Past Failures | The Choice of Freelance Contracting for Someone Who Wanted to Own a Shop ①

Hello, this is acha.
Today is Monday, isn't it!
Why is the first day of the week always so physically exhausting? Haha.
Everyone, thank you for your hard work today!

I've decided that on my days off, I will play with my two-year-old daughter with all my might, so I have made it a rule never to post on Saturdays or Sundays.
So, I'm finally able to write! I'm facing my note with a relaxed feeling right now. Rest days are important.

Now, regarding the title, let me say this first: there is nothing wrong with the way of working as a freelance contractor. It just didn't suit me, that's all.

My story of failure is too long to write during my 30-minute commute, which is the time I set aside for working on my note, so it will continue until it's finished. I wonder how much I can write today~

Well then, let's go! (Who am I?)

Starting my career as a full-time employee

After graduating from a four-year university, I joined a company as a new graduate full-time employee.
I probably struggled more with job hunting than others, and the reason I struggled was that I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted to do.

Oh, I'll write about this in more detail another time.

And from December of my junior year to June of my senior year, I applied to a total of 100 companies (it's a miracle that I counted and it was exactly 100).

And out of those 100 companies, I received only one job offer.

At the time, it wasn't a compromise; I was convinced that 'I could work happily at this company!' and I was looking forward to joining.

The company I joined as a new graduate was an advertising agency that focused mainly on job advertisements. I had always liked looking at train hanging ads and flyers, so I was job hunting with the goal of getting into an advertising agency.

It's the advertising agency I've always wanted...!

With those feelings swelling up, I joined the company and underwent one month of new graduate training.

The training went smoothly, I became moderately friendly with my peers, and while I was nervous, I was also excited about the fun days that awaited me at work.

And then, when the training ended and the department assignments were announced.
Something I never expected happened to me.

Selected for the company's new business department, I burst into tears

While everyone else was assigned to the job advertisement sales department or the women's free magazine department, my destination was 'Sales in the New Business Department'.
They told me there were two senior employees, and the three of us would build the department together.

As someone with too strong a sense of responsibility,

Wait, I don't feel like I can contribute anything to the company!
No way! I can't do anything, I can't do it~~~!!!

Those feelings overflowed so much that I burst into tears right there. Lol
Thinking back on it now, I'm grateful that the company had expectations for me, but at the time, even that was just pressure, and on my first day, I felt like I was going to be crushed.

After crying for a while, I was taken by a senior colleague to the island of desks where the new business department was located.
At that point, I switched gears, and a fighting spirit was ignited in me to somehow get it done.

A challenge into the unknown: a region-specific free magazine

The work assigned to the new business department was to publish a region-specific free magazine.
If I write which region it was, it would reveal which company it was, so I will keep it vague, but it was a very limited area, and furthermore, it was a region where free papers had been started and failed many times before.

Although I was excited at first,
once I learned that, I thought to myself, 'Are you serious?'

In the department that started this way,
I worked in sales.
I mainly handled
advertising and job advertisements for small and medium-sized enterprises and shops to be featured in the free magazine,
and although I don't think many places do this anymore,
at the time, I would cold-call almost every shop and company,
making 30 cold calls every single day.

By visiting every day like that,
and showing my face every day,
I gradually had more opportunities to talk
with company representatives and business owners.

Among them,
there were many women working hard as business owners,
and for me, talking with them
was like nourishment that deeply resonated within me
for the dream I would later hold of wanting to own my own shop.

Parting ways with the company I worked at for 4 years, after 2 years in sales and various other experiences

In my first year, my hard work was recognized,
I won the company's Newcomer Excellence Award,
and after working hard in sales for 2 years,
I worked as an office clerk for 1 year,
and then worked in the editorial department for 1 year before I left the company I had worked at for 4 years.

But before and after I resigned,
I did not look for a new job.

My mind was made up.

I want to create my own shop.

I held onto that feeling purely, and the path I chose
was

working as an independent contractor.

It was.

To be continued.

Continued▼