Pressing On

It’s been an exciting last couple weeks as Kim and I have worked to setup and establish our new business. We came up with a name too. We’ll be calling our company Amalgam, which means “the blending together of two or more different things or ideas”. We like the idea of blending together our clients’ business with our creative and technical expertise to create something new and unique. We thought the name Amalgam captured that.

Once we picked out a name we had to register our company with the state of Wisconsin to form a LLC. We also got a PO Box, phone and phone number, and domain name. All basic things for a business I suppose. It’s been a fun process so far. This is new territory for me and I’m learning many new things.

One of the things I’m learning is that organization is going to be a HUGE part of running our new business. I can handle all the technical stuff- the nuts and bolts of putting nice looking websites together. No, the hard part right now is managing all the diverse projects, company’s and people we’re all of a sudden in touch with. Some people want brand new websites. Others just want updates. Others just want advice about search engines and web hosting. Everybody has slightly different needs. And because we were handed so many clients at once it’s a bit overwhelming. I’m not too terribly stressed out by all this. Really, this is a good problem to have. But I foresee that planning and organization will be paramount to the success of any web project. If I set a timeline I want to meet it. If the client has needs and expectations I want to surpass them. But knowing just how long a project will actually take is unknown to me. In the past I’ve worked with one client at a time with no real deadlines. Now I will need to work with several and set target launch dates. So I need to hone my estimation skills. If Client A comes to me and they need a WordPress site, with a design that matches their logo and color scheme, how long will that really take? What if they need e-commerce or a brand new design? I can sit down with pen and paper and sketch it out, and that’s what I’m doing. But it won’t be till I have several more projects completed that I can accurately predict scope and time.

I’m grateful for this opportunity. I look forward to working from home. I look forward to working with Kim. I look forward to more time with my family. Having a home based business has certain advantages. Things are still quite nebulous right now, but we’re taking it one week at a time. Things will become clearer the more we press on. Onward ho!