6 yrs self employed and I still think about getting a job.

Recently Linkedin reminded me that Caddie+Co. has been in business for six years.

WTAF.

Time flies and all that shit but how did I get to still be freelancing and starting a second business when I never wanted to be self employed in the first place? Let alone have a couple of businesses.

That is a question I often ask myself. And on occasion I think, maybe I’ll just go get a job and life would be easier.

Yeah, right.

There are many reasons why I would and why I probably won’t.

I love the freedom too much. I miss having company. I like the quiet too much. I sometimes get lazy. I hate the 9 to 5. Creatives work when they work. I don’t like structure. I like agency life. I like structure, sometimes. I like bouncing ideas off someone. I miss people’s chat. I sometimes work from my bed. Especially to write. I wear earphones and listen to crime podcasts a lot. I like to play music really loud.

Complicated lot us creatives.

One thing I will say is I do love having the choice. A job with a stable income is a treat but I love the variety of what I do. I can be freelancing in an agency one week, meeting my own clients the next and in between printing and posting out orders for my Text From A Friend paper goods business. Or planning the next trade show.

Never a dull moment that’s for sure.

Since setting out on my own I’ve seen a huge increase of more and more creatives going it alone.

It’s become much easier to do so.

And when I see easier I don’t necessarily relate that to earning loads of money. I mean that’s it’s easier to set things up and go your own way. Years ago it was a big gamble to be self employed but now everyone tries it out without batting an eyelid. It’s not as scary as you think and people are more open to sharing experiences these days. Even their mistakes.

We’re all more aware of people’s failures too as that can be broadcast way more than someone’s success, can’t it?

Having a multi-hyphenate career is the norm these days.

Yes - I hate the word multi-hyphenate as much as you do. It’s the new word for having many strings to your bow apparently.

Yet I, and no doubt many others, have been doing it for years. We just never felt the need to label it. We just got on with it.

Why does everything need to be labelled these days? Can’t we just create great work and enjoy ourselves whilst we’re doing it?

Anyway, I digress. This isn’t a rant.

We have good days and plenty of bad ones. Just ask any self employed person on a bad day the same question they ask themselves all the fucking time…”Why do I do this?”

The answer will always be “I wouldn’t have it any other way”.