SPEAK
Taking the road less traveled
When the 9-to-5 grind in a cubical sounds more like a prison sentence than a career, being your own boss is the only choice
By Matt Bechtold mbechtold@kansan.com
Sitting in an overstuffed leather chair, laptop in front of me, I look out through large plate glass windows to see Belfast flowing by in a stream of pedestrians and traffic. Black cabs and double-decker buses dart in and out of traffic. Kids in colorful school uniforms maneuver through the obstacle course of men in suits sporting black umbrellas like canes. It's Monday morning, and the city is coming to life.
But this is no office building, no typical place of business.A small stream of teenagers and business suits diverges from the group and detours through my "office" to the sound of cappuccinos being made and cooks preparing for the lunch crowd to come. The scenery is becoming a little distracting, so I tune it out with my headphones and focus on my work. The city's hustle and bustle is suddenly set to my own personal soundtrack, and I'm ready to start my day.
My morning ritual varies, but regardless of whether I'm traveling, it always begins with deciding what's next. I have a checklist of things I want to accomplish, and I have to be ready to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.
I open a Web browser and a smile spreads across my face as I find a surf shop that has a lodge near the beach in Donegal Bay in Ireland. For a mere $80, I can stay the night at the lodge, eat in its kitchen, rent a wet suit and surfboard, and take a three-hour surfing lesson from one of the Bundoran Surf Company's resident pros. I book a night and dig into my day's work of designing a new client's Web site with gusto, knowing that it's going to be one incredible week.
I've wanted to travel and see the world since I was a kid.And now that my small Web development and graphic design company has established itself, I've been thinking,"I
could be doing this on a beach somewhere, so why the hell am I not? Lack of Internet access was the only reason before. But now, Wi-Fi hotspots are everywhere, making my dream of traveling the world while continuing to build my own business a possibility.
My little brother, also an entrepreneur, told me a joke once. He said, "The problem with climbing the corporate ladder is that until you reach the very top the view never changes. You'll always have an ass in your face."
For years, I'd been doing network administration, photography, graphic design, programming and journalism. All of those skills came together when I took the editor's position of a music journalism Web site and magazine. That was my last corporate job, and I was doing something I truly loved. But I came to the conclusion that while I loved the work, I could never be a 9-to-5 kind of guy, I'd never be happy in a cubical, and my bosses usually did turn out to be asses.
The only option that made sense was to start my own business. I knew I'd be willing to work harder and longer for less to build
up my own business rather than put up with one more day working for someone else. So I did. I made the leap and started building a ladder of my own doing commercial Web site development and graphic design.
It's still a small ladder, not much bigger than a step-stool, really. I'm going to have to add a few rungs in the near future and hire some help. But for now, the best part is that it's small enough to be portable, letting me pick it up and carry it around the world, stopping wherever the view is best.
I get to sleep in, because it's one of life's greatest pleasures. I grin while my friends bitch about their terrible commutes to work. I wake up grateful in the knowledge that I'm working for myself. I sit down at my desk or in my "cafe office" smiling at the fact that my life is an adventure. Most of all, I never get burned out, because the projects change from day to day, and I never know what I'll be working on next.
Butthis clearly isn't talifestyle for everyone. It takes a lot of willpower and discipline to be your own boss. It's tempting every day to blow things off or to procrastinate, but it
only takes a few of those days for your bills to come in and remind you that paychecks don't just magically appear because you clocked in.
Leaving school to start my business was a tough decision. But school was something I swore I'd always finish. I didn't expect to be 34-years-old before I graduated college, but that's just how things fell together. Although earning my diploma isn't going to earn me any bonuses at work, I'll know I finished something important that has broadened my horizons.
Besides, my love of journalism didn't vanish when I became my own boss, and freelance writing is definitely compatible with the globe-trotting lifestyle I'm aiming for.
I will graduate in May and while I certainly didn't get to this point along any straight paths, I have no regrets. I'm looking forward to checking one more thing off of my very long list of things to see and do.
What's next? I get a great big smile on my face just thinking about it.
graphic by Becka Cremer
October 2,2008
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