Archives for "Thoughts"
Insanity
Because I am never satisfied I have decided to expand my empire…or start an empire…or just, you know, make myself a lot poorer (who thought it was possible!).
If you've been reading this awhile then you know that I've had a bit of an identity crisis with Metropolis. I love my company but I know that, as it is right now, it's unlikely to become a big mainstream company. It's most definitely a niche…some people will get it, some people won't.
So I've begun another side company to go along with this. I won't really feature that much here because….I don't know really. I'm just keeping it as a separate entity. It won't be at craft shows, art shows, street fairs, etc. The brand is fancy, possibly even schmancy, and I'm going at this in a traditional business strategy…well, other than finding massive amounts of funding. sigh.
I guess I should add that it sort of sounds like I'm hiding this because I'm ashamed or insecure about it and I just want to clarify that's not it at all. Handmade Brooklyn is about Metropolis and the stuggle to keep this little punk rock soap company (and myself) afloat. I know that Metropolis won't ever get into spas or resorts unless they've got a sense of humor. So rather than waiting for THAT to happen, I decided to bend a bit to their will. Also Metropolis feels a bit more personal to me than the other company…Im excited to have these two entities but my heart belongs to Metropolis.
And I'm rambling. Hopefully you caught my point.
ANYHOW. We are super-social-media-streamlined now. There's a Twitter and a Facebook page. I don't know what to do with the Facebook page, except announce updates to the blog. I guess it's mostly for vanity.
I would recommend you follow the twitter though. I'll be posting all of the good business articles I stumble across. Fun reading material, indeeed.
Thoughts on bureaucracy
Firstly “bureaucracy” is hard to spell, which is damning enough.
I have mostly kept out of government-y things…I did what I was supposed to do: registered my business, got my insurance, pay my taxes…all of the normal business stuff. I figured if I kept toeing the line, they would leave me alone.
“They” would be the government. Look, I’m not a radical anarchist…I fancied myself one in college but really I’m too lazy…ANYHOW…I’ve kept my head down and just kept chugging along. There was a very real threat I could be shut down with a bill called the Safe Cosmetics Act. Atleast I think that’s what it was called…long story short it got cut, which I am incredibly thankful for. That bill would’ve had crippling consequences on small beauty companies like mine; it was about creating fees of outrageous amounts (hundreds of thousands) and heavily favored large conglomerate companies, though they would have suffered along with me…they still would’ve been in business at least.
And now there is a new bill, and it has passed. The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 does…well actually I don’t really know what it’s going to do, I hear conflicting things and my brain shuts off when I start to read it.
The gist of things I’m getting is that there will be required testing for products (cool) and user fees (not cool). Many are stating that this bill will shut down small companies, but I also heard that those making less than $1 million would be exempt…so who the hell knows.
My opinion is this: I am all for consumer safety, I am thankful that the government said “no” to lead in products and enforced it. I am NOT glad that I have to jump through hoops held by an unknown person for an unknown reason. “Safety” is such a blanket word that it’s meaning has become so jumbled. Do I create a safe product? Of course I do…if I didn’t I would have lawsuits and liability claims that would bankrupt me. Do I need to prove that to someone who has a hard-on for justice because it’s election season? No and fuck you for asking.
My problem with this whole thing is that there is no concerned group of voters pushing for this. This bill was created by either A) someone who has an agenda B) someone who wants to push out the competition C) someone who has a controlling interest in these “user fees.” D) all of the above.
Will it shut us all down? I doubt it but we’ll see. If we DID get shut down I would love to see an underground handmade soap movement, wouldn’t that be fun?
Stay tuned.
Further Reading:
Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010
Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild weighs in on the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010
lessons learned from jaywalking
Maybe it’s from the book I’ve been reading lately, but my inner motivational speaker has been very active recently.
I returned my rental car today and took the subway back home. Now, there are 2 stops near my apartment I can get off at…one is a little further away but has more stuff near it. I decided to get off at that stop because I had talked myself into getting a bagel with cream cheese (delicious!) earlier that morning.
There’s a Dunkin Donuts directly across the street from the station, and an intersection about 30 yards on either side where I could cross the street…or I could just cut across the middle of the road and dodge traffic. So I first went to head to the crosswalk but made an abrupt turn when my little motivational speaker popped up to use this as an analogy for me:
You could do what everyone else does, or take a little risk, make your own way, and get what you want.
Now, I don’t advocate jaywalking, of course. But Im just sayin…sometimes it’s quicker to make your own path.
Sharing is caring
As a sequel to the previous post, allow me to give you some supplemental materials that have been very helpful to me…maybe they’ll be helpful for you!
– Savor the Success vlog always a good motivational tool…It’s great to see that there are businesswomen out there who are super successful but still willing to be human about it. I love when Angela talks about mistakes she’s made in order to help her viewers not make them.
– Flickr HUGE help in my quest for a new display setting. I’ve looked at Show Me Your Booth, Art & Craft Fairs, Soap Displays (cough, my that’s an awesome admin there!), and also a slideshow of the Shops at Bryant Park.
– The Switchboards. They’re, um, not as active as they used to be but the wealth of biz info there is killer. Spend a day on a subject of your choice (PR, Marketing, Pitches, Shows, Blogging) and enjoy!
Me + You = Friends?
