Things I'm Learning

It's been an interesting few days.  My youngest has been sick, complaining of headaches.  This seems odd to me in a three year old, and if it continues we'll take her to a doc.  With her ill, sleep has been hard to come by, so little has been getting done.  Got a little research done on things like small business licences, taxes and such.  Discovered that I don't need to register for GST unless my gross income on the business exceeds 30 grand.  That seems unlikely.  Also was struck by the idea that if I set up my site as an artist site, designed to do commissions the business aspects may be different.  Something I need to look into further.  Since I don't intend to sell anything other than handmade, would I count as a business, or an artist?  Or are they one and the same from a government viewpoint?

Another thing I've really had driven home in the last few days is the importance of organisation.  I've always been "artsy," which in this case is a euphemism for being shit at organisation.  Whether it's contacts, or commission notes or leather dye it needs to be close at hand so I can locate what is needed when I need it.  To that end, I spent the better part of the day going through my office clearing workspace, cleaning tool totes and just generally reducing crap volume.  Still cannot find the leather dye though.  A whole box of it.  Just gone.  Dammit.

Another thing that I have come to think on is support.  You have to have the right people in your life who will prop you up when you need it.  I am fortunate to have an amazing wife and three fantastic kids who may think I'm slightly bent, but they love and support my strangeness anyway.  I have an amazing network of friends and colleagues, some possibly even more bent than I am, who are not only a great cheer squad, but aren't afraid to tell me, "Hey, buddy.  That's kinda stupid."  Sure, they're laughing when they say it, and maybe they waited until after I screwed up to say something, but their hearts are in the right place. Right?

I also got an email from Kari Chapin today, the author I plugged in my first post.  That was a boost.  It sounds corny, but it's rare I think to find people in the world who are inspiring and to get a thumbs-up from someone who HAS done what I am trying to do is very encouraging.

For now, I think I need to focus on figuring out exactly how the face of my business, be it artist or store, is going to impact the actual business side of things.  It changes everything from the most basic of paperwork to the look of the website when it's completed.  Well, that and finishing all the commissions I've already got...