Sorry I'm late...

Hi! I hope you haven't been waiting long. I was delayed on the way to financial independence. Nothing major. Just short-sighted insurance companies who inexplicably refuse to recognize the brilliance of my business idea. They said something about wanting to see a "business plan," which just goes to show that they don't understand the pure, industry-changing genius of my idea.

So, I'll be switching to Plan B, C, D. Plan D is too complicated to get into here, plus it's incriminating, but let's just say it involves stalking.

Other than some irritating regulatory kinks, the moving biz is going well. With minimal advertising, I'm still bringing in a couple thousand dollars worth of work per month. When I kick it into high gear, I should have more than enough business to be able to pick and choose which jobs I want to take, and you better believe I'll be picking jobs like the last one I had this weekend: hauling about five suitcases 10 miles away for $100. Good work if you can get it. I can.

Obviously I don't intend to make this my life. (At least, I hope it's obvious, and I mean that I don't intend to be the actual MOVER for the rest of my life). As business keeps coming in, customers keep telling me what a fantastic idea the business is, and more importantly, they keep telling me I'm not charging enough. I've got some good systems in place, and in the next few months I should be in a good place to replicate this around the country. If nothing else, it'll make a good information product, as I believe it was Taylor who suggested it.

I have a little dilemma, though. I'm thinking about quitting my job.

I believe I've discussed this before. How shall I sum up the situation? Perhaps it will suffice to say that my job is like the Dementer from the Harry Potter movies--it sucks the living soul right from my body. My editor/supervisor couldn't write a shopping list, and he constantly screws with my copy so that I have to rewrite everything. No, I'm no Bill Buckley or Mark Twain -- not even a James Patterson -- but my work doesn't merit his "fixes."

And, let's be honest here -- I'm just not a good employee. I mean, look at me -- I'm blogging!

I could, in theory, replace my current income with just the moving business. With minimal advertising and word-of-mouth, I make just over half of my salary right now. That's not a hell of a lot, but it's pretty good for schlepping people's stuff a couple of nights a week. One $100 move per day, which is about two hours worth of work, would do the trick.

Cons: no health insurance, and the switch from "get to" to "have to" might just kill the thrill of small business ownership.

Pros: No bosses, complete entrepreneurial freedom, and further development of some now decently-defined pectoral and bicep muscles.

Of course I wouldn't just rely on the moving income. I'd be able to pursue some freelance writing projects which I'm chomping at the bit to get to. In theory, I could be looking at not only replacing my current income, but vastly increasing it.

It's a huge decision. I'll need to think about this a little bit more, run some numbers, consult an all-star panel of priests and psychics, etc. (Now THAT would be a fun panel). Things cannot stand the way they are now. I'm holding on, and the condo, while it's killing us, is still a manageable crisis. But I can't do this indefinitely. Next month marks the one-year anniversary of the moving biz, and I think that when that date hits, well, I've made bold predictions before. I won't do it now. But let's just say I'm considering a nuclear option.

Too cryptic? Well, stick around. Thanks for indulging my stream-of-consciousness!