Build a Business: New Year, New Business?

It’s that time of year when people look back and reflect on their careers and set goals and objectives for the coming year. I have seen several of these posts over on Linkedin in the last week. Some people may even decide it’s time to change and perhaps look for a new job and a fresh challenge.

Well, you are not are your own. Berry Wand is in the same boat.

Berry Wand

Current job: SQL Server DBA

Berry is currently a senior SQL Server DBA for a large public sector organisation based in the UK. Berry has been in this role for about three years. In that time, she delivered many projects and provided a lot of value. Berry has some fantastic skills. She can configure complex SQL Server availability groups. She knows a lot about performance tuning. Security is the number one priority for her organisation. She also has a great deal of experience in Azure-based data platform technology. Azure SQL Database, Azure Data Factory, Synapse Analytics, to name a few. Berry loves her job and the organisation she works for, but something is missing.

What is the problem?

Nothing grows in a comfort zone and perhaps Berry is comfortable. Berry has at least five years of great SQL Server experience in her current role and a few years of experience in other organisations that she picked up before starting her current position, she has done very well in her existing role for her existing  organisation. Now, Berry is starting to think about her future career, 

• She wants  to  test herself
• The big projects delivering change at her current place of employment are delivered.
• Her role is now predominantly a BAU, keep the lights on role, and it is not exciting her.
• She enjoys the project work. She enjoys coming up with solutions that help drive value for organisations, and she like that to continue.

She might need to change roles and changes jobs or change completely to get what she wants.

What does she want?

This is the million-dollar question. New Year, New Business?

Berry has a job where her salary (let’s call that salary ‘x’) is comparable to other people with the same skills and experience in the industry and area where she lives. 

She knows she might be able to make x+£5000 if by changing employers, but she’s not sure a change of organisation and a slight salary increase will be enough. She loves the organisation that she works for. It would be difficult to find an organisation of the same stature in another job.

Berry has always dreamed of running her own business, she studied business in university before turning her attention to computer science, and she would love to combine the two.

So to answer the “What does she want” question. She would like to run her own business and have control of the projects that she works on

Is contracting and consulting the answer?

New Year New Business? Is IT Contracting or Consulting the answer?

Well, in a proper data professional fashion, it depends. However, given the scenario, I would say it is an option that Berry should consider in this situation.

I followed a similar route when I started my business, which is now gethynellis.com, back in 2007. 

If it was the correct answer for me, it’s probably the right answer for Berry here, and it might be the correct answer for you.

Undoubtedly you’ll have doubts and worries about making such a big decision, you may doubt yourself. My advice would be to avoid being the victim of negative self-talk. Instead, talk to someone who can offer you the help and support you need to make the change. I like the old Henry Ford quote, “If you think you can or your think you think you can’t either way, you are probably right.”

You’re not on your own

We have started a “Build a Business” user group/networking group for people who specifically work in technology, work with data, and are business owners. We had a meeting before Christmas. I’ll call it a pilot event. We are still working out the details and format, but there will be another event early in 2022. I don’t have any details yet but let me know if you want an invite when it gets diarised, and you’ll be more than welcome to join us. Berry has signed up. Contact me if this interests you

Also, if you are thinking about making a change, unleashing your entrepreneurial spirit and building a business and would like to chat it through with someone first, please get in touch with me. I will be more than happy to chat with you about how it went for me and answer any questions that you may have that I can.

I’m planning on creating more content in this space as we go through the year so subscribe to our newsletter or RSS feed to get the updates as we publish them. 

Useful Links

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