Just a few weeks ago, I passed the 4 year anniversary of working for myself. Prior to that, I’d spent nearly 15 years working for someone else, always at small startup software or Internet companies, but always for someone else. I don’t regret a day of any of those experiences. I’ve worked with hundreds of people on dozens of projects in a handful of companies. Every one of them changed me in some way that has made me what I am today. I’m grateful for that.
For years I had wanted to go on my own and do something entrepreneurial, but never found the right time to make the move. Maybe I didn’t do that because I was having fun doing what I was doing. In 2004, things stopped being fun. It was time to move.
That October, I walked out the door of the company I worked for and was on my own.
Fast forward to today. The road I started down four years ago has brought me to where we are today. I co-own a small business with 5 employees including my partner and myself. It has been a blast getting here.
Now working for yourself isn’t for everyone, I’d encourage each of the people working for us to take whatever chances they’re comfortable with (or maybe even uncomfortable), but in the meantime I’m glad to have them along for the ride, as long as it’s fun.
Why am I writing this? Things are starting to become a little less fun. Just a little. It’s not a fatal condition. I’m nipping it in the bud right now. It’s time to focus again on what’s fun and fixing or eliminating what’s not.
And so I ask you to take a look in the mirror and ask yourself the same question.
Are you having fun?
