Good morning! (afternoon) ish
I have started a small business. in small theory, and very small practice. But my heart is clear (now) and my labels (which arrived yesterday!!) are gold and shiny. It's been sort of difficult lately...well actually always, because I get in my way so damn much that I end up doing nothing. Fortunately I have a dear friend, who, if he ever reads this blog, will be glad to know that I think he finally cracked the egg. Or rather, I think I finally heard him. (oh my)
For those of you who understand what it's like to battle a relentlessly evil and stubborn ego, you know what I'm talking about. You spin yourself into chaos, fear, anger... and of course it only gets worse when the bad side starts to see the good side struggle through and wants to kill it. Think Richard E Grant in "How to Get Ahead in Advertising"...
So this is what I've learned so far, without giving voice to my bad bad little ego. shame on you ego.
1.Dont' spend 3 months picking a name.
That's what I did, and I see now it was a frantic, scared attempt at overmanagement (of myself) and perfectionism. much as I still LOVE to know that I am a bit of a perfectionist, an image maker, and a control freak, which I think might work lovely for a good food astehtic and an eventual work ethic in a difficult business, it gets in the way when you end up making doodles of signs and menus for things you haven't even made or told anyone about yet. again, for MONTHS. To take a page out of my friends book - it's just avoiding DOING anything. The JOY of getting a name that clicks will be worth it. Go about your business, (literally and figuratively) and it will come to you. Or maybe I'm the only one obsessed with a name...
2. http://www.foodnetwork.com/ (if you type in foodtv.com that will work too)
best site ever.
If you are reading this blog, chances are you know the site, but still, go on, have a look. give yourself a cheer. the colors are pretty, you can search recipes, shows or topics, you can type in keywords (such as "caramalized apples") and VOILA pages of recipes file down and are rated on scales of easy-difficult. And it's great to see each chef's different method and to find one that suits you.
It's simple, incredibly helpful, and you can print really cute little recipe cards too! ahhh, i'm a girl. but seriously, it's not just a site devoted to thier shows, there is a wealth of knowledge there, and I owe my ganache recipe.. hell pretty much my entire ganache knowledge to Sara Moulton. There is MUCH more on the site, but I use the search feature so religiously, and with such great results I haven't even seen what else they can offer! so have fun. trust your cool tv chefs.
3. Keep Track of Your Expenses n' shit.
Ok
so I havent' been doing this lately and this is why I tell you. For my first business idea, that has now morphed into chocolate truffles, I had a binder devoted to all things relating to the business. Just get a good ol' 3-ring grammer school binder and sort it according to your taste with those little colored tabs. It's also a good idea to have a page devoted to expenses. Though I haven't been doing this lately (shame) I know from the real adults in my life who actually manage thier finances, that this is an invaluable thing to do. ESP. if you are wanting to have any idea what profit you are making vs. what you are spending on materials, etc.
4. DBA/government-y stuff
When I was searching for all the complicated, red-tapey government stuff involving tax ids, seller ids, DBA ("doing business as") registration, etc. and what it all meant, I found this site:
http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/businessstructure/a/doingbusinessas.htm
This guy is cool. and the site is helpful in general. All subsequent info on this type of stuff I pretty much gleaned from this article and all it's links.
OK
enough about that, I still have to practice a lot of this preach, but I hope what I have learned is helpful!
OH!
also, check out http://www.ecolechocolat.com/forum/index.php?t=i&
it's a great chocolate forum. very helpful, knowledgable people, free to sign up.
YAY FOOD!
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