Ya know, I really wanted to save this for my official CSSBoost website launch, but I'm just itching to get this all down before I forget.

If you don't already know from my twitters and other ramblings, I've recently trained and started a group of freelancers working under the name CSSBoost. We're going through a name change, but we used to be called CSSBurner (where you can find our closest thing to a website at http://www.cssburner.com). This business steps up and brings quality to markup and css that we have yet to find anywhere else. It's all about the little details for us, and we make sure that every pixel counts for each design we do. In a nutshell though, we take designers files, turn them into flawless, clean, sexy html and css, and then turn around and browser check them in 7 browsers to be sure everyone seeing the layout is going to love it just like the designer intended. It's a competing business with several other PSD to HTML services. We bring an edge and love for the trade to the table, for half the price in half the time though.

Anyways, theres the elevator pitch (albeit 100 floor elevator pitch...). It's been a hard road though. This little "business" of mine has seen its share of flaky trainees that never made it through the rigorous training I provide, and currently, we're in our busiest month, with 2 trainees in the pipe, but only one (other than myself) official, full time reliable freelancer to staff. Our business this month quadrupled. Maybe its the December, end of year rush to crank out some last minute dough before the year ends, or maybe its just that we're getting around, I dunno, but what I do know is that I'm tired.

I know right, how could I admit this to possible customers?! I'm human, and I hope my customers understand such a thing. Another thing to understand is that I am not ready, nor want right now, to have employees relying on me for their entire wage, thats just too nerve wracking for me to even think about, much less carry through with. So we all have full time jobs as a result, which we eat, sleep, and breath html / css at. Then, we come home, crack the laptops open, and start up on all the 1 day rush jobs we just got in the night before, organize the invoices, send out emails, update clients, and somewhere, try to find time to keep our girlfriends happy and our eyes shut for a few hours of sleep. It's a great problem to have for a couple of freelancers, but man, when burnout hits, it sure does hit.

We're doing innovative things though, and finally got a big client that wants us to build out an entire applications html front end. We took a unique solution to this and went ahead and made them a CSS / HTML Framework. Guys, its sick! This thing is a joy to work with, can pump out 7 different grids with the same exact markup and a body class, has an intuitive, rounded corner module system, and we're building an abstracted library of parts and pieces to plugin to the layouts, so the developers just get to lego their way through a layout with some very simple things to keep in mind, and never have to worry about browser issues and all the headache devs feel when doing markup. Tonight, we just got done putting in about 11 hours for this gig, and we're both so tired. My colleague has gone to bed, but I'm still wired from the redbull and can't seem to sleep without getting this off my chest.

Anyways, we built them the framework and module system, made some slick documentation for them, and also video taped a walk through of how to use it. Within hours, we saw crazy results from the developers with just the framework. It was so cool to watch all that happen, and to see the entire, slick and shiny package come together.

Excitement aside, I'm still so tired, haha. I dunno, I guess I'm venting more than I am blogging, but eh, I don't think too many people read these posts anyway ;) I look at our load of work to do, and its staggering due dates, and freak out. Theres a tiny pin prick of a light at the end of the tunnel, and when the next two trainees step up to the reigns, this light will come to be all we see, but for now, this is brutal. Honestly, its just the blood sweat and tears part though right? This is how all great companies start from the ground up right?

Anyways, anyone else going through this, or have been through this phase, this burnout? I'd be curious to know how you weathered the storm.

Thanks for reading ;)
-Ken