New Opportunities through Self Employment
Exemplas’ Employment through Enterprise programme supports individuals in overcoming barriers to employment and realising their potential through self employment.
There’s no pretending that self employment is an easy option. It requires determination, motivation, vision and resilience –
Julia Barnickle has these attributes in bucketfuls. She also has the all important passion to make her business venture – Creative Life Coaching and Creative Web Design – a resounding success.
Following redundancy in 2003 and, then, a cancer diagnosis and treatment in 2008, Julia is now fighting back; and, she’s well on the way to launching a whole new business.
Whilst redundancy provided Julia with an opportunity to re-evaluate her professional path and move from the corporate world and IT development to self employment and life coaching; Julia has also transformed her experience of cancer into something positive: an opportunity to re-visit self employment and, with the support of Exemplas’ Employment through Enterprise programme, realise her full potential in this arena.
Redundancy - the first challenge
Until 2003, Julia Barnickle was an IT development professional. She’d worked in the field for 18 years, knew her stuff - and was well accustomed to the stress and pressure of the corporate world. Redundancy changed everything. It provided an unexpected turning point – and a great opportunity for Julia to review her professional life and take a little time to consider her next steps.
At 47, Julia was concerned that she would encounter barriers in returning to IT – and she also felt like a change. After exploring the options and considering how best to use her talents, Julia identified life coaching as her next career step, and undertook the training necessary to make her ambition a reality.
Julia’s first attempt at self employment was a great learning curve, but not the resounding success she’d hoped for. It was also abruptly curtailed when, in 2008, she was diagnosed with cancer.
Whilst Julia initially fought on, attempting to work alongside her treatment, she was eventually forced to stop trading and accept Incapacity Benefit – which, in her recovery phase, led her to Reed in Partnership.
Fighting Back
“Self motivation” is definitely one of Julia’s most striking qualities and, although an asset in most circumstances, it fuelled Julia’s sense of frustration as she began to consider returning to work.
With previous experience of highly qualified positions, visits to the Jobcentre Plus were “demoralising and de-motivating” for Julia, and she was increasingly aware of the barriers she now faced in obtaining employment - “what employer was going to take me when I’d had cancer and was going to have to take at least ½ day off every three weeks for ongoing treatment?”.
Whilst self employment seemed a great route back to self sufficiency in many respects, Julia’s previous experience had introduced an element of doubt – “what’s going to be different this time?” - which Reed in Partnership and the Employment through Enterprise programme helped to overcome.
The Employment through Enteprise Programme
After a ‘return to work’ interview with Personal Advisor, Ian Ashbridge, Julia was referred to the Employment through Enterprise programme; and, with the support of Business Advisors, Monica Mwangunga and Rabi Martins, she hasn’t looked back – “I was in limbo again and then I had to come off Incapacity Benefit suddenly, and found out that I could join the programme if my business was ready to re-start – and it all kicked in suddenly. It’s been really good since then”.
Planning, Preparation and Promotion
Re-visiting the business plan was the first important step for Julia: an opportunity to review what had worked and identify her strengths – in all areas. Julia’s initial foray into self employment focussed on her Creative Life Coaching; and, whilst this remains her long term objective, adding Creative Web Design - an additional area of expertise for Julia - to her self employment portfolio, has attracted new business and alleviated some of the risk.
Julia’s Life Coaching offer has also been revisited – and enhanced. Through training in ‘health creation’ with Dr Rosie Daniel, a holistic doctor focussing on prevention of illness, dealing with cancer and making decisions about treatment, Julia hopes to strengthen credentials and attract new customers.
The development of workshops, including those addressing redundancy, have provided a further opportunity for optimising Julia’s skills; and, with some good networking, she’s exploring possibilities for working with Corporates and through Employee Assistance Programmes.
With a great offer clearly defined, getting the marketing right was the next priority for Julia, particularly as a lack of marketing may have limited her success in 2006. With a wide range of advertising material – from magazine features to posters, advertorials to web campaigns – Julia’s learnt from her experiences, and has taken on board all suggestions for getting her company out there.
Raising the Confidence Ceiling
Julia’s determination is inspiring; however, one of the biggest challenges that she has encountered has been in relation to a lack of confidence.
The transition from ‘well paid expert’ to ‘starting out in self employment’ is a big jump for anyone to make, particularly after the debilitating experience of illness. Along with the familiar “have I got what it takes?” question and the lingering disappointment of her earlier attempts – “having tried before and not made a success of it” – building up self belief has been a key part of Julia’s journey to business start up; but, with the help of the Business Advisors and her own life coach, Julia’s beginning to recognise her own offer.
Building a Sustainable Business
Through turning a developed skill – website design – into part of her business, Julia feels more confident about her talents; and, having regular appointments with Rabi has been an opportunity to “come back and review how much I’ve achieved….it’s nice to have someone that’s enthusiastic”.
Indeed, enthusiasm and passion are identified by Julia as key contributors to the success of self employment - “If you’re passionate about your business, it doesn’t matter how difficult things are because you’ll always find a way to keep going” - and her advice to others considering this route reflects this: “understanding why you want to be self-employed – what the benefits are to you, never mind what others say and what the pitfalls are – is important.”
This realisation has led to a more long term approach for Julia – “if you have to do something else as well, that’s fine; if you need to take on a job for a little while as well, it’s not a failure - just part of making what you’re really passionate about happen” – and contributes to her ongoing motivation, a commitment to “always wanting to be adding something – always trying to do just a little bit more”.
Self Employment and Self Fulfillment
It’s an approach that appears to be working for Julia, as she reflects on the benefits of self employment: “even now, although I’m working hard and sometimes work all weekend, I still feel a lot more positive, a lot happier, a lot more energetic – and I can stop if I need to because I can be flexible when I’m working for myself”.
For Julia, self employment has provided an excellent way of returning to financial independence and taking control of her career path; of combining her skills and her passions – whilst also taking care of her health.
The Employment through Enterprise programme has proved an unexpected aid in this process – “a leg up and a bit of support”. It’s provided Julia with the much needed “space to explore ideas and talk them through”, and concurred with a central piece of advice for other potential entrepreneurs: “choose your advisors wisely – you really need someone who encourages you to find ways of doing things that you really want to do”.
With great ideas for developing her business further, it’s hard not to be enthusiastic about Julia Barnickle’s venture; and, with the determination and creativity she’s shown thus far, self employment is proving to be a rewarding and fulfilling option for Julia.