Summary

A solopreneur mother in Bulgaria secures a part-time job with specific conditions to ensure she can afford her children's private school education.

Abstract

Faced with the annual financial burden of her children's private school fees, a seasoned solopreneur and writer decides to seek employment while maintaining her business. She outlines her strict job criteria, including working for someone she knows, part-time hours, a set income to cover educational costs, a role in a field she likes but doesn't love, and leveraging her existing expertise. She reaches out to her network of entrepreneurial contacts, ultimately reconnecting with her former boss who is starting a new venture aligned with her skills and requirements. The job is secured quickly, and she reflects on the experience as a testament to the flexibility and empowerment of being a solopreneur, emphasizing the importance of making the rules and choosing opportunities that align with one's values and lifestyle.

Opinions

The author has a negative view of public education in Bulgaria, considering it undisciplined and of poor quality.
She values the private school environment for her children, prioritizing their happiness and well-being over other financial considerations.
The author believes in the power of solopreneurship to enhance skills, confidence, and the ability to design one's life according to personal priorities.
She emphasizes the importance of not just taking any job, but one that meets specific personal and professional criteria.
The author advocates for solopreneurs to view themselves as employable and capable of securing desirable positions on their own terms.
She suggests that solopreneurs should approach their careers as a series of tests and learning opportunities rather than a sequence of successes and failures.
The author encourages maintaining professional relationships and networking, as these can lead to unexpected and beneficial employment opportunities.
She reflects on the ease with which she was able to address a significant financial challenge, attributing this to the skills and mindset developed through years of solopreneurship.

How to Get an Amazing Job as a Solopreneur

I just did something I never thought I’d do, and it worked out great.

My kids go to private school.

It happened by accident. I put them there as 2-year-olds. I wanted someone to take good care of my babies. They both loved it.

This school runs to 7th grade and we kept them there, even though it became clear that the price would become a burden.

I have a personal problem with public education in Bulgaria. I don’t think it’s good, but worse than that, I know it’s undisciplined. I used to be bullied like hell at school, but my husband wasn’t. He was one of the cool kids. If you ask him, public schools are fine. We’re supposed to let our kids handle life.

Plus, he hates how much our private school costs. We have two children and every June, we need to pay for the next school year. The full amount, upfront.

It’s the beginning of summer and instead of planning awesome vacations, we shell out $Ridiculous-School-Fee X2. It’s not something you can postpone. The school won’t have it.

If you don’t pay up, your kids won’t attend. They’ll have to say goodbye to their friends and their favorite teachers, and to a school that — no matter what my husband is trying to convince me — is pretty awesome.

And even if we’re better off the following year and we can afford it again, what are we going to do, change their schools every time our finances fluctuate? Let me tell you, in a family of two entrepreneurs, they fluctuate a lot.

So I needed money

If I were to keep sending them to this school, I needed to make a lot more money, and fast, because June is fast approaching.

But there was something else. I didn’t just need money. I needed a secure, steady, predictable amount of money. Money that I can put away every month and at the end of 12 months, I would have enough to cover the school fees.

It’s my kids’ education, you know? Ensuring that they spend 7–8 hours out of every weekday in a place they love, a place where they’re taken care of — I’ll always do that if I can. I’d give up a lot of other things before I give up that.

I needed a job

I’ve been a full-time solopreneur for 10 years. When I quit my last job in January 2014, I swore I’d never work for anyone else ever again. My income has steadily increased over the past 10 years to the point where I’m a 6-figure writer with a feature in Business Insider.

And I f***ing need a job?!

The “I’ve failed” thought started sneaking up on me, but my why was too powerful for me to care about my ego. And yet…

Yes, I needed a job.

But that didn’t mean I’d take on any job.

Do things on your own terms.

The best thing you learn as a solopreneur is that you can do things on your own terms.

Solopreneurship is brutal. You need to be creative and productive, you need to learn writing and marketing, you need to sell yourself and network online.

If you can do all that, you can do anything.

Being a solopreneur boosts your skills and it boosts your confidence. It teaches you to design your life around what’s important to you and to follow your own agenda.

So even though I needed a job, it didn’t mean I’d accept anything.

I had very specific requirements:

I wanted a job where I knew the owner of the business. It would be easier to sell myself and it would be easier to start working with this person right away. If you’ve been a solopreneur for a while, you meet other entrepreneurs, so I made a list of about 8–9 people I knew who would be a good match (and have businesses I understand well).
I wanted a part-time thing. Just because I needed a job, it didn’t mean I wanted to give up on my business. I’d still write my newsletter, show up on Medium, and work with clients — just maybe take on fewer clients and write fewer articles.
I wanted a specific amount of money. More would be good, but not necessary. I wanted to cover my kids’ education and that was that. I wouldn’t count on a job to make me rich. I have my business for that. The only thing I wanted out of this job was the security, as much as a job is ever secure.
I wanted to do something I liked but didn’t love. If I worked on something I loved, I’d care too much and it would take energy away from my business. However, I still wanted to do something I liked so I could contribute fully and have fun doing it.
I wanted to do something I knew. That’s the only way to contribute to an organization without giving it your full attention — you already have the expertise, you just apply it.

With all those requirements in mind, I prioritized my list of entrepreneurial friends, and I contacted the first person.

What happened next was amazing.

The guy I contacted was my former boss — the owner of the company I’d quit in 2014.

It turned out he was just starting a new company that would operate in my industry, serving solopreneurs and small business owners.

And yes, he needed someone.

And yes, he agreed to all my conditions, and I agreed to his.

And within a week, the problem with my kids’ school was sorted.

I’m already working with him and it’s just like having another client — but one I know so well that it’s easy to understand everything he needs me to do before he even says it.

Which makes things fast and efficient for everybody.

Why are you reading this? So you learn to make the rules

Your first lesson? I’m an idiot.

I used to say solopreneurs are unemployable. Not true. Smart solopreneurs have access to anything, including the most amazing jobs. It’s just that we don’t do the traditional job hunting anymore. We don’t hunt. We choose.

Your second lesson? That’s the important one. Here’s how to put yourself in a position where you make the rules.

Become a solopreneur instantly. The fastest way to do it is to start thinking about your employer as a client. This shifts your perspective and puts you in the driver’s spot.
Start your solo business. Right now. Start building an audience on a platform you like. That’s it. You can take it anywhere from there.
Keep learning. Keep trying. For every failure, remember, you’re not failing, you’re testing. That’s the phase you’re in. The great thing is, you learn so much when you can try anything without a boss to guide you (or stop you). Then, you can use what you learn in your job (or another job).
Don’t burn bridges. If you’re going to leave your job, do it gracefully. Give your company a generous notice and ask them what you can do to help them transition the role from you to someone else.
Start bending the rules. See if your company can offer you a part-time option. See if your company can offer you more location freedom, or anything else you want. If not, see if another company can.
Start networking online. Follow people, connect with them, join conversations or start them. Networking sounds difficult, but it’s nothing more than talking to people you like.

Then, one day, you’ll be in a position where you choose. And you can handle any financial challenge — even a big one — within a week.

Final Words

I used to spend my energy worrying. Now, I spend that same energy working. It’s still hard to believe that it was so easy to deal with a problem that would once feel intractable.

I was able to implement a change in my work schedule without really changing anything about my lifestyle. This is what 10 years of solopreneurship have done–they’ve made me a bigger person, and big people can handle big challenges.

And my husband is happy, too–as you can imagine.