Nice! I can see Applingua using this often!
67 karma · joined June 4, 2011
Follow me @roblobue or my company @applingua.
The 20% rule is interesting. And I'll definitely consider this. Thanks.
Thanks for all the answers so far - much much appreciated. A few points I should clear up.
1) I do outsource translation. I work closely with a group of freelance translators who I interviewed back in January when I started up. I wish I could speak 20 languages, but I don't ;-)
2) Running a business unfortunately isn't just Project Management and Project QA. There's also finances, marketing, the website to maintain. Certain things can be outsourced, and I have for the smaller jobs.
3) I am happy to make some investments to improve long term returns. Indeed, I didn't pay myself last month to pay for a few improvements. Not ideal when you have rent, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made and I'm ok with that.
4) After reading your comments I'm a little less nervous about increasing prices. I worry, of course I do, that'll I'll be too expensive. Pricing is definitely something I am learning, it isn't easy.
What do you guys think about partnering with someone? Perhaps taking on a junior partner so we can work together towards common aim of Applingua… Is this ever a good idea?
I'm a recent grad (just over 2 years ago now) and I have a startup in the UK. I'll be honest this is the first time I've heard about the event.
I think grads / final years are even more scared now than ever about finding a job and while that makes it a perfect time to try and start you own thing, I worry it just adds even more risk to a what they feel is already a dismal employment situation.
At Bath Uni we had an excellent Career's service however and if you wanted to do campus events or even just mailers, I would recommend getting in touch with university career centres. You can even ask them to pass your details on to the CS department and getting them the mail the event (yes, spam in a way) it to all the CS students. They did that at Bath if it was particularly relevant.
It may just be a case of students getting tired of all these career fairs which often don't amount to anything. I know in my final year, by the time I'd seen KPMG/Accenture/Deloitte/Barclays/BT/HP/etc I couldn't take any more being deceived about "fantastic opportunities". Perhaps posting this question to HN and undertaking some Twitter buzz if you can will attract the right sort of people to your event more than career emails.
Anyway, good luck with the event! Great that these things even happen in the UK, Rob
You are right to say others shouldn't rush into quitting their day job. Anything where you have to move back in with your parents and eat your savings isn't an easy decision. It's easy to get caught up in all these success stories on TechCrunch and Hacker News, when, in reality, they are a very small percentage of people.
However, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And while it hasn't worked out for you financially, it doesn't mean you haven't learnt from the whole experience. You will be wiser next time to the process of going at it alone - this isn't a bad thing.
I quit my job at 23 to start my own company and, while it is for me, I think at our age it doesn't matter if it doesn't work out. I imagine it's the same for you: I have no kids, no partner, no responsibilities that require a stable income other than rent. There is no better time to experiment really.
I can understand you're finding it difficult to get back into the job market: what are your skills? Perhaps we could suggest a few things?
If getting your high-school diploma is important to you, think about going back to get the grades. You are older and wiser now, you will do well.
We are young enough to make these mistakes. Decide what you want to do and go for it.