February 3, 2010

Could it be?!?

Well...It turns out that maybe (just maybe) my self employment fantasies might come true...I met some wonderful people today who gave me much encouragement and made me feel excited about my business plan (I might even have found my first client haha). Now I need to start drafting an actual business plan and conduct some market research to see how I might be able to market my services and I guess I'll take it from there. I know that this is not something to be taken lightly, and that I need to proceed with caution, so I will take this slow and not rush anything, but I want to lay the foundation and start it up maybe in 1-2 years...It seems that the right "tools" are there for young professionals (or "entrepreneurs") like me if one wants to pursue the "self employed" career path. In the mean time, I will keep looking (and hopefully find) an "in the meantime" job that I may or may not quit once I really get going. I would definitely like to/want to be able to teach while I am pursuing this path...But the good thing is what I want to do is:
-related to my field of study...well, actually it IS my field of study
-a Ph.D. might very well come in handy
-I don't need huge amounts of capital to get going, I can probably start it from my "home office" and so I wouldn't really be taking a huge risk if nobody was interested in what I'm offering...

On the other hand:
-I need to be really able to "sell" my services which means a lot of PR stuff, some or all of which I might not be able to do myself
-I need to create a really solid business plan and be able to handle all the financial and legal aspects, or be able to afford those who would be able to take care of said aspects for me
-Preferably, I would have to get some official certification(s) at some point (maybe after I make some money, if I can) to further my business and services, and the certification processes can be complicated and costly...

So, we'll see how it goes, but like I said, this is not something that will happen anytime soon, as it needs to be well-planned. M. is very supportive, and I'm thinking, if I can get another "in the meantime" job and make an actual living, then why not? After all, I think I've established for myself lately (after some deep introspection) that what I ultimately want is to own my own business and do what I like doing in my own field of study...Not academic research that involves laboratory work and definitely not designing sewer pipes for the rest of my life (but in the near future I might have no other option but to do those things to get me closer to my dream).

I feel so relieved...I have a dream, I have a plan, I feel like I solved a great mystery that was hanging over my head for so long...And I have no clue how or when the light bulb went on.

2 comments:

Doodles said...

its because you had the peppermint mocha. lol.

Pinar said...

Could very well be!

A comment! YAY! ;)