successful downshifting

dwi

dwi

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Has anyone got any tales of a successful career change?

I have a well paid job that means I can afford D and can save towards getting a house with land in a couple of years time so that she can live at home. I enjoy it to an extent but its incredibly stressful, I have been assaulted, am verbally assaulted and threatened on a daily basis, it frequently gives me chest pains and i seem to get sick alot, I suspect a combination of stress and overwork.

What I would like to do is spend time outside with horses/animals/ outdoor training etc but the need for something to pay the morgage puts me off. I toy with the idea of setting up an equine BB, campsite, outdoor team building/training centre but it would be a huge risk financially.

Anyone got any stories good or bad of moving out of salaried job and into self employment?
 
Um, I moved from general office work, 9 - 5.30 stuff, to training for and becoming a successful driving instructor. I had a couple of horsy friends who had done this, and I could see that you could fit work around your life. Pros - the more you work the more you earn, and you can work when you want. Cons - your busiest period is between 4pm and 8pm - after school and work, and weekends.

I did this for four years, and now I own a feed merchants. Back to 9 - 5.30, still self employed, but I have to be in the shop, whereas when I was teaching I would schedule lessons so I had a break to bring my horse in in the evenings.
 
I worked for 31 years (straight from school) as a senior legal secretary for a firm of north east London solicitors. Left to change directions and worked for five years for a firm of chartered surveyors (closer to home but still 19 miles away!), then my daughter's illness meant I had to take a lot (and I mean A LOT!) of time off work - for which they paid me - but in March this year I thought I would need a further month off and I was subsequently made redundant. I was paid off well, I hated the job,so I didn't have a problem. Daughter now firing on all four cylinders and I spent a couple of months living off my redundancy doing bugger all - which is just what I needed to chill out and de-stress! I then decided I couldn't possibly go back to working in an office again so I started advertising my services looking after horses etc. To cut a long, boring story short, I am now earning more looking after horses than I earned working in an office! I work Saturday and Sunday mornings - occasionally all day - but it's stress-free! My three "main" regular jobs are great and and I have several "irregular" jobs. My hands are disgusting! My skin is so dry and dirt-encrusted! If I have too much work at the weekends, my daughter takes a couple of hours off of me. I'd like to be in a proper relationship again (divorced three years) and I appreciate that if I had a partner I wouldn't be able to work weekends, but, at the moment, I'm enjoying a stress-free life with more money coming in than I earned sitting in front of a stress-filled computer!!!!
 
I decided to run my business after loosing my job, I was aiming to do it in a years time whilst building it up but the job made the decision for me and I couldnt get another job at that level due to the area we moved to.

So far I am struggling being in the first year and thats the worst time where you end up putting alot of what you earn back into it.
I would say go for it theres nothing like working for yourself but maybe take on lots of temp work to cover the bills for the first year. Also Im lucky that my partner works full time, However ive had to make a sacrifice of only having one pony for a while.
 
I'm currently working full time but in my spare time I did my BHS stage 1 and I'm now doing my NVQ 2. There are also a lot of part time courses via distance learning. I can't afford to work with horses unless I'm as qualified as possible!!
 
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