At the end of 2023, after almost 30 years in corporate IT, I resigned from my full-time job. I found technology consulting work online, but missed the face-to-face, in-person interactions that I had in the corporate world. And I wanted to do something more meaningful with the second half of my life.
When I joined the Concord Chamber of Commerce and started talking with small business owners, the most common theme I came across is that running a small business by yourself, or with a small team, is especially difficult because there never seems to be enough time to get everything done.
After hearing their stories, and having had so many years of corporate experience, I knew that many of these professionals were struggling because of inefficiencies that could easily be helped by process or technology changes that were easily accessible to them. But they didn't even know that such things existed.
So because of my corporate background, and my ability to clearly articulate technical concepts to non-technical people, I realized that I have a chance to help other small business owners in a meaningful way with a unique technology efficiency service.
This type of business is particularly rewarding too, because as a tech person, people are always so grateful when I can help them and teach them something new in the process. Without making them feel stupid for not knowing something that they don't really need to know.
They'll apologize for being tech-illiterate, as though they're supposed to know these things for some reason. But I tell them they don't need to be. That's why my services are available. Just like I'm not an expert in their line of business either. I don't need to be, and that's ok.