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From Business Owner to Software Developer - Part Two

Dimitar Stoev's photo
Dimitar Stoev
·Feb 27, 2022·

6 min read

First part here

I have to admit something horrible.

When we broke up with my girlfriend, I was sad, but also I felt relieved. I hate to be alone and hate to feel empty, but should we risk our own comfort and good mental health for the sole idea of not being alone? Don’t we also live for ourselves and don’t we have the right to be happy? I really do think so. It is hard to be alone, but in the long term, it is hard to be in a toxic relationship also.

So I was free.. I needed time to get it over, but one of the cons of being a boss is that people and clients count on you. So I had to get over it faster and quietly. I didn’t want people to pity me. And I got back to work.

Working in both cities, hiring other companies, because of personal shortage, spending money on marketing and advertising.. My money started to shrink. And ofcourse I decided to take the risk again. I decided to hire a manager. I was ready to promise money, which I didn’t really have to be honest, freedom and a percentage of the company. In exchange for better handling of the staff, better system and only satisfied clients.

For this kind of position, I received a million CV’s and cover letters. Some of them were really great, some not, some wanted paycheck that I couldn’t afford. I have to admit that it was very strange, browsing through CV’s of successful people.. wanting to work for me..

It is strange how life turns around, isn’t it?

Anyhow, anyways, I didn’t want to hurry and hire someone just to fill the position. I wanted the right person to get to me. After all, the entire company is at stake. I was barely surviving. After a long and careful search, I chose no one.

There was a woman, a hotel manager in one of the summer tourist destinations close to the city. I was talking with her, exchanging employees. I offered her a partnership. Fifty percent of the company. A duo! I needed a partner. Someone to take the burden with me, and her expertise were serious. I explained the poor situation of the company, the people shortage, the debt and all the problems, coming with the position.

I admit that she really took her time to think about it and I am happy to announce that she said “YES”. She agreed to be my partner. I was so happy. She bringed passion and excitement again.

She also bringed some of the employees that worked in the hotel with her, and we created something like a boutique cleaning company. Small team, higher prices, but enormous quality. And it actually worked. We did it.

But, something started to grow inside us. We wanted more. We believe that we can do more. I already learned to take risks, learned to learn and grow, she was eager to try. It.. just… waited.. something waited, but we didn’t really know what. We knew that this business was in it’s dawn. Even if it wasn’t the case, it was very limited.

As in most stories, this one also has an unexpected expected turn. The woman I am talking about, soon became my wife. Did you guess it? Really?

Now that we have a family of our own, we decided that it is time to put the cleaning company to rest. We gave ourselves a year to do it. The only solution that we saw was the beautiful world of technology. This is the beginning of the planting of a seed. One of the best seeds, that will grow in a totally different lifestyle. The only problem - I knew nothing about software. And not only that I knew nothing, I had to learn everything while I was working as a cleaner in the company.

Well, the cards are on the table, the decision is made, it is easy to start. I started. Simple as that. It was very interesting to touch some technology for the first time. I chose something that I had real interest in - game development. I coded my first line of C#, felt in love with language and Unity. I even learned a lot! Didn’t finish any games, but I learned a lot!

Everything was kind of getting into place and we decided to have our first child. My daughter came to this world and.. that changed everything. As nothing else mattered, but my family. So I have to make a little shift.

And I shifted to the one and only, the most loved and hated, the best and the worst… JavaScript.

I really have to tell you that it was hard. I had to wake up at 04:00 to study, go clean around 07:00, finish work around 18:00 - 19:00, and after spending some time with the kid and my wife, I had to repeat all of that. For around a year, I slept for about 5 or 6 hours every night. One of the most fulfilling months of my life. I learned a lot, forced myself into a very demanding routine and after a year of hard work, I managed to finally get into the software world. That was two years ago and it wouldn’t have happened without my wife’s support.

The company is now closed.

Today I am still with my wife, my daughter, and we also have a son. I am working for one of the best companies in my city as an Angular developer. I am expanding into Flutter. Freelancing, having a more peaceful life.

I am sorry that I can’t tell every little story in this ark, there are so many. So many ups and downs. A lot of rollercoasters, but that is what I wished for, right?

Of all this year I learned many things. I learned that you truly can do anything you want. I couldn’t believe myself that I would own a business and actually have clients. I didn’t believe that people will pay me money for my expertise. I didn’t believe that I can manage up to twenty people. I learned to meet and speak to people, learned to take risks, learned to learn all the time and most importantly - I learned not to give up. There were many days that I wanted to throw everything away and just quit. But to where? In order to achieve greatness, we have to operate on a higher level and do more, we have to push our own fears and boundaries. I don’t consider myself great, but I feel peace and happiness. I hope, you reader, to find what you like and enjoy and fight to get it! Just jump!