Redundancy As An Opportunity For Change

It’s really hard to look at redundancy as an opportunity for change. I was laid off twice so I’m writing from personal experience. In truth I didn’t see my redundancy as an opportunity of any kind for some time but as they say, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Looking back I can honestly say that redundancy was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I decided to write this post and share my story in the hope that, if it happens to you it might help you to see it that way too.

The first time I was made redundant from a 12 year career. I’d progressed from telesales to business development manager. it really messed me up. I’d just re-mortgaged my house to help my partner start a business and I was summoned for “that meeting”, on her birthday – nice present!

To be fair I did have some breathing space. My length of service and my age entitled me to about 5 months of salary after a 3 month period of garden leave on full pay. I got to keep my company car for that period too. But that didn’t really help my sense of panic “What now?” At 47 I knew getting another job at same level would be tough. I really couldn’t see redundancy as an opportunity to change direction. I just wanted another job and soon!

Between depressing job interviews I searched online for advice and inspiration. I found lots of practical information: How to make sure I was getting my full entitlement; How to register for unemployment benefits and make sure my National Insurance was kept going; Legal advice about clauses in my contract designed to keep from working for competitors for 6 months. All very useful but not helpful for the “What the hell do I do next?” question.

Treat Redundancy As An Opportunity

I did get approached by the competition. I’d been good at what I did and had a good reputation. However, I knew that they would only be interested in milking me for any clients I could poach from my ex-employers. I had no way of knowing and It also didn’t sit well with me. I liked the clients I had brought in and I knew the team I was leaving behind was doing a great job for them. But this was the start of the 2010 recession and the gloves were well and truly off. I accepted an offer by one of them and took it on the proviso that I would start in 3 months. This gave me time to look at alternatives.

Knowing that with the new job coming up I wouldn’t need to touch the redundancy settlement I decided to look for a business investment in the interlude. I also knew that the company I was going to had a bad rep for hiring and firing people so I wanted a plan B. It seemed to me that some kind of online business would be a smart move. There would be low start up costs and I could build it in my spare time.

I bought into a franchised e-commerce business selling wine and related products. It was basically an online store that sold products from multiple sellers. I earned commission from those sales and didn’t have to handle stock, deal directly with customers or any of the headaches of a traditional bricks and mortar business. I started following the Franchisor’s training with massive enthusiasm in the months before starting the new job.

What Opportunities Are Out There

Long story short – it didn’t work out. Although the business model was good the training was very out of date and fell foul of Google’s latest policies and guidelines. Myself and many others who had bought these franchised stores found ourselves holding a dead duck. I was one of the lucky ones who got a partial refund on my initial investment but I was back to square one. By this time I was 6 months into the new job and as I had predicted, dark clouds were beginning to gather. A few of my old clients did come with me and I brought some new blood in but the recession had seriously impacted the industry and cost cutting was rife. I had gone from a big multi national corporation to a small family business. Resources were slim and the axe fell again. 18 months later I was jobless again.

This time I was much more ready to look at redundancy as an opportunity for change – for the better. Although my first online venture hadn’t gone well I’d learned a lot from it. I’d learned about sound, potentially profitable Internet business models like affiliate marketing and e-commerce. I’d had a taste of the Internet lifestyle and working from home and I liked it. Most of all I had learned that the key to success in this burgeoning industry was finding seriously good mentors, products and training.

Using The Down Time To Find Opportunity

My first business had brought me in contact with a whole community of online opportunity seekers I never knew existed. I had networked extensively with them on Skype forums, Facebook groups and on Linked in. I got  bombarded with MLM and network marketing opportunities. Frankly most were either obvious scams or unsustainable get rich quick schemes. As I continued to look for genuine mentors and solid investment opportunities I saw dozens of these schemes come and go. I never gave up hope.

One day I Skyped with another ex-franchisee I’d got to know but hadn’t spoken to for some time. I asked “What hare you doing now?” He told me he was involved with a company called Six Figure Mentors. He didn’t try the usual hard sell thing but forwarded me a link to their free introductory video series. Pardon the cliché here, but the rest is history.

I did think the “Six Figure” thing sounded a bit scammy but the “Mentors” bit caught my attention. Nothing ventured as they say. I submitted my email address and started receiving the videos daily over the next 7 days. They were a breath of fresh air. They introduced a couple of very likeable and very straight talking individuals called Stuart and Jay. There was no bullshit about getting rich quick or guaranteed success but very detailed content on how become a professional Internet marketer.

Over the 7 days they introduced themselves and the mentorship platform they’d built on the back of hugely successful careers as Internet affiliate marketers selling everything from e-cigs to dating platforms. By reverse engineering their combined success they had created digital business systems, training and mentoring programmes and ready to go affiliate business partnerships at various investment levels. Essentially they had incorporated everything it takes to build a sustainable online business and made setting it all up as push button simple, newbie friendly as is realistically possible.

How I Turned Redundancy Into A Positive

One month in, after going through the easy to follow set up process which included building my first website (much easier than I thought) I made my first $1000 commission. 2 years in we moved from the city and bought our dream house in the Scottish Highlands. 5 years in I’ve built a second online business around my musical passion and am selling my own photographs online. I’ve met some astounding people, amassed a suite of future proof new skills and released a ton of free time: Running an online business simply does not take 8 hours a day or more. Now I see redundancy as an opportunity for change.

I have also helped build my partner’s driving instruction business via social media. I’ve attended amazing events in London and New York and have built recurring residual income streams. My monthly earnings have at times touched £10k. Most of all I am more happy than I ever could have guessed during those dark times following redundancy.

Along the way I have become passionate about helping people to look at redundancy as an opportunity for change. Beyond that I love introducing people to the incredible possibilities open to us in these fast moving times. With that in mind I’d like to offer you an introduction to my mentors at SFM with the same video series that changed everything for me. Click the link below to get it.