I recently made a bold decision that will either turn out to be the greatest thing I have ever done or my stupidest failure. The good news is that it’s completely up to me to determine which outcome it is.

For quite some time now (years, really) I’ve wanted to go independent and work more or less for myself. Several factors over the years have convinced me that a full time job hold many of the same risks as working for one’s self - more, if you consider that working for yourself means you have control over your destiny. When my mother passed away in November, I was hit with two big notions: 1) Though I’m not independently wealthy, I now have enough money stashed away to provide a healthy cushion during the early, tricky days of my new venture and 2) I’d rather try and fail than die and have not tried. Mom died at 57, just as she was finally settling into her own independence. She accomplished a hell of a lot during her time here, but it still pains me that she didn’t get to finish it. As her son, I’d like to do it vicariously for her.

So, as of a week or two ago, I’ve switched to a part time schedule at Robert Anthony, where I spent more than two very productive and satisfying years learning a lot about marketing, the needs of small businesses and the requirements for running my own small business. Within the next couple of weeks, I’ll be working full time for my own venture. Right now I’m working under my own name, but I’ll soon have my fictitious business name and begin operating under it.

I provide technology consulting, web development and  system maintenance services for small to mid sized businesses as well as on-site technical support around the Bay Area. Right now it’s a one man show, but the goal is to stop being a freelancer and start building a complete, self-sustaining business that can operate with or without me.

I’m extremely fortunate to already have a pretty good stable of clients who have stuck with me through my full-time job flakiness and keep referring me to others. But I’m still available for any other projects that may be out there. If you know of someone in need of a web presence, online application or some help in figuring their online strategy out, give them my number: 510-390-4452.

So, that’s the big news in my life at the moment. How does this affect this site? Well, as you know, this site reflects my ideas and opinions more than anything else. It’s my soap box and test bed. As the focus in my offline life transitions to a more business-oriented mode, I suspect a similar transition will be made here. I already pepper my posts with business and technology related observations, but you may find I do it more often. More importantly, I will begin discussing some of the influences that drove me to finally make this leap, which I hope you will find interesting and informational.

Of course, I’ll still post about random weirdness that happens as well as share my opinion on a variety of topics. I’m going to try not to censor myself any more than I already do, but knowing that potential clients may visit this site (this will remain my personal site, but folks have a habit of Googling me) may keep me a bit more on my toes.

If you’ve made a similar leap and have any advice to impart, I would love to hear it. I may even relay some of it back on this blog to help others. I thank you in advance for your support and patience. And, if the biz blogging starts driving you nuts, let me know. I’ll post some random weird thing just for you.