Trailers and SQL

A light update this week, as the things I discussed last week are still in the same state this week.

Alright, let's get into it!

From the field:

More trailer plans, although they're getting more specific. You saw the video of the design I'd like, but now I'm getting into the weeds. Re-watching the video over and over to get the specs on the trailer, going to their website and looking at pictures, all that good stuff. In order for my funding to come through, I have to provide a serial # for the trailer in addition to the drones. I've got the #s for the drones, but have to commit to a trailer. Where do I buy the trailer from? Who is going to do the buildout of the second deck? Can I be smart about this geographically so I'm not going West to buy the trailer and East to drop it off?

April is going to be the month where I intensify the search for a drone pilot. May is going to be the month where I really start training myself (and hopefully the other pilot) on drone piloting. June is going to be the month where I'm scrambling to be ready, probably.

And then it'll be time.

I don't think it's really sunk in yet, the actual revenue generating work I'll be doing. Conceptually it makes sense, and I've tried to analyze what it'll be like out there about 100 different ways, but until I'm actually out there, it's hard to make it feel real. Is it going to be really stressful? Or is it going to be incredible, being outside all day every day? When was the last time you spent your entire days outside for a month straight? I think it was age 21 for me, when I worked for my home town Parks & Rec department, mowing outfields, dragging infields, and chalking foul lines/batters boxes. I'm a fair bit older than 21 now…

From the office:

An avenue that I see a lot on Upwork is people looking for help analyzing financials, putting financials together, etc. who are looking to start/buy a business. I've always shied away from it, because I didn't have any true experience with it. Everywhere I've ever worked was an already existing business that was in a steady state. This past week I was able to help someone who was looking to purchase a business for the first time, and it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be. There were historical financials available, and my role was to highlight the pros and cons of what was going on with the business. Did I add value? I hope so, because I really enjoyed the work of it. I'd like to do more of it when the opportunities present themselves, and I may start looking for them on Upwork a bit more as well.

Other than that, still working steadily with my #1 Upwork client. 20+ hours last week, 20+ hours this week.

What I'm reading:

I'm going to deviate a little bit here, maybe it's cheating, I don't know. I'm watching a 4 hour introduction to SQL coding. Or maybe you can call it studying.

Here's the thought process. A "Fractional CFO", which is what I market my services as, is truly brought in to a company as an investment. And a large part of that investment is improving the bottom line profitability of the company. SQL coding expertise allows you to tap into data, package it up in a meaningful way, and then analyze it. All in a very small timeframe, so the speed of the data is increased as well. A data analysis can yield all sorts of great insights to a growing company. And if you can link independent datasets together to create even more meaningful data, all the better.

Thanks for hanging in - until next week!