I was made redundant 6 months ago today…. and today I’m having a breakfast meeting with myself and going through my plans for the rest of the week. For me, redundancy was the biggest opportunity ever! In fact, I’m loving my life!!

Now, as a business owner, I get to say who I work with, what tasks I do and how much I charge for them. For the most part, I can decide when I work (unless there is a strict deadline from a client). It also means that I have several hats to wear as a solopreneur, I am the IT department, the finance department, the communications etc. However, I have found it revolutionary. I no longer have to march to someone else’s tune.

I had spent 26 years in the corporate jungle and I was a little battered from the grindstone. I completed a life audit and realised the only thing I wasn’t happy with was my health and fitness… If you would like to download my life audit head on over to my resources page. However, exercising has always seemed a luxury to me and a bit self-indulgent… I certainly wouldn’t pay for the gym! But even now I had the luxury of time on my side I always felt I should be tied to my office as I’d just started my business.

So I decided to get paid to exercise…. sounds crazy I know!  I have signed up with Dor2Dor who are a marketing company who pay people to deliver leaflets to the local area. I have committed to 6-8 hours a week and I can deliver around my Virtual Assistant business. Now it doesn’t feel like a waste of time as I’m actually being paid to walk… and I’m actually getting out and not just tied to my desk…. nothing like a deadline to get you motivated. I have a week to deliver 1000 leaflets and so far I’m loving it.

Being freelance means I have flexibility in my day. For my retainer clients, I have to do some work every day, but that can be moved until the afternoon if I choose to go to networking or to lunch with my friends.

Of course, I couldn’t do this without the support of my loving husband.  Little did he realise that he has replaced all my colleagues and as soon as he gets home I’m talking ten to the dozen as I’m so excited about my day and the achievements I’ve made.  Because I am now benefitting from all the hard work I put in.  It’s so rewarding.

I love the flexibility this job gives me and the variety as I now get to work with lots of different types of clients… I’m always looking for more clients so if you know anyone who needs help with their business admin then I would be grateful if you could pass my details on.

I would be keen to know what has been the benefit of you moving to a freelance role and do you have any tips for a relatively new start-up business.

Do you have 6-month reviews and assess where your business is heading?