Jeff on sun 29 dec 02
I'm a loan officer, I don't give much credibility to anyone that hasn't gone
to the effort to put together a well researched and planned business plan.
The cash flow is only one part of the picture. Your business plan puts it
all together, will you have enough time to sell your mugs after you spend 50
hours / week making them. Not every mug is going to be sellable, what do
you do with seconds? Are you going to have the time to take your normal 2
week vacation or attend workshops. How about the 3 hours you spend daily
reading clayart? Very educational, but seriously cuts into studio time.
Then after you've made 10,000 $10 mugs who's going to buy them. I don't
have much problem selling or giving away a few hundred a year, but when I do
the math I don't think I could sell as many mugs as it would take to offset
the salary at my day job.
Oh yes, my day job,, that's the one that provides for health & life
insurance as well as retirement. Can your pottery business put money into
the bank / stock market to allow for retirement. What about sick days,
right now I get paid even if I stay home occasionally with the flu. The
only throwing I feel like doing then is throwing up!!
Business plans not difficult / not accurate??? Its best if you feel your
business plan was difficult to put together, that means a great deal of
thought went into it. Anyone thinking of venturing out as business needs
to take a class offered by the Small Business Development Center. The link
is below, find a SBDC near you, if the ones close to you are anything like
the ones in Illinois, you won't be disappointed spending a night a week for
6 weeks learning how to market yourself and your widgets.
http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/
Jeff
really looking forward to a week in Oaxaca!!!
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On Behalf Of J. B. Clauson
Sent: Sunday, December 29, 2002 10:26 AM
To: Subject: Re: ceramic business plan
They are not difficult. Remember that all
the figures you come up with are estimates and not expected to be accurate.
Personally, I find the cash flow analysis to be the key to keeping
a new business afloat. You have to be sure you have enough cash to cover
your outlay - whether expense or capital expenditure - or you'll go under
quickly. You also need enough cash to live on.
J. B. Clauson on sun 29 dec 02
Gee, Jeff, I didn't mean to pull your chain so hard!
Business plans are nor difficult. They are time consuming, complicated, and
tedious - which some may equate with difficulty. I don't. Further, the
initial figures in the plan are not accurate, they are estimates. I was an
estimator (among other things) for 25 years, I know whereof I speak. That
does not mean the figures are not as accurate as you can make them. They
can never be exactly right - they are, after all, estimates! .
My experience with untried entrepreneurs is that the perceived need for
absolute accuracy of the plan is so daunting they give up before they start.
I only meant to convey that it is not as hard as some people make it out to
be and can be accomplished by anyone who really wants to do it and to offer
my assistance if they need help.
Calm yourself , my friend.
Jan C.
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