I have been running my own company for about 4 years. I have always dreamed and had ambition about the future and growth of my company.
So last year I attempted to hire some developers. I interviewed two, one was a friend of mine, the other one I did not know - neither worked out.
At the same time I was considering upgrading the company together with a client/business partner and a freelancer I had hired to a ApS (PLC). But this never really worked out, we have all the papers lined up, but not being able to attract people and being able to move on, sort of put the whole thing on ice.
The freelancer I had been working with for about a year got another gig and our communication is more sporadic these days. I got contacted by another freelancer who was interested in hearing what I was doing and we have been working together now for about 6 months and I expect for this to continue for some time, but I do not know for how long I can expect him to be around.
The problem with freelancers however is that they might find something else and they are somewhat expensive, the reason why I wanted to hire people and/or to create and ApS would be to get some continuity, stability and team spirit and it would be nice to be able to sort of put some of the hard earned money into development of own products, since I seem to be doing these days is consulting, which is profitable, but not always as satisfying as one could wish for.
I have had different freelancers working for me over time and I like to work with freelancers. They are much like myself and we get a lot of stuff done and my clients are happy (well some are not, but that is another story).
So for the last year or so I have felt that I have been at a sort of crossroad. Things are going really well, but I do not know for how long this will continue, all the economist are trying to scare the sh*t out of hardworking people like myself with doomsday scenarios for the world economy.
I have even considered locating a steady job, but I enjoy the freedom my company and freelance work gives me and the amount of Perl jobs advertised in Denmark seems to be close to 0.
So I am continuing working for as self-employed, but that brings me to some the crossroad.
Should I upgrade my company?
- I would really like to have an ApS instead of the current form, since it would mean that I would not be personally liable if things should go wrong
- I am not sure I want to make a ApS with other people, since I am too much of a control freak still - and I do still regard my company as my baby, my pet project. I am probably one of the major factors why the project I mentioned earlier was put on ice, I do not think I was ready for sharing control with others at this time. It was however myself who suggested turning my company into an ApS, but I personally find it hard to work for more than one employer
- I think I could raise the money to turn my company into an ApS, but that brings me to some other issues I am facing. Book keeping, I am not particularly good at it, it takes time and I would love to outsource it. In order to raise the amount necessary I would also need to streamline what I am doing right now and that would require, working harder, saving money and giving up on some of the freedom I am currently enjoying, like Google Days which I have blogged about earlier
- Another alternative would be to just continue consulting, I could cut down on my expenses and ambitions and just make a living, working less hours, spending time with my family, read some books and go running when I wanted to
Some weeks ago my friend whom I had interviewed contacted me, he had quit his job and he asked me if I now anybody who was hiring. I told him I would keep an eye open, not pushing the idea of coming to work for me, since we had already been through this earlier.
Via Linkedin I was contacted by a former boss of mine, who was asking for recommendations for people to fill a position with his new company. I immediately forwarded this to my friend and hoped for the best - he did however not get the job
My friend had practically got another job however, but red tape and a fascist HR department, had stopped that, they had however promised him that if they could work it out over summer, they would love to hire him.
So I told him that he could come a work for me for two months and he said yes. Fortunately a large assignment fell into my lap and I could assign him two it and I could continue doing the stuff I was already doing.
Giving some more thought to where I was going I have now planned to employ my friend for two months, so this will be until summer. My gentleman agreement with the freelancer who is working for me is also until summer. So I might as well continue as I am going right now until summer and when I get back from holiday in August I can decide on what direction I should take...
And to make things even more complicated, the freelancer I am currently working with and I have talked about starting a joint-venture... I dunno, I need to think...
