10 Years Full-Time Self-Employed
I’m celebrating 10 years of being full-time self-employed!
I made this short video (and got myself rainbow cake!) to celebrate:
Started in 2011
I started Cakes with Faces as a shop in 2011. Before that it was a hobby in my spare time, and my website was just an online gallery of my artwork.
For the first few years, I ran my business as a side-hustle, in the evenings and weekends alongside working full time as a graphic designer, doing corporate in-house design in an office. I’d post orders at lunchtime and switch on my PC as soon as I got home to catch up with emails, work on new products and designs, and handle all the admin that running a small business involves (which is a lot!). I was using most of my annual leave to do stalls at comic cons.
Quitting my job
It was exhausting, especially as Cakes with Faces grew. I asked my employers if I could reduce my hours and work part-time, but that wasn’t an option, so I made the decision to quit my job.
It was a really scary decision. I thought about it for a long time beforehand. I saved up, and Phil helped support me, because at the time I wasn’t making enough to pay myself; I was investing everything back into Cakes with Faces.
At first I also did some freelance design work to help support us, which I only gave up completely a few years ago. It’s scary not having paychecks, and you’ll never know for sure if having more time will enable you to make it more successful.
I remember a moment, six months after I quite my job, when we were out with friends and it was snowing, and I realised that everything was ok – I still had a home to live in, and none of the worst-case scenarios I’d been imagining had happened.
Being your own boss
It’s not easy being self-employed and running a business single-handedly. There are so many things to handle that aren’t what I’m good at, as well as tedious jobs (stocktakes and admin!), and sometimes things go wrong that aren’t your fault, but you have to deal with them anyway. I work really hard and still don’t have much free time. But I wouldn’t have it any other way, and I’ve never looked back.
Cakes with Faces is different today from how it was 10 years ago. Back then I didn’t know I’d write a Japan guide book or have a YouTube channel, and I didn’t know which direction things would go. I’m sure in another 10 years it’ll be different in another unexpected way.
Thank you for your support
I’m very grateful to be able to do what I love, and I’m all too aware that Cakes with Faces is only here because of your support. Without your orders, it wouldn’t still be going – it’s as simple as that.
So THANK YOU!
Celebrate the small things
I do think you should celebrate everything you can. There’s so much bad news in the world and so many things that can get you down. Large celebrations don’t come along very often, so I think you should make the most of all the small good things.
Here’s to the next 10 years!
