I’m beginning to hate my computer. Not because it’s a bad
computer, mind you, but because I spend so
much time on it. For two good reasons: a) It is my link to the outside
world, and b) it is my livelihood… or I’m hoping it will be once this business
is launched.
Yes, I am launching a business.
Why? Because last week (week four of relatively unemployment) I met with Roger
the Encore temp guy and the experience convinced me that self-employment would
be way better than working in scary environments for the rest of my childless
life. The place was like 25 minutes away (our car was still registered at that
point, but that’s another story), and when I got there they asked me to take a
risk management test.
I’m a relatively boring person
who takes few risks. But these questions were ridiculous. Have I ever wanted to
hit someone? No. Was I sure? Because if I had ever wanted to hit someone, now
was the time to talk. Yep, still sure—no violent tendencies. Well, then, do I
ever party it up? Thinking that my last party involved hot dogs, Pixar, and
about 20 kids under the age of five, I said no. I answered questions like these
for twenty-five minutes until they were convinced I was sane. (And in case you’re
thinking this was some elaborate hoax, it wasn’t; the guy after me failed.)
Then I got lots of practice
signing my (newly aquired) married name as I agreed to any number of background
checks, and then I had an interview
and was told that I was the best thing they had seen in years; I should wait
for their call.
Forty minutes later, I was back
on the road determined that starting my own business had to be better than that.
So I am. It’s called boldedits, and it’s an editing service
for college admission essays. All week I’ve been playing around with business
names, trying out different website formats, daydreaming of business cards,
searching my hard drive for examples of stuff I’ve edited over the past year...
I’m hoping to be up and running next week.
I never thought I’d actually do
this. Well, I thought it… but I’m a
notorious starter, not finisher. (It’s why I like sight reading so much—people are
amazed and forgive you your mistakes the first time around; they’re more
demanding after that.) When my aunt suggested this, I thought, “That’s a cool
idea!” I’ve been saying “that’s a cool idea” for three months, until now. The
lack of editing jobs in this town has made me pursue other options. Who’s to
say that’s not how it’s supposed to work out?
Then again, my business is
editing—the ultimate last step in the writing process. I love taking unorderly
words and insubordinate paragraphs and taming them, turing them into something
clear, readable, and enjoyable. Here’s hoping it works!
