was the best job, in the best company, with the best colleagues. I ended up being a global coordinator and project manager. After several years, some company bought us up and I had to search for other jobs again. Same pattern. It wasn’t easy to find a job that was at the same level, because I didn’t have the degree to go with it or the certifications. And whenever I went for a job that matched my level of school education, they declined me because they believed the job would bore me very quickly since I had too much experience.
This job made me feel vibrant again
Once in a while I landed a temporary job. And the last job I had, made me feel vibrant again and eager to go to work. That was because of the colleagues and the chances my manager offered me. I had the opportunity to use my experience and share my knowledge and I loved it! Until we got another manager and everything changed. My contract ended somewhere in December. They asked me back after a few weeks, but I had have time to think.
My thoughts went along these lines. “Hm, I am an admin on a temporary basis. I am doing the job of a project manager. Although I like the job, I don’t like the circumstances. I could do the same job with much more freedom and a much higher income. Maybe I could do this as a freelancer, that would give me some wiggle room”. So I negotiated and they gave me the price I wanted. But I got only 3 weeks to do the job. That wasn’t a possible so I said no.
Start my own business at 56 is totally worth it.
But it got me thinking. Why on earth would I start searching for another poorly paid job when I could do more interesting things as a freelancer. After all, I do have the experience and nobody asks for a degree when you apply for a freelance job. At that time, Hilde was also at home and we coached each other. One thing led to another and soon we were talking about starting our own company. I had dreamed about that for years! One time, I even started a company to sell my paintings, but it failed due to all sorts of circumstances, maybe mainly because I wasn’t ready to face the obstacles and I didn’t have a clear vision.
Having a partner in crime that I know really well and that I love and respect is a huge advantage! But also having a community that we can turn to for all sorts of advice and support, makes this journey much more real. The Knowledge Broker business that we ended up in, came very serendipitous in our lives, so we keep following the nudges and the breadcrumbs and are growing into the people that we need to be to make this business a success. I feel adventurous and although at the moment we are not sure if we will ever get our niche right and our target customer, I am confident that we made the right choice and that. To start my own business at 56 is going to be worth it, totally!
