When Andy Brewer was laid off from his job in 2008, his son was only 4 months old and he had just bought a home in Boulder Creek.
Understandably, the Web designer panicked.
“I couldn’t afford time to even look for another job. Unemployment wasn’t an option,” Brewer said.
Just hours later, the 27-year-old turned his panic into productivity and created the outline for what would be UpTrending, his Web services company.
“The day I got laid off, I went to Best Buy and bought a laptop. I called my wife and told her what happened and what my plan was,” Brewer recalled. “She was nervous but supportive.”
Brewer said he called everyone in his network and landed two clients that first day.
“That first week, I worked from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. every night,” he said.
Now, the entrepreneur works more regular hours from home four days a week and commutes over the hill to an office once a week.
“It’s nice to be able to take little five-minute breaks in the day to see how my son is doing,” Brewer said.
UpTrending, based out of Brewer’s Boulder Creek home and Palo Alto office, offers Web design, search engine optimization (to make sure a company comes up first during a Google search) and online development.
“We also help companies set up a presence on Facebook and Twitter,” Brewer said.
UpTrending works mostly with startups and small businesses, both local and throughout the Silicon Valley.
“I’ve worked with a Fortune 500 company, as well,” Brewer said.
Brewer has also done work for Pure, a consumer electronics company in the United Kingdom that is a leader in the worldwide digital radio market.
According to Brewer, the company that started from a job loss in dubious economic times seems to be flourishing.
In 2009, UpTrending earned 50 percent more than when it started in 2008, and its income is trending upward.
“We’re on track to double that in 2010,” Brewer said.
Brewer is now working to launch Sokalo, a Web site modeled after Etsy — a popular e-commerce site that sells handmade goods — where fashion designers can sell their products.
He is also working on Clean Debate, a pet project that will let users discuss issues using facts, rather than emotionally laden arguments. There will be a space for users to make a claim and provide a link that backs it up. Points will be added and deducted depending on a claim’s validity.
“Hopefully, Clean Debate will go live in May,” said Brewer, who described his work schedule this way: “For the most part, I try and stick with the model of 85 percent of time devoted to client work and 15 percent devoted to innovation.”
