Guest Blog: Thinking on our feet in tough times
A guest blog from Jon Stow
I feel for the many people who have lost their jobs in the last year or so. In a previous cycle I found myself without a job, and at pretty short notice. Like many others then and now, I did not at first think it would be difficult to find something suitable as after all I had plenty of experience and thought I was actually pretty good at what I did. The trouble is that the few prospective employers will not just take our word for it.
Plainly my wife and I needed to have more money coming in, so I branched out into helping other business owners with literally hands-on help. I became a member of an organization which specialises in doing that and which can source almost any skill or service needed to get a business running smoothly, or indeed to pluck it from the jaws of failure.
However, rewarding the business advice was in terms of happy clients, it still wasn’t enough in terms of income. This was the point when my wife and I thought about what other interests we had which might provide an income of sorts.
Although my main business in tax has taken off, the other businesses still run on. Our very first cat-sitting clients are still with us. It is not actually easy money. If a client’s cat gets sick in their absence one may find oneself sitting about in a vet’s waiting room at an inconvenient time and that is quite apart from the messes that one has to clean up. Still, it is rewarding because the customers are so much more at ease on their holidays knowing that their cats are well looked-after in their absence.
I started my blog On our bikes.partly to help encourage others to branch out. We may have experience in a particular area, but we have to think whether there is a demand for that skill. I believe that we need to consider what else we can do, what we know about, and what can bring an income fairly quickly.
It is no good just thinking “I am an accountant / tyre fitter / fashion-buyer and that is all I can do. We need to think about our interests and our hobbies. It doesn’t need to be a whole new career forever, but something to get us out and meet people. We could try being a travel guide for example if we are well up on local history. It might not pay too much money but could lead better things, and in the meantime, some money is better than no money or the pittance we get at the JobCentre.
It is certainly better for our self-esteem.
What do you think?
Jon Stow
Jon Stow is Principal of Jon Stow Consulting – Tax Solutions, Director of the Essex Busiiness Network Southend Group and is an associate of kittysitting.co.uk
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6 Responses to Guest Blog: Thinking on our feet in tough times
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Much as I disagree with many Tory policies and ideals, why does your post remind me of Norman Tebbit’s notorious “get on yer bike” campaign way back when?
In those days he was criticised for being unfeeling and uncaring and frankly, in some ways I think he was.
But in our present circumstances it seems that this is what many people are doing, and it’s working for them.
Isn’t life grand?
Twitter: SuzeStMWrites
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Tebbitt is often miss quoted, he actually said – “I grew up in the ’30s with an unemployed father. He didn’t riot. He got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking ’til he found it.” which is common sense, rioting never solves anything.
Once upon a time people were led to believe they were not only entitled to a job, but one in accordance with their previous experience. I myself was terrible affronted to discover that not only couldn’t I get another post commensurate with my experience; I couldn’t get one at all in my field of expertise.
It has probably always been true that it is easier to get a job if you already have one. If you have the chance to get a job when unemployed you should probably take it even if the pay isn’t up to much, because it is a stepping-stone back and easier to move up the scale again.
I was very frustrated by the radio piece referred to in this previous post – http://onourbikes.com/2009/02/11/realism-job-seeking-and-cats/ – because to use an old-fashioned expression, the redundant person was “cutting off her nose to spite her face”. She had the chance of something, but for many of us it was a necessity to just start one or more businesses of any sort to get some mony in and pay the bills.
Hi Jon
It kind of annoyed me about a year or more ago when I saw a programme featuring Digby Jones encouraging folk to do things to get back in work after they’d been made redundant.
I believe his heart was in the right place but the suggestions he was making were hygiene: it struck me that they were the minimum you’d expect to need to do and there was absolutely no creative thinking whatsoever…
So I did a whole pile of research and blogged on redundancy for a while – you can see it here if you want to have a nose around: http://www.redundancyuk.co.uk/
Twitter: Linda_Mattacks
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