Welcome to 2018! To kick off the year, I want to touch on a topic that was hot in Kenya last year: What happens when you lose your job? This is not a question many employed people want to think about. So they keep putting it off.
I’m sure we all agree that 2017 was an exceptionally challenging year for many businesses and companies. At the same time, it was a year that showed us just how easy it is for the political situation to escalate negatively.
We also saw the ripple effect this negative turn had on the economy – leading to redundancies and job losses. Businesses closed and companies laid off employees as the economy took a serious nosedive.
In this article I share a real-life situation from someone who lost her job in December 2016. I then explore options you can take if you lose your job.
Is this familiar?
Early in 2017, I participated in a number of Facebook groups. A common and recurring question was how to get back on track after you lose your job.
I particularly remember one woman who had lost her job in December 2016. She had tarmacked and done odd jobs here and there.
Given that she’s a graduate with a Master’s degree, it wasn’t easy for her to wait for her partner to take care of all bills. She was also afraid that she was losing time as she stayed out of work.
She decided to try out business and bought clothes to sell. This worked out for some time but died due to lack of marketing in an off-season period.
So here was this woman who:
- Is very well-educated.
- Is out of a job.
- Has been fighting to accept the fact that she can take odd jobs.
- Feels very bad about having spent so much time going to school and then this…
- Has dead clothing stock in her house.
- Is starting to feel pressured to go out and earn an income.
And she was now struggling to find a job or business that would work for her.
By the time she asked for help in the group, she was so desperate that she was willing to take any job. She was even willing to take up something that’s not in her field and learn on the job!
How about trying these if you lose your job?
This is a scenario I’ve seen with professionals when they’re out of work. Many people think that starting a business is the only option especially if they’ve been out of work for long. It does work for some. Unfortunately, a lot of money, time and energy is wasted. These are resources that would have been better spent on other things.
I’ve been there too and know how hard it can be to change from an employee mentality to an entrepreneur one. Not making this shift fast is one of the main reasons why former employees fail in business. They get into business thinking and acting like employees instead of knowing that they are now in charge of their income.
Another challenge such people have is that they receive a lot of great advice, but they don’t take immediate action on the right advice. They also don’t commit to success if they decide on a non-employee option like business.
The way I see it, you have 2 choices when you lose your job:
- Make the mental shift and take action immediately.
- Sit back and allow life to force you into action.
When you look at the two, there really is no choice at all. When you do nothing or become too choosy, life will make a choice for you…and it will be a very painful one.
Here are some options you can try out if you’ve lost your job.
1. Start an online business
If you’re reading this, then you have access to the internet. Don’t use it for surfing and social media only. Harness its power and make it work for you.
For example, this lady had dead clothing stock in the house AND access to the internet. She could start selling this stock on Facebook. So many people are making money selling things on Facebook. There are no special skills required and you have thousands of other businesses you can observe and learn from.
Better yet, there are Facebook market groups where you can showcase your products. These groups work if you’re consistent, trustworthy, and keep adjusting to meet the needs of your potential and actual customers.
Worried about your reputation if your friends see you selling stuff on Facebook? It’s your life, not theirs. Real friends will stick by you at all times. They’ll also buy from you and send you referrals. Fake friends and frenemies are the ones that you need to avoid.
There are different online businesses that are available in Kenya. And there are many Kenyans who make money full-time or part-time online. The beauty of an online business is that you can still have it as a part-time business if you go back to employment.
2. Become an online freelancer
Another option for online work is to become an online freelancer. There are many options for part-time or full-time work in areas like:
- Article and blog writing.
- Copywriting.
- Ghostwriting.
- Transcription.
- Blog/website design and management.
- Social media management.
- Creative design.
- Editing and proofreading.
- Search engine optimization (SEO).
- Market research.
- Virtual assistant.
- Translation.
- Web or internet research.
- Legal services and research.
- Photography and video editing.
Virtually any service that is provided offline can be turned into an online freelance career. Whatever training and experience you have, you can find someone who needs help.
Check out sites like Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr, TranscribeMe and iWriter for jobs. Also check out Walter Akolo’s Freelancer Kenya blog. He’s one of the top gurus in Kenya. His blog has useful advice and low-cost programs you can take advantage of.
Upwork and iWriter pay better than most sites, but they’re also stricter. Freelancer and Fiverr are good places to start as a newbie and gain experience.
The rule of thumb in online freelancing is to follow the platform’s rule to the letter. If you do this, you will get hired and have recurring income.
If you’re caught flouting rules, you’ll get kicked out and banned from the platform. It’s also easier to get conned when you agree to operate outside the platform. In some severe cases, some sites ban a country, as it once happened to Kenya with iWriter.
Online freelancing is a great career. You decide your working hours and can freelance part-time or full-time. It’s also one of the easiest ways to start earning money online immediately. Best of all, you get started at a low-cost and in a very short time.
A not-so-common place to get online writing and blogging jobs
The places mentioned above are well-known among Kenyan online freelancers so there is competition. If you’re interested in blog-related jobs, check out Problogger’s job board.
The advantage of looking for jobs on the Problogger site is the fact that you’re dealing with serious people who need your services and appreciate a job well done. The site will also teach you how to set up a professional blog and make money blogging.
3. Start a business you can scale up
There are 2 options if you want to start a business:
- Start a home-based business.
- Set up a physical business (not advisable if you’re not well-prepared).
Home-based businesses are easier and more affordable to start. However, you need to take care of any legal and professional requirements for some professions. Also, find out whether you need special licenses or permissions (e.g. from your estate committee) if you’re going to operate from home.
An easy home based business is consulting or freelancing. Any knowledge, skill or experience you have can be turned into a freelance or consulting business.
If you take this option, don’t focus on large organizations because everyone is running there. That’s a saturated market and you’ll be fighting with established service providers. Also, take care when working with startups. Most will give you a headache when you’re chasing your money.
Instead, look for established entrepreneurs, SMEs and NGOs that have been in business for at least 3 years and have more than 5 employees. These are more likely to take your work seriously, pay you well, and pay you on time.
Consultants and freelancers need a strong online presence especially at startup. So set up your online presence fast, especially on LinkedIn and Facebook. These platforms are powerful for getting clients.
Also, get a mentor who has walked the same path and is willing to help you get started. Having a mentor is priceless and will cut your learning curve!
Check out the following resources if you want to start a consultancy or freelance business that you can scale up:
- Business Startup Checklist (PDF download).
- Articles I’ve written on how to start a business.
- My book 12 Weeks to Startup: How to Turn Your Skills, Talents, Knowledge and Experiences Into a Business.
4. Step up your job hunting
This is very important if you want to get back into employment. To start with, update your CV so that it reflects your most current qualifications, employment and experience. Also clean up your social media profiles and update them if necessary. Many employers check these out first when you apply for a job.
Next, it’s time to get active on LinkedIn. Google ‘how to get hired through LinkedIn’ and use the information to make your profile stand out. There are a lot of employers and head hunters who look for talent strictly through LinkedIn.
Hiring on LinkedIn is not reserved for corporations and big businesses. There are also solopreneurs and small business owners who need help with other aspects of business. Some of these people will hire you as a freelancer and then scale up to a full-time job as their businesses grow.
For example, in my previous business, I hired blog content creators from LinkedIn. This is because experience has taught me that people are careful about their professional image on LinkedIn. So they do professional work even when freelancing.
One of the writers I hired is in full-time employment and freelances part-time. She gets all her freelance clients from LinkedIn. We’ve never met and only communicate on phone, email and MPESA.
There are many creative ways to get noticed by potential employers on social media. Use them to leverage your job seeking.
Is starting a business the best option if you lose your job?
No it’s not. However, you’ll meet people who will extol the virtues of business and try to sway your decision. But what if you really don’t want to get into business?
There’s no reason to feel bad if you prefer a job over business. Not everyone is meant for business. If we were all in business, then who would make sure other things run? There are people who thrive in business, those who thrive in employment, and others who are able to do both.
Much as I love business, I can admit openly that business has been over-glorified. This has made people fall into the trap of thinking that business is the only option if you don’t have a job or hate your job.
Hardly a day passes before I get someone asking me for help to get into business. From experience, I’ve found that only 2 out of every 10 people who ask for this are ready to make the shift. In most cases, what someone needs is a change of job or career.
Over the years, I’ve also learnt that even in professional service businesses like consulting, you need to think like a hustler and act like a professional.
Hustlers focus on one thing all day long – how to make money. They constantly motivate themselves into action, even when they don’t want to work. Those skills are not taught in any school or college. You’re either born with them or learn them on the job.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, professionals focus on getting things done the right way. Image may be important to them. But, it’s not as important as taking action, getting results, learning from your results, creating a new action plan and repeating the cycle.
If you can combine a hustler mentality with a professional way of doing things, you will be unstoppable in business. If you can’t, then you’re better off looking for a job.
Did you lose your job?
First, don’t think of yourself as a victim. You lost your job not your life or ability to make money. You need to change the victim mentality immediately if you’ve fallen into it. The more you see yourself as a victim, the harder it will be to get out of your situation.
Second, start hanging out with people who are forward thinking. Allow yourself to be vulnerable enough to learn from them. Dump all your negative friends and relatives. You don’t need them raining their doubts, fears and criticism over you.
Third, pick out one of the options in this article and take action on it immediately. Don’t try to do many things at the same time. If finances are really tight, then increase your job hunting, become an online or offline freelancer or start consulting. These are options that can bear fruit very fast.
Finally, when it comes to job hunting, think beyond Kenya. With internet access, the world is your marketplace and you can get hired by headhunters to work anywhere in the world.
Your next step…
Sometimes it’s hard to think beyond the situation you’re in especially when you lose your job. If you’re feeling stuck and not able to take up any of the options in this article, then request for a Strategy Session with one of our coaches.
In this session, you’ll get clear about your next step and create an action plan to achieve it within the next 12 months. The session is also ideal if you’re thinking of getting into business or want to grow your career.
(Image credit: Marcolm at Free Digital Photos)
