Business, Self-Employment or University?

[BDOptimism]

Hi All,

I'm looking at either starting a "proper" business, getting into self-employment (again), going to university or a mixture of all of these, but first, a bit about me.

Some Context

I'm in my mid-late twenties, living with a widowed parent and my older (30s) brother who works as a gardener for the council. I don't have much money as I've been unemployed for over a year (which I'm not proud of, but it has fueled my motivation to succeed in life). At the start of my unemployment, I refused to sign up for jobseekers/universal credit as I didn't want to be a "drain" on society (in my own mind), but I did anyway and I've been signed up for 6 months now.

Getting a move on

I've decided to go through the gears even more and try for a business or a second go at being self-employed - I had a half-baked attempt at starting a window cleaning round that was pulling in around £500-£600 a month before I let go of it (stupidly) after about 7-8 months. I kind of regret that as I could've been quite successful had I not caved into my anxiety at the time. My anxiety has largely been defeated since then and I handle it well.

Funding wise, I have around £500-£1000 to start up, as I intend on keeping back some to give to my mother in the event of a crisis, although I have been helping her out from time to time (I gave her £100 a couple of weeks ago). Aside from this, she is very supportive of me all things considered, but she does want me to get a move on and so do I.

My skills

As for skills, I previously worked in a warehouse fixing/building PC's for over 3 years at an IT asset disposal company. I then moved onto working in customer service at a dental repair/supplies company for just over a year. This has taught me the common art of fixing things, dealing with people, working under pressure, being (somewhat) organised...etc, so I wouldn't say it's been a complete waste of 10 years since school - far from it. After the customer service role, I turned to window cleaning (already mentioned).

I was thinking of going to university to become more skilled so that long-term, I could be competitive for getting funding and so that I could start a more niche business in the future. I have got personal interests that I've developed over the past couple of years, and this has leant to the university option. In any event, my GCSE's aren't the best (4 C grades) and I would want to retake the lot to be competitive for good universities and I'm just not sure how viable that is.

Business Options

Business wise, I was thinking of starting an Ebay/Amazon business to start with, but I'm not sure how well that would go down - I have come up with an idea for a specific concentration there that could scale into an e-commerce store. I don't know if I have enough funds for that, but I did think about sundry items or perhaps methods of sale including drop shipping. Another option could include being a remote customer service advisor, which doesn't sound scaleable to me and would probably better fit the definition of self-employment. I have perhaps thought about starting an IT asset disposal company, concentrating on B2B out of the garage for now, but I'm not sure how much that is desired in the real world and there are companies local to here (my former employer for example) who are already doing that.

Self-Employment?

As for self-employment, although I live just east of London which is saturated with window cleaners, I do still believe that window-cleaning is a fairly good money maker and I have leaflets, traditional equipment. The issue here is, I don't have a vehicle, so I was thinking of using water fed pole, a portable backpack and hiring a van for a days work before I have enough funds of my own.

Advice

So, there are my issues/aspirations. I guess I'm looking for advice right now as to what to do and would love to perhaps work with some of you in the near future.

 

[Mr D]

University you would be a mature student. The criteria to get a place is a lot easier for mature students and you deal with the university directly.
I had to write a book review to get in.

Some courses may require a foundation year to bring your skills up to par with the 18 year olds.

Lots of students work part time while at uni full time. A few work full time too.

 

[bodgitt&scarperLTD]

Taking out probably around £40k worth of debt to go to uni 'so you are more attractive for getting funding for a business further down the line' sounds like utter madness to me.

Uni has been oversold for years. Degrees aren't worth half what they used to be. And anyhow, any investor worth their salt is going to be looking for a good idea and a solid grasp of business principles, not a piece of paper that tells them what a diligent little worker you would make.

You write well and seem reasonably intelligent. Do you have any contacts from your old work at the IT recycling place that you could use to get a head start on doing something like this for yourself? Based upon my five minute anaylsis of how you come across, I think you'd be better suited to this than window cleaning.

 

[AstEver]

What do you want to study? Do you really need the accreditation?
If it's going to be a field in social sciences or business studies I would encourage you to really think it through as you can educate yourself for a fraction of tuition fees.
You can work full time and study online, too.

Do you know what you want to do in life? What exactly are the personal interests that you mentioned?

You may want to start from making a good plan on where you want to be in 2, 5 and 10 years and what you want your life to look like. Having the goal in mind you can set shorter-term goals that will lead you to the future you want.
You can get help using Self Authoring program or from a career adviser as well.

 

[BDOptimism]

oversold

Taking out probably around £40k worth of debt to go to uni 'so you are more attractive for getting funding for a business further down the line' sounds like utter madness to me.

Uni has been oversold for years. Degrees aren't worth half what they used to be. And anyhow, any investor worth their salt is going to be looking for a good idea and a solid grasp of business principles, not a piece of paper that tells them what a diligent little worker you would make.

You write well and seem reasonably intelligent. Do you have any contacts from your old work at the IT recycling place that you could use to get a head start on doing something like this for yourself? Based upon my five minute anaylsis of how you come across, I think you'd be better suited to this than window cleaning.

I thought about this, but I have two concerns. The first is the fact that there are at least three IT recycling companies nearby within a 20 mile radius (one of them is in the same town). The other concern I have is the fact that I wouldn't know what to charge, though that may be something I can resolve. I only have contacts on Facebook with one or two former colleagues. I rarely speak to them, but I certainly have no contact with nobody "upstairs".

 

[BDOptimism]

What do you want to study? Do you really need the accreditation?
If it's going to be a field in social sciences or business studies I would encourage you to really think it through as you can educate yourself for a fraction of tuition fees.
You can work full time and study online, too.

Do you know what you want to do in life? What exactly are the personal interests that you mentioned?

You may want to start from making a good plan on where you want to be in 2, 5 and 10 years and what you want your life to look like. Having the goal in mind you can set shorter-term goals that will lead you to the future you want.
You can get help using Self Authoring program or from a career adviser as well.

If it was something worth doing for a meaningful career, it would be Computer Science as the method of thinking, plus technology interests me. The personal interest mentioned hasn't really got anything to do with business - it's a combination of philosophy and religion - I'm in the process of conversion to Christianity believe it or not!

 

[AllUpHere]

Please excuse my blunt approach? Why did you get such crap GCSE results? You come across as far more capable than your results give you credit for.

 

[BDOptimism]

Please excuse my blunt approach? Why did you get such crap GCSE results? You come across as far more capable than your results give you credit for.

Well it was a combination of things really. I went to one of the worst-performing schools in the county (still is one of the worst-performing). On top of that, I was really rather lazy at school. I didn't even try to listen, nor did I do any revision, plus I was brought up in a religious organization that placed very little emphasis on education and even encouraged against it at times. I was bullied at school too. It's a miracle I got the grades I got to be honest. But the best thing about life is that it's not necessarily about educational achievements - someone is smart irrespective of whether they have the evidence to demonstrate it. Richard Branson is a perfect example of this. Even if it was about educational achievement, there's always ample opportunity to achieve it, and there are plenty of mature students who have turned it around and demonstrated their true ability.

I would add that I wasn't always as smart as I might be now. It took life experience to get to where I'm at - I guess I developed slightly later than the average person. The jury is out as to whether that's because of the reasons above.

 

[Graham Tyers]

Well it was a combination of things really. I went to one of the worst-performing schools in the county (still is one of the worst-performing). On top of that, I was really rather lazy at school. I didn't even try to listen, nor did I do any revision, plus I was brought up in a religious organization that placed very little emphasis on education and even encouraged against it at times. I was bullied at school too.

Well, you're pretty literate. That's always a good start.

Why not expand that experience in the IT asset disposal business? Get a database of local businesses, call, email, leaflet and build a round, hire a man and van to fetch, sort, resell etc.

 

[BDOptimism]

Well, you're pretty literate. That's always a good start.

Why not expand that experience in the IT asset disposal business? Get a database of local businesses, call, email, leaflet and build a round, hire a man and van to fetch, sort, resell etc.

Thank you. Thanks for the suggestions too. Yeah, I do feel like I'm late to the party in some areas, and I like to get "revenge" by making up for lost time.

 

[Mr D]

If it was something worth doing for a meaningful career, it would be Computer Science as the method of thinking, plus technology interests me. The personal interest mentioned hasn't really got anything to do with business - it's a combination of philosophy and religion - I'm in the process of conversion to Christianity believe it or not!

If its useful or worth studying for you then yes its worth it.
Don't focus just on what you want to do in the future - while many jobs now call for a degree to apply, they don't care what degree.
Plus its free money, downside is the graduate tax at higher levels of income.

 

[BDOptimism]

Just an update:

I haven't dropped the idea of skipping university, but going to learn more skills, especially where there might be a shortage in my area. I really enjoyed PC repair before, though it was a minum wage job. I want to do something meaningful for people, so I've considered getting some training/experience/courses under my belt for something like upholstery. I could then start an upholstery business before I turn 30. Just a thought. Even if it's not upholstery, it could be another trade where there's a shortage, and I could make a pretty good living from a viable small business.

 

[ImranR]

I would scrap window cleaning. Just based on your attitude and English writing, I think you can achieve more (no offence to window cleaners).

I would scour the market for an entry level job and learn the industry you fall into and find a niche for yourself. Meanwhile you can earn a bit more and save some capital (don't get tempted to live the city lifestyle if you get something in Central London).

YouTube the chap that started BlackCircle.com for inspiration. He started life as a tyre fitter .There are some interviews on YouTube which I find fascinating!

 

[HomeWrking]

Thanks for taking the time to share this - sounds like you have shown yourself a real self starter in a number of areas. I agree that university is seriously not worth it I speak as a holder of 2 degrees who does not use them at all in my day to day hustle. You have some good ideas any can be a success but you will have to be decisive and committed. May be hard if mum is looking for extra income to come in etc...but you will have to be hard headed and willing to suffer the hardship of getting your project off the ground. The window cleaning is worth reviving if it is bringing something in - market it and hand out work

 

[BDOptimism]

Thanks for the support and kind words all. I'm just thinking back to my childhood and trying to remember something I did regularly, at least once or twice a year that might be sentimental to me. Being 27, I still believe there's plenty of time to make a go of life and to take the time to work things out, even if that's via getting experience in a particular area for now.