Caerphilly Business Forum Member Paul Fears, of Paul Fears Photography, discusses why he made the jump to self-employment.
Having formerly been employed by a large international business for more than two decades, after many successful and happy years there I made the biggest jump of my life to become self-employed in 2012. And despite it being a complete change to everything I had known, I still believe that to be successful in business we must all adapt, evolve and continually challenge ourselves.
Born and bred locally, I moved from Caerphilly to Kingston-upon-Thames in Surrey in 1984 but was already looking for a route back when, five years later an opportunity arose to start up a much-needed marketing department at Caerphilly magnetics and metallic specialist Eriez.
I arrived at Eriez in 1989 and subsequently left the business two years ago, having worked my way through various sales, managerial and directorship roles to become Managing Director in 2008 overseeing a business which had grown from commanding an annual turnover of around £2million when I joined, to almost 10 times that amount when I left.
I could have stayed there until retirement, or sought a new challenge elsewhere even, but there were many other passions in my life I wanted to act upon too, including photography. Eriez is also, of course, just one of the many successful businesses operating out of Caerphilly borough and this Borough of ours is also proving increasingly fertile ground for up and coming business operators too.
Originally training as a geologist, capturing images was something that I had always taken an interest in, having received my first SLR as a gift aged just 18, and I would regularly photograph imagery for Eriez for use in our brochures and press releases. In addition to this, being self-employed was also something I had always aspired to do, but as every self-employed person knows, you still have to put bread on the table.
So for me the question wasn’t so much when, but how. Personally I was able to apply all of my business skills and experience, but overcoming self-doubt has still been monumental for me – in particular working through the six months of uncertainty which is natural for any new business owner. And with self-employment figures at their highest in the UK for 40 years, and a wealth of start-ups working out of Caerphilly County alone at locations including Welsh ICE for instance, it is clear I am not alone.
And yet being self-employed can often be very lonely – there are no colleagues there to create ideas with and gain reassurance from. I soon realised, therefore, that unless I joined some kind of networking group it would be hard to gain the contacts I needed. As a result Caerphilly Business Forum has opened all kinds of opportunities for me, from networking with the local business community to meeting prospective clients and like-minded people, to accessing a range of inspirational expert talks and events.
I’m therefore now coming up to a year since I became self-employed and find myself in a role which has developed far beyond my expectations. Not only am I photographing for business, but also for PR and consultancies too. It would seem that I fit right into a market I have found to be in demand, working with companies such as Kent-based Q’Straint, a wheelchair safety solutions business, and Business in the Community, a unique business-led charity focused on promoting responsible business, among others. One of my most recent ventures even saw me photographing the re-launch of the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff Bay, with my photos travelling as far and wide as the Radio Times Online!
So self-employment has allowed me to have the flexibility I always wanted and, despite all the concern resting on my shoulders, I am reaping my own rewards. I have also found myself working harder than I ever have before, but for anyone thinking about making the jump all I can say is don’t be frightened – a world of opportunity waits.