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future plans in my 20s

  • 12-10-2012 11:51am
    #1
    LegacyUser
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 166,026 ✭✭✭✭


    Hi,

    i'm 25 - currently working in the civil service on a temporary basis. There is a 5 year post coming up for my role in the next few weeks and i have an interview. I feel dispairing at the thoughts of being stuck here for the next 5 years honestly!

    The job itself isnt the worst in the world, bit soul distroying - but boring,extremely regulated, full of civil service inefficiencies, office politics. I dont get home till late enough in the evenings, I am up early, stuck in traffic. I have no time for anything outside of work and i feel miserable all the time. I dont want to end up 50 and stuck in the same job never having chased my dreams.

    What i want to do is make cakes! i'm good at it, and it makes me happier than i could imagine.

    Am I mad for thinking of starting up a cake business in the current economic climate? I dont have any kids, mortgage or anything like that so i feel like now is the chance to do something i want to do. im torn!


Comments

  • #2
    Overheal
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 86,729 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    You would really want to go and get together a bonafide business plan together before you jump into such a venture. Market research, feasibility studies, the whole nine yards.

    Even while your work week might get quite full is there any reason you can't socialize even a little bit? There are people important to me in my life that I frankly don't get to spend time with every week. It's a common theme in the 20-somethings right now that all of us are too busy for "relationships" and "dating" and going out every weekend. Some of us even have kids already and/or are single parents, to make matters worse, or we're FT employed, and we're going to college, or all of the above.

    If you want to do the bakery then start now. If you have the business skills employ them, or if you don't: hire for them. Check your social network for someone with a business degree you could make a 50/50 (or other split) partnership with, without wanting to kill each other.


  • #3
    Nymeria
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 173 ✭✭Nymeria


    Hi there,

    First, I would say that you are still young, and have plenty of time to figure out your future...think ahead to the next 10 years, think about where you want to be and what it would take to get there. And then start making some changes.

    A few years ago I was in a job that I hated, and was then made redundant. I now feel that was the best thing that happened to me as I am now doing a University course that I love, with a view to doing a career that I will really enjoy. It will take time and effort, but in my mind its so worth it. One mantra I like to repeat to myself is 'it is better to be at the bottom of a ladder you want to climb, than be half way up a ladder you don't want to be on'.

    I think it great that you've found something that you love - cakes! If that is something you would love to do as a career, for example owning your own little bakery then you could make plans for that. Unfortunately, it might not be as simple as packing in your job straight away and starting a new business. That requires at the very least some start up money, and a business plan.

    What I would advise you to do is start baking on the weekends/ in your spare time and see if you can build a client base of some sort, and also figure out the logistics of buying baking equipment/testing out recipes etc.

    A friend of mine loves baking and alway used to make cakes for friends...recently she started a facebook page to advertise her services which is cakes for special occasions like birthdays or weddings. She has some regular customers and is still working her normal job but is slowly figuring out how to make it into a full time thing. This is something you could you try which would enable you to do something that you love, but still with the security of a regular wage for the moment.

    Possibly you could think about a plan for the next few years, so the long term prospect doesn't look so bleak. You could even take the 5 year post on offer, but with a view to leaving at the end of that. Make a plan and stick to it and you could be have some great savings in five years time. The way things are going at the moment, I would recommend being sensible about a medium term plan to ensure that you are not stuck without a wage.

    If you really cannot stomach being there for the next five years, what about looking for work in a bakery or catering business, this would give you great experience with something that you are interested in.

    Like the previous poster said I would also make sure that in the mean time you find outside interests / hobbies to take your mind off the monotony of a job you dislike. Many people are in the same position as you, in a job that is just paying the bills, and sometimes having an outside interest that inspires you can really make a difference to your wellbeing.

    Good luck.


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