OPEN LETTER
Create Your Own Opportunity
Why I think it’s a great time to be independent
Back in the early ’00s, before Geek Squad merged with Best Buy and got instant, easy access to my entire target market, I was in my early 20s and trying to survive while I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. So, I taught myself how to fix computers and set up networks, got some cheap business cards made, and started to find clients.
Sometimes, I had a day job, too. Sometimes, I didn’t.
I’d get a call or an email on my Kyocera 6035 (don’t laugh, that thing was amazing!), pack up my luggage carrier with computer parts and tools, and lug all this on the NYC subway to the client’s office or apartment to do my thing. It was hard work lining up clients, keeping them happy, keeping track of where my time and money were going, and staying on top of the continually changing domain knowledge I needed to stay relevant. Sometimes, I had a day job, too. Sometimes, I didn’t. I did as much work as I could on nights and weekends and spent a lot of the time I probably should’ve spent sleeping hunched over the rescued Compaq desktop in my sweltering Washington Heights room-for-rent, instead.
I loved it.
I remember filling out paperwork for something or other — maybe a loan, maybe an apartment — and the woman helping me asked, “What do you do for a living?” I said, “I own a small business.” She asked, “Do you have a job?” and I answered, “No, I have a business fixing computers.” She looked at me and said, “So you’re self-employed?”. Her tone made it sound like it was hardly any better than being unemployed. I said, “Well, I work for myself, so I guess so, yeah.” She put a nice, heavy checkmark in the “self-employed” box. Instead of leaving with whatever I was there to apply for, I walked out empty-handed, upset, and full of self-doubt.
Why did she think it was okay to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed to be doing something I enjoyed the way I wanted to do it? Why was being “self-employed” such a mark against me? Was that all I could hope for — work for somebody else or always have doors closed in my face because I refused to conform to an arbitrarily narrow view of normal? I felt frustrated by an invisible divide between her and me, a feeling that made me incapable of communicating that being “self-employed” was not just a viable, respectable approach to life, but that it was awesome.
It’s 2020 now.
I’ve seen the “self-employed” go from being just a bunch of people who are one tenuous step away from being unemployed to being a formidable force in the U. S. economy.
Since then, I’ve had a couple of other small businesses, side hustles, and so-called “real” jobs. I’ve been an employee at several tech startups, and I’ve co-founded a couple myself. I’ve seen technologies and how we use them change immensely. Most importantly, though, I’ve seen the “self-employed” go from being just a bunch of people who are one tenuous step away from being unemployed to being a formidable force in the U. S. economy.
According to the State of Independence in America, last year, “independent workers generated roughly $1.28 trillion of revenue for the U.S. economy — equal to about 6.2 percent of U.S. GDP (2018), or the entire economic output of Spain.” Self-employed, indeed.
It’s an exciting time to be independent. But it’s not easy. I know first-hand how hard it is to do what you do, day in, day out, trying to provide people with value, earn a living, and create a life for yourself and your loved ones, constrained only by your imagination and willingness to adapt to changing circumstances. That’s why we’re building Neon Labs.
I hope that Neon will provide indies like you with knowledge and support to help you realize your vision for yourself and your life, no matter where you are on the entrepreneurial spectrum. The time has never been better to be independent, and I’d love to give you the kind of help I wish I had back in the day.
What are your experiences being independent? I’d love to hear from you in the comments! Thanks!
