A High-Stress Hustle for At-Home Entrepreneurs

When I have a bad workday and am stressed out, I dream about owning my own business.

In this "if only" fantasy, I get out of bed whenever I want, make my own schedule and enjoy long, liquid lunches. There are no bosses. Customers love me. My creativity is on full display, and of course, I make lots of money.

Then my Washington Post paycheck drops into my bank account. I allow a long sigh of relief. Swaddled in the corporate blanket, with generous health benefits, a real-life pension plan, a 401(k) match -- even a Metro card bought with pretax money -- I think of how lucky I am.

Want to know how lucky?

Take Lee and Jennifer Odess, a D.C. pair of at-home entrepreneurs who are knocking themselves out running their own businesses. They say they love every minute of it, but there is little glamour and lots of pressure in their lives.

He's 32 and in May started his own energy consulting business called Energy + Light + Control after quitting his job selling home theater and music systems. He also helped organize a network of local entrepreneurs called D.C. Spotter, in which members share business tips and contacts. She's 29 and runs a one-person catering business called Fresh Confections.

I admire their drive, and I bet they will be independently wealthy someday. But I don't envy the Odesses, who have been married a few months. They lead hectic lives, running both businesses out of a 900-square-foot apartment in Northwest Washington.

Their offices are two laptops next to each other at one end of a kitchen table. The other end is, well, where they eat. When Jen needs to prepare for a catering job, Lee takes his computer to the couch or heads to a nearby Starbucks and works there. They each average 12- to 14-hour days, and they often work weekends.

Lee will net more than $100,000 this year from corporate and individual clients he advises on such things as how to save on electricity and whether solar panels on the roof are worth it. Jen is an "accidental entrepreneur" who decided to cater when she failed to find a marketing job after moving here from Portland, Ore. She will net around $30,000.

"That's not a ton, but I can only go up from there," she said.

They are in separate health insurance plans. He pays $1,300 a year for his. She pays $3,000. Neither plan includes vision and dental care.

When I caught up with them last week, the Odesses were literally huffing and puffing as they shoveled platters of deviled eggs, beef sliders with caramelized onions and a garlic aioli, and other goodies into their 2003 Jeep Wrangler for a catering job at Public Bar near Dupont Circle.