After several years of grueling work at a large software development company, I decided that I had enough of the emotional torment.
Our managers were relentless and were bad about standing back to let us do our work in peace.
My mindset is that employees will perform worse if you force them to work under intense pressure that you impose on them intentionally. I realized that creating my own company with a different attitude could give me a winning edge over businesses like my former employer. As effective as I was in the beginning, there are hurdles with starting a business that I could have never anticipated in the years I was planning this transition. You don’t map out every single step, especially with operating costs. Ideally I would have found a cheaper office space to rent, but I also didn’t want to sacrifice being in a horrible location. Another expense is the office cleaning company that is here twice a week to sanitize surfaces, vacuum carpets, and clean the bathrooms. If there are spills they will also clean the floors or wash the carpets. This office cleaning company isn’t lavishly expensive, but it’s no cheap expense either. No matter what kind of business you operate, you can’t afford to let the place get dirty without proper cleaning. Since my employees are software engineers, I can exactly expect to include bathroom and floor cleaning in their job descriptions. Thankfully my great office cleaning company removes that need. They even come after hours so my employees are never disrupted by chemical odors or vacuums cleaning the floors. It’s nice to come into work and see a freshly cleaned environment.