Hi,
I'm unsure about how I should proceed in the next years and would be very thankful for your input.
There are several options - below is some background on my situation:
I'm currently in a West European country in a medium sized city - and I really don't like it here. It's the city where I grew up. I just feel like I don't have like-minded people here. It's an environment where I just don't feel comfortable. Before I came here, I spent a couple of years in New York - I had a really great time. I definitely want to go back.
Now the the thing is this: I started a career that I was pretty successful in - but only in terms of publicity & visibility, but not so much in terms of money. Meaning: I got featured in magazines, was interviewed in the media, and invited to speak at conferences, but failed to really make much money out of it. But that was completely my own fault. I had some personal problems and I was too unsure of myself to really push my own thing. I was kind of looking to other people/ companies to help me, or take on the responsibility, but that didn't work out. The result was that I ended up working with some companies that I think were only interested in taking advantage of me because they saw that I had some things going for me but didn't really exploit the opportunities myself.
Yeah I know, when you work for a company, they ALWAYS use you for their own profit - but it can be mutually beneficial. With the companies I worked with, however, I doubt that they really cared about that.
Ok, so now I have stopped working with these companies and have to figure out my next steps.
One thing I could do is the following: Use my name & experience to build a subscription-based online platform to provide the services that I made myself a name for. I don't want to go too much into detail, but for he things I do, I think a good business model is to create a subscription-based service. There are several companies that I know personally and worked with, that make quite good $$ with such a service. The advantage of this, obviously, is that I would get a steady cash flow, and if it's successful, it's a pretty sweet deal. Although it wouldn't be "passive" - I would still have to make sure that the platform is running etc. But it would be a situation where I'm not dependent on an employer anymore. There are some other players in the market that offer similar services like what I have in mind, as I mentioned, but I think I could find a new angle and set myself apart from them.
The disadvantage is that I would probably have to stay in Europe for a while to start this - and of course there is no guarantee that it works. And there are the opportunity costs.
Another thing I could do is the following: Try to go back to New York and find a good company to work for. Not all companies are shit - there are definitely some companies that treat their employees well and where the work environment in is good.
Another thing I could to is the following: Expand my skill set in a related field. In the last years, new fields have been coming up that are somehow related to my field and where there is quite a lot of demand. I am interested in these fields and have actually already started an online course to expand my skill set. I think I'm pretty good at it, and my previous experience is definitely helpful. Still, these are new fields, and I will have to learn quite a lot to be good at it. Realistically, I will probably have to grind for two years in lower levels roles to get my skills up to par. But it's an investment in myself. And I think in terms of employment opportunities there are probably more opportunities in these new fields than in the field that have been working in so far - both in Europe and in the US. Especially if I want to work as an employee in Europe, I think I should probably learn these new skills. As a matter of fact, I'm currently in a pretty tight spot money-wise, and I know I have to make a move in order to get my shit together.
Also to consider is this: I have a passion for certain "artistic" things that I would like to spend some time on and experiment & see where they take me. They are somehow related to my field and also the field that I'm currently expanding my skill set to. But they won't make me money in the immediate future. But I think they might open some new doors for me. However, I think in New York there are more opportunities to connect with like-minded people and make these "artistic" things work for me.
So what do you think? What is the best course of action in my situation? What would you do?
I'm unsure about how I should proceed in the next years and would be very thankful for your input.
There are several options - below is some background on my situation:
I'm currently in a West European country in a medium sized city - and I really don't like it here. It's the city where I grew up. I just feel like I don't have like-minded people here. It's an environment where I just don't feel comfortable. Before I came here, I spent a couple of years in New York - I had a really great time. I definitely want to go back.
Now the the thing is this: I started a career that I was pretty successful in - but only in terms of publicity & visibility, but not so much in terms of money. Meaning: I got featured in magazines, was interviewed in the media, and invited to speak at conferences, but failed to really make much money out of it. But that was completely my own fault. I had some personal problems and I was too unsure of myself to really push my own thing. I was kind of looking to other people/ companies to help me, or take on the responsibility, but that didn't work out. The result was that I ended up working with some companies that I think were only interested in taking advantage of me because they saw that I had some things going for me but didn't really exploit the opportunities myself.
Yeah I know, when you work for a company, they ALWAYS use you for their own profit - but it can be mutually beneficial. With the companies I worked with, however, I doubt that they really cared about that.
Ok, so now I have stopped working with these companies and have to figure out my next steps.
One thing I could do is the following: Use my name & experience to build a subscription-based online platform to provide the services that I made myself a name for. I don't want to go too much into detail, but for he things I do, I think a good business model is to create a subscription-based service. There are several companies that I know personally and worked with, that make quite good $$ with such a service. The advantage of this, obviously, is that I would get a steady cash flow, and if it's successful, it's a pretty sweet deal. Although it wouldn't be "passive" - I would still have to make sure that the platform is running etc. But it would be a situation where I'm not dependent on an employer anymore. There are some other players in the market that offer similar services like what I have in mind, as I mentioned, but I think I could find a new angle and set myself apart from them.
The disadvantage is that I would probably have to stay in Europe for a while to start this - and of course there is no guarantee that it works. And there are the opportunity costs.
Another thing I could do is the following: Try to go back to New York and find a good company to work for. Not all companies are shit - there are definitely some companies that treat their employees well and where the work environment in is good.
Another thing I could to is the following: Expand my skill set in a related field. In the last years, new fields have been coming up that are somehow related to my field and where there is quite a lot of demand. I am interested in these fields and have actually already started an online course to expand my skill set. I think I'm pretty good at it, and my previous experience is definitely helpful. Still, these are new fields, and I will have to learn quite a lot to be good at it. Realistically, I will probably have to grind for two years in lower levels roles to get my skills up to par. But it's an investment in myself. And I think in terms of employment opportunities there are probably more opportunities in these new fields than in the field that have been working in so far - both in Europe and in the US. Especially if I want to work as an employee in Europe, I think I should probably learn these new skills. As a matter of fact, I'm currently in a pretty tight spot money-wise, and I know I have to make a move in order to get my shit together.
Also to consider is this: I have a passion for certain "artistic" things that I would like to spend some time on and experiment & see where they take me. They are somehow related to my field and also the field that I'm currently expanding my skill set to. But they won't make me money in the immediate future. But I think they might open some new doors for me. However, I think in New York there are more opportunities to connect with like-minded people and make these "artistic" things work for me.
So what do you think? What is the best course of action in my situation? What would you do?
