Soap Box

I have a tendency to soap box every now and then.  Given that we are starting a new business there has been a lot of this lately.  For those of you who might be considering starting a new business, we would like to share some of the not so fun stuff we have gone through. 


Craig and I kind of divvied up duties:  I am dealing with the financials and Craig is dealing with equipment, building, contractors.


One of the funnier issues we have gone through is that we are not married, we are not dating, we are not related.  This seems to be hard for people to understand.  We are friends.  We met about two years ago.  We have a common interest - alpaca fiber.  We identified a need in a small niche market and decided to go into business together. 


The bank can not understand any of this and tries to list us as married.  Craig tells the contractors and everyone that contracts need to be in my name.  Inevitably, they are not initially. 


But at this point, that all seems to be settled.  But here is it Fri, Nov 5.  It rained yesterday, it is raining today.  It is supposed to snow / rain tomorrow (but hopefully not all day).  The excavator has been told time and time again that the site prep needs to be done by Mon, Nov 8.  Yes, I am getting very nervous here.  I emote, Craig internalizes so I am really not sure at the moment if he is nervous or not.  Amazingly enough, with all the stress, my blood pressure was low yesterday!  It is always low.  Must be all the yelling. 


A lot of my stress is from the financial end of things.  We will get into this more later.  But for the moment, let it suffice to say that despite what the SBA and bankers say, they are not willing to help you start a small business.  In fact, I was looking at a book on small business and it said SBA only helps 3% of new businesses.  And recent articles say that even after a small business has been created and has a good history, help is still not available.  Another fallicy perpetuated.  To those of you who have had better luck with financial institutions, good for you.  We were not dealing with a poor credit history, score or lack of assets either.


Enjoy your weekend.  If and when they start moving earth, there will be photos here!  Until then, I will be trying to think positively.