ride along update from halifax.
the organizing service i started on a whim after posting here has become something real. faster than i expected.
current state:
revenue: $3,200 last month (8 clients, $400/session average)
repeat clients: 5 of the original 8 have rebooked
new clients this month: 3, all from word of mouth
time commitment: saturdays + 2 evenings/week
the work: i go into small businesses and organize whatever's messy. inventory systems. file structures. customer databases. process documentation. scheduling workflows. whatever the owner has been meaning to fix for 2 years and hasn't.
the surprise: i look forward to saturday sessions more than i look forward to monday at my remote job. the organizing work gives me something my day job doesn't: visible, immediate impact. i walk in to chaos and walk out to order. the transformation is tangible. at my remote job i move tickets around in jira and the impact is... theoretical.
the dilemma: $3,200/month is not enough to quit my day job. my salary is $4,800/month. the gap is real.
but the trajectory is interesting. if i could do this 4 days a week instead of evenings and saturdays, the math changes. 4 sessions/week × $400 × 4 weeks = $6,400/month. that's more than my salary.
the fear: quitting a stable remote job with benefits to do physical organizing work for small businesses in halifax feels like the kind of decision a podcaster would celebrate and my parents would panic about.
the argument for staying: stability, benefits, predictable income, career trajectory (such as it is).
the argument for going: i'm 29. i have no mortgage, no kids, and relatively low expenses. if the side business doesn't work out, i can get another remote job. the downside is recoverable. the upside is a career i actually enjoy.
not making the decision yet. giving it 2 more months of data before i decide anything.
but the fact that i'm even considering it tells me something. 6 months ago i posted here saying "i don't know what to build." turns out the answer was always "the thing you already know how to do."