I have been writing a series of posts here under the heading of Doing Business.  I have received great feedback on this series and have enjoyed writing it very much.  I expect that I will continue to post on this subject since I have been self-employed since 1992 and consider it one of the greatest things anyone can do.  Our economy in the U.S. is specifically designed to promote business ownership.  Our tax code is specifically designed to encourage business ownership by providing far more deductions for business owners than the typical citizen can take.  When you have to earn your income by providing a service and convincing people to pay for that service, and when you use that income to meet the expenses of operating your business including figuring out ways to generate more business and especially if you have to meet a payroll where other people's livelihoods are dependent upon your company's success, it changes the way you think about things.  And I believe all of that is a good thing and is good for our country.  I worry that we don't have enough people who appreciate the right to own and operate their own business in this country and that our society is getting too dependent on governmental services, and we forget that government does not produce money, it merely takes it from those who produce it and redistributes it.

That is as political as I want to get on this site, but I felt you should know where I'm coming from in case you had any doubt.  If you want to read my political rantings, go to my personal blog.  The point of this post is to give full disclosure to my readers.  I believe that any time there is a potential conflict of interest or perception of undue bias in my writing, I want to disclose it so you can decide how big of a grain of salt to take with my ramblings.  And here is the big news:  I have accepted a job offer from a local company.  I am not giving up on being a business owner, in fact, I recently started my third business, Emerald City Domains which is a domain registration and web-hosting company.  But lest you think I'm hiding the fact that I have a job or I'm being an hypocrite, I felt it was only proper to disclose this change.

The fact is that while I was looking for my next contract project, a local company, SuperFloors, Inc. made me an offer worth considering.  They were clear they only wanted to talk to me if I was open to a permanent position, not a contract, and I told them that I was.  We had a great interview, I felt really good about the team I would be joining, and the potential that this opportunity provided at this point in my life.  Because of the office location, I am also moving to a new house, which is something I have considered for about a year but had not decided on how far south of here to go.  It will be an adventurous couple of months with all these changes, but I'm excited about it.  I am also grateful that they have given me pre-approval to take the time to attend the PASS Community Summit in Texas this September.  I start my new job on Monday, April 4.  Don't expect to read much about it here, though, because my policy is to not blog about specific clients or, now, my employer.  I'll share any important general lessons, but not career details.

So there you have it:  Full disclosure about my new employment situation.  It does not alter my belief that owning your own business is one of the greatest things you can do, and I encourage everyone to do it, even if it's just a part-time add-on to your day job.  At the least it will give you a greater appreciation for what your employer has to deal with.  And perhaps you will succeed beyond your wildest dreams.