Just lost my 9 to 5 job...

[ljtechservices]

so you kicked his a$$ then sent him a bill for the shoe polish right?
/tongue firmly in cheek.

I can't even imagine letting somebody go the way OP was.
Last job i got let go from (even though it was a planned layoff that I was happy for) the boss avoided me the last whole week even though I had some transition items to go over with him.
I did my best with the people I worked with to let them know what I was doing, but this classless bag of douche couldn't be bothered with a handshake and a "wish you well"

I hope you can get things together Computer Brainiacs.

 

[minc3d]

Get Adwords setup properly and watch the clients start rolling in. The Podnutz podcasts which bring on techs like us constantly raver about Adwords being the best and easiest way to advertise. Give it a try. Find a copy of this month's Entrepreneur magazine to get some free cash to load into your account.

 

[glricht]

Unfortunately, losing my job unexpectedly happened to me too -- and how it happened was almost as bad.

About 90 of us got a notice to a meeting and we were to assemble in a hallway outside two classrooms. When I arrived, there was a man with a clipboard; he looked up my name and said "go to classroom 2". As each person arrived, the man looked up their name and then directed them to either classroom 1 or 2.

About 15 minutes later, there were about 40+ of us in classroom 2. A manager came in and said "there's no reason to beat around the bush, the positions of all 90 people are being eliminated. Those in classroom 1 are being reassigned within the company and you here in classroom 2 are being laid off." He handed out a bunch of papers regarding termination, answered a few questions and then we were dismissed. It took all of about 15 minutes. I was numb.

That was in May 2003. However, looking back it was a blessing in disguise. After a week or so, I picked myself up and decided to start my own business doing on-site PC support and repair.

It took a while to get things up and rolling, and I scrimped a lot to keep my expenses as low as possible, but business today is good and it's paying the bills. I've never worked harder in my life , but I'm doing what I want to do, when I want to do it, and how I want to do it.

You can too!

 

[techguyforyou]

@glricht

I've been afraid something like that will happen to me, so I've been gathering all the knowledge and experience I can so I'll be at least somewhat prepared for it. Have also been doing some jobs here and there so I can build up a small reputation until I get ready to crank it into high gear and take it on full time.

I've found in my area there are lots of techs that offer cheap services but suck (you get what you pay for), so it seems it wont be too hard to get a decent client base and still pay the bills.

At the OP just take this as a blessing in disquise and you'll be fine. It may be rough in the beginning but with the right attitude you'll suceed in the end as long as you don't give up.

 

[minc3d]

I hope nothing like this this happens to me, as my day job working for a school district has been going through cuts in every dept this past year, but I have been preparing for the worst by building my small business slowly. If I truly had to jump in feet first after a layoff, I'd be ready to merely ramp up quickly and start pumping out service.

But of course, the shock and adjustment period is hard for a lot of people.

 

[MLCS]

Be careful with this. I also lost my main job about a year and a half ago. Use the extra time to push your business. But I personally would still focus most of my attention on landing another stable job. I found this out the hard way. You need to consider how much work you need flowing through your business to maintain not only equivelant income to your old job, but excess amounts for many other things. For instance taxes, if you start pumping up the volume of business you will find your annual taxes are going to go up a LOT. Then if you don't have a spouse or supporter with benefits then you have to factor in this as well.

A large portion of your income with a 9-5 employer isn't the paycheck. A lot of it is in benefits, taxes and such.

If you can go big and make it happen great. If you're still a long way from pulling it off, I would personally suggest focus 100% on a new full time income, then keep giving the extra to your business.

 

[Harold]

You need to market and sell to increase your customer base.

Read The E-Myth Revisited.
Google, Robin Robins Managed Services Marketing.

As a side topic regarding Robin Robins, you'll find posts and reviews that people are usually on one side or the other. They either love her or hate her. She's done good by me.

In any case, you need to kick up your marketing. If you don't go with RR, do something to expand your sales.

Harold

 

[maclaptech]

Sorry to hear, time to advertise and promote your services and business...