Over the years, I have been working in different industries, but always within the IT department in different roles or capacity: Network Admin, Web Development, DBA … you name. I have about 12 years of experience in the field. On my spare time, I do lots of reading/research on SEO, web development, website flipping, selling/buying leads, Facebook pva and all of the alike. Yet, with all the knowledge and experience that I have, how come I don’t freelance? The answer is quite simple: I don’t really know how or where to start.
At the moment, I have a very stable and tolerable job! However, I am getting a bit tired of the office politics and dramas! I sometimes spend half to one hour overhearing others around my cube complaining about the house party that they didn’t get invited to, “I thought we were closed? How come I didn’t get invited to her/his house get-together?” Like it or not, such behaviors do spread and impact others’ workflow, unfortunately; well, that’s beside the point.
In addition, while I am qualified to do the job, do I actually enjoy it or being passionate about it? On a scale of 1 to 10—10 being the most passionate about—I would say that I am about a 6.5. Not too bad, yet not the most ideal either. The daily routine that sucks the life force out of most people for something that they neither care for nor enjoy; or, the motions and pretense that almost everyone felt victim to and a myriad of other reasons are all things that have started to make me think and see things differently.
To be blunt, I am well aware of the fact that freelancing or being your own boss is not really for the faint of heart. As the saying goes, “heavier is the head that wears the crown.” I know you can spend hours or even days working hard to achieve what you truly believe in, but at first the hard work might not yield much satisfying results. Losing money like crazy is a huge possibility; well, not “a possibility” it is rather part of the process, I dare say. The hours could virtually endless which could alienate most from certain aspects of everyday life, but I’ve made peace with that and willing to move forward anyway. If I like and love what I am doing, or more importantly believe in it, what’s working 48 hours straight to a guy like me?
Work setup: I already have a home office with pretty much almost every possible pieces of equipment that any normal office should have. There is no distraction at home. I even have my schedule on how to approach different things that are of interest to me, which is not really business related at the moment. In terms of disciplines and able to stay focus, that’s not a problem at all for me. I could write a guide on how to become a freelancer/your own boss; that’s how well I understand the subject and yet I am not doing it! Why? I don’t know where to start or how, I suppose.
What advice would you have for someone in my positions? Where would you suggest that I start? I have been on Flippa.com, Freelance.com, Freelancer.com and similar websites. I am mostly monitoring, observing and drawing conclusions and what not. I guess, I need some pointers and guidance on where to start. Any help and tips is really appreciated. Thank you so much everyone!