Let's say it was an "intermediate goal". Just before my first child was born, I quit my consulting job. While looking for another job, I went into business as a

Let's say it was an "intermediate goal". Just before my first child was born, I quit my consulting job. While looking for another job, I went into business as a solo consultant to have some cash coming in. Surprisingly, I brought in enough money in the first 6 months that I could extrapolate that into a viable business & livelihood (I've started several small ventures before and this one felt different). What was unexpected was how stressed I was from telling multiple prospective customers that I could take on their projects. When you're trying to get business, you know that you're not going to "close" every deal in the pipeline - but the idea of potentially overloading myself with several large projects and letting down the customer, was very emotionally taxing. Of course, when I eventually got a great job and had to back out of an engagement it was a non-issue for the client. It happens all the time with contractors/consultants... I learned a valuable lesson about what it takes to run a business, and the kinds of businesses I'm suitable for.