Status Report

Four weeks down, four to go. I am 50% of the way through my agree eight weeks' notice period (reduced from a contracted 13 weeks for good behaviour ;-)

So, apart from behaving professionally and engaging in as much knowledge transfer as possible, what I have been up to as I prepare for my new freelancing life? Let's see, I have:

• Handed in my notice
• Engaged the services of an accountant - Nixon Williams
• Set up my company - Ian Nelson Systems Limited - at Companies House
• Registered for VAT
• Registered for PAYE
• Registered for Corporation Tax
• Set up a company bank account
• Funded the above with a loan from myself
• Bought a Dell Latitude D830 notebook (4Gb RAM, 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo - should be plenty for running VS2008 and SQL Server 2008)
• Bought a Vodafone 1615 (aka HTC TyTN II - damn clever bit of kit)
• Bought a shiny new Toyota Verso SR 2.2 diesel (not strictly a business-related purchase, but there's no telling how much longer the Focus will safely ferry me to and from client sites!)
• Bought some nice stationery from Staples!
• Advised the world of my new phone number
• Copied contacts and schedule data from my old phone and Exchange server to my new phone
• Joined the Professional Contractor's Group
• Registered internet domains.
• Signed up for Google Apps for the above domains
• Ordered a copy of Graffiti to use for creating a simple company website
• Phoned BT to transfer Marshalls-expensed landline and broadband into my name (what a palaver!)
• Made letterheads, compliments slips, and business cards (in five minutes flat - thank you MS Publisher!)
• Updated my CV
• ...and uploaded it to popular job sites including Jobserve and CWJobs
• Installed my shiny new laptop with all the necessary software, including MS Outlook with Business Contact Manager
• ...and used the above to build up a database of recruitment agent details, taken from online job adverts
• Spent plenty of time chatting on the phone to agents, all of whom tell me I have decent marketable skills but their clients are only interested in people who can start more-or-less immediately.

So, much done, now I just have to wait a little while.  Hey, and indeed, ho. Four weeks to go.