My Little Corner of the Universe!

Posted on by chrish

Hello! It has been a long time since I last wrote. Here is a brief summary of how I am doing right now. Have a cup of coffee or tea and let’s get ready for something new!

Lately, life has been pretty exciting and turbulent. Sometimes you wake up and feel like you’re in a movie. Right now, that’s exactly how I feel. From doing daily chores to achieving goals, everything has been very exciting. But enough of the blah blah, when last you saw me I said something like: “And guess what? I’ve decided to start my business! This makes me nervous and excited!”

The decision to start a business was not spontaneous, but well thought out, least I thought so. I didn’t make it while binge watching TV. That’s a badidea ! I’d been thinking long and hard about what it would be like to create something completely new. What’s my most important reason for doing something? Besides the excitement of being self-employed, it was important to discover my own path to success (and maybe make some extra income).

I’d already learned a lot. It almost felt overwhelming, but in a positive way! I learn quickly: first, boring tax regulations, then I feel like a creative genius at marketing strategies. It’s surprising how much fun it can be to work with spreadsheets. It was just a joke, kind of, I’m weird like that.

It is now even more important to keep my blog up to date, since I am on this path now for some time, I have made plenty of mistakes. Writing helps me to control myself and is like therapy for me. There will be more stories about my experiences as an entrepreneur, tips I have received, and useful resources. Because sharing is caring! I would like to know what you think about all of this. So share a comment!

But let’s not pretend that only fantastic things exist here. There have been times when I was unsure. Is it possible that anyone is interested in what I have to offer? What happens if sales don’t improve? Stuff like that. Some questions are like unwanted visitors at a party you didn’t plan to attend.

Nevertheless, you see every failure as an opportunity rather than something else, and anything but a failure. Every time something goes wrong, I learn to become stronger. This wasn’t so important to me before I plunged into this project.

This is my plan for the future: I want to document the journey as an entrepreneur with all of you! Ever up, every down, the underbelly with all its worts. That sorta stuff. There will be regular updates on progress and problems. Also thoughts about what success means to me. Sometimes I’ll get annoyed that business is difficult and overwhelming for me.

In the end, I would like to thank everyone who has accompanied me so far, oh wait, no not really since it never really went anywhere! We are almost there, I promise! If anyone has tips or experiences to share as a partner or shop owner, please let me know! Your insights might mean the world to someone as they navigate their uncharted waters.

I’m currently working hard on my dreams and trying to keep a clear head despite the life stress and lots of coffee. To be honest, I wish there were many more interesting improvements to be made. Opening my business was exactly what I wanted – and much more.

See you soon! There will be more news from me soon, from my little corner of the universe!

Small Business Printing Notes

Posted on by chrish

I recently posted a “commitment” that I made to myself about my small business plans, and since then I have put a little more thought into the process and direction I wanted to go in. One direction that I was interesting that was seriously thinking about is small business printing. And you’ll that most of what I wrote about was in this direction, but also generally useful information.

So today I wanted to take a moment and collect a couple of the notes together that I had made on the topic.

They focus primarily on printing, and personalized business services.

Business Guide

I linked to the business guide from the SBA, which if you are thinking about setting up your own printing pipeline you will want to pay close attention to the document and guidelines. Still even if you plan on having somebody else do the printing you might find the guides useful.

Here are a couple of points that you can take away from the guide.

Here are a couple of things you’ll most likely be interested in if you are looking into printing. The SBA linked to some of the considerations on the EPA’s website but the link was broken and I couldn’t find the linked page.

Links to Web sites containing regulatory and reinvention information about the printing industry, including lithographic printing, gravure printing, flexographic printing, and screen printing.

You’ll notice that small home businesses will be looking into several of these areas.

For example women who design and sell their wedding and other invitations on Etsy. Or people operating a silk screen printing business out of their garage.

Also if you want to sell prints of your art work you might be dependent on the lithographic printing.

Other options:

  • Outsource the printing to a local printer.
    This is something that I have thought about, and I have even gone and talked to several printers. Their attitude was from disinterested to professional. But they all had several problems which turned me away. Most of them were also too expensive for my budget.
  • Home printing.
    This is the route most of us will think about first. But there is one small problem. There is a lot of initial investment that need to be taken into account. There are also the regulations that we have just looked at.
  • Outsource the printing to a 3rd party POD service.
    This is another option, which is also affordable. One site, CafePress, has a breakdown of what their service entails. Still, I fail to see this route as the best solution. The upfront cost is lower (zero in most cases) but they also offer small returns. I understand that they are covering the costs of printing, allowing you to profit from their infrastructure but it might still be more affordable long term. It would really be beneficial to look at the numbers.

No matter my choice the target platform for now will be something like Etsy’s market place which seems perfect for the small business.

These are definitely not the only options but they have been the ones that have been going through my head. Right now I still need to sleep on which one, if any of them are right at all, and then make my choice once things have settled in. I estimate that I will make decision by the New Year, but it will be a process that should be thought through before I jump and start my own business.

References

  • SBA.Gov Special consideration for print publishing.

So I made the commitment today

Posted on by chrish

I’ve been thinking about my current job and the time I invest into it, and of course what I get out. And instead of talking around the subject I might as well just say that I have been putting some thought into starting a small crafty style of business to use as additional income, or replace the current one.

I put my ideas together in a small business page to try and put a concrete set of notes down. I would be pleased if you would look them over and give me some feedback on it.

My main motivation is for some additional money, but this doesn’t necessarily fit with my available time. Which with everything I’ve read means “no, don’t do it.”

This is another reason why I put it together, maybe somebody else will be able to use the resources I’ve collected together even if I can’t.

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on by chrish

I know it is a little late, and that is due to my in ability to get the site up on time. It was on the schedule since Friday, and while that wasn’t so far off from the mark I just now found time to write something up. And a delayed greeting is better than one that remains predominately absent. Besides, most of you that will be reading this, family + friends, have already been wished a “Happy Thanksgiving.”

So you’ve found the site, congratulations, and you’re reading this 😀 so thank you. Until next time!