Question
I would love to have your opinions on this. I took a career break sometime in 2014 for my MBA, upon finishing I tried to find a job but nothing was coming up so I decided to start a growing online retailing business while at it in 2015. I was at the same time volunteering for a non profit organisation to help coach SME's which I am still doing on the side for free. I now have a 17 month old baby with no support so I'm having to look after my child alone and cannot afford full-time day care for her nor afford to hire a nanny as hubby has taken time off work for study abroad so financially things are down. I'm looking to get back into work, but numerous applications have failed, my side business is not generating profit yet enough to take care of needs, part of it is because I'm not promoting it as I should due to fear of potential employers finding out as I still want to go back to paid employment. I'm considering starting a coaching service to sme's & startups to earn some money.
My question is how will recruiters and employers view this? Should I continue to wait to get a job which I don't know when? Hopefully by the end of next year when hubby is done we can get a nanny or have baby go to full time nursery. The coaching service will still require me to go online since most businesses success now depends on the internet to grow.
Recruiters ask me about the gap in my CV and I explain but some are not willing to go forward due to this - I never mention my side business, I talk about my voluntary service to the non-profit organisation.
Please I need advice from anyone who has run a business and went back to work or from HR managers, hiring managers and recruiters. Will my side business and coaching service hinder me from getting the job I want? Should I promote my business online that will require my personal brand to be active to support the business as well.
Answer
Great question! Here's your #1 issue - FOCUS. Doing 2 things (job/coaching business) at the same time is pulling you in opposite ways.
Close your eyes, take 3 deep breaths. WHAT IS THE ONE THING WOULD YOU LOVE DOING ALL DAY EVERY DAY? If you're not passionate about who you serve a coaching biz will burn you out before it gets off the ground.
Check out James Altucher's book Choose Yourself https://amzn.to/2vIcAuD. This explains everything you need to hear right now.
You've already found out that if you are waiting for a "job" to choose you you may be waiting a very very very long time. So why not choose yourself, especially in the mean time?
Polish up your personal brand so that resume gaps are explained by working in your coaching biz which includes non-profit consulting as a way to give back, which is clearly important to you and should be to any future employer worth you.
Change your mind, change your future starting today.
YOU ARE WORTH IT.
There's only one of you in the whole world - any employer will be lucky if YOU CHOOSE them to work "with" (not for).
Position yourself as "the chooser" and make employers/clients apply to work with you. Can't hurt if you are getting only a few nibbles on your resume anyway right? All it takes is attracting one big fish with the right bait.
Every smart person has multiple streams of income these days (aka side hustle) - position this as a benefit to a future employer because of your drive and lessons learned that you can bring to their biz.
That's it for now - got to get back to helping clients do less, better! Talk soon.
- Daniel
http://thedanielbennett.com
