So much has happened in such a short time! As one might hope, the milestones are flying by and it feels great. But I didn’t expect all the many small, but significant steps that actually get you to each milestone. 

I think there’s a good metaphor from home that I can apply here:
As I’m developing my little business, I am also watching my first child develop. Amelia. She’s 7 months now and in the same way, her milestones are flying by. Amelia recently mastered crawling—a major milestone to be sure! But the long list of smaller skills she had to master to get there was a surprise to me. Who knew that going from sitting-up to all-fours, and then from all-fours back to sitting-up again, were both sub-skills of crawling that would take a week of diligent practice?!? 

Watching Amelia work patiently on the little stuff is actually very reassuring for me.  It validates that this process isn’t only about the big, fun concept—all the prep-work and the attention to detail are necessary and valuable efforts too. I know that many of my recent accomplishments might seem small, but when I step back I see that they are each significant steps toward the bigger milestones. Building an infrastructure, developing a plan for hardware and software, creating business cards and marketing materials, networking, writing documentation templates … and yes, even working on website projects! 

I am confident that I am well poised for the growth that is to come.  Bring it on!!

I’m excited to be writing my first post—though I’m a bit apprehensive.  I don’t consider myself a “blogger” nor am I starting with any obvious “audience”.  I guess I’ll just write about what I’m interested in—or rather, consumed by:

Starting a business…
Yep. Starting a business. I think that’s what I happen to be doing.  I say “I think” because it has all happened very organically. I didn’t wake up one morning and decide to start a business. Instead, I have slowly come to understand that I have a passion and a skill-set that should be put to good use.

Here’s how it’s happened: For better or for worse, I am a “words person”. (Carring deeply about where a comma goes can be both a blessing and a curse.)  Over the course of my career, I’d get hired for one thing, but the job would quickly evolve to include lots of documentation/editing/proofing. As the audiences of the materials got larger, and the world got more technological, it was only natural to pair delivery with the Web. So… over the years, unsuspectingly, I’ve learned about website design/management/hosting. I’ve managed small discussion forum sites, I’ve created sites for charities and churches, and I’ve supported major content management systems. 

I absolutely love the perfect balance Web design offers—it’s creative, and colorful, and words really matter (I feel my right brain cheering right now!) But it’s also black and white logic, code, math, testing (yep, now my left brain is cheering!) Only a crazy person would absolutely love that, right?  Well, actually, maybe a Web Designer would…

But, not so fast. I can’t hardly claim to be a Web designer without a website of my own. Guess I need a site, and a site needs a name, and … and suddenly—I think I’m starting a business!

Here I am, developing my own business name and logo, defining a mission and a set of services and a price guide, putting it all up on my very own website, and so much more. This has been such a (fun) challenge. Each of these things will either contribute to or detract from the brand I’m trying to establish, so every single decision is important. The image I’m going for: “creative” “clean” “simple” “professional yet personal”—and of course I want my site to clearly represent that image.

I’m not alone; most organizations do want their website to embody the look, feel and voice of the organization. I think we all agree that some accomplish it better than others. But like I said, it is a challenging thing. I’m enjoying the process of making this happen for my own emerging business. Starting with a concept, developing stuff, getting feedback, making adjustments. The experience is giving me a fresh awareness.

My first task: meet my own high expectations.
Next: surpass the expectations of my clients!