Today, I am proud (and a little nervous) to announce that I have joined the ranks of the “small business owners”, with the launch of Devscape Consulting, LLC. Devscape Consulting will provide technical writing and software development consulting services to clients looking for assistance a few hours per week, or per month, or as needed.

For details on what we do at Devscape Consulting, I ask you to take a look at the new website. This will probably be the last time I ever mention Devscape Consulting here, as I will be very strict about keeping my blog and my business separate, but I thought I would answer a few quick questions before I split my personality.

Q: Why the name Devscape?

A: I have previously blogged at http://devscape.blogspot.com and the Devscape name was not yet in use by anyone I could find within Washington State. I once thought of “Devscape” as representing the whole landscape of software development—from requirements gathering to project management to software development to testing to documentation, and that pretty much represents what I plan to continue to do going forward.

Q: Don’t you already have a day job?

A: Actually, right now, I’m not employed full time. While there is a likelihood that I will, at some time in the future resume working full time, I have been presented with some part-time and freelance opportunities that fit very well into my life. That work will be done under the Devscape Consulting, LLC moniker.

Q: Was it hard / expensive to set up a consulting business in Washington State?

A: It was probably a bit more expensive than I thought it would be. I set it up as an LLC to protect my personal assets should someone sue me for some reason down the road. I consulted with a lawyer to better understand the forms I needed to fill out, and an accountant as well to understand the tax implications. By the time I get everything done to set up the infrastructure, including business license, miscellaneous government fees,  attorney’s fees, accountant fees, domain name, business cards, etc., I think it will have cost somewhere around $400. It’s significantly cheaper if you set up a Sole Proprietorship, but I wanted the liability protection of an LLC. I also looked at an S-Corp, but that was far more complex than I need.

Q: Are you hiring?

A: No, not at this time. My wife may also do some work under the Devscape Consulting name in the future, but I have no plans to grow Devscape Consulting into an empire, unless empire building is a lot easier than it seems. Adding payroll functions to my life is not a complexity I want to deal with right now.

Q: How does this affect your novel writing?

A: It doesn’t, except that as I do more technical writing, I should become a better writer, and that will allow me to either be more prolific or more efficient when I write my books.

Q: Are you looking for new clients?

A: Absolutely. Please check out the contact me form at www.devscapeconsulting.com/contact and let me know you are interested.