We landed our first client and started putting together the course. Ah, perfect, things moving in the right direction and just enough time to put it all together.

That is, of course, until I got that phone call on Monday.

Him: So Dave, I know we were looking to do a dry-run of our course in the next couple of weeks. How would you like to do it… sooner?

Me: Sure. What did you have in mind?

Him: How would you like to actually step through it… next week… with another client… in Costa Rica

Me: … !

I leave Sunday.

Since that call my mind has been in sprint mode trying to finish up the course while also taking care of all currently in-progress work. Rescheduling things, setting expectations, juggling client development, etc.

But where things really get interesting? I have to be back in DC to give a talk to a room of 60+ people on Thursday and I haven’t started work on it. I guess that’s what long flights are for.

It’s going to be a fun week. I’ll see you on the other side!

They’ve gone plaid! — Barf, Spaceballs

Seemed promising enough.

But then the first of the year came…

Granted, we had a pre-existing client project that launched on the 1st that was and continues to be successful. While a great start, it’s not enough.

So the 1st of the year came — no word. Fair enough. I chocked it up to holiday hangover. Then the 2nd passed. Perhaps it was a really bad hangover. Then the 3rd and 4th zoomed by. I took a deep breath… and started to panic. My irrational brain took over.

I started to think “What if this keeps happening for the next few months? And even if it doesn’t, it will probably take a lot longer than I have runway. I’m screwed!”.

Luckily, my girlfriend was there to shake me out of my frantic state and offer a fresh perspective in 3 parts:

1. “Why turn your back on what you used to do for your career?”
2. “You could take the low hanging fruit that is in front of you and do something with *those* skills in a part-time capacity.”
3. “That would afford you the ability to beat your runway and focus on small businesses with the remaining time.”

I reached out to old contacts, went to a few meetups, and committed to do a couple of talks. Next thing you know, opportunity started raining down. Also, shortly after that, small businesses from the previous month started calling.

As both verticals of my business evolve I am starting to see that one is requiring more of my time than the other.

I think that’s OK for now since they both help me achieve Arrgyle’s mission — to help people realize and achieve their potential through technology. But I am trying my best to be mindful of which work makes me more excited. And for that, the jury is still out.

Over the past few weeks I’ve experimented with various locations for my vagabonding office needs. Each offering their own benefits and drawbacks:

• Out of my house
• Ups: Great commute, quiet, and easy to take care of house chores between tasks
• Downs: Stuck at home all day, no clear separation from a work and non-work, no human interaction except for remote communication
• Local coffee shops
• Ups: Surrounded by electric hustle and bussle, easy access to good coffee (depending on which shop), and easy to do in-person meetings
• Downs: Difficult to place voice calls due to background noise, if internet bottoms out my productivity is sunk, costs more due to coffee and food purchases (unless you pack your lunch)
• A co-working office space
• Ups: Access to a desk, a place to leave your stuff if you need to run out, centrally located, conference room to take meetings, office supplies,  kitchenette area so you can easily store food/drink, and surrounded by people their for the same reasons as you
• Downs: Costs money, stuck in an office
• A co-working meetup at a cafe
• Ups: A great sense of community, able to get and give feedback from like-minded folks on projects and problems, great source of unintentional networking, good service since we’re a big group
• Downs: Noise, cost of food/drink, awkward seating with people clustered together, and you can easily spend time talking rather than working

At the end of the day I get work done at each location while enjoying the variety each place offers — even with the various drawbacks.

So for now the jury is out on which one works best. But I will continue to experiment and keep an open mind since things are constantly changing with my business.

Where do you get work done?

Since going out on my own I have been putting off figuring out benefits due to excess cost and, let’s face it, it’s pretty boring stuff.

I finally sat down to take a look and get things sorted. Come to find out, it’s not as bad as I thought and there are some really great options out there.

I started by reading an article on some freelancing options. That was a good start, but I wanted some tips from people I know. So I polled my freelancing Twitter super-friends to see what they do. I got a mix of responses, ranging from:

• Live outside of the US
• Marry well
• Tell me when you figure it out
• Use an insurance broker
• Use eHealthInsurance

All great recommendations, but the last one was the most helpful. With it, I was able to find my option for Medical insurance — a high deductible policy with a health savings account (HSA).

I think what I ended up with is pretty cool, here’s why –

If I opted to continue my medical insurance through COBRA, it would have cost me just over $5,000 for the year. That’s even if I had no claims. And that number doesn’t include Dental or Vision.

With my new insurance policy?  Worst-case, I end up paying less (even with COBRA Dental and Vision included). Best case, I get a tax-sheltered interest bearing savings account to pay for my medical expenses that rolls over from year-to-year. And for each year I don’t reach my deductible in expenses is the lower it becomes (read: they reward being healthy).

Who knew such cool options existed? And who knew I would get excited about medical benefits? I for one am shocked.

What comes out is an unstructured representation of everything happening in my business — complete with a matching set of details. My mind calms, the clutching fear subsides, and I review what I’ve created. It’s extensive, detailed, daunting, and exciting — all at once.

This has happens every few days and has been going on for a couple of weeks. It’s not because I’m going crazy (I hope), but because I keep getting hit by flash floods of opportunity.

Here are the broad strokes from my manic moments — in aggregate:

• 2x – Prospective clients
• 2x – Existing clients
• 2x – Client partnerships
• 3x – Teaching engagements
• 3x – Meetups attending
• 2x – Meetups planning
• 4x – Books I’m Reading
• 3x – Additional offers to do consulting outside of my small business focus

I can’t obviously do all of this, but at least I have options. And it’s exciting to see things taking off.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

[Update: Make that 3x Existing clients. Just signed a prospect an hour after posting this!]