Do You Fear Self Employment?

Do you fear Self Employment?

Don't fear self employment, it's not as bad as you might imagine. I have been self employed for 28 years now and I vowed that I would never work for anyone else ever again.

Having done a number of jobs in the past like the Merchant Navy and three trades in the Royal Navy, I know enough about being employed to make a judgement.

One thing I did like about being in the Navy was the security it gave me but I also have to admit that I was in the wrong job. But you know what, it is notoriously hard to just change jobs when you have commitments hanging over your head and bills to pay. It can be a real nightmare. For more information read this amazing book

In my case I had no choice over my discharge from the Royal Navy. I was discharged because of stress aggravated by Naval service. No body's fault really, just one of those things. All this was a long time ago though and to be honest I was relieved to get out and at the time, I didn't have very many commitments even though I was married. I didn't have any kids as well so the decisions I made would be easier. Although I owned my own property, it was a mobile home on a Naval caravan site.
We loved it here but we could not stay so I put the place up for sale and sold it without any problems.

After a foray into the jobs market I was able to get a job with accommodation as a gardener for a millionaire in Kent. There had been many applicants but somehow my wife and I had impressed them enough to get the job. We only lasted a month here though and it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth and I began to wonder where my life was leading. For more information read this amazing book

I spent the next two years unemployed in Malta. This was a highlight though and as my wife is Maltese, we had many relatives to rely on. I had received a gratuity of £5000 on leaving the Navy, and this is mainly what we lived on for two years. When the money ran out and a bad on foreigners working in Malta, we returned to the UK and briefly to my parents house. We were now homeless and almost penniless apart from a small pension granted to my from the Navy, but not enough to live on.

We did not last long here either so moved in with friends in Durham whom we'd met in Malta. It was then that I met a window cleaner who was selling his round. It wasn't something I had considered before but I decided to buy the round.

Because I was so eager to work for myself at this time, I was keen to make it work. After some training from the old guy I was away on my own. There was a lot to learn but it didn't take long to learn the routine. Soon I was able to come off social security although they did not give me much on top of my pension. Then we applied for a council house and got one within six weeks. Since I had been in the Navy, I got some priority but remember, the waiting list was not so long in 1986.

Things were looking up and my wife would help me clean the windows too. After a few months we really began to learn how to clean windows well and even we were surprised at how fast we could get the round out of the way. We also began to pick up extra work. Some I got by canvassing newly built houses and began to get some good work. Others I got by people just seeing us work and asking us to clean there houses.

I had bought an old Morris Minor which should really have been in the scrap yard but it got us about at first. However, we were doing so well that I was able to sell this and get a big Rover SD1. It seemed like an amazing turn around and not long after we bought an old caravan to go touring in at weekends.

So being self employed was suiting us but don't get carried away, absolutely nothing is ideal. It was hard work especially in winter. Going back to peoples houses collecting at night and being responsible for my own tax. I had to be self disciplined too and this won't suit everyone but to be my own boss for once far outweighed the downside for me.

Also, when you are self employed, the money can be better than you initially imagine. We could have done better but we are content with the life we had self employed and one big plus was that I got to spend a lot of time with my family. I concentrated on short hours but with a relatively high pay. Also I am actually in a very secure job, a job for life and one from which I can't get the sack.

So if you're thinking of going self employed make sure you are prepared for the responsibility that it brings but the upside can be very rewarding. For more information read this amazing book

A Brush with Royalty

Running For Home - A brush with Royalty

A brush with Royalty - Top Autobiographies

When I was in the Royal Navy and based at HMS Daedalus in Hampshire, a now redundant airbase, the following incident occurred:

........a large black car with a flag on the bonnet swept into view. The car swiftly pulled up beside me, the driver deftly placing the correct door right in front of me. “Well here goes” I thought as I grasped the door handle and swung it open…

I immediately saluted as the V.I.P exited the car. I nearly dropped dead when I saw who it was. His Royal Highness, Prince Philip. He thrust out his hand and we shook hands warmly, his piercing blue eyes looked right into mine as he said “Good morning” I replied, “Good morning Sir”, trying to look cool and professional, but all I could think of was how I hadn’t had a shave that morning as I passed him over to an  entourage of waiting officers in the control tower.

If you woul like a free pre-view of this book, then just click on the link:

Running For Home and get a free preview of the book. Thanks very much for looking at Top Autobiographies.

Metal Fatigue and a lifesaving call

Metal Fatigue - Top Autobiographies

Metal Fatigue!

When HMS Lowestoft had berthed in Rosyth Dockyard in 1975 the morale of the ship's company was low. We'd just finished a tour of several countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Brazil. All this seemed a distant memory in the dismal weather of the British Isles.

This is a similar Wasp

 

On families day several weeks before, the ships helicopter, of which I was the aircrew man, had dropped a live depth charge into the sea to impress the hoards of onlookers as the ship sailed slowly through the sea just off the South Coast and Portsmouth. The pilot had miscalculated the distance between the depth charge entering the sea and the actual ship. The resulting explosion was impressive but was to have some interesting consequences. Most of the admiring families were soaked by the massive fountain of water that engulfed the ship including my future wife.

Damage had undoubtedly been done to the ship but this was erroneously attributed to sabotage. It was decided by the authorities, to fly in three detectives to the ship whilst in Rosyth Dockyard using the ships helicopter call-sign 451. On return, the helicopter was folded up and slid into the hangar, the detectives scurrying below.

It was my job as aircrew man to inspect the tail rotor after each flight. I had been careless in this regard in the past but since three detectives were on board it was just the impetus I needed to carry out the task. I can still remember clearly the dim lights in the now deserted hangar, the smell of fuel and the residual heat still coming off the engine as I made my inspection. All seemed in order as it always was and I was about to turn away when I noticed something. It was like a thin watermark that ran most of the way round the tail cone. At first I could not believe what I was seeing but there was no doubt that it was a classic case of metal fatigue.

Raising the alarm it was not long before most of the flight crew were in the hangar and I was given more commendation than I'd ever had before in my career. It was a strange feeling though since I knew that potentially, I had not only saved my own life but that of the pilot and the three detectives on the very next flight.

Cockroach Encounter

Cockroach Encounter

Here is an incident whilst I was living in Singapore as a child:

I went swimming one day and my trunks were sort of uncomfortable. I was in and out of the pool for a couple of hours. I found out what was wrong with my trunks when I came to get changed. A very large cockroach staggered out. How it was able to breathe, is a matter of conjecture.

Scariest moment of my life - Helicopter crash landing

Scariest moment of my life - Helicopter crash landing

What's the scariest moment of your life? What's mine - well let's think. To be honest I have a few but here's one. I was in a helicopter as aircrew in the Royal Navy and doing some exercises called auto rotation. This is where you practice engine failure.

We'd done a few of these descents but on the last one the engine failed for real. The ground rushed up to meet us and boy was I scared. With no more height left to recover we just fell toward the ground but just as I thought we were going to die, the stupid engine decides that it was also scared and it kicks back in just in time to scrub off some of the speed we were heading for the ground. Bang we hit the ground, the suspension bottoms out, the engine and rotors scream, the cows in the field produce more than the usual cow pats and we bounce back into the air and just manage to stay airborne.

I think that was my luckiest escape but I have a few more. If you are interested, watch this space. For an immediate fix just have a look at my book. It's all in there, all the sordid details of my farcical and sometimes dangerous life Running For Home a top autobiography, have a free review of the first few chapters you will be surprised at how much of this book you can actually read for free.

What I did before I became a Window Cleaner

In my book "Running For Home", I go into great detail as to what I did before I became my own boss. I can honestly say that it was without doubt, the best decision that I ever made and I have no regrets other than wishing I had done it from the beginning.

"Running For Home" is an autobiography about a man that could not settle at anything but finally finds what he's looking for in self employment.

It goes into the agonies of being employed and the unhappiness that developed as a consequence along with life's uncertainties and disappointments on the way.

Should you want to know just what I got up to before I became  successfully self employed, then you must read my book to understand how I felt and how I arrived at this point wishing to help others get into a better place. "Running For Home"

Get Free Books Forever - Easy to do!

Free Books Forever - Don't buy another book 

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Type in the box at the top Free Books or Top 100 free. This will take you to the free books.

These books are free because Amazon allows the Authors a period to promote their books and putting them on for free usually give them greater exposure and greater sales later on. I often put my book "Running for Home" onto this scheme with some success. In this way you can obtain as many free books as you wish for all time, many of which will be best sellers by famous authors.

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