It has been 2 years since I’ve quitted my corporate job.
I realize that I really enjoy the freedom to go anywhere I want to, and do what I want to at home. Singapore has a high population density, and everywhere you go, you are probably surrounded by many people. However, I was able to visit many popular places of interests, at times where there are few people, and I realize how nice these places are when they are not crowded.
Apart from enjoyment aside, I also manage my own company, and engage in activities that I wanted to try, while trying to make a profit.
Here are somethings that I’ve tried.
- Teaching: I taught many different subjects. Private piano and music theory lessons, Math, Chemistry and more. I realize I love to share knowledge, come up with ways to digest the knowledge, and create those study aids for them. I really enjoy this. The only downside is I need to commit a certain amount of time, and be at somewhere each week to teach.
2. Consulting/ Contractor: This is the best paying one. However, when you are a consultant (or contractor), I realize while I’m boss, I’m not the true boss. The client is. You have to answer to what the client’s company queries, manage different groups of people in that company, schedule meetings and meet up, meet deadlines and so on. Also, while I used a company structure to protect myself, I still feel that some things may have liabilities without me realizing it. Hence, I scale back on this.
3. Selling Physical Stuff: I tried selling physical stuff directly, and I can tell you I honestly dislike this. Period. I closed down all the online shops that I have created. I should have known it though. I dreaded it when I started making those websites. While I lost money from trying this, it is a good lesson for me that I will not sell physical stuff directly in time to come. If you want to try out selling physical things, just try Carousell your stuff for a while. If you hate it, then don’t bother selling physical things online. I have problems with physical stuff because I can’t really tell the difference between many things, like all red are red to me (but there is maroon, cherry red, etc., which many can tell the difference but not me).
4. Selling Digital Products: I am really addicted to creating digital products to sell. There are so many things you can create to sell, which can help to make a difference to people’s productivity and other aspects of life. I think I am better at creating digital stuff as well, and this is the thing that I want to focus on going forward.
My business only made profit the first year when I did consulting. However, I didn’t want to do it long term, and spend more time on other things. In the end, I made a losses in my business subsequently. The main reason is the cost of switching. I tried some stuff and spend some money setting them up, then realize that I didn’t want to do that. I could have spend less during the set up, but well, it’s lesson learned.
But importantly, I really enjoyed myself.