Introduction
As a tumultuous 2025 has drawn to a close, let’s take stock of the employment challenges and opportunities facing current and former Government professionals in the Washington DC area for 2026. I will share what I have learned from my own post-retirement, public-private sector transition, and I look forward to learning from readers’ own comments and experiences in the process…in fact, I have already gotten many of your stories by following colleagues on Linkedin!
In this three-part series, my focus will be on solo entrepreneurship options in Government consulting and business services, plus tips (and related resource links) on planning, digital marketing and local support resources for solopreneurs in the DMV. I will also examine platforms to volunteer across the US in the non-profit sector, where government professionals can readily apply their expertise in planning, program management and service delivery, and even membership in non-profit Boards of Directors.
An added benefit of launching a solo business (SOHO) is reengaging with your local community. For those of us who have commuted to jobs in downtown DC for years it has been easy to “fly over” the communities we live in! In owning a small business I have learned how to reconnect with charities, schools and local government where my family and I live, in large part through membership and support by the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce (GGCC).
I will offer some time management tips in running a solo business from home and based on my and other’s experience. A footnote in this series will be how AI tools such as ChatGPT can play a useful research, design and “testing” role, and act as a “virtual partner” with the solopreneur.
Lastly, you do not need a big budget to launch a SOHO consulting or other service-based business. Perhaps your biggest expense will be in upgrading your home computer, plus other small fees for software, home-office supplies, and local transportation. Most online social media, marketing, research or support resources or at free or nominal cost. Your biggest “cost” will be your in-kind hours spent in forming, managing and marketing your business!
My perspective:
Just a few words on my own career and perspective for this article:
My first job out of grad school was as a credit analyst at Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh. That preparation served me well when I became a Peace Corps Volunteer with Colombia’s small business program. PC service then helped me join USAID for a long Foreign Service career as a Program and Project Manager. In my last years at USAID I became interested in knowledge management, a good segue in 2006 to IT contract work with the State Department, where I supported SharePoint and WordPress website applications.
I left full-time work at State in 2022, my second “retirement”, joined the local Chamber in Germantown, and began part-time consulting – initially in website design and digital marketing, and more recently, a rebranded focus on advising new Solopreneurs in the DMV in business planning, web and social media promotion, and personal marketing through business support organizations.
Apart from activities with family and friends, and some occasional overseas travel, I also have carried over some hobbies and pursuits from my workaday life: biweekly meetings with a State Toastmasters Club, monthly Leadership group seminars (with the Virginia-based Leadership Breakfast), and continuing education to maintain my PMP project management certification.
My hope in writing this blog post series is to share a variety of free tips, resources and lessons learned to enable you to “make the leap” into solopreneurship, which I have found to be both challenging and rewarding!
Regional and Global Impact
The Washington Informer cites a recent Brookings study on the 2025 Trump Administration job cuts: the DMV lost 4.5% of its federal work force in the first six months of 2025, or roughly 17,000 jobs. Another WUSA9 article estimated a total of 50,000 jobs lost in all of 2025, including private contractors. In a regional economy dominated by the federal workforce most of these losses were well-paid professionals in such fields as policy analysts, program managers, IT experts, acquisition specialists, scientists, administrative professionals and lawyers. The Administration’s down-sizing has also had a broader impact of the regional economy – for example a 64% upsurge in home sales since last June.
In October 2025 the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and its partners launched Talent Capital in an attempt to marshal local resources to help professionals find jobs in the area. The initiative combines trusted employer networks with Celeste, its advanced AI Agent, to match job-seekers’ skills with opportunities in DC, MD, and VA instantly. The site also lists free coaching and employer-vetted training from various Partners.
Government professionals also face major global change and uncertainty. In its November 2025 issue, The Economist shared its 2026 World Ahead report, and an apropos cover image of a circular vortex with missiles, currencies, politicos etc. In his Medium summary of the report (see Economist World Ahead: Decoding the Signals of a Restless Year), Andrea Belvedere concludes that 2026 “is not the year of collapse, but of recombination. Crises will overlap, alliances will mutate and technologies will negotiate their power…and in 2026, adaptation is power.” In one cautious note of optimism, he states that “complexity isn’t chaos. Its a sign of systems evolving.”
Solopreneur Questions…..
In these articles I will try to address some key first-time Solopreneur questions:
I just started…where do I begin?
Know Your Market: A logical place for a government professional to start is to reflect on your current expertise, most of it public sector, and think how best to package that for the private sector market. However, it is easy to fall into a trap, and project your skills onto the market, rather than to drill into what your prospective market needs, wants…and will pay for!
Target marketing, focusing on “niches that bring riches”, will be key to your success, and tools such as determining your “value proposition” and testing a short elevator speech will be helpful. SCORE webinars, while now subject to a $15-25 fee, can guide you in your own target market analysis. You can also access SCORE’s vast library of past recorded webinars on a variety of small business topics, some for a small fee, but many are still free.
I need a professional presence online!
Engage on Linkedin: rather than jump into launching a website, first update your content and engage your audience on social media. Linkedin ranks high by search engines, and is a first stop for many professionals. As you probably already have resume data there (or if not, it is free and easy to get started) it makes sense to expand LI content, sharpen your solopreneur profile, and grow and interact with your network there, which may include many possible customers! A personal, branded website can come later as you become more confident in your small business focus and how best to frame, package and price your services.
I want steady growth, with a new support system
Join a Local Business Organization: Once you become a Solopreneur you will need a new private sector support system, in addition to organizing an office in your home. A local business organization such as a Chamber of Commerce can provide professional development, business leads, and feedback from colleagues as you continue to shape your business vision and gain early customers. I have found the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce to be a great support system for me, but there are many Chambers throughout the DMV, as well as other organizations such as Business Networking International (BNI) or the state supported Maryland Innovation Center that offer collegial support and lead generation or incubator-type help in pursuit of new customers.
How best to organize as I build my new solopreneur practice?
Plan your Solopreneur “Road Map” with Project Management: Lastly, as you answer these questions for your own small business, you may find it useful to draft your own step-by-step road map to plan out business implementation. In managing your Solopreneur launch project, and focusing on the PM “triple constraint” of scope, timeline and budget, a simple, graphical software like Trello can help guide your efforts.
Also consider online management tools such as Google Workspace to separately organize small business communications, documents and designs from personal email and online drives.
- FYI at 1:00 PM EST on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, SCORE is offering a 1 hour Webinar on Google Workspace Business Setup: Tools to Use and Mistakes to Avoid. You can register to see this webinar live, or watch it later once posted to SCORE’s data base (under Recorded Webinars) for $15.
New Solopreneur Transition 