On trying to save money
One of the unfortunate parts of trying to run my own business is that I have very little money with which to do so. Since it’s not Christmas yet, all I have in the way of cash flow is some savings that I put aside and my (gulp) credit cards. I’m trying to mitigate some of my business costs with DIY solutions, but as I said before, my time is limited, and I’m only one person. So if I have to spend money, I have to be stingy about it.
Of course, Murphy’s law being what it is, just as I decide I’m going to save money by printing music and business cards myself, my printer breaks. I spent several hours swearing at the stupid thing, but the printer would not be moved to do my bidding. After trolling the tech forums for a solution, I found out that the only thing that seemed to work about 80% of the time was to replace the printhead, a part that would cost almost $70. Ugh.
Since that’s about as much as a whole new printer, I decided to take a trip to Staples and see what kind of multi-function machines were out there (my old printer was a Canon MP780 scanner/copier/fax/printer, so I preferred to replace all the functions if possible). Armed with my trusty Treo by my side to check prices on the internet while I shopped, I wandered the aisles, poking at Brother, Canon, HP, and Epson models.
I finally settled on two choices: a Canon MP620, coming in just under $150, and an HP Officejet J5780, which was on sale for $75. The Canon got better reviews, but the HP wasn’t bad, and the fact that I could get it for half the price of the Canon made me choose the HP. Unfortunately, it looked like other people had the same idea as I did, because there were no boxes underneath the display model. When I asked at the front desk, they said the only model they had left was the display model. I could either go to Marlton (14 miles away and a good 30 minute drive) and pick one up, or I could buy the floor model in front of me.
My inner miser spoke up and said I could save money on gas if I just took the floor model. After getting assurances that I could return it if something went wrong, I plunked down my $75 (plus $14.99 for a 2-yr warrantee) and walked away with the printer and a bag full of parts and directions (they couldn’t find the box).
When I got home and started putting the printer together, I realized that there was one important component missing: the paper tray. I called the store and asked if they happened to have a paper tray wandering around anywhere, and after being passed off to three or four people, I was informed that they did not have the tray. My two options were to return the printer for a full refund or go through the warrantee company to get the part replaced.
Hmm. Now this is becoming more trouble than it’s worth! I saved money on the printer, true, but if I have to drive back, return the printer, get another printer (and/or maybe drive to Marlton for their HP, if they still have one), I’ll have spent about $75 worth of time (and gas), which would make it equivalent to the purchase of the Canon. Or if I wait for the warrantee company, I could get the part shipped to me for free, but it’ll most likely take several weeks for the claim to go through. Argh!
I decided to go with the warrantee. Since I purchased it, I might as well make my $14.99 work for me. I jury-rigged the computer so paper can go into the printer with undue fuss. It’s not pretty, but it’s functional.
Once again, DIY saves the day.
On starting a business
August 29 was my last day as a transcriptionist. No more trying to figure out what the endocrinologist with the West African/French/Jamaican accent is saying 20 feet away from the microphone. No more bleeding eardrums when someone decides to clear their throat right in front of the microphone while I’ve got the volume turned up all the way so I can hear the West African/French/Jamaican doctor. No more commuting to work and having to eat out for breakfast and lunch and sometimes dinner.
But also, no more steady paycheck. No more fun lunches with RS, my partner in arms at the transcription company. And much, much less daily human contact.
Why did I do all this? Because my singing career has finally gotten me to the point where I can afford to quit my day job. And because the past couple of Christmas seasons have made me want to start my own business providing carolers to events.
So I quit my job and formed my own company. I’ve got so many singing gigs on my own that they are, by themselves, a full-time job, so this is still a side business, if you will.
But it’s certainly VERY hard work. I started back in March trying to write a business plan and got stuck. I meant to apply for incorporation documents back in June, but I got busy. June turned to July and then to August, and I had already put my notice in at work, so I figured I’d better get cracking.
Then there was the website. After several failed attempts at building a website with a prefab Wordpress template, my perfectionism was getting the better of me. I know just enough about websites to make me dangerous; I wanted the site to do certain things and look a certain way, but I didn’t (and still don’t) have enough chops to achieve my goals. After about 10 hours of hair-pulling and gnashing of teeth, I realized that if I wanted to get it done right, I’d have to pay a professional to do it.
Enter BeSeen. One of the founding partners is a fellow singer in The Crossing and also happens to be an advertising whiz. His company will be putting together a fantabulous website just as soon as we get the pictures, video, and sound from last night’s photo shoot/recording session. I’m very excited about this!
Working from home is wonderful and horrible all at the same time. There are a million distractions from housework to TV to Facebook and Twitter to video games (I’m currently at the very end of GTA IV and am really frustrated I can’t/shouldn’t devote more time to it so I can finish the dang thing!!). Never mind the leather pouches I’m sewing for Ray to bring to Faire and the cloth pouches and sashes I should be sewing because I can sell them on consignment. I also am volunteering my time negotiating a union contract that’s taking more time than we all had anticipated. Oh yeah, and lest I forget, I have three different gigs I’m learning music for at the same time. You know, for my job that actually pays the bills?
In order for me to set up this business properly, I have a ton of long to-do lists, from assembling music (I’ve decided to self-publish my own arrangements) to making sure there are enough costume pieces for those people without costumes (more sewing or paying someone else to sew! Which do I have less of: time or money?) to auditioning singers, building a client base (REALLY important), and writing contracts. Ugh. I need a clone. No, I need several clones. But I don’t have enough money for an assistant (or a clone…the R&D costs alone would be astronomical!), so I’ll just have to go nuts and try to do it all on my own.
Wish me luck.
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