Soon, it will be the end of the third month of my full-time self-employment. On one hand, I’m very pleased–business has been very good–but on the other hand, it still isn’t enough to cover all the bills, yet. Conservatively, I’d say I’m half-way to where I need to be on a monthly basis. Don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic about the progress I’ve made in just three short months! I also know that there’s these bills to pay … and I need to come up with the money to pay them.
I’ve been truly blessed with some fantastic clients, tremendous opportunities and an incredibly supportive family. I’ve always had dreams of doing this, but never felt that the timing was right. To be honest, I’m not sure that the timing is right now, either, but one of the things I’ve learned these last three months is that I don’t need to be sure. I’m going to do everything it takes to make this succeed, and if that’s not enough, I’ll just have to find ways so I can keep trying.
I think the challenge for September is to try and figure out what Panoptic is going to specialize in. Being a very broad and varied generalist is making it hard to sell. While I could take on many projects that come my way, it’s hard to explain how that’s possible to a potential client. It also complicates the decision-making process around what leads to generate and pursue. Focusing Panoptic through specialization should simplify the sales process, which could help me achieve my business goals and be able to pay those bills.
Programmer, husband, father, singer, guitarist, tinkerer, reverse engineer, strange, and living in New Jersey. 
As one who shifted from working for others to charting my own destiny through self-employment – let me say CONGRATULATIONS on finishing your first three months of self-employment!
You are right about specialization. That was a hard lesson for me, since I know how to do so many things, but I’ve been honing my niche (as painful as it was sometimes) and it does work. It can be a little slow to start, but specializing builds your credibility and sets you apart from the pack.
I’ll share the six secret words I learned that really helped me: “Sorry, I’m not right for everyone.” :) Good luck with your business and thanks for writing Twitter Karma, that’s how I found your site.
That is a hard thing to do, know it from my own experience. I left the job few months ago and since than it has been difficult but i have invested lot of time on the internet and hopefully gains will follow shortly. So do u work for panoptic as freelance or you used to work for panoptic?.
First 2 months were good due to some savings and didn’t have to listen to boss anymore but as the money drains out that’s when things get a little bitter. Have you tried donationcoder.com . Coders don’t make an awful lot there but still keep themselves afloat.
Good luck
Kate