I want to leave my career to pursue hobby - am I mad?

LegacyUser · 11-06-2021 3:50pm #1

I'm a researcher at a university. I get decent pay for now but the stress of the work and the constant need to find new funding/positions has worn me down. I could move towards a lecturer role but that's also not secure unless it's a tenure-type role and those don't come up very often, especially outside Dublin.

I'm thinking more and more about jumping ship and doing something totally different. I have a crafting hobby that I think I could turn into a business. I believe there's a market for what I want to make and I love the idea of being creative, working with my hands, setting my own goals etc. I'm in my late 30s, have a mortgage and need to contribute financially to my family so the financial risk worries me. But my partner has an income too and we could manage ok on that if we had to. What it comes down to is I'm really scared to make the leap but I feel like I'm wasting my life in my current job.

Has anybody been in a similar situation? How did you make a decision? Any and all advice welcome!!!

LimeFruitGum · 13-06-2021 1:48pm

Find out for certain if there is a commercial demand & market for your crafts. I wouldn’t go just by feedback from family or friends. Have you sold some items already?

qwerty13 · 13-06-2021 3:19pm

I don’t know much about this stuff, but I think if a small business was looking for a loan from a bank, they have to present a ‘business plan’. Could you Google sample business plans, and see what areas they cover, and how you’d address each area? It might help in directing your thoughts. I’m pretty sure there’s a small business association too, maybe check their website for pointers.

Just on ‘managing ok’ based on your partner’s salary:
1) how secure is their job? If it’s gold-plated, that’s one thing, but what if they got laid off?
2) would ‘managing ok’ mean a substantial change in lifestyle, eg no holidays / takeaways / meals out / Sky tv etc etc. How would your partner feel about this?
3) if you were to run a small business, would it be from your home? Have you enough space to do that, or would you need to rent a premises?
4) is your partner happy to be the one with the steady reliable income, or have they any thoughts of scaling back in hours, or changing career?
5) do you have kids, or are you planning on having them? How would the change in finances affect them, including future plans like college? Could you reduce the family expenses by covering the childcare while setting up your small business from home?

Wesser · 13-06-2021 3:22pm

Why dont you start trying to earn an i come i your spare time while not giving up the day job and see how it goes. Dont let go of your safety net yet. See if you can make money out of it.

You could switch to a more reliable 9 to 5 job aswell and thatll take the pressure off.

Go for it!

13-06-2021 3:22pm

LimeFruitGum wrote: »

Find out for certain if there is a commercial demand & market for your crafts. I wouldn’t go just by feedback from family or friends. Have you sold some items already?

Exactly. OP, could you try make it a part time business to begin with to test the waters?

Or, could you go part time in your current job and 50/50 both roles?

Iodine1 · 13-06-2021 3:57pm

Very difficult to ma ke a living at any kind of "crafting ". With all the cheap rubbish people have got used to, coming in from China etc, they don't want to pay for the time it takes to make quality items. Make sure you are not in cloud cuckoo land before you give up the income. Easier to live too if you had the mortgage paid. Sorry for being negative, but reality bites when the money stops.

Bigus · 13-06-2021 5:01pm

Take a chance , what’s the worst could go wrong ? You’d be short of a few bob for a while ?
If it doesn’t work out you could always go back cap in hand , or find gainful employment somewhere.

Maybe have a read of Mark Boyle’s books ,(moneyless man) he gave up a high flying life in London to live without money for a good number of years . Some interesting ideas in there about modern consumerism and how we don’t need a fraction of what the current world seems to oblige us to have .

Also consider a hybrid version of work,perhaps a Few days a week , normal employment, along with a few days developing your hobby business. But perhaps jump in and sink or swim , don’t discuss it with too many people who will only try to talk you out of it . Good luck.

sullivlo · 13-06-2021 9:02pm

Can’t advise on the basis of the hobby but I can absolutely recommend leaving academia in pursuit of something different. Could you give up the day job to focus on the crafting, but continue to work elsewhere? Proof reading, article editing, market research etc can all be done on your own time and work around the hobby before going that route entirely. If your work continued in the field relating to your specialty, if you decided to go back after a few years, you wouldn’t be totally out of the field.

I left academia a few years ago to pursue a career in secondary teaching and I regret nothing.

CIARAN_BOYLE · 13-06-2021 9:10pm

Would you be able to make your crafting job a part time job and test the waters. Or would you be able to spend a few months between funding to try and make a go of it. A friend of mine was involved in academia and he failed to get a grant for his research (he later got one 3 months later). He tried something different during the gap between grants. He went back to academia but he enjoyed attempting something different.

floorpie · 14-06-2021 10:41am

I'm not saying don't leave, but, it sounds like you have experience that is suitable for lecturing or tenure-track positions, which is no easy feat. Depending on the field, the "publish or perish" aphorism may be important to consider, i.e. changing career for a year might be the difference between being a professor in future, or never being a professor.

I think "grass is greener" syndrome is particularly affecting when you're stressed, so I'd figure out a way to reduce the stress you're experiencing before making a decision. No doubt your new venture will have unique stresses also, and it's not pleasant to feel like the grass was greener after you've made an irrevocable jump.

I made a similar leap out of academia for the same reasons you cite. I don't regret the change, but in hindsight miss its demands and its positive aspects.

GerardKeating · 14-06-2021 11:06am

Dreaming_of_better wrote: »

I'm a researcher at a university. I get decent pay for now but the stress of the work and the constant need to find new funding/positions has worn me down. I could move towards a lecturer role but that's also not secure unless it's a tenure-type role and those don't come up very often, especially outside Dublin.

Do you have the option of a career break in your current role ?

LegacyUser · 14-06-2021 11:47am

Hi everyone. Thank you very much for the responses. I really appreciate all of them. There's so much to think about.

Unfortunately there's no option to take a career break or to go part-time in my current position. I have a young family so setting up a business on the side would also be a stretch. I'm thinking when my contract ends I'll go on short term enterprise allowance to give me some time to get started with a business.

I understand there are a lot of people doing crafts that are just not appealing to others to buy. I've been keeping an eye out for similar businesses for years and I know some people make it work. I have an idea to put my own spin on things but, of course, there's no knowing for sure if it would sell. That's a big risk. I think I need to find a way to test the waters.

Luckily, my partner is supportive. I've been the main earner for most of our relationship and my partner is finally in a more stable job and wants me to find something I enjoy.

Although the job insecurity is a problem, the bigger issue is that I'm miserable in my current job. My research is 95% me on my computer by myself (it was this before Covid but is exacerbated by working from home). It's no way to live (for me) and it's affecting everything else in my life. I'm a cranky partner and parent. I know a new business would bring its own stresses. I am definitely worried that I would just be exchanging one set of problems for another. But I think I would regret it if I never tried.

LegacyUser · 14-06-2021 11:48am

sullivlo wrote: »

Can’t advise on the basis of the hobby but I can absolutely recommend leaving academia in pursuit of something different. Could you give up the day job to focus on the crafting, but continue to work elsewhere? Proof reading, article editing, market research etc can all be done on your own time and work around the hobby before going that route entirely. If your work continued in the field relating to your specialty, if you decided to go back after a few years, you wouldn’t be totally out of the field.

I left academia a few years ago to pursue a career in secondary teaching and I regret nothing.

Did you have to do an MA to start secondary teaching? I've considered that too but I balked at doing yet another degree.

LegacyUser · 14-06-2021 11:51am

floorpie wrote: »

I'm not saying don't leave, but, it sounds like you have experience that is suitable for lecturing or tenure-track positions, which is no easy feat. Depending on the field, the "publish or perish" aphorism may be important to consider, i.e. changing career for a year might be the difference between being a professor in future, or never being a professor.

I think "grass is greener" syndrome is particularly affecting when you're stressed, so I'd figure out a way to reduce the stress you're experiencing before making a decision. No doubt your new venture will have unique stresses also, and it's not pleasant to feel like the grass was greener after you've made an irrevocable jump.

I made a similar leap out of academia for the same reasons you cite. I don't regret the change, but in hindsight miss its demands and its positive aspects.

Thank you for your comment. I have worried that it's me rather than the job, i.e. that I'll be just as unhappy doing something else. Do you mind me asking, what parts of the job you miss? I really struggle to identify any positives, except perhaps the flexible schedule.

floorpie · 14-06-2021 3:53pm

Dreaming_of_better wrote: »

Thank you for your comment. I have worried that it's me rather than the job, i.e. that I'll be just as unhappy doing something else. Do you mind me asking, what parts of the job you miss? I really struggle to identify any positives, except perhaps the flexible schedule.

I failed also to consider that I was working with international experts in a niche field and that this has a positive effect on me. I focussed on the negative aspects here, such as the cognitive demands, needing funding, needing to compete, chasing publications, without considering why we needed to compete for publications and funding and so on, i.e., because it's cutting edge work. My daily tasks were mundane, which I suppose made me lose sight of this. My new colleagues are amazing and very knowledgeable but I'm no longer in a niche field and can't help feeling that I'm no longer "advancing knowledge", so to speak.

I also didn't realise that I value the teaching aspects of academia. Perhaps you can teach in other areas (e.g. be a primary school teacher), but between working with undergrads, postgrads, masters students, PhDs, workshops etc, I find teaching in academia dynamic and satisfying.

Lastly I tended to focus on the negative aspects of travel for academia. I might hold back from submitting to certain conferences because I didn't want the bother of having to go to Australia say, and I disliked changing time zones frequently. Now that I have no reason to travel, I see the positives here

The flexible schedule is massive too, I now realise.

Again, not saying you shouldn't quit, perhaps your new venture is your calling. But if 'stress' is the basis for your choice then maybe you can address this first.

LegacyUser · 14-06-2021 5:05pm

floorpie wrote: »

I failed also to consider that I was working with international experts in a niche field and that this has a positive effect on me. I focussed on the negative aspects here, such as the cognitive demands, needing funding, needing to compete, chasing publications, without considering why we needed to compete for publications and funding and so on, i.e., because it's cutting edge work. My daily tasks were mundane, which I suppose made me lose sight of this. My new colleagues are amazing and very knowledgeable but I'm no longer in a niche field and can't help feeling that I'm no longer "advancing knowledge", so to speak.

I also didn't realise that I value the teaching aspects of academia. Perhaps you can teach in other areas (e.g. be a primary school teacher), but between working with undergrads, postgrads, masters students, PhDs, workshops etc, I find teaching in academia dynamic and satisfying.

Lastly I tended to focus on the negative aspects of travel for academia. I might hold back from submitting to certain conferences because I didn't want the bother of having to go to Australia say, and I disliked changing time zones frequently. Now that I have no reason to travel, I see the positives here

The flexible schedule is massive too, I now realise.

Again, not saying you shouldn't quit, perhaps your new venture is your calling. But if 'stress' is the basis for your choice then maybe you can address this first.

Yes, the travel can be nice - that's true! Hasn't been much of a perk this past year so I kind of forgot about it. I've also enjoyed teaching but I'm not doing any of that at the moment either.

The way you talk about it, I'm guessing you might have been in hard science. I'm not. I've become very cynical and I really don't feel that I'm 'advancing knowledge' in any meaningful way. That's not to say my research topics aren't important but I don't think more research will solve the problems that I study. Acting on the knowledge that we already have would be much more useful but advocacy etc. is not where my skills/interests/contacts are.

Thanks again for your responses.

floorpie · 15-06-2021 10:10am

Dreaming_of_better wrote: »

Yes, the travel can be nice - that's true! Hasn't been much of a perk this past year so I kind of forgot about it. I've also enjoyed teaching but I'm not doing any of that at the moment either.

The way you talk about it, I'm guessing you might have been in hard science. I'm not. I've become very cynical and I really don't feel that I'm 'advancing knowledge' in any meaningful way. That's not to say my research topics aren't important but I don't think more research will solve the problems that I study. Acting on the knowledge that we already have would be much more useful but advocacy etc. is not where my skills/interests/contacts are.

Thanks again for your responses.

Not hard science, computer science based. I was also cynical about the value of my work, which isn't particularly groundbreaking, and didn't feel any sense of advancing knowledge (a cliché I know) when I was in the role.

In hindsight I think the boring old research process, mundane programming, citing others and being cited, submitting funding applications, having the applications read by panels, talking with colleagues here and abroad and in other institutions, and so on, is a type of intangible "cutting edge" that you may not notice until it isn't around you everyday.

In contrast, my work now is not seen by anybody, isn't reviewed, and whatever I do is good enough. I'm still glad I left, but I should've perhaps first done what I'm saying here, i.e. reduce stress. Getting a permanent professorship could be quite nice long term.

Flinty997 · 15-06-2021 10:35am

It could take a few years to build to a craft business to the point at which it brings in useful income. If ever. So you'd have to test the water by doing it in your spare time to see if it's viable.

The other point is you don't want spend your life doing something that leaves you unfilled. So you need to look at making changes to your main job. Perhaps moving laterally. Even if it just means you're more engagement with people.

km991148 · 16-06-2021 7:21pm

Normally I'd say go for it if you can. One risk tho.. there is a fair chance of a recession on the cards, potentially a deep one. Now we can't all hang about not getting in with our lives just in case the worst happens, but I think if it were me I'd be looking towards holding onto security and trying part time business. At least until we see this year out an be hopefully break the back of the pandemic.

Good luck tho!

sullivlo · 17-06-2021 8:50am

Dreaming_of_better wrote: »

Did you have to do an MA to start secondary teaching? I've considered that too but I balked at doing yet another degree.

Yes, but I went the part time route with Hibernia so I could technically continue in a full time job and do the masters (online/weekends).

I finished up in research at the end of June. I had started the masters in the April and had no issues juggling the two until June. I was lucky to be in a position where I covered a career break on my first year of the masters, and parental leave on the second year, so that was a steady income for me.

With the current shortage of teachers, particularly in certain subjects (physics, maths, Spanish, irish) and even just general illness with teachers, there is a lot of subbing available in schools currently. Well not currently because we are on holidays...

... which is when it would be an ideal time to work on your craft business!

If its something you are interested in, talk to friends who are teachers, even go as far as to ask a local school if you can register as a sub with them (subject to Garda vetting), to get a feel for what it is like to be the oracle at the front of the classroom.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. Happy to help.

LegacyUser · 21-06-2021 5:18pm

Thanks everyone. I've started doing a bit of more practical thinking around what I want to my life/job to look like and how I can make that happen. Contacted my Local Enterprise Office for advice and have a call with them scheduled. I'll also be looking into part-time teaching degrees a bit more.

One comment that really stuck with me is Flinty997 saying that you can't spend your life doing something that leaves you unfulfilled. Spent some time thinking about why I was getting so worked up about it all and had a good long chat with somebody I trust. I realised I was feeling a bit silly and a bit ashamed to be thinking about leaving a 'good job' to do something as frivolous as starting a craft business. Especially at my age (30s). But I'm reminding myself that in 20 years this age will seem young! And that it's brave to try something new.

It feels good to be taking some practical steps towards doing something else, wherever it takes me.

I want to leave my career to pursue hobby - am I mad?

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