I took an investment banking job right out of college and spent the next few years working like crazy. It was good work experience - and a great chance to save money - but it was exhausting work that I wasn't passionate about. My close friends and family lived in different cities, and I saw them only a few times a year. Some of my colleagues planned on working 80-hour weeks for 15 years and retiring at 40, but I wasn't interested in that plan.
So after 2.5 years, I quit to start my own business. I'm pretty tech savvy, but have nowhere near the programming skills as many here on HN. I am, however, a good marketer so I started an eCommerce drop shipping business. Within a year, I was making an income that could support my family - within two years, a good income. And I also had the ability to work wherever - and whenever - I wanted. I'd work like crazy for a few months on a business project I was really interested in, get a ton done and then take a few months off to travel. It was the best of both worlds: I'd be super productive when I was interested and had the energy, and take time off when I needed it. Best of all, I saw the people I cared about much more frequently.
With the dawn of the internet, there's never been a better time in history to start your own business (low risk, high reward, global scope), especially if you're technically minded. We have the unique opportunity to do work we love while being able to maintain a health work/life balance. It's amazing.
If anyone's interested in the full story of how I made the leap from corporate workaholic to a more balanced life, I've written about it below:
The most impressive part to me about the story was picking a niche, CB Radios, that doesn't appear to be a business you were already familiar with and building a successful company anyway.
That's one thing I try to advise people when they ask me about doing something similar: a research driven approach to picking a business usually works much better than trying to pick something at random, or something you're really passionate about. That's what brought me to CB radios. If you're interested in the process / criteria I used, I wrote a free eBook which I offer on my blog - just hit up the link above.
In most areas, especially for sales, if you spent just 2-3 weeks learning about a market you'll know more than 98% of your customers, so becoming an expert in an area doesn't take too long, which makes it easier to pick a niche, become an expert and then market your business.
So after 2.5 years, I quit to start my own business. I'm pretty tech savvy, but have nowhere near the programming skills as many here on HN. I am, however, a good marketer so I started an eCommerce drop shipping business. Within a year, I was making an income that could support my family - within two years, a good income. And I also had the ability to work wherever - and whenever - I wanted. I'd work like crazy for a few months on a business project I was really interested in, get a ton done and then take a few months off to travel. It was the best of both worlds: I'd be super productive when I was interested and had the energy, and take time off when I needed it. Best of all, I saw the people I cared about much more frequently.
With the dawn of the internet, there's never been a better time in history to start your own business (low risk, high reward, global scope), especially if you're technically minded. We have the unique opportunity to do work we love while being able to maintain a health work/life balance. It's amazing.
If anyone's interested in the full story of how I made the leap from corporate workaholic to a more balanced life, I've written about it below:
http://www.ecommercefuel.com/my-corporate-escape-story/