
I am far from unemployed - zmoazeni
http://simplechatter.com/2010/06/i-am-far-from-unemployed/
======
garply
I'm from the Midwest and that was the response I got from a lot of people when
I first started my own business.

More interesting is who really supported me at the start - I'm from the upper
middle class and people always expected me to go off to work at some big
company after college. Most of the other upper middle class people treated me
with this sympathetic (and, I think, condescending) type of tone when I was
starting out. But most of my best friends are actually from a lower income
group (you'd say blue collar or skilled labor), and they and their families
really encouraged me and understood I was being ambitious and doing this of my
own volition.

Of course, now that my partner and I have 3 employees working for us and are
profitable, I don't get much sympathy from anyone any more :)

~~~
tomjen3
Don't worry, I feel sorry for you~

But it may be more of a class/culture thing, Paul Graham talked about how
people like Ford and the other industrialists came from the working class,
rather than the middle class because starting their own business was
considered too much a risk when you could get a secure job with a really good
salary for the rest of your life working at a big corporation.

Or maybe it is just because until fairly recently the price to start a company
that would need the skills you would have to pay a salary that would put your
employees in the middle class for would cost several million dollars and as a
consequence would be rather rare, whereas most of the blue collar workers
could imagine starting their own plumbing company, because that isn't such an
unusual thing to do.

As an aside, getting into the trades would be a great way to make a lot of
money without having to pay of college debt, the work can't be outsourced and
since everybody knows you are supposed to go to college, getting into the
trades is undervalued.

~~~
GFischer
Indeed, a good tradesman is never unemployed, and they usually make good
money.

On the other hand, I guess there are people that would rather risk
unemployment than the "blue collar" perceived stigma.

Not to mention that many of the well-paying trades are actually not easy to
learn! I have a lot of respect for them.

~~~
pgbovine
Great essay on this topic (it was later expanded into a full-length book):

[http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/shop-class-as-
sou...](http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/shop-class-as-soulcraft)

------
jpdbaugh
I am a student who decided to quit my internship this summer and work
independently on various projects. Mainly because I wasn't going to learn much
of anything at my job besides how to fetch coffee and run errands. Anyway, I
have been getting this same reaction from a lot of people except for maybe my
mom and and few close friends who know me. People just can't understand why I
would ever give up a decent paying job to strike it out on my own and some
people even get half hostile about it. I really think it comes from jealousy.
Though, the whole work a job or your a slob thing is really engrained in
people in Western PA.

~~~
zmoazeni
Congrats on following your gut jdbaugh. Good luck to you!

I don't know if it comes from jealousy, but I do think some people view work
differently.

For me this isn't a career, it's a lifestyle. For those who view a job as a
paycheck it's hard to think about it any differently.

------
riffer
This is pretty much spot on: when you go this route, a lot of people assume
that you're unemployed involuntarily.

To them, working is a subset of having a job. They couldn't imagine themselves
choosing to not have a job before retirement, and they assume that you look at
it the same way.

The bottom line is that one of the hardest things in the world is looking at
things from the other person's point of view. The truth is that it's something
that all of us have to actively work on.

~~~
zmoazeni
Thanks riffer for your support! I totally connect with "looking at things from
the other person's point of view".

------
djb_hackernews
I'm curious how he is framing his current situation.

"I'm currently looking for freelance work"

"I'm trying my hand at contracting"

is much different from:

"I'm a small business owner"

"I'm the principle of an IT contracting firm"

~~~
dpcan
Excellent point, because my first thought was: what on earth is he saying to
people to have them ACTUALLY say what they are saying????

I've been in business for 10 years for myself, and I have always told people I
run my own business and nobody has EVER said something about me trying to find
a job or being unemployed. Ever.

It must be a vibe he puts off, or the way he describes what he's doing. Maybe
he's wishy washy in what he says he's doing, or doesn't speak with confidence.

~~~
zmoazeni
Great feedback @djb_hackernews and @dpcan! I'm constantly evaluating how I'm
communicating with others and improving it where I can.

While this isn't justification for poor communication skills, a conversation
is affected by the other's perceived notions as much as the way you present
yourself.

------
tokenadult
My family is so culturally influenced by the Chinese cultural idea (through my
wife's Taiwanese heritage) of "寧為雞頭,不為牛後" (better to be the head of a chicken
than the rear of a buffalo) that it never really occurred to us to seek big
firm kinds of employment. We have always enjoyed being entrepreneurial. The
trick is building a business that SCALES UP--that's what I learn a lot about
here on HN.

~~~
GFischer
It's not only Chinese, there's a Spanish saying "Más vale ser cabeza de ratón
que cola de león", which translates to "It's better to be the head of a mouse
than the tail of a lion".

I also see a similarity between the early Spanish immigrants (started small
businesses, farming, etc) and the current-day Chinese immigrants (which
usually start their own businesses over here as well).

~~~
gwern
Or the English saying, 'better to be a big fish in a small pond'?

~~~
plorkyeran
Or perhaps "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven."

~~~
philwelch
That seems to have the opposite connotation--after all, it is Satan who says
that.

~~~
plorkyeran
Milton certainly intended it to have the opposite connotation (and Satan even
goes on to admit he was lying out of pride), but I have met people who
genuinely believe it's a good philosophy to live by.

------
T_S_
You can solve the friends and family issue quickly, at least partially, by
giving your business a name and having a few business cards to hand out.

Confidence is contagious.

~~~
zmoazeni
Believe it or not, friends and family have been the most supportive. May just
be the circles I run in.

Totally agree with "Confidence is contagious"

------
enneff
I find it a bit nuts that people don't get it.

Where I live - in Sydney, Australia - it's generally understood that
contractors/freelancers make more money than typical working stiffs. I think I
would always be able to make more money as a freelancer. I would still be
doing so, if I hadn't found a great job at a great company.

What puzzles me, though, is the purpose of this blog post. Surely anyone
reading it already knows the score. :-)

~~~
zmoazeni
Actually it's not about the money for me. It's more about the freedom. I think
if the bottom line is the primary goal, you'll become burnt out just as
quickly as if you took a big salary at a company with a contradictory culture.

I don't have a strong agenda for my blog posts other than sharing my thoughts
and hearing critical feedback that I can learn from.

That is awesome on finding a great company!

------
davidw
A word of caution: I work as a consultant and have for a while now.
Ultimately, though, I think that building an actual business would have been a
better road. As a freelancer, you're fairly limited in your upside compared to
something like, say, Balsamiq, but it's easy to hit a slow patch and go below
what would be a good % of billable time.

~~~
patio11
Why not have your cake and eat it, too? Pick a product that you can do on a
part-time basis. Do it. Consult on the side. Alternately, reverse the order.

My product pays the bills, but a bit of consulting on the side right now makes
it much less of a dicey proposition and pays for trips to see the family and
for freelancers and whatnot to work on my next product, and unlike my
customers, consulting clients still have work to be done in the summer.

Some of the skills you crosstrain in, like selling, are intensely valuable,
and for a variety of consulting engagements you can use your own business as
an object demonstration of what you can do for the customer. Plus, your BATNA
is much better than the typical freelancers: oh no, if you don't want to pay
my ludicrous hourly wages, I'll be forced to spend the time working on
expanding my profitable businesses. How ever will I cope.

~~~
davidw
Sure, that's generally where I'm headed these days, but I wish I'd headed
there earlier.

------
pierrefar
I've been "self unemployed" for just over a month now, and I love it too. My
friends and family are all very supportive - not one had the sympathy tone the
post mentioned.

~~~
zmoazeni
Congrats on the move pierrefar! I should revise my wording, my family has been
extremely supportive. Perhaps they sensed I'd go this path eventually.

------
imp
I also got the same reaction here in the midwest. Although people would be
supportive, there was frequently a tone of sympathy as well. It was surprising
to see how people reacted, especially those who are more indoctrinated into
the corporate lifestyle.

~~~
zmoazeni
I'm sending you good vibes imp. Good luck to you!

------
rue
Is there some epidemic of calling self-employed people and freelancers
"unemployed" that I am not aware of?

~~~
ben1040
No, but in some circles there's an assumption that self employment is just a
stopgap, and you're only working for yourself until you can find another
position where you can pad someone else's bottom line instead of your own.

------
johnohara
Two things:

1\. You are not officially self-employed until you file your taxes and
officially state that as your occupation.

2\. Nobody is really "unemployed." Unemployment benefits are taxed as income.
That makes you "self-employed" anyway. To me, calling yourself unemployed is
simply destructive thinking.

~~~
frossie
_Nobody is really "unemployed." Unemployment benefits are taxed as income.
That makes you "self-employed" anyway_

I'm not sure I follow you. Being employed is trading your labour for income;
if you are collecting unemployment benefit you are not trading any labour.
That doesn't mean that you are not _working_ but you are definitely not
_employed_. Cf. a stay-at-home parent may work their butt off but is not
employed in the normal meaning of the word.

------
j_baker
I'd imagine that this article doesn't help much either:
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/opinion/02reich.html>

~~~
zmoazeni
Very timely article, thanks for sharing it j_baker.

------
ryanjmo
I feel sorry for people that are employed.

------
pedalpete
Since I was in my late twenties (about a decade ago), I've had exactly the
opposite reaction.

I've always been involved in 'projects' and working on ideas aside from my
main gig, and when I take on proper contracts now, it seems most people think
of it as a bad thing. As though I've given up or I'm not doing what I am
supposed to be doing or something like that.

Am I the only one who gets this kind of reaction? Completely the opposite of
the author.

~~~
zmoazeni
Even though you're getting a different reaction, I wouldn't take it to heart.

One of the reasons for my move was that it aligned what made me happy, helping
others, and making a living all in one. If that's the same for you moving from
side projects to your main projects, more power to you!

Out of curiosity, what part of the country are you in?

------
noonespecial
I always seem to get "Well, you should call my uncle Bob, he's always looking
for bright new people. I'm sure he could find something for you to do."

I know they mean well, but more than once I've growled back _self_ not _un_.

~~~
zmoazeni
Hah, I haven't gotten that response yet. But I agree they most likely mean
well. Unless Uncle Bob is a pain in the ass to work for :)

------
tjmaxal
there is a reason most of us work for someone else.

It's usually easier.

To strike out on your own is to cut the safety net.

~~~
moolave
And that's what makes the difference between those who dream and make it big
and those who like to stay within their comfort zones. The next difference?..
is just a matter of time =)

~~~
georgieporgie
> And that's what makes the difference between those who dream and make it big
> and those who like to stay within their comfort zones

"Those that dream," "those that make it big," and "those who strike out on
their own," are complex groups with varying degrees of overlap.

Many people "strike out on their own," for a variety of reasons unrelated to
"making it big".

------
ahoyhere
BREAKING: an individual's family has a beef with that individual's chosen path
in life. News at 11.

Them's the breaks.

------
rmundo
Reminds me of one of my favorite new t-shirt messages: "I'm not unemployed,
I'm NSFW"

Link here: [http://store.dieselsweeties.com/products/im-not-
unemployed-i...](http://store.dieselsweeties.com/products/im-not-unemployed-
im-nsfw-shirt) , and no, I have no connection to the website whatsoever.

~~~
zmoazeni
I'm not sure why people marked this down, I thought it was pretty funny :)

