Twenty-One Years

I don't do this often, but today I wanted to break the mold a bit. Happy 21st birthday to my own creation, KRvW Associates, LLC (https://krvw.com). It's hard for me to believe I've been doing this crazy "work from home" mostly solo work for so long, but it's true. So yes, happy birthday.

Any wisdom to pass along to others who want to "go solo"? I'm glad you asked. :-)

Running a solo consulting company certainly isn't for everyone. You have to be everything from strategic planner to sales and delivery. If you take your eye off the ball of any of those, you'll know in a few months. To say it's a juggling act is an understatement, but if you're willing and able to work at finding that balance, it may work.

And, I should say, I keep using the word "solo," but the fact is there have been numerous people past and present who've helped make this solo act succeed. First and foremost is my wife. She has a full-time job and our healthcare insurance goes through that. But, even more importantly, she's been willing to put up with this craziness and she's been supportive the entire time. She's also done all of my accounting, despite already having a full-time accounting job.

I've also hired via 10-99 numerous people to help with individual tasks and contracts along the way. On a couple of occasions, I've been awarded contracts bigger than this one person can perform, and I've brought on board temporary employees to help cover those loads.

But, for the most part, it's just been little old me. I've improved my multi-tasking skills enormously. I've learned to better manage my time and not get stressed when deadlines approach. Sometimes that has meant working weekends and nights, but usually, it just meant deliberately allocating the time to get things done in their own time.

The other bit of wisdom I'll say here is to be flexible and willing to adapt to changes in customer demand. If you design and build a capability the market just isn't adopting, for whatever reason, you have to be willing to move on. If a market opportunity you weren't expecting pops up, you should be willing to give it a fighting chance to see where that path leads. I've often described it as a bit like being a feather in a hurricane. The market will push and pull you in every direction. To the extent you can, let it. Sometimes, it'll take you places you hadn't expected, but turn out to be fun and fascinating.

Lastly, to everyone who I've encountered on this journey, be it as a customer, a colleague, a vendor, or simply a friend, I want to thank you. Thank you for helping me keep this wild ride moving.

Here's to the next 21. If you've been along for the first, I hope you'll stick around for the next 21. I don't know exactly where the hurricane will take this feather, but I hope it will continue to bless me with great experiences and new stories to tell.