Yesterday afternoon I made it official. I’m now a business.
After all this time in Amsterdam being a reluctant administrative hero, and setting some grand designs on freelancing, I felt ready.
So I made a pilgrimage to the Kamer van Koophandel (Chamber of Commerce) to get my name in on the Dutch books. And was successful. In fact, it was rather painless.
I am now Ryan Millar, business guy.
So now I just need to start to establish my business, get some more clients and projects, and get some momentum.
I’ve currently got some regular clients, and I’m keeping my hustle up, lots of unpaid projects and things bubbling away. And hopefully some more clients will hop aboard, and then I guess, I’ll get into a rhythm and some of the uncertainty and insolvency will fade away, to be replaced by greater success and stability.
Of course, from what I understand, freelancing is not known for its stability and certainty. But it is known for its freedom, and the professionalisation of one’s passion. So I’m focusing on those aspects for now.
My trade is teaching and performing improv comedy, training business people to relax and be creative, producing shows and videos, and acting and writing stuff. I even have a (very simple) website: www.ryan-millar.com
All those activities is a pretty broad remit, the guy at the KvK told me. And I said yeah, that may be true, but I’m not currently in a position to turn down any money-making opportunities. He nodded sagely. Then we laughed sadly.
How many of those activities actually make me money? Well, at the moment, lots of the improv – which delights me to no end – but the other stuff is in development for the next little while. So in the meantime I’m looking for any paying gigs that even tangentially relate to what I want to do. I’ve recently found myself transcribing medical interviews.
“Hey, I’m writing,” I told myself, as I typed, “so it counts.” And it did. It’s not my calling, but – like I said – starting a business isn’t easy. But for the most part I’m enjoying it, because I’m doing what I’m passionate about (and some transcription). And there’s already invoices going out, plus I’m now an official business, so I’m cautiously optimistic that this will work.
I’d love to be wildly optimistic, but I’m a businessman now, so I need to be pragmatic. Therefore, cautious optimism is my way forward.