| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| 2steps |
ChoicesWasn't sure whether to put this in here or in chat.I am currently trying to sort out/decide what i plan to do over the next few years and maybe more longterm but don't have anyone to really talk to here so thought I'd put it to you guys to get some views, maybe even ideas I never thought of 
At the moment I have Jack at home (19 mths) so am not working. I am doing a degree with the ou. The course is something I have wanted to do since Andrew was a baby, so approx 10 years but due to circumstances I have only just had the chance to. I enjoy the reading and learning but don't like or think I'm very good at writing assignments. Keep getting behind and rushing to catch up and overall I think my heart isn't really in it, as much as I enjoy the subject. I waited so long to do this and now feel a bit disappointed with myself and that I'm wasting my chance. None in my family has gone to university before but my parents aren't massively pro education, if I decided not to bother and go work in one of the factories they wouldn't worry. I really do not want to do that, I really do not want some dull, tedious job in a few years time, not because I'm fussy or snobby but because I know I'll hate it and can do better if you see what I mean? And on those wages I will stand no chance of ever moving anywhere with a bit of land for livestock etc SO I really need to work now while I'm at home anyway to get back on track, seeing how my lives been turned upside down and inside out the last few years. On the other hand I would really like to work for myself doing something creative. I have my jewellery and could do much more with it I'm sure but am held back by having limited money available and I cannot get any kind of credit thanks to the mess my ex has left. A few years ago I had quite a success at ebay selling, started off with stuff I had round the house and then moved on to buying things I knew would sell from charity shops/boot sales and selling them, generally just as they were but I also remodeled things like jewellery or repainted/cleaned/customized things. Over the summer I was doing it I made over £700 for not much work a week and found I enjoyed doing it. At the time I was using ebid so had no fees to consider but would if I did the same on ebay. The money was to pay for some treatment I wanted to try for Andrew's adhd. In preparing to move I have massively cleared out my house to limit what we're taking and have again sold most of it on ebay and made a fair bit of money, which is going mostly toward the removal costs as I've had quotes of between £600 and £1000!!  and again I don't find it much work or hassle but is it really a viable business idea? and maybe I can incorporate the jewellery in somewhere? I always send a business card in with any parcel hoping it might send people to my website but in general selling jewellery on ebay isn't worth the trouble, though if I had other items on there, people would see jewellery even if they weren't buying and may buy?
When I came back from school today there was a leaflet in my letterbox for efactor who apparently help out people wanting to start businesses/be self employed. It has a number for my local outreach worker and their help is free so I'm thinking why not give it a try but then feel bad about the my course  It finishes in October and as it's with the OU I don't have to carry on to keep whatever marks I get for this year. As much as I want to do it I can't see myself keeping on for the next few years to finish it all in one go.
|
||
| lettucewoman |
Are you on benefits long term?(more than 6 months) Because there is a scheme called Inbiz which helps you to start up a business, you can continue to claim, and then also you can claim during the first 6 months "test marketing"..as long as any money you make is used to help the business..not go away on holiday for instance!
There is also something called the fredericks foundation which will grant you a business laon at low rates, and again, the first 6 months you only pay back a very small amount...and they are brill at deferring payments if the business hits a sticky patch! Not much help in advising you whether your idea will work as a business but it's usefull to know the options! 
http://www.inbiz.co.uk/ http://www.fredericksfoundation.org/ |
||
| Fee |
DO you think you might regret not staying and finishing the course down the line? If it's something you've dreamt of doing and are doing it, will you always hanker after having not seen it through? If so, then you should probably try and stick it out and see how things go. If not, then you shouldn't worry about doing it.
More importantly, if it's making you unhappy, then you should tell yourself that at least you gave it a try, but it wasn't for you! Could you perhaps look at getting some shops to stock your jewellery, if that's what you want to ultimitely do? |
||
| lettucewoman |
Been there done that...not that easy sadly. And no way would I ever do sale or return again, which most shops want you to do. I think Jewellery parties are a good one...I struggle because I don't know a lot of people round here, but if you have kids at school there's punters there...ooh and getting a catalogue into the school might work - I'm just doing that myself
|
||
| 2steps |
Lettuewoman, Thanks inbiz looks good and I agree with the sale or return. did it for a while with a shop here and it was ok but they wanted to pay so little for things and were them marking them up !00% or more meaning they made more out of my work than I did! I have a sale or return arrangement with another website that works well, far more reasonable too. Have looked for other places but their either not interested or like my experience  Don't know if I could do parties, not really got the confidence I think and don't know anyone here
Fee, I think I will regret not finishing but know that at least I tried and that it wasn't because I was too stupid or didn't try that it didn't work out. I find the work easy and I often read similar stuff/research papers/medical stuff online out of interest and really don't know why it being a course is so different other than the writing. At leasts with it being the OU I can keep the points I get and come back to it and therefore what I have done won't be wasted It's be great to just work at the jewellery but I don't think that's very likely |
||
| Jamanda |
Maybe finish the section of the OU stuff you are on now, and then put it aside until you feel ready to come back to it. In a couple of years, when Jack is at nursery and you are in a new place you might have the energy and motivation to continue.
It sounds as though you have a knack for the selling. |
||
| Chez |
I think that almost everyone I know who's done any kind of further education says the same about written assignments; you have to be a saint to not end up finishing them the night before. Perhaps, as Jamanda says, having a break for a year or so, might let you come back to it with a fresh eye? There's no point keeping flogging on with it if it's going to add to your stress, even if it is part of your long-term goal.
Selling stuff seems like a good plan - both the eBay stuff and the jewellery. I think, with the jewellery, finding a niche somewhere, where you'd get known, might be the way forward? A kind of rifle approach rather than a scatter-gun? But I don't know enough about the market to be more specific with ideas. Have you got a 'five year plan'? I like to have one - then every year I can sit down and revise it to take in any circumstances that have changed or things that have come up. Rather like Russia .
|
||
| lettucewoman |
Oh yes it is! You could get a loan fron fredericks, go on inbiz and learn more about running a small busines, then start up your business, while still claiming.... Thats what we did...and I may try again with the jewellery I make...even in times of hardship people like decoration.,,,jewellery parties are easy...you don't have to say much if you don't want to...just set up a table and let your stuff sell itself! I bet you see women out side the school? Advertise in the local tennis club, as I said to Mrs F...you can do it!!
|
||
| 2steps |
But can I really sell enough for it to be our only income? I also have this fear of it becoming 'work' and a chore rather than something I enjoy
A five year plan sounds like a great idea chez |
||
| lettucewoman |
Well for a while you may have to claim benefits as well...it's perfectly legal...you have to show that you are not earning a fat lot.At the moment we are having to claim council tax benefit, but when the biz picks up we go and tell them and come off. We also get working tax credits which you would be eligible for...and child tax credits. Currently because we earned a reasonable amount last year the credits are 44 quid a week. edited to say...we pay nat ins at class 2 which is 2.20 a week each. edited again to say...it won't become a chore!! |
||
| jocorless |
Are you sure that your parents attitude to education isn't affecting you in some way here - If they aren't particularly pro-education is there a little voice in your sub-concious saying "Why am I bothering with all this - its not going to get me anywhere"
IF there is - it could be that you need to listen to it and recognise that you have some issues but realise that doing the course is simply a means to an end - I loved my subject at Uni but hated the coursework with a passion - I can talk about it for hours but ask me to write it all down on paper and I freak out Coursework is a pain but its not forever and at the end of the Degree you open yourself a myriad of doors as well as teaching your kids that they can have a better education and so breaking the cycle of your parents As for the jewellery - why not try and combine the 2 can you not expand the business a little whilst finishing your course and keep both strings to your bow going for say another 12 months and then stand back and look at how things are going Starting education is hard enough but then giving it up and going back to it later is even harder - I'm currently in that position where I want to convert my degree into an MSc in a different role and its making me very nervous about doing it - mainly because of the cost and having to go back and do assignments |
||
| 2steps |
me and my parents are very different. I wanted do go to college etc but never felt especially approved of or supported. My family are great, don't get me wrong but they aren't massive achievers, they don't have those kind of goals. I went to college for a year and then gave up but looking back now I chose the wrong course. My exs family are very pro education, all have good careers, his mum, dad, sister and sister in law are teachers and his brother works in theatre (currently on lord of the rings in london) and that got me re interested. I did an nvq3 in child development and psychology when Andrew was a baby and had no problems with it and wanted to do a degree after. It never worked out and has taken till now for me to be able to. I'm the same as you said, I could read and talk about it for hours but the writing puts me off.
We moved up here to get a house (not much chance in london) and because it was so cheap, planning to use our right to buy discount to buy the house, 2 years ago we'd of got it for £30,000 (and they were selling for £60,000 - £70,000) We have to stay for a minimum of two years before selling and then we're going to use that money towards buying somewhere with a bit of land etc. At the time I changed my mind because I was unhappy about our circumstances and now I am very glad I did because we would of lost the house. After ex left I thought I'd never get there but finally realized I could do it by myself so started the course..... I would so love to achieve it but I don't think it's for me I always hated school because it felt so restrictive, I didn't want to write I wanted to do. If I could do the same course but in a different way then it might be better. I did art at college and always did well on my actually art work but rubbish in any written stuff. I got a merit grade based on my coursework alone as I never did the exam (grades are distinction, merit and pass) and nvq I did involved me doing a lot of my own research and work whereas the Ou course doesn't at all, it is all provided, there's no thinking involved.... wonder if that's the problem?
If I could earn enough purely from jewellery I'd be happy too, it's creative, practical and keeps me thinking and is something I enjoy. But I do have a big confidence issue round that, of not being good enough. I shouldn't because how can it be true when I've sold so much and never had a complaint? It's other people's words suck in my head and though I doubt they meant it badly I was brought up thinking we are not the kind of people who achieve things, not gonna do anything out of the ordinary, we're just normal
|
||
| Mrs Fiddlesticks |
i agree with a lot of whats been said - especially what Jo said about parental attitudes along the way.
About the OU -I agree with Jamanda about doing things on midnight deadlines; its quite normal and in no way reflects your ability or motivation. Writing is just practise for the main and the chance to prove to a tutor that you read the book and understand it. I think you have to work out if its the particular course you're doing that isn't floating your boat or OU and study in general. Only you'll know the answer to that. I loved the eco technology one I did but the social sciences one I've just finished was bordering on tedious at times. Do speak to someone at the OU about your worries. There's your tutor for a start (and its their job to help you) and there is also student support if you feel you need someone more impartial to talk to. It is worth exploring those avenues first perhaps which may clarify things for you or put them in to perspective. Perhaps course wise a city & guilds ( or what ever it is now NVQ?) in jewellry design or a buisness course might be more pertient to you right now to help with the business and develop that futher so that you feel more secure? |
||
| IanNW |
My wife sound as though she is similiar to yourself.
She thinks she lacks confidence in doing things but once she gets over that fear of confidence, and does what she wants to do then the better. If you don't test the water with your ideas then you will never find out what you want to do. You are in a good position to try your jewelry ideas out, take some photos of your jewelry, downsize to thumbnail size on A4 with a short description with a price. Print onto some glossy A4 paper. Do you have local craft/farmers markets/ weekend carboots you could go to. Take a selection of items for sale on the day, take the homemade catalogue and take orders for the following week/2weeks in advance. Many ways you could consider selling. Costing is upto you but do not undercut yourself think what it has cost you to source the items for making the jewelry, the time it has taken to make and then decide on a percentage to add to the costing for your profit. Cost of materials x time x 75% mark up price as maximum cost of materials x time x 25% mark up as maximum. Just food for thought. You could also off course dedicate 1 night a week to further study whilst doing this. Edited as just looked at your website, sort of thing that would probably sell well at festivals and events. See if there are any local to yourself which would be considered suitable. |
||
| 2steps |
Thanks Ian I've been selling my jewellery on a very small scale for about 4 years now. Your cataloge idea has given me a few ideas, I'm just not sure where I could go. Other than school I have little contact with anyone up here I also wouldn't want to set up anything permanent as I am planning to move in the next few months.
Mrs F - I don't think it's the subject. I think it's how it's done. I wouldn't want to actually go to university and leave Jack, also the nearest is over an hour away so not really practical either. |