Week one at Zzing marketing - it feels like I am skivving...

Week One of being self-employed – it feel likes I am skiving...

Some may say that I was mad for leaving a paid job which I had held for 11 years to start up my own freelance marketing business, however, whether I’m mad or not, I took the plunge and here I am, sat at my desk in the old spare room, now my office, five days into running my own company.

After eleven years slogging it out, late hours and working non-stop, I spent the first three days of bumbling around the office, arranging files, setting up spreadsheets and sending letters out to potential clients. It all seemed lovely and I had a great ‘work-life-balance’.

However, five days in, I’m beginning to wonder how many more days I can go without doing what I consider ‘proper’ work – it feels like I am skiving.

I’m sure I am experiencing what many people who work from home undertake on a daily basis. You start the day brightly, clicking on ‘check email’ in case, during the hours of 10pm and 7am (when the computer was turned off) someone has sent an urgent email requesting your services as their business will simply not be able to function without your services and you find that actually, no, there are no new emails. Companies remarkably seem to be able to be functioning without my help.

So then you link onto Facebook and Twitter (I now know why so many companies ban these as time-wasting devices) and check and update your statuses. I am convincing myself that social networking is essential to my business. What other marketing consultancy wouldn’t be completely au fait with social networking sites? We keep being told that having a presence on these sites will increase business and sales, well, unless one of the 19 year old rowing club members is a decision maker at a blue-chip company which requires a freelance marketing consultant, I highly disagree. Mind you, Twitter – or celebrity-stalking as it should be known – is highly entertaining and Paris Hilton IS as blonde and dumb as she seems.

Still, I do have my website to keep me entertained flummoxed for the rest of my life. How long will it take me to learn this black-magic of techie-gobbeldy-gook? No matter how the website looks on the ‘preview’ page, when I make it go live, you need a telescope to actually read the copy. The American support desk people speak to me via email in what I imagine they believe is easy-to-follow steps, however, they could be speaking in Portuguese for all I can make out.

The weather has been the biggest bug-bear of my working week so far. Not only is half of the UK not in work this week and therefore are not picking up my highly professional and creative emails offering my services, but - my god - it has been cold working from home. When you are watching every penny you spend, putting on the heating is deemed a luxury akin to eating caviar washed down with a bottle of Veuve Cliquot. If there is one thing I have learnt this week it is a) you really miss company paid for heating along with unlimited tea and coffee, and b) wearing a hat and scarf whilst sat at your desk along with a blanket over your knees does really help you keep warm.

Cycling to my meeting with the bank on Tuesday was also an adventure and it provided me with the “doh!” quote of the week. The Bank Manager looked at me and said “So....Zzing Marketing – what does your business do?”. Genius.

My week ahead will undoubtedly be much the same, however, I do have the uber exciting HM Revenue & Customs workshop ‘A guide to becoming Self Employed’ to look forward to on Monday morning. Four weeks ago, I would have eaten off my own arm in order to not sit through four hours of a workshop at the local tax office, however, after a week of working by myself and not having contact with any other humans apart from the boyfriend and Bank Manager, I am giddy with anticipation. I am already planning in my head what to wear, what route I will take, where I will park etc. They also suggested that I bring ‘snacks’ as the workshop runs over lunchtime without a lunch break. Does this mean I have to make flapjacks? Will others attending bring cheese straws or perhaps cocktail sausages? The mind boggles.

Still, besides all of the above, I am actually still genuinely excited about my new venture. I dreamt the other night that I was one of the Dragons on Dragons Den – I just need that luxury speedboat and apartment in Monet Carlo. Perhaps once I’ve done some proper work they may ask me...

Here’s to next week’s exciting and enlightening instalment from Zzing!