FT Job AND Ebay vs Running My Business FT

[BourbonTrailBazaar]

I tried posting this earlier, but it never showed up….

I posted this on Reddit, but I value this communities opinions and would like thoughts and/or advice (even though I don’t post as much as I would like, I still read a lot)
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This is likely to be a very long post as I lay out my background and current situation. Thank you, in advance, for all who read it and your advice.

First, I’ll lay out my current situation and will attempt to break it up in to sections for easier reading and grouping.

Living situation:
I am a 37 yr old male living in Kentucky in a suburb of Louisville. I am single with no children or dependents. The only outstanding debt I have are my house and car. I owe roughly $90k on the house and ~$7k on my vehicle. I have ~$30k in liquid assets from my eBay business. Most of my savings were spent on closing the house last year as well as new windows, doors, gutters and soffit. I purchased the home last year to provide more space for my growing eBay business. My current monthly expenses are below:

House $673.00
Internet $45.00
Electric $75.00
Gas $50.00
Insurance $94.00
Car $200.00
Water $25.00
Trash $20.00

These are monthly figures and obviously does not include food. Some unexpected expenses, like getting my septic tank pumped next week, are not included. My discretionary spending has been high of late as I take my current job and it’s income for granted (this is what I use to live off of and bank the eBay money for the business and to save). I don’t have a problem and actually prefer to live frugally, so I am willing to tighten and change my habits to support my goal of being a full time business owner.

My current FT job:
I work from home 4 days a week and make roughly $20/hr. I work for a company that, overall, is a great company. I had worked for this company previously and came into my current position from someone I knew from my last go around. My title is Operations Analyst. I told them in the interview that my goal would be to work myself out of a job. That was in November of 2016. I am self taught in SQL and received the position due to my experience as they wanted someone on the team that could help with reporting and other data manipulation. When I started there were 3 of us on my team. Within 2 months one was fired, leaving us 2. My other associate is has been there for 10+ years and has a lot of operations knowledge, but very little on the technical side. I write, produce and publish all the reports for the team. Technically, there are 2 other analysts (seniors) on another team. One acts more as a project manager and I supply her with data and reporting. She has no technical knowledge at all. The other is very quiet and secretive. We rarely, if ever, collaborate or speak. She has been working on a project (that I have had 0 visibility on) for over 2 years that, from what I can tell, will add very little overall value. The project is something to be used to fix things on the back end, whereas if the front end issue was addressed, her project would be moot. So, one senior analyst has technical knowledge, the other does not. I have technical knowledge my other teammate does not.

I made it a goal when I started to update and automate as many processes as I could, because that is what I do. That is my specialty. I have done an excellent job at this, because we are now in a position where we need less than .5 FT employees to do both of our jobs (where there were 3 when I started). Technically, .5 is probably too high as I can do my daily work and hers in 2 hours or less (not counting any adhoc work that may come in).

I am now in a position where I have very little to do. I have automated daily process, created reports for the team so they do not have to request adhoc, gone above and beyond and created or improved other processes that were never in my job scope. We have a relatively new senior manager and 3 supervisors for a team of maybe 20-25. Hiring is frozen for the team and departures are not being replaced as we are in the process of automating a function that will eliminate a need for roughly 50% of the remaining employees. One supervisor has already been notified that he will not be kept on in his current position. The technical senior analyst is supposed to have her project wrapped up in the next few weeks freeing her up. I know there is no need for both of us as I have explained above. The other factor is I have envious/spiteful teammates that are watching everything I do and “telling on me”. My supervisor knows nothing of what I do (nor do most in the department). I never have a one-on-one with any of my managers. I have made it known to the senior manager about the lack of work. Another issue is when I do provide a new process and explain it to the team, it is instantly criticized and dismissed. This has led to me no longer enjoying my job, feeling defeated and never wanting to take initiative. If I did not work from home 80% of the time, I would not be there. I dread the one day a week I do have to go in. I have applied for a couple other positions, but with no degree, their experience vs. education requirements are ridiculous (5.5 years xp for entry level dev job, with SQL being one of their preferred skills as example). I have a couple of friend in IT looking for positions for me or keeping an ear open for something that might come up. I don’t know how long that will be or if I will last that long in my position.

That brings me to my next point. Do I even want to stay? I ultimately want to work for myself and the ONLY reason I would even consider another position is literally for the SQL xp. I would love to learn more and supplement my reselling business with contracting work on MY terms. Not for someone else.

My reselling business:
I started reselling seriously in March of 2016 as a hobbyjob. I was bored and needed something to fill time and I enjoy making money as a hobby. I have done reselling off and on most of my adult life. I had one other serious venture back in the mid 00’s selling books, but space and the invention of the smart phone derailed that. My numbers have been growing steadily each month since I began. Last year I grossed right at $40k doing less than 20 hours a week. My lowest gross month in the past year has been $3k (this month, actually). I source stuff to sell one day a week since I also have a FT job that severely limits how much I can get out to find stuff and not work myself to death. Sunday’s are my “off” day and I do not source or list at all. So, basically, my only day to find inventory is Saturday. I am also limited on branching out to other venues due to time constraints.

The question:
Do I give up my FT job to run my business FT? Can I still acquire SQL knowledge and/or find a contracting position with my current xp (I have roughly 4 years of SQL xp, but no xp in SSIS, stored procedures, functions, etc. Most of my work has been on the Business Intelligence Development side aka reporting)? Even without a SQL job, if times were tough I could deliver pizza or something part time. So, fellow redditors. What do you think? What would your advice be?

TL;DR Should I quit my FT job that is becoming worse by the day to pursue my side business full time?

[Jay]

–Do you get paid by the hour and have to keep a time sheet? If so, how interactive is your job during the day when you work at home?

–If you’re salaried and you’ve automated many of your tasks, does it matter what you do during the day at home as long as are available on phone and systems are green to go? Curious if you could just put the job on autopilot and just muscle through the one day you go into the office.

–You need to save more if you’re making $3k+/month of eBay + a full-time $20/hr job. I assume you make at least $70k a year. Your expenses are no more than $24k. It’s very doable to save up at least $30k a year, right?

–It looks like your living expenses are between $1500-$2000/month if you include food, gas, fun. If you’re lowest eBay month is $3k just scavenging part time, then it sounds like you could absolutely quit your job.

–If you quit your job and just did eBay, do you have ay bad habits that would prevent you from running your own business responsibly (lazy, hoarding, addiction)?

[BourbonTrailBazaar]

I’ll address line by line:

— I am hourly and have to clock in and out. Most of the time I am sitting doing nothing at home unless I am working listing on ebay, which tends to be 1-2 days a week if I have a heavy load. I have to be near my computer, logged in and ready if there is something to do.

— Even though I am hourly, most of my job is on auto pilot. The one day in the office is getting worse.

— I am saving quite a bit. The $30k I have in cash is saved from selling on eBay. It is my “business” account and I rarely dip into it for anything besides business expenses and taxes.

— Yes, my slowest month this year is currently June and I will still gross over $3k. I scavenge on Saturday’s at yard sales in the summer/Fall/Spring and maybe 2 hours at a couple thrift stores after work. Winter I would be freed up to do more auctions and thrift stores during the week.

–I currently smoke, but doing the business full time would be extra motivation to quit. I have quit in the past and know I could do it again. Plus, I would be out of the house more (finding stuff to sell and busy listing that stuff, so my mind will be kept off it). I already have an ecig with several months of juice on hand to aid. I am not lazy, nor a hoarder. Everything I pick up is listed on ebay. I have no death piles (only stuff I have deemed not worthy to list for whatever reason that is a now a flea market pile). With the 40 hours I am currently spending on the FT job, I would have as finding more stuff, listing and looking for new opportunities.

— Not mentioned, but I would also have the time to study my profession and keep learning outside of work (I am not learning anything now, anyway).

[Jay]

If:
–you can live off your eBay income
–you’re current job is getting more and more psychologically painful
–you have the discipline to work for yourself and run a business

Then:
–it seems like a no brainer, quit and enjoy life.

[Inglewood]

The only times I’ve done eBay FT have been when I’ve been laid off from work, and I also had unemployment coming in as a safety net (about $400-$450 a week). The unemployment checks kept me afloat if I had a bad week.

I personally don’t think I can do eBay full time without other work. I like having a steady paycheck to pay my bills, and even when I was selling on eBay FT and collecting unemployment checks it was stressful some weeks.

My advice would be if you think that you will get laid off work, you may want to wait it out and collect whatever government assistance (either unemployment, business assistance, or both from your state) and test drive doing eBay FT with the safety net.

The discipline, and roller coaster ride of income is something you need to think about. I personally don’t plan on becoming a FT seller until I am retired, collecting a pension as a safety net, and having eBay income more as “fun money” from a hobby instead of a job.

I think you are in financially good shape for your age, but you may want to eliminate more debt before going FT on eBay – it may eliminate some of the stresses of being a FT seller and slow weeks.

[BourbonTrailBazaar]

Jay —
That is the conclusion I am coming to myself. I have heard you all and others mention it before: Why wait until your old to retire and do what you want? I could be dead by then and all of that would be wasted. I enjoy a challenge and that is another reason I am despondent with my job. It no longer challenges me. On top of all that, I would be in control of myself. Meaning I would have the time to work on me as well as my business.

Inglewood —
I am not concerned as much about the money. Again, it is just me. I have a healthy chunk saved and could easily pay off my vehicle right now. That would leave only the house to pay for, which of course, has its own equity.

[Sharyn]

If you make eBay your full time job, you could also make extra money as a consultant using Fivrr, Upwork, or similar websites. I’m sure that software skills would be easy to offer online.

[Jay]

As people with tech skills, we learned we could make more money and have more freedom simply consulting or being a contractor. That same company may pay you to do the same work but on your terms.

You can charge more and get out of the management structure.

[almasty]

I don’t think $20 an hour is worth being that miserable at a job over. Since it’s hourly, you’re probably making 40k or less a year. If it was a higher salary, I would slog through it. But for $20…eh

It looks like sql developers normally make 60-85k a year. I’ve read that it’s easiest to get a new job while still in your old one. Maybe try to find another similar job that lets you work for the most part remotely?

If not, temporarily go f/t with ebay, then set aside some of the hours that went into the f/t job for independent study or class time (online or local). With tech jobs, you don’t want a long gap in your resume. I guess if you do have a gap in your resume but show a sql certificate from a local cc that might count for something from employers? Idk.

[BourbonTrailBazaar]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I think I am going to go in Monday and talk with my senior manager about the issues and see if there is a possibility of severance pay. If not and there is no commitment to changes or finding me something besides “dig a hole and fill it in work”, then I will put my two weeks in. From there I plan on really ramping up ebay and maybe look at other venues to sell as well. I’ll be free to yard sale on Friday’s and Saturdays, flea market Sunday’s and thrifts and auctions through the week (setting a day or two aside for listing).

I would also like to continue my education, whether that be casually on my own or through a reasonably priced program. I have plenty of data to use and practice with thanks to reselling.

[Jay]

You can also try to suggest you’d be willing to become an independent contractor. Work at home. No office. You choose the person you would report to. Just keep things humming along since you have it all automated.

Any new projects would need to be negotiated.

[BourbonTrailBazaar]

I might mention that, Jay. The issue is none of my department is contracted (I’m in operations, not IT as I probably should be). The only contractors I know of are in development and they are all overseas.

[Jay]

Understood. You’d be surprised that once you say you’re leaving, they may suddenly be open to contracting out what you do. If they don’t know how you did things, thats lot of work training someone else to do it.

Stay strong. If you want to be free, dont fall for little throw away benefits they may offer you to stay. Little raise. A couple extra days off.

[ebaymom]

There is a chance that when you express you are wanting to leave… you will be offered a raise to stay… A good employee with technical skills – you are worth more than you are getting paid. Good luck!!!

[Retro Treasures WV]

I doubt it. If the company is already in hiring freeze and layoffs mode, they’ll happily take your resignation. That means one less severance package to the beancounters. Skill and value doesn’t mean crap in this phase of a company.

[BourbonTrailBazaar]

Thanks Jay and ebaymom. We will see come Monday.

Retro –
It’s not the company as a whole, just the department I am in. I am one of the highest paid in the department because of the kind of work I do. Most of the dept is button clickers, hence the automation (that should have happened years ago anyway). I can and do add a lot of value because I make it possible to get rid of others or cut the time it takes to do remedial tasks. I work hard to not work hard. I have achieved about as much as I can in my position. I’d rather leave than doing button clicking work, which is part of the threat I have received since “I don’t have anything to do besides browse the internet”.

[BourbonTrailBazaar]

So, it ended up being an interesting outcome to this story. I walked in yesterday and held off on talking to my manager. There were some things going on and I wanted to see how they played out before I approached her. Around midday, I was summoned to a meeting room and in there was: my supervisor, her boss, her boss and the head HR lady. Well. I knew exactly what was coming. They are eliminating my position due to automation and I, being the junior employee, will be let go. So, Jay, there was a severance offer, but I found it laughable. I would have to stay on until November 15th and also avoid any pitfalls that might get me fired (which I would assume would be really ramped up in that time), all for 1 whopping month of severance pay. So I said the hell with it. Didn’t do anything the rest of the day and placed my two week notice in as I was walking out the door.

I am looking at this move with optimism. I’ll get to work FOR myself 100%, work ON myself, reset my daily routine, ramp up scavenging for 4th quarter and live for me and the now.

Joshua

[Jay]

Huh, so the decision was made for you? Or did they cut your position because they knew you were going to leave?

Regardless, you will be fine. Those that have families and live in higher income areas are necessarily concerned about having a steady paycheck. But a single person with no real debt other than a mortgage should do fine.

Work 40 hours a week for yourself and you’ll be laughing.

[BourbonTrailBazaar]

Yeah, it was made for me. I had an inkling that this was coming due to a couple of odd events about 6 weeks ago. It would have happened then, I am sure of that now. The automation project was pushed back, so then too was the meeting.

I certainly will, Jay!! It was hard not to smile in the meeting. Just have to get through these couple of weeks. I am working from home right now and I have not received a response on the email with my notice. I have 4 days of PTO due to me and I requested to use those Thursday – Tuesday with a week from Friday being my last day. They could deny me (my back-up is off until Thursday, so I doubt I will hear anything today) and pay me out or let me go with my plan. If they deny me the PTO and plan to pay it out so I have to train people, I will have to think about it. We have a monthly management meeting, that I am a part of, on Monday and I will absolutely not be going to that.

[Jay]

Those stories of employees being laid off…but having to train their cheaper replacement are brutal. I don’t know if I’d train the person taking my place. Sounds like you don’t need the money.

[BourbonTrailBazaar]

I truly don’t. I am trying to be courteous and give them some notice, just as they gave me. I don’t think I will deviate from my plan. I’ll either work it out as is, or just cut ties. All the cards are on the table anyway.

[Retro Treasures WV]

Well I am sorry that you lost your job, even if you are kinda happy about it. I can actually relate quite well to that. At my last job things had slowly gone to crap – positions not being back-filled, Budgets being cut, etc. This global company was spinning off an entire branch of the company – my branch. I wanted to leave very badly because it was becoming an unsafe place to work – chemical plant with multiple highly hazardous chemical processes (IE, stuff that will kill you quick).

The bloody Monday came eventually where they cut a ton of employees and I got the call to the meeting with my boss and the dept supervisor around 11 am. The department supervisor even made a comment along the lines of “you don’t really seem too upset”. I wasn’t! I was so happy that they made the decision for me since I was going to leave anyway. I got a great severance package, which included two months where I could still legally claim I was actively and gainly employed so it would be easier to get a new job. This was the 2 months where I started my ebay business. It was the greatest summer of my adult life, and I had my new job secured before the two months was up. I took off an additional month before the new job started so I could enjoy the summer.

You seem to be in a great position with your store. You are gonna do awesome. I can’t wait to see your numbers grow every week now that you are full time.

[BourbonTrailBazaar]

Thank you for the anecdote and vote of confidence, Retro! I really am looking forward to it. As a matter of fact, I am listening to a podcast and taking some photos from the weekend haul.

[T-Satt]

Just caught up on the story. Wow. Had a lot going on inside reading that.

Good news is, you have a business that you can invest full time in right now. My best advice is have an EXTREMELY low cost of living right now. You are going to want to grow your inventory, which means more of your sales revenue should be going right into buying more inventory rather than what you need to live on.

I would also say that if you can forecast your numbers on what it will take to grow, that is huge. Veronica and I spent 90 minutes yesterday in my forecast model looking at what it will take for a second person to come on board in September. What that means for cashflow, can we afford the extra inventory, and me texting our photographer to find out if he can handle more work.

Having those reality numbers in front of you where they make sense and you know what you are getting into and what it takes is huge to us.

Good luck to you. If you need advice or encouragement, you know where to find it!

[aperture]

Like T-Satt, I just read through this thread. Congratulations on having the skills, assets and courage to pull the trigger on a dissatisfying job that was about to take a turn for the worse! Clearly you were in the right frame of mind for the meeting with the bosses yesterday.

Before you leave work, consider putting together a project resume. Within legal limits, grab any examples of your work that you can share with a potential employer. You never know when it will be valuable.

Also at $20/hr, you managed to write code that replaced your own job and that of 2 other people. If those people were making $20/hour then at a minimum, you are worth $60/hour and probably much much more since you reduced the cost of doing business rather than one-time costs.

Finally, you have not mentioned healthcare (or if you did I missed it). Ask around here what people that are self-employed are doing. In some states and places ACA healthcare is still somewhat affordable. I would compare ACA with a HealthShare (e.g. libertyhealthshare.org) and if you are otherwise healthy, just choose whichever is cheaper.

DO QUIT SMOKING. It is the right thing to do for your wallet, and for your health. In the same way that learning SQL and saving $s in the past benefited your current self, quitting smoking will bring similarly valuable dividends to your future self. This is the next most important thing you can do for yourself.

Best wishes, Daniel.

[BourbonTrailBazaar]

Thank you everyone for your advice and encouragement!

I’ll keep everyone updated as I tackle this adventure! I have a ton of stuff to list and a whole weekend to buy stuff, so I’m going to stay busy (which will keep my mind off smoking 🙂 ).

[Author]

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