Hi all.  I am at a strange point in my ballooning (obsession, career?) bit.  Lately I have been getting a lot of calls for parties, events, a fair and a library show.  I have been doing this very part time up to now and have been charging pretty low(there isn't a lot of competition here for me to undercut.)  Well, we raised our prices and guess what...even more events.  I feel so blessed.

Here is the problem.  I work another part time job.  I started doing parties when this job was failing to get me 20 hours a week average!  I was floundering, on assistance and pretty unhappy with the path I was on.  I am in a union shop and so....my work ethic doesn't matter-all promotions and hours are decided by seniority!  So I was getting a lot of praise, even some pins for my name badge but I was making nothing at my job-and the hours were such to exclude a second job.  Yikes.

So, I'd been doing the parties for friends and family at a low rate and had been getting a lot of requests.  Even the store I worked in wanted me to do it for them(for an old lower rate that is-but ok, I've gotten many gigs from the exposure.)

Well, the weekend parties are starting to anger my current job.  They are telling me I cannot work some parties over the next few weeks.  This despite the fact that the last two weeks I have averaged 16 hours!  That is right, 16!  So, I have one party on the 9th for which I will make more in two hours of work than my entire work week!  I see a blessing being passed to me and an opportunity.  I also see many risks.  I have been busy mostly, but I have my down weeks(like this one-nothing until Wednesday of next week and then 3 events in a week.)I realize this business doesn't offer a lot of guarantees.  I know that my current job(and there aren't a lot of great ones in this area) doesn't offer a path to much more than a lot of heartache.  I like the people, I am good at the job but it will never support me.  

Sorry to ramble, but I wonder has anyone here faced anything similar?  Any advice would be most graciously accepted.  Thank you!

Hi Professor

That's a really honest and heartfelt post - thanks for sharing, and I think you have definitely posted to the correct forum as everyone here is helpful and considerate.

It's a tricky one though, and the advice I was always given was 'you'll know when the time is right to move into balloons full time when you can't do this and your 'real' job at the same time'.  And it's true.

But, I think you need to be realistic about how much money can be made (yes, it's in your hands and therefore you can make as much as you want to) but in my experience, it's not a level Mon-Fri 0900-1730 job.  The majority of your work, and therefore your income, will come from weekend work, school holidays, evenings etc.  You say though that you can see the benefits and the risks, so you've obviously considered the pro's and con's of making the change.  Why do you think it will never support you?

It sounds like (and forgive me if I'm misunderstanding) that your 'real' job is not really rewarding to you and reading between the lines you want to change.  I think you need to consider what your current job provides, and could that be matched by changing careers.  Not just salary, but happiness, fulfilment, flexibility etc.  If it can, then absolutely go for it.

I'm not sure this is any help - and I can't say what the right thing is to do, but I do fully get your dilemma.  You WILL find the right answer, though.

--Neil

Thank you for your advice.  When I said it wouldn't fully support me, I actually meant the current job.  I don't know that I am ready to leave it(and that isn't really what I'm considering) but rather whether I should continue in the ballooning at the possible risk of eventually losing my pt work.  Truth is, I am sure that I will be leaving the job soon.  I will have to find something different than there-whether I do the balloons or not.  I wouldn't want to put what I make on here, but you should know it is not much.  

I think that I am at an advantage in that I am used to making very little.  If I was making 25, 30 or more thousand dollars a year then I couldn't see making any kind of leap at this point.  Right now, I am struggling just to pay a few bills.  Ballooning may only provide some weekend and night work but right now I am lucky to work two days a week!  And at my hourly rate it adds up to the equivalency of one party's profit.

Thank you again for responding.  Just hearing from another twister is a big help.  I hope we can talk again sometime!

Good morning Professor Play,
Living in a small town as I do the opportunities for increasing my income is limited but balloon twisting has been supporting me for nearly 7 years now - barely.  I have to live frugally but I count myself lucky to be able to keep doing what I do.  

From what I can see your part time job is just barely enough to keep body and soul together but at least it's a dependable income.  I would find it very hard to give that up.  I also couldn't give up the chance to double my income by twisting balloons even at the risk of losing the "dependable income".  To me it sounds like you need to find a new day job first thing.  I know - easier said than done.  Even if it's only another part time job perhaps the new employer will be more understanding when it comes to your weekends and your need for more income.

I wish you the best of luck!
Bonnie, The Balloon Lady

Thank you Bonnie.  Sage advice.  Yes, I will be looking for a new day job.  In fact, if I didn't have gigs lined up all week I would already be out doing that.  It is tough to find a place that doesn't want weekends around here, but I will find something.  The intent isn't to give up my steady income, but nonetheless I haven't to have both and I know where my pt gig is heading-down the toilet!  Well, thanks and look forward to talking more.

Hello there professor.  After reading through your post a short time ago it took me back to a situation I had which I feel is similar. Last year I had along think about where I wanted to begin 5 years time. I was at the time employed as a forklift driver. But found I wasn't enjoying it as much as I used to.
The weekends were filled with parties these seemed to be going well. But more importantly I felt I was enjoying it these much more than the normal 9-5. The long and short of it was that after much debate between myself and my partner we would make a go of it. Whilst I appreciate this maynot be the answer for everyone. I can honestly say I've never looked back.
I wish you all luck and success. In whatever you decide.

Hi Professor Play.

One thing that puzzles me is what the reasons are for your current job asking you to stop the twisting work?

Have they given any reasons?  And what are they?

This would allow a much better insight into what is happening from their point of view

Charles, the issue comes down to one day, believe it or not, Saturdays.  Being a union shop all requests for days off are done by seniority.  As I'm sure you've run into most birthday parties fall on Saturdays.  It isn't so much that they don't want me to do the ballooning(in fact, they do let me balloon in the store) as it is they want me there on Saturdays.  In several months of doing this now I have literally had only one party that didn't fall on Saturday.  I kind of understand where the issue lies for them, especially since this is a service job and Saturdays are busy.  Still, I have had to explain to them that without this income, or another job(which would most likely require weekend hours-as do most jobs around here) I would have to move back to the city.  For me, if I were getting anything close to a supporting income I'd have to really back away from the ballooning.  Though a great deal of fun and seemingly offering a higher roof it is less steady.  But what I am esentially being told is "Stay fully available.  We will call you if we need you."  My work has little to do with this.  All hours are given out by seniority.  If someone above me wants my hours they have the right, under union contract, to just scratch me off the schedule and put the hours under their name.  It has happened.

The messed up thing is I was being pestered by this job to come back and work for them for almost five years while I was in the city.  They were even asking my sister on a regular basis to try and get me to come back.  Now, if three people are on vacation and somebody is sick I may get 40 hours.  Otherwise, I'm out cold.   I really think that where this is heading is me taking off the one Saturday, next week, that is in question and then asking to change my availability to have Saturdays off.  I must show some of the same confidence in myself my clients have.  At worst, I will be looking for a new job.  I do believe in life you sometimes have to take a leap, and I know from past experiences little comes up that you cannot survive.  Thanks for listening.

Charles, I'll be interested to hear what you think, now that I've given more details!

I have never had a "steady" job. From the beginning I have worked with balloons so I may not be the most qualified to answer this. However I am young, highly opinionated, and invincible so I will throw my hat in the ring anyway.

I look at this from the eye of an employer. To them you are a piece on a chess board. If a higher up piece needs to sacrifice you to make it just a little farther along the playing field they will but once the chips are down and they find themselves in a bind they long to have you return to the board. I do not consider this fair.

You seem like a fine person who certainly deserves better. Try talking to your boss. Explain to them that you are not some disposable piece of labor. You offer them balloons at a discounted rate. Why? To have them juggle your hours and leave you sitting by the phone when you are missing real opportunities. You worry about losing stability but by the sounds of it you have very little at this job of yours. Tell them that although you appreciate the work they have given you, recently you have been having second thoughts. Ask them for some stability and don't collapse under the pressure they may put on you for it. If they can not meet your needs then you need to find someone or something that can. As you said before they call and ask for you! They go out of their way to try to get you back!

If they can't bend for you then why should you be their pretzel. You can make a good living with balloons if you keep good records and constantly remain fresh. As any former business owner will tell you they went under because of bad books or a stagnate image.

My prediction of how this will turn out? You explain your side and how you consider entertaining children a little more important then waiting for them to call. If they want you then they have to guarantee you at least Saturdays off and some sort of steady hours. If they decline then simply walk away. A job that does not consider your time worth much is not much worth your time.


Best of luck,
Dylan

Not an ideal situation but perhaps a stop gap to help out both parties would be to offer working every other Saturday or the 1st and 3rd Saturday in every month, then at least you would have a few free to book a party.

You've got loads of work and enquiries coming in, you earn more at one twisting job than you do for a full week of your current job, and to be honest your current job is a bit of a dead end job where your efforts are not really appreciated.

The danger is not the twisting interfereing with your current job, but the other way round, you could take a twisting job and then be forced by your current job to let the customer down which is not good for your reputation. Your boss's don't actually give a toss about you or your needs, your just an employee, and from the description of your job one thats easily replaced so they don't need to pander to your needs, they'll not be bothered if you leave because theres plenty of people around who'll take on the job..

If you give up your current job and try and attempt make a living out of being a full time twister you then suddenly become available for loads more gigs and events, especially through the holidays. You'll have really busy periods and slow periods but over the year your earning should easily outstrip what you earn annually at your current job, and you'll be doing something you enjoy.

You would however have to rethink your pricing, if your full time you need to charge a fee that lets you earn a living wage, which is generally a lot more than the part timiers who often go out really cheap. What gets you the work over them is the quality of your work, a professional attitude and a reputation for reliability.

It's just a matter of having the confidence to take that 1st step, once taken you'll never look back.

Thank you everybody.  I should note that I actually do work in the store most Saturdays.  The funny thing is that it has only been the last couple months I've been needing a Saturday off here and there.  So, certainly, I do feel the need to compromise.  In fact, it was only after being told it would be hard to get me any more Saturdays off at all that I had to start thinking about taking them all.  The trouble really began over this coming Saturday when I was scheduled despite having given plenty of advanced notice over the party.  

So now I am in exactly the situation of either calling off of work or letting a client down. I don't see either as being a good choice.  Schedules out 2 days before they start so my only option on the parties is to just let them know when I have them and hope for the best!  I do believe I need to speak to someone above my current supervisor who may be more understanding, and in the meantime at the first available moment I will be looking for something else.  And yes, I do have a lot more events coming in.

I guess a next big step for me is learning to sell myself better!  I think the area has a lot of work available, given the absence of many other twisters and judging by the reaction we have received.  I just think I need to do a much better of getting the word of mouth out.  

Thanks again everybody.

I agree with your comment about speaking to someone higher up than your current supervisor.  For me, the twisting work aspect of this seems to be a red herring.

The key issue apparently is that the job requirements of 2 days notice as to whether you may need to work a Saturday simply seem to be an unrealistic requirement.

Imagine if I couldn't tell my son that I can be at his sports game on Saturday morning until 2 days beforehand?  Or confirm I can take my wife out for our anniversary on that day?  

Seems to me they are considering the balloon twisting as different to a normal persons commitments they may wish to make on a Saturday, but from their point of view, I believe they should treat them the same.  

From that angle, disregarding the twisting aspect completely, I would consider a respectful but firm demand for the notice period to be 3-4 weeks absolute minimum for the seniority rules to kick in.  And changes made closer than that to the actual day would need to be agreed between the person supposed to be working and the person who may take their shift.

Overall, I would look for a different part-time job with a better scheduling system or seek to politely but firmly change the notice period of the current one.

Certainly if I had to choose between the uncertaintly of the twisting income vs the current job, I'd take the higher paid twisting any day!