Seeking advice on a transition...

[Nate tha' Great]

I am not becoming a poker pro.

However, I am leaving the corporate job that I have had for the past 3+ years to pursue a variety of other opportunities. The primary thing that I'll be doing is working on behalf a small business. A secondary thing that I'll be doing is playing poker. I'm *expecting* to make some income from playing poker, but I'm not *relying* upon it. I have some savings, will have some steady income, and am very adequately bankrolled. I'll have health insurance, at least for the next 18 months. Poker will be a more important source of income than it had been in the past - but my well-being will not depend upon it, at least not in the near term.

Around 80-90% of the work for this small business will be done out of my home, most of that in front of a computer. The hours will be highly variable, as few as 15-20 some weeks, easily as many as 80 some others. I will, for the most part, be responsible for setting my own deadlines and determining my own schedule. Poker is the perfect complement in certain ways, since I can expand or contract my table hours accordingly.

I sense that a good number of 2+2ers have taken something other than the standard, move-up-the-office-ladder career path.

Which brings up my question. Has anybody faced a similar transition - going from a corporate job to being more or less self-employed? What sort of things do I need to look be aware of? Is it weird going from being around people all day to spending a lot of time by yourself? (Contrary to all appearances, I do have a pretty healthy social life, but the fact remains that I'll be spending somewhere between 60-80 hours a week sitting in my apartment by myself and working). What sort of things can you do to make sure that you don't take too much advantage of your newfound freedom?

Any advice appreciated, on the board or over PM. Thanks.

[HDPM]

The biggest transition for me was going from a bustling office to a slower paced office away from constant action. I didn't leave a corporate job and don't work out of my home now, but in some respects I made a similar jump. It was harder than I expected to get going in a self employed situation and in some respects I am still in transition ofter almost 2 years. Like anything there are tradeoffs and you may not always know you did the right thing. Less freedom than you think in some ways. OTOH, I am starting to exercise my freedom more and I like it. I do miss the number of people and constant action at the old job. But a couple of things I have done on my own are more satisfying than anything I did before.

[LetsRock]

Working from home is a tough gig if you're the type of person that "needs" to be around other people a lot of the day. We're all wired differently and some folks prefer the solitude while others would go plain bonkers with no one to talk to. Only you know where you fit on that scale, but if you prefer to be around people much of the day, this won't be a good fit for you.

On the professional side of things, make sure you have some kind of regular schedule that you devote to your "job" and stick to it. If you're in the "office" from say 9-3 then be working during that time. Don't start drifting into "poker mode" during that time - you will get into some very bad work habits. This can be very difficult to do if your "job" duties don't keep you occupied for much of the scheduled "work day". It will be very easy to slip into goof-off mode since ther won't be anybody in the "office" to be looking over your shoulder.

On the same line, when you're outside of your work hours, don't work. If possible have business phone line that you don't answer outside of your "regular hours". It's pretty easy to be kinda working 14 hours a day when working from home if you let people contact you with work related calls anytime of the day. Just as you should work when you're "on the clock", you should not work when you're on your time. People will take advantage of this if you let them.

I'd advise against a schedule that is "play poker whenever I'm don't have other job duties to perform" - you'll find more and more reasons to put off your work duties because you're "in a good game" or stuck. Have seperate schedules for both of your "jobs".

And don't forget to leave the house every once in a while for lunch or exercise or whatever. It gets real easy to root to your chair when you work from home. Try to do your work related meetings somewhere besides your house. Yes, it's a little less convenient to have to go somewhere, but it gets you out of the house.

Good luck on your new venture.

[MRBAA]

Worked (as an advertising writer) from home for 10 years. Let's Rock is right on it about having hours, office, spearate phone, etc. I worked from about 9:30 to 6 every weekday. You'll have to add hours as needed, and it's fine to take an afternoon off to go play golf or on a casino trip, but in general, you need time and a place devoted just to work. Also, I enjoyed being at home and found that talking to clients/colleagues about my jobs provided plenty of human contact (I'm married and have kids, so had a busy life when not working). But I've seen some people who just can't work at home -- they feel isolated, get distracted, can't structure themselves, etc. And some of them are very successful at regular corporate jobs. So if you're feeling this way three months in or so, you'll want to reassess.

[mosch]

I'm effectively self-employed, and it's been a great challenge and a great career move for me. I wish you the absolute best of luck in this.

Some random bits of advice:
1) make sure to maintain a regular work schedule. if you don't, you'll either work too much, or too little, depending on your personality.

2) make sure to maintain a regular social schedule. it's easy to to become a bit isolated if you never actually have to leave your house.

3) if possible, keep a seperate office area. it's useful to have a place that you work, and places that you don't work. otherwise you're likely to find yourself either playing at work, or working when you should play.

4) pay yourself a salary. when you're self-employed, money comes in sporadically, but your expenses are relatively constant. if you pay yourself modestly, you should naturally develop a buffer that will help you survive the inevitable lean times. not only do i have a personal emergency fund, but the corporate account that pays my salary has several months buffer in it, to handle emergency expenses.

5) get a good accountant, and talk to him about deductions, and legitimate pre-tax business spending. seriously, this will save you a fortune. many businesses are allowed to lease company cars for their employees with pre-tax dollars (a HUGE discount). additionally, you may be able to take deductions for keeping a home office, and if you plan your travel well, to pay for much of it with pre-tax business money as well.

6) get good financial advice about how to strucutre your company. getting the setup that's most beneficial to your needs is going to save you thousands of dollars a year, it's worth buying a few hours of expert time.

7) cash is king. having a big number in your AR ledger means nothing if you run out of cash. this is the time to learn how to cut your costs and stash money like a madman. the most common cause of small business failure is a lack of cash. you keep a 300BB poker bankroll even though you haven't lost more than 100BB in the past year. treat your business finances the same way. having an extra large nut may allow you to take the extra gamble that allows your business to take off, rather than to merely survive.

I could probably keep rambling on, but that's what comes to my mind at first. I wish you well on your venture!

[Al Schoonmaker]

Mosch,
You've made a great post. It is very solid and well organized.
Thanks,
Al

[Al Schoonmaker]

Nate,
This thread is excellent because a lot of people here are coping with similar issues. Some of the advice, especially Mosch's, is very good. I also urge you to take seriously the suggestion that you reassess the entire change in a few months. Some people love working at home. Others become completely unproductive. At this point you just don't know how it will work out.
Good luck, and keep us informed.
Regards,
Al

[Nate tha' Great]

Thanks for the advice, guys. One thing I've already caught myself falling into is the "infinte time trap", e.g. "oh golly now that fully I'm in control of my own schedule I'll work out five times a week, keep an apartment that would make Martha Stewart proud, learn Italian, start a grunge band, take a two-week trip to Borneo..." etc. The one thing that just about everyone seems to agree on is that a lot of discipline is required to pull this off, moreso almost than if you're working on someone else's clock, and I'll take the advice to be proactive about organizing my time and personal space to heart.