Time to say goodbye

The one "category" missing from the "science" terms above is "Global Climate Change." In my humble opinion, it is the most important issue facing our planet and our race.

It is this belief, based in good science, that I have decided to start a new business. In that business, I will be selling and installing photovoltaic solar panels and small wind electrical generation equipment in New England (MA, CT, RI, VT, NH, ME). Starting a new business means I'll be cutting way back on my blogging.

As many of you know, for 11+ years and up to quite recently (last Friday) I was a management consultant. I jetted around the country helping companies improve how they run projects and teaching professionals how to run projects more effectively. My customers were product development experts, engineers, and information technology people in Fortune 1000 companies. While I enjoyed the work, I got to hate the travel. And After 9/11 the travel got worse. So for the past five years I have been "resenting" any work I had to do out of state. Not a good mindset for a consultant.

It took me a while to figure this out and about a year ago, I told my three other co-shareholders that I wanted to do something different. Fortunately, they were of similar minds, so we hired a business broker and put our company on the market.

Last Friday, we closed the sale. As a 33% owner, I think I did reasonably well. While I cannot retire on the proceeds, I have earned enough to support my family for about a year and start up the next business. (Imagine having your next 1.5 year's take-home pay dropped in your lap in one lump sum. That will give you an idea of the value of the sale to me. For you college students, I cannot come up with a good analogy since you are likely in the red :-).

After deciding the sell the business, I began to think in earnest about what to do next. My interests ranged far and wide. For example, I considered:

• Woodcraft Franchise Supply stuff to woodworkers - woodworking is a hobby.
• Teach (High School level) - I like to teach adults but do I like to teach kids?
• Subway franchise - Subs, grinders, or hoagies depending on where you are from - it was a strange thought and ultimately I cannot see myself making sandwiches.
• Sharpening service - sharpen saw blades and knives etc - I'd needed some saw blades sharpend and had a hard time finding a supplier of the service but realized the margins would be slim, and the work would be boring.
• Home restorer - buy "fix-er-uppers" restore them then resell them. The competition would have been fierce and the real estate market is softening.
• Corporate job (going back to a big company - either as a Project manager or in some engineering/product development role) - and work for someone else? I don't think it is possible.

I looked into the finances, competition, etc. of each of these and even interviewed for a couple of corporate jobs but nothing seemed to excite me.

Meanwhile, I continued to read, blogged a lot (here, Daily Kos, A Rational Being (http://www.nonsequitur2.blogspot.com) my Massachusetts politics blog) and keep my eyes open for underserved markets that fit my interests. I think I found that market. And the fit is unquestionable.

Face it folks, our planet is in trouble. Global climate change is a reality. Despite the Bush Administration's claim for "more certainty" the scientific community is about as certain as science can get. The earth is getting warmer and we are already seeing the effects. The final push for my business came from the reading of Tim Flannery's The Weather Makers. In TWM, Flannery spells out example after example of how global climate change is affecting our home.

I do not worry so much about global climate change in my lifetime, but I do worry about my kids and their kids. If we don't act now, who knows what they will be left with.

This new business will address some of the sources of global warming, should make me some money, while being interesting. But, is more than a money maker, It fits with my own mission.

Twenty-seven years ago, I started engineering school with hopes of joining a program called "Energy Engineering." For a number of reasons, the program took too long to develop, so on the advice of my advisor, I focused a a close cousin, Nuclear Engineering. I finished my Bachelors in five years, and my Masters in 4 (at night), Meanwhile I spent 6 years as an engineer then 3 years as a corporate IT Guy then 6 years as a Corporate PM/PM Consultant followed by 11 years as a business owner and management consultant. Finally, I am getting back on the path I originally started on those so many years ago.

Wish me luck.

If you would like to know more about the business, check out this web site. It is almost exactly like ;-) a web site I might build. This web site, like mine, is under construction and about to be done professionally.

ARB