Guest Post: Babu Basu

Babu Basu is a freelance writer and creator of adverts, articles and web content. As a fellow ‘redundant’, he picked himself up, dusted himself down, and set up babubasu.com

Mine’s the company Porsche.

Want to start your own company? Are you sure? Are you sane?

I admit it. I’ve been seduced by Dragon’s Den.

Seduced by the unfeasibly expensive cars. Intoxicated by impeccable clothes and emotionally hi-jacked by that hovering helicopter. The message of the show is clear, start a company, work damn hard and watch the money roll in.
Erm…

I set up my own freelance writing company in 2008. It has been the best and worst thing I have ever done.
Having your company is like being a parent.

You lie awake at night worrying how the company will prosper. Are you giving it the right start in life? Can you protect it from bad people?  What happens when it grows up?

Like parenting, running your own business eats into your free time, day and night.

Granted, I’m not changing nappies or bottle feeding, but stress and deadlines keep me awake. My head is often buzzing with ideas, worries, wisdom. It’s hard to switch off.

Parents spending time away from children are consumed with guilt. I’m the same with my businesses. How can I possibly leave it by itself, defenceless, cold and hungry?

But, it’s not all tears and fears.

Having something/someone to look after can be an incredible privilege.

You learn a lot.

If you’re prepared to make mistakes (and you will make them) the learning will take you places you never thought possible. You spot opportunity and develop great instincts. (After you’ve been burnt a few times, you learn to stay away from the fire, or at least turn it down).

You’re in control.

Working for others can be frustrating if you are limited by your role. Start your own company and suddenly you have TOTAL CONTROL. You are now the Finance Department, HR, Marketing, Security. YOU ARE EVERYTHING.
Scary yes, rewarding, you bet!

“authentic: How to make a living by being yourself” Review

Back-cover: “authentic, offers inspiration for individuals tired of career conformity.  Neil Crofts shows how we arrive at a situation where many of us feel irrevocably tied to jobs we don’t enjoy.  He demonstrates the steps you need to take to find out who you really are and what you want from life, and finally he reveals how you can turn all that into a business that is authentic to you.”

Neil Crofts has taken what you might call a holistic approach to redefining what you do for a living, as he also covers making changes to your diet/lifestyle/etc to give you the energy and clear-headedness to pursue the dream of your own authentic business.

The book is nicely laid out and well written.  It takes you step by step through the the thinking, planning and actions you need to take if you want to start an ethical business, or change your current organisation into one.    Crofts defines this “authentic” business as one “with a profound positive purpose” for others and oneself.

The advice and guidance is well thought-out, positive and inspiring.  While quite a slim book (130 pages) it still packs a huge amount of information for those who are looking at repositioning themselves or their companies for the greater good.

Recommended

The Mission

Up and down the country, and across the world, people are losing their jobs through no fault of their own. Whether it is called a recession or a depression doesn’t really matter on the day you have that “little chat” with HR, pack up your belongings and leave the office.

This website is for that morning after, or the Monday after if like me you were let go on a friday.  And it’s for the days after that, and after that.  SurviveRedundancy.co.uk is about how you and I cope with the position we’ve been put into.

And coping can take many forms, and I hope to be able, with your help, to cover as many of them as possible. Whether you are looking at jumping right back into employment, changing career or deciding to work for yourself, we’ll try to cover them all.

For me this journey is more about the last item and making it work. I’m at a crossroads. 33 years old, with a baby on its way, having worked in similar roles for the past decade+ and very rarely felt comfortable that they were right for me. I’ve dallied with freelancing/contracting before but this time is, and has to be, different.

And if through SurviveRedundancy.co.uk I can learn a bit more about what I can and want to do, and in turn help/inspire others who may feel the same way, then that is perfect.

It can be a lonely road, and sometimes it can be difficult to see the “wood for the trees” but it’s potentially an exciting one.  Let’s see how it goes!

Follow me on Twitter!  

For the site Twitter (lets you know when there are new articles, plus other bits and pieces) – @surviveredundan
For my personal Twitter – @peekay

Find your strengths

If you want to break-out and start living a life that is different then you need to find your real strengths. Not necessarily those that you put on your CV – this isn’t an attempt to present yourself in the best light for an employer, this is for you to work out what you want to do with your life.

“What to do with your life” seems like such a grand statement and it is, but what we are really doing is working out what you can do, what you want to do, what will make you happy in the moment.

Productivity guru David Allen, the inventor of the Getting Things Done (GTD) phenomenon talks in his latest book about being in a “state of flow” when you are doing something which totally encompasses you, some work or play that so captures your attention that time becomes irrelevant and your focus is only on one thing. You also can do this activity without significant pressure or stress, that is not to say the task has to be easy, in fact it might challenge you.

What is that for you? Have a think, spend some time writing down what does that for you – both in your personal life, work-life, at any point.

Don’t dismiss this – it may turn out to be the starting point for your new career and your new life. We’ll look another time at how this might be done.

Time to Be Your Own Boss

 

The economy is in recession the headlines say (like we needed official confirmation of that!), the unemployment rate is shooting up and the general public and companies are cutting back spending dramatically.

Sounds like the perfect time to work for yourself….

Yes it does.  And not just because there is a diminishing chance of getting employment anywhere else.  Well maybe because of that.

If companies are failing in their marketplace it means that they aren’t well-built for surviving such a contracted marketplace – but that doesn’t mean the marketplace isn’t there.

I worked for a furniture supplier which went into adminstration – that doesn’t mean that people have stopped buying furniture and needing it to be installed.  The market has just changed.  Maybe it has gone more local and a small contractor can pick up some of the business that is hanging about.

Take a look at your last role and think differently about how it could fit into the new marketplace dynamics?  Could you go freelance and find the customers in a different way?  Does the web hold that opportunity?  Does local advertising?

Have a brainstorm.  Maybe your company’s implosion has just meant that the opportunities have spread around as well.