Anybody self-employed? [Archive]

Colette

01-25-2008, 03:00 AM

Just wondering if there are any self-employed INTJ's out there.
How do you keep on schedule? How do you maintain contact with the outside world?

Well I did it for 8 years, up until very recently (end of last year), and worked mostly from home on a consultancy basis. It can be very isolating, and makes it difficult to connect and maintain good relationships in the outside world. In the end this was one of the major reasons I decided to go back to the much lower paying world of employment, where I now reside :)

polysylvester

01-25-2008, 07:00 AM

I have been self-employed for about the last 20 years. Before that I worked in a large R&D organization for 10 years. My business activities are varied and keep me from being isolated now. There were years when I would start out my day at the coffee shop to get some socialization. My main avocation is farming, and I am out and about for that. I also helped my ex through medical school and helped her set up a solo practice. I had to learn all of the rules for running a corporation and medical billing for that. I get to work with 8 women there so I enjoy my time at that activity. I also work as a realtor, but I mostly do that for my own business, buying repo-ed houses and fixing them up. So I'm out and about most of the time and isolation isn't a big problem for me. I enjoy the variety but I have trouble setting limits on my time spent working. I've been working on reducing my work commitments to improve this.

Rick

01-25-2008, 07:15 AM

Actually, self employment or living a sustainable livestyle (read: Independent) is my dream. Despite my dilgent research, I haven't found any self employment opportunities that I think would answer. I considered buying a shrimp boat, but cheap imports and high priced fuel make that unattractive. I also researched building and operating hydroponics greenhouses growing vegetables for market. Same problem. The vegetables coming out of Mexico are cheaper wholesale than I could produce them here.

Frustration.

Pinkie

01-25-2008, 11:07 AM

My mum's a self-employed INTJ - but she's a teacher, so she's always in contact with the outside world, really. She has a diary (which is a massive ring-bound folder) so that she knows where she's meant to be and when.

BadMojo

01-25-2008, 12:44 PM

Just wondering if there are any self-employed INTJ's out there.
How do you keep on schedule? How do you maintain contact with the outside world?
I'm partly self employed. I'm currently trying to get my webshop up and running. I got a good friend who handles the trading, and I handle everything else.

thod

01-25-2008, 12:58 PM

Sort of. As a contract computer programmer. I do 6 months here a year there. I am not an employee I do a job and leave. But I am not self employed as in dealing with the public. Most of my work comes via agencies who do all the cold calling. Still its upto me if I take 6 months off, I negotiate my rates, have reasonable autonomy etc.

Zilal

01-25-2008, 03:03 PM

I earn some of my living from pet-sitting, which is technically self employment. I don't know if it fits what you were thinking about but if you like animals it's a great opportunity to make some money. (I'm not really an animal person, ironically, so for me it's just sort of a good opportunity.)

I started off sitting for family, who recommended me to friends, who recommend me to their friends... every once in a while I get an email from someone new who's looking for a sitter. It's amazing how strapped people are to find reliable sitters. I am treated as a godsend sometimes. I just stay at the person's house while they're on vacation and do whatever's needed. (And I do care about animals, heh, I'm just not as into them as a lot of people are.)

iamnotspock

01-25-2008, 03:16 PM

Well I did it for 8 years, up until very recently (end of last year), and worked mostly from home on a consultancy basis. It can be very isolating, and makes it difficult to connect and maintain good relationships in the outside world. In the end this was one of the major reasons I decided to go back to the much lower paying world of employment, where I now reside :)

I hear you. I've done it for a decade. But until recently I had a staff working for me and a girlfriend keeping me company. Now, it's just me... Do you feel it was a good trade-off for you to sacrifice the independence for the camaraderie? I am wondering how that worked out for an INTJ.

iamnotspock added to this post, 1 minutes and 34 seconds later...

I earn some of my living from pet-sitting, which is technically self employment. I don't know if it fits what you were thinking about but if you like animals it's a great opportunity to make some money. (I'm not really an animal person, ironically, so for me it's just sort of a good opportunity.)

I started off sitting for family, who recommended me to friends, who recommend me to their friends... every once in a while I get an email from someone new who's looking for a sitter. It's amazing how strapped people are to find reliable sitters. I am treated as a godsend sometimes. I just stay at the person's house while they're on vacation and do whatever's needed. (And I do care about animals, heh, I'm just not as into them as a lot of people are.)

I know a lawyer who paid $500/mo for a dog walker. When I heard that I started to wonder why I bothered with software!

iamnotspock added to this post, 6 minutes and 8 seconds later...

There were years when I would start out my day at the coffee shop to get some socialization.

That is an idea. Did you get to know a regular crowd that way? Like a Cheers kind of thing?

Colette

01-25-2008, 03:24 PM

I hear you. I've done it for a decade. But until recently I had a staff working for me and a girlfriend keeping me company. Now, it's just me... Do you feel it was a good trade-off for you to sacrifice the independence for the camaraderie? I am wondering how that worked out for an INTJ.

Well my income dropped by 50% overnight, but apart from that, it's fantastic. I'd had enough of isolation, stress, and having to schmooze and hunt contracts down like a professional whore ;)

iamnotspock

01-25-2008, 04:18 PM

Well my income dropped by 50% overnight, but apart from that, it's fantastic. I'd had enough of isolation, stress, and having to schmooze and hunt contracts down like a professional whore ;)

You speak the truth. I am a software developer by trade, but my Friday afternoon involves writing flirty emails to married women who hired me b/c they think I'm cute (for a geek). So I'm thinking my next startup will be 1-900-GEEK-BOY. "Lonely, bored, want a cute computer guy to listen to your problems and maybe drop by for lunch and a glass of wine? Give us a call... operators standing by" ;-))

Colette

01-25-2008, 04:27 PM

You speak the truth. I am a software developer by trade, but my Friday afternoon involves writing flirty emails to married women who hired me b/c they think I'm cute (for a geek). So I'm thinking my next startup will be 1-900-GEEK-BOY. "Lonely, bored, want a cute computer guy to listen to your problems and maybe drop by for lunch and a glass of wine? Give us a call... operators standing by" ;-))

Beam me up, Scotty! I'm coming right over for a glass of wine, and with a bunch of fake computer issues...;)

iamnotspock

01-25-2008, 04:48 PM

Beam me up, Scotty! I'm coming right over for a glass of wine, and with a bunch of fake computer issues...;)

See you soon, Colette ;) But tell me, are you an oysters and chablis kind of girl? Or more like salmon pate and pinot noir? I'll need this info to get your database servers running properly, of course...

Colette

01-25-2008, 05:19 PM

See you soon, Colette ;) But tell me, are you an oysters and chablis kind of girl? Or more like salmon pate and pinot noir? I'll need this info to get your database servers running properly, of course...

Well evidently you have no savoir-faire if you think that Pinot Noir goes with salmon pate! Pinot Gris, perhaps..

And as for Chablis, those blended wines went out at approximately the same time as the end of the last Ice Age :p

That said, I am compiling my list of imaginary computer problems, as we speak...you'd better let me know your hourly rate so I have time to go and take out a second mortgage on my house :)

polysylvester

01-25-2008, 06:23 PM

Iamnotspock wrote: That is an idea. Did you get to know a regular crowd that way? Like a Cheers kind of thing?

Pretty much that's how it worked. I am in a rural area, but I've found places that are similiar in small cities as well. Look for lots of cars early in the AM! The quality of the interaction will depend on the type of people who frequent a particular place.

iamnotspock

01-26-2008, 11:09 PM

Well evidently you have no savoir-faire if you think that Pinot Noir goes with salmon pate! Pinot Gris, perhaps..

And as for Chablis, those blended wines went out at approximately the same time as the end of the last Ice Age :p
:)

What can I say, I'm a caveman ;-) Give me a classic Burgundy any day... a French Chablis will be unblended Chardonnay

Meyer

01-27-2008, 11:07 PM

vaguely dissatisfied

01-28-2008, 07:14 AM

Just wondering if there are any self-employed INTJ's out there.
How do you keep on schedule? How do you maintain contact with the outside world?
I'm self-employed and spend most of my time at home. I was out in the work force for many years and I always longed for self-employment so that I wouldn't have to 'put up with' the BS of co-workers and bosses (not all.....just some). I am largely a hermit and find most social interaction taxing and stressful. In my first career I was quite social and I think well liked and accepted by most people who worked with me. However, I always knew that I was forcing myself, to some degree, to behave in a way that didn't come naturally and never felt right. I always felt that I was 'selling out' or not being true to myself or something. And I almost always felt stressed!

Anyway, I am now self-employed and isolated and I must say that it can be a bit lonely at times, but when I compare the two life styles.........I can see that this way of living is a better fit for me than the previous way. I am much more relaxed and much less stressed. I cannot socialize with most people for very long without feeling even more empty than when I don't socialize at all. I think that is because the type of socializing done by most people is not fullfilling for me (probably an INTJ thing). However, I must say that this site is very helpful for my socializing side (small as it may be) and I think that is because the people on this site are interested in the same sorts of things I'm interested in and do not tend to view me as strange or alien.

iamnotspock

01-28-2008, 09:02 PM

vaguely dissatisfied

01-29-2008, 08:51 AM

yeah, the fake socializing part rings a bell with me. I do feel less stress on my own.

you don't worry about being a hermit, though? like what if you choke on a potato chip or something stupid? that's the part that gets me. how many weeks before the neighbors find my decomposing body? I am joking, of course, but not entirely . . .
Well.......when I say I'm a bit of a hermit.... what I mean is that I don't interact socially near as much as most people. I actually live with my partner and my daughter and, to be honest, I have to interact with my partner a little more than I would like.

interjerator

02-01-2008, 11:00 AM

I've been self-employed since 1993. It's had its ups and downs. However, I prefer it to dealing with obstructionist (so-called) managers. Management seems more occupied with CYA, than getting the job done properly.

Chaos rules.

Pendaric

02-09-2008, 02:14 PM

I'm a property investor working from home.

Couldn't stand having somebody else telling me what to do. I like to be in control of my own destiny.

Mr Zip

02-09-2008, 09:02 PM

I've had 3 jobs in my life that I had a boss. One, when I was 16 for a few weeks, working for my father in the family business, and one for 4 years where the guy left me alone to run things as I saw fit. Once his shmuck general manager started to put his thumb on me, I left and went back to being self employed.

I've been self employed for about 15 years. I've had some people tell me that they'd like to, but don't have the guts to quit their jobs and make the jump, its not a matter of guts. Its what I know now as an INTJ trait where if you don't trust your leader, you lead yourself.

fuzein

04-10-2008, 10:12 PM

I would love to start a small business with my INFJ husband, but we haven't found our successful business yet. I am not sure how helpful our personalities will be at running a successful business, but I am eager to try.

Kaethus

04-11-2008, 07:04 PM

Many of you bring up a valid point. There would be an instant lack of socialization. And I am disinterested in schmoozing like "a professional whore". I live with a roommate right now and I don't talk to her much. Right now, I'm in a phase where I'm supposed to be mad at her for waking me up in the middle of the night twice in one month (usually it's spaced further apart) because of her drunk merrymaking. The first time she locked her self out of the apartment and the second time she brought friends over (also drunk) during a work night. I got approx. 2 hours of sleep. But anyway...

What would a company full of INTJ's be like?

Genuine meaningful conversations, with competent experienced/willing to learn individuals. Stoic, yet authentic hard workers with shells that melt with time, patience and consistent interactions? Is there any way a company like that could go wrong?

notoppings

04-11-2008, 07:13 PM

[QUOTE=What would a company full of INTJ's be like?

Genuine meaningful conversations, with competent experienced/willing to learn individuals. Stoic, yet authentic hard workers with shells that melt with time, patience and consistent interactions? Is there any way a company like that could go wrong?[/QUOTE]

Great place I'd like to find it but the chances of more then one INTJ sneaking in under the radar is highly unlikely the rest of the staff would be frightened by the sheer productivity.

blue tie

04-14-2008, 02:04 PM

I've failed twice (thrice?) on small projects (websites) that are typical to what people would do if they started out on their own. And I failed miserably, like crashed and burned and made an embarassment of myself and my client.

To me the largest problem is lack of structure. I like structure a lot but for some reason I can't provide it for myself. Being completely self-employed sounds like a terrible, terrible idea. At least from my experience/perspective.

brianh

04-14-2008, 03:02 PM

I have been self employed for four years now, I make less but I do not have to deal with the politics and power struggles at the old job.

I make furniture and signs most of my income of late is chainsaw carving, all the work is creative and fulfilling I did not realize how much I hated my job until I quit.

Self employment can be hard but I feel more in control of my life.

MCR

04-17-2008, 06:39 AM

I am...have been for around 5 years now. I have a career where that is pretty common though (I'm a graphic designer). Working for myself is not as difficult as I thought it would be. The discipline came pretty naturally, which I was surprised about. I took all the things that I didn't like about working for large companies and made sure they didn't find their way into my own personal office. That alone made it a lucrative scenario. :) All of those things, combined with something that I do truly chalk up to luck and being in the right place at the right time made my business take off and I haven't looked back since. I'm very fortunate...and very grateful. This INTJ is very humbled by that. :)

soundchaser

04-17-2008, 10:43 PM

I am self employed as a computer consultant. I just really enjoy working with computers to the point that I often don't feel like I'm working. However, even though I do get satisfaction from helping people through their troubles and getting them on the right track, I don't think I'll keep doing this forever, because it just feels like such small potatoes. Put another way, I don't feel like I'm really doing anything significant with my life. I know that I should just be focused on being happy, but another part of me feels that my life would be a waste if all I ever end up doing is working on a bunch of computers.

However, the alternatives I see worry me for other reasons. The bureaucratic BS of the academic world is truly frightening, even though it seems to be the arena through which I'd best fulfill my aspirations of meaningfulness.

jesse

05-20-2008, 05:45 AM

I've given self-employment plenty of thought, mostly because the idiocy of employment policy and employer mentalities in Finland suck. This would of course entail relocating elsewhere to a jurisdiction which does not see self-initiative and business through hostile eyes.

Somehow the thought of doing long term 9-5 jobs with the repetitiveness and politics depress me. I don't want to subject myself to that rat race where you essentially are the mercy of others, namely the employer.

fictionsmosaic

05-20-2008, 06:42 AM

I find myself doing various oddjobs, sometimes it's moving furniture, sometimes it's moving logs out of a yard, moving office equipment around, fixing a computer of minor problems, tutoring, I also train a little bit to people on how to shoot as well as maintain their firearm. Charge whatever I feel the job is worth but I rarely do a job for free unless I can exchange certain favors when I see fit.

I make sure that the favors that are owed are ones that will be beneficial to me. Should something happen in my life, I can call back for the favors and live freely for anywhere between half a year to a year. When people come to me for advice, I'll honor their problem with my help, but in return, something always has be exchanged.