Too take a job or too take the risk? Need advice warriors!

Augustus.

You're in fortunate position in that you can choose.

What everyone else will say: "Take the job and work on your freelance income on the side!"

But being in a similar situation myself, I think this is a real idiot move.

You're kind of killing your dream.

You're saying yes to something you don't really want to do for money.

@#$%^&* that.

@#$%^&* that.

@#$%^&* that 1000 times over,

Money's everywhere. Not just by kissing this guy's whatever.

If you're not going to go for it now, you may never get such a good opportunity. There might not be another time. You're in the perfect position to do this right now.

You know how many people want to do this, but can't? Kids, family, no skills, no ability to even think of a better life etc?

But my advice is to get your act together with a plan.

Work out your budget. Goals. Amount of clients you need.

Work out your marketing. Have multiple leads in the pipeline. Always be busy.

Get on Upwork, Freelancer, Warriors for Hire, Facebook ads, website & blog.

Alternatively. Get the job. Be a little bit unhappy for a while. Use the money to save and work out this plan. But live humbly. Don't go buying new televisions & Pokemon DS's.

But the real question is

.. what do you actually want right now ?

You don't now what you want to do - so I'd see this offer as a chance to try something somewhat different...build some credentials for when I go out on my own....and a way to stock some money away for the future.

I would never presume to tell someone they were making an idiot move. I've been on both sides - working the 9-5 and working for myself. Both have their attractions. At 24 I'd think the position might further your career - your contacts - your experience...and put some money in the bank for your future business.

That is a practical way to look at it.

This is assuming that they even keep you for two years.

Many people-myself included, feel that we are entitled to staying with companies on our terms when really they keep us out of self-interest.

You will have to prove you are worth keeping.

I certainly understand the conundrum. Most of us have faced it at one time or another.

One thing that jumped out at me:
I'm not sure what you mean by this but it sounds as if you are saying the spark to start your own business will come later hopefully.

In my view, a person either has the spark today or doesn't. If they have it today then they should get busy building the fire from that spark. If they don't have it today then there is no harm in earning money and getting experience at a job.

In my case, the spark was there from when I was a child. Some get it later, of course, but sitting back planning/hoping for it to come seems a little weird to me. Weird as in I can't relate not that it's strange or anything negative.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

Mark

"In my view, a person either has the spark today or doesn't. If they have it today then they should get busy building the fire from that spark. If they don't have it today then there is no harm in earning money and getting experience at a job. "

correctamente Mark,

i got it while being a student,

my professor basically told me i would be wrong here, i should buzz off and travel the world

i'm so thankful to this person, because i did exactly that, and since that time i never had a job again

i became the man i always wanted to be. Thats why i'm never in a bad mood, i always smile.

so to answer the OP : If you got the spark today, JUST DO IT. You can't fail, it's absolutely impossible.

God will honor your request, and doors will suddenly open.

The unexplainable "coincidences" in my life are just unbelievable, but true.

Every time I tell people my story they go wow, one heck of a wild ride. I ve seen the world.

Now like many of my local friends we are all expats and live on a tropical island next to Australia

Now NO office job can give you that.

If I were in your shoes I would take the job, but I'm not and it seems like your half-hearted about it.
If you are being unsure about it then it just means that you are not really for it. It is an opportunity for some people but I feel like you can do better with your skill, you know better. And I think you're still young, so explore..

your mind asks 'what if' negative questions

i never do, because i've been here already a very long time

you have bigger problems over there in our old home,

trust me on that. i lived both in EU and USA

and i wont be back,

except next month we plan a family vacation over there to meet mom, because dad died at age 88

and she's a bit lonely, so we go and comfort her

and have some fun. my wife + daughter also like it over there, and want to meet my school friends

hahaha, gonna be good, eat some local food , drink some local wine

yummy!

Turn the job down and keep living in your parents basement.

take the job and ignore all the immature advice stating otherwise. Why? Based on that one sentence above. Practically any business venture will happen faster and grander with some cash to spend..

Traffic will flow faster and larger with money to spend on advertising
many of the time tedious things can be outsourced with cash
easier to achieve anything with the right tools and if you can buy them you are waaay ahead.
Some ventures will not even occur to you if they require cash to even start out (like 3d software )

Second if the salary is good ( and I know nothing about UK salaries) as you say then taking the job closes no doors or wastes any opportunities. Save up the cash and even if you find yourself having to move, the cash will still afford you the opportunity to do the same thing and take time off.

Third most parents that would allow you to not work for 6 months or more (Seems like a long time but actually nothing for those starting a business) will allow you to stay if you pitch in and pay a few bills especially if you explain you want to put yourself in a solid place. Generally a lot of parents get antsy seeing their kids going nowhere in 6 months. They are far less antsy if they see a path of progress

Finally as Kay suggested you might hate the corporate world but practically no future client will hate the fact that you worked and held a position in corporate software company. You can take the time there to pick the brains of both those you work with and the clients they work with.

as the front end developer you'll get to see the backend as well but don't know if the software world interests you as it does me.

One thing is for certain if you have no idea what business you want to start you can burn 6 months EASY just figuring out what you want to do so you may well regret not having the cash in the bank to take off and invest when you finally do know exactly what you what to do.

Plus theres the social and love life to consider - sucks when you have to pass on asking someone out because asking them to McDonald's won't fly.

What if WW3 breaks out tomorrow, and the Russians nuke your house?

Lots of good advice, I really appreciate it.

I'm still wrestling with the decision but have told the employer I'll get back to him with a final decision tomorrow, he has rang twice in the past two days looking for an answer. Too add to the conversation;

I already have a small online business, it's nothing special but we've turned over around £4k with relatively little investment in 6 months and my partner has a reasonable Instagram following (40k) which is our only source of advertising right now. I've begun to experiment with an AliExpress dropshipping company that hasn't launched and I'm looking to see if the premise even works with such long shipping times. I've also been speaking with a friend who runs events in London and has recently received a small loan (£10k), if I can find a venue up here (North) he'd be interested in investing with me.

I'm contemplating asking the employer if he'd be willing to take me on 3 days a week at a reduced salary of £17k but I don't want to screw him around.

My biggest issue with the work is the amount of time I'm sacrificing, I've worked a 9 - 5 in the past and I've worked remotely with a flexible freelance schedule. The 9 - 5 seems to lock up my brain productivity power for the week and leaves me with a couple hours most evenings to work on my other projects and normally 1 day on the weekend, often this doesn't happen as I'm tired from work.

However, web development isn't where I see myself in 5 years time as I primarily learnt young as a means to create more. The pay though would be more than I've received in the past for either of these roles and is the main attraction for me as a means to fund future ventures.

I've always felt an entrepreneurial spirit within myself and have always run small business's and projects for fun, I think I'm capable of more though.

Just to keep you guys updated I start the job on Monday but negotiated a 4 day work week on a pro rata salary. This gives me more time in my life and gets me some investable income in the short term! Thanks for all your help on this one!