Sunday 9 December 2012

Old Year, New Job

It came as quite a surprise to ourselves when the idea first popped up: me working for and with RJ.
For ten years, I have been working in the point of sale hardware industry, and I liked my job, my customers, (most of) my colleagues and (some of) my bosses. I was not planning on quitting the job I told you about here and on some other posts; and yet the idea to start something entirely new so strongly appealed to me that we went through with it.
And here I am, with my first week on the new job already under my belt!


But let me tell you how this began:
RJ has (or is!) his own company. He works in data protection and IT security. When he started his own business a bit more than two years ago, he had of course no idea whether he was going to be successful or not, and where it was all headed. When we first met, he was still looking for customers. Only a few months later, he had so much work that he had to turn down inquiries from potential customers, and often had to work on weekends in order to finish tasks for his existing customers.
This meant that I got a glimpse of what his work was like more than once; sometimes I was able to help him a bit, and sometimes we both worked from my home, I in my regular office (i.e. the living room) and he in the Third Room, which has a desk and internet connection ready to use as well.
 
It is RJ's habit to ring me when he is in the car on his way home from work; we talk about how his day has been, what I've been doing, and so on.
One late afternoon in August, he rang as usual, and told me of a conversation he'd had with his biggest customer. The man had suggested to him that they get another external consultant in addition to him, so that all the work could be done without overloading him; he also said something like "Don't you think it is time for you to expand your business?".

RJ then went on to think aloud and started listing the kind of skills and characteristics he'd be looking for in a potential employee; all of a sudden, we were both quiet for a second, and then exclaimed at the same time "That sounds like you!" (RJ) and "That sounds like me!" (I). Thus the idea was born - but we laughed it off at first. After all, I had a job and was not looking for anything else, plus I came from a different industry and had no expertise in what RJ was working on.

But the more we thought about and talked about it, the more logical it seemed.
When we spent a week together on Majorca in September, we had plenty of time to think and talk things through - of course not neglecting the factor "business v. private", either. 

After much deliberation and soul-searching on both sides, we went ahead with it, and made a proper contract in October. I handed in my notice - much to the shock of my boss, who truly had not seen it coming. And then I said good-bye to those of my customers I had come closest with over the past ten years, my boss came to pick up the company's laptop and had one last coffee with me, and next thing I knew, I was dressed in a new business outfit and all ready to go to work on my first day!


At our biggest customer's, we have our own office. With our smaller customers where we are not expected to be present for most of the week, we usually go there for a day or half a day, have our meetings with them, and then do the actual work from the home office.

Most weeks, I will have at least one day working from home. Right now, these home office days mean studying the relevant laws and other information about our particular subjects of data protection and IT security. It is a lot to learn and take in, but I am very much ready for it and truly enjoy learning all those new things.

Of course, it is still early days, but after our first week of working together, RJ and I have not yet had any reason to regret our decision :-)

36 comments:

  1. How exciting and challenging, Meike. It sounds lie you've both thought it through thoroughly and I wish you every success.

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    1. Thank you, Perpetua! We have indeed thought it through thoroughly. One does not give up one's "safe" job (no job is ever really "safe" anyway) without really thinking things through.

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  2. Wow, that's an exciting end to an old year and a head-start into the future. Best of luck to you both!

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  3. And we get to see you in all your smart business outfits that you will show us, right? Love this suit with the boots!
    I have told you this before, but you know I mean it, GOOD LUCK IN YOUR NEW JOB!

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    1. Kay, thank you! Well, you already know some of my business outfits anyway, from my posts about the fairs. This one is the only new one at the moment.

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  4. I wish you every success in this new job....Are there other employees? I know you will do well. It's your nature. And I'm sure you have considered everything very carefully ahead of time.

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    1. Thank you, Kristi! A lot of hard thinking and deliberation went into this before we took action. At the moment, I am the first and only employee, but RJ plans to expand in the future, depending of course on how much work we will get from our existing and newly-to-be-acquired customers.

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  5. Congratulations! Hope it continues to go so well.

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  6. How very exciting for you! I do wish you both all the very best for the new job.

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  7. How fortuitous! And good luck to you - it sounds to me as if it was definitely the best thing to do.

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    1. That was what we thought, Jenny :-) Thank you!

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  8. Congratulations! And good luck with your new venture. I'm sure it will be a great success. All the best to both you and RJ. xoxo

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  9. Add my good wishes. It is sometimes hard to work with family or 'close' friends, but I'm sure you and RJ have discussed this thoroughly and made your plans accordingly. Best of luck in this new endeavor and I know you will be successful given your work ethic.
    PS...really like the suit!

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    1. Thank you, Jill!
      Yes, we are fully aware of the possible dangers of mixing private and business. I do know several couples who work together very well, though, and have been doing so for many years already. I take these as examples and the less successful ones as warnings.

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  10. I thought it sounded good when you first mentioned it and now that it's happening I am really pleased for you. Go well.

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  11. Congratulations, it sounds like a wonderful opportunity! I wish you the best!

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    1. Yes, Mary, and therefore I grabbed it :-) Thank you!

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  12. It's so difficult to get jobs these days, here in Italy anyway. You did the right thing.

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    1. Thank you, Caramella! Fortunately, it is a lot less difficult to get a job here in my area.

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  13. I think you are very courageou to have taken such a step, considering that you were so happy in your previous job. But on the other hand, one has to try, if you didn't you might have regretted it. In Italian we say "Chi non risica, non rosica", a rough translation is that one needs to take chances sometimes.
    As for Doraemon, he is cute Japanese manga (and puppet for kids later) and his favorite food was dorayaki. Azuki are Japanese red beans, used for making sweets, practically all Japanese sweets contain azuki in one form or another.

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    1. Yes, Francesca, we both think it was well worth the risk. There is no guarantee in life for anything, as I now only too well from personal experience, and we are surrounded by risks all the time; I did not feel I needed a lot of courage to take this step. We'll see how it'll all work out :-)

      Thank you for explaining about Doraemon and dorayaki and azuki!

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  14. wishes for more days and weeks, etc. like this past one, for you! How fortunate for you for a job you didn't realize you wanted, but did. :)

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    1. Thank you, Norma! Yes, it was more a case of the job wanting me :-)

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  15. Well you certainly look the part, and here's to much success :o)

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  16. This is SO exciting! I'm really happy for you. I love the way you both thought of it at the same time. Meant to be!

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    1. Thank you, Nan! And now that my 2nd week is almost over and I had my first presentation with the customer and it all went very well, I am even more confident that this was the right thing to do!

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  17. Congratulations on making that important move. I hope it all works out for you.

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