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Looking at both sides...or trying to.
The question was posed to me: do you want to make bopper-weapon covers and tights full-time?
That's a hugely complex question, and one that I've been wrestling with for some time. Michelle and I hashed it for four straight hours on the drive down to White Hart on it's last weekend.
Short answer: yes, that's a goal.
That's a hugely complex question, and one that I've been wrestling with for some time. Michelle and I hashed it for four straight hours on the drive down to White Hart on it's last weekend.
Short answer: yes, that's a goal.
Believe it or not, I could quit my day job today and go full time, not hurt for work, at least for a month just playing catch-up, and come close to making what I make at my day job, if not more!
Now the complex part: if I were single, I'd have already done it. But, having a family changes the mix. Without reserves and plenty of debt spread around, that's a harder jump to make.
We'll probably scale our offerings way back once the faire season is over to just making tights, try to find some retail outlets and become a manufacturer/wholesaler, even to the point of farming out the construction to jobbers. Not just for faire tights, but for more generic offerings as well. The faire circuit has been good to us, but the volume isn't great enough and, to be perfectly frank, much of the target market can't afford the product.
As to the computer job, I implied to my officemate last week that the company needed to see some sales or it would lose me to tights-making. He was SHOCKED when I told him I could more than replace my income and benefits. Probably put the fear of God...or at least codpieces... in him.
The advantage to staying with the company is that, should this ship ever find land, it will have the greatest return for the least amount of effort: once software is written it's written, and you can sell it over and over and over. The disadvantage is that there is someone in control of my finances who doesn't share the same values I do. If you've been reading my journal in the past, this will not be an unfamiliar issue to you.
The cons to leaving: my office mate gets screwed. I'm not worried about CFO. He, unlike my officemate, has multiple income streams. He starts and closes companies for lunch.
When I go, so does 1/3 of the company, and neither CFO nor my officemate can do what I do. I don't have a lot of depth of professional skill, but quite a lot of width. Jack of all, master of one or two.
The advantage to leaving is simple: my schedule, my destiny. The entreprenour's dream. There is less of a guarantee of income than even with CFO, but what is me controlling my destiny myself worth? It's not a question I find easy to answer. Of course not, or I'd have already done it.
Pros and cons on both sides, and it's frustrating.
Now the complex part: if I were single, I'd have already done it. But, having a family changes the mix. Without reserves and plenty of debt spread around, that's a harder jump to make.
We'll probably scale our offerings way back once the faire season is over to just making tights, try to find some retail outlets and become a manufacturer/wholesaler, even to the point of farming out the construction to jobbers. Not just for faire tights, but for more generic offerings as well. The faire circuit has been good to us, but the volume isn't great enough and, to be perfectly frank, much of the target market can't afford the product.
As to the computer job, I implied to my officemate last week that the company needed to see some sales or it would lose me to tights-making. He was SHOCKED when I told him I could more than replace my income and benefits. Probably put the fear of God...or at least codpieces... in him.
The advantage to staying with the company is that, should this ship ever find land, it will have the greatest return for the least amount of effort: once software is written it's written, and you can sell it over and over and over. The disadvantage is that there is someone in control of my finances who doesn't share the same values I do. If you've been reading my journal in the past, this will not be an unfamiliar issue to you.
The cons to leaving: my office mate gets screwed. I'm not worried about CFO. He, unlike my officemate, has multiple income streams. He starts and closes companies for lunch.
When I go, so does 1/3 of the company, and neither CFO nor my officemate can do what I do. I don't have a lot of depth of professional skill, but quite a lot of width. Jack of all, master of one or two.
The advantage to leaving is simple: my schedule, my destiny. The entreprenour's dream. There is less of a guarantee of income than even with CFO, but what is me controlling my destiny myself worth? It's not a question I find easy to answer. Of course not, or I'd have already done it.
Pros and cons on both sides, and it's frustrating.
no subject
Two small children means you MUST have health insurance. Would you if you went full time in the clothing business? I won't even let Ray & me go without it, which probably means at least one of us will always be working for someone else. You never know what will happen tomorrow that could mean you have to use it.
Setting aside your concerns about your officemate getting screwed ... Would he have the same concerns if he had a chance to jump ship for something he really wanted to do? It's admirable that you have those concerns, but most people really are in it for themselves.
If you can answer those kinds of questions in such a way that satisfies you, then yes, go for it.
no subject
If I were able to devote the kind of energy required to make that happen, yes, we would, and probably better than we have now, at least in terms of Rxs, our heaviest expense just now.
Would he have the same concerns if he had a chance to jump ship for something he really wanted to do?
I don't think he would, no, and that's the misery of it. We've all had opportunities, one way or another, but there's always been an "us against them" attitude that's kept the company going.
He's doing what he wants as a career; I'm no longer certain I am. I followed my nose to where the money was, and now I'm sniffing in another direction. He's pretty much where he ever wanted to be.