Just another WordPress.com site

Archive for the ‘Starting a Business’ Category

I love VistaPrint

So – I want to point out something. I am absolutely in love with vistaprint.com. I want everyone who owns a small business to really see how wonderful they are. A lot of people Ive discussed this with – feel there’s some kind of catch to them. But – in over 3 years – Ive found nothing.

First off – they are CONSISTENTLY offering their business cards for “free” – which just costs 3$ to ship! Thats perfect. If you go to Office Depot [which my Dad did for me back in December] it costs nearly 25$ to get a FRACTION of the amount. I got maybe 50 cards – while Vistaprint gives you 250! You can get it paper or glossy or with recycled paper. Granted – those options cost a couple bucks more…but youre still saving a LOT more.

For my Opening…I ordered the following – and spent under 100$ — and by under – I mean barely passing 50$ — no joke!

  1. 100 Grand Opening Postcards – with a COLOR front including my logo and info plus the back with details!
  2. a BIRTHDAY banner to go in my storefront window in FULL color
  3. 5 sheets of Return Address Stickers
  4. 10 sheets of letterhead paper with my logo
  5. Sticky Pad
  6. Notepad
  7. NoteBook for my photography studio bookings
  8. 50 brochures for my photography business – color, with photos, a map, etc
  9. tee-shirt with my company
  10. stamp for deposits
  11. 20 Thank you cards for clients
  12. window decal for my front door – fancy too!
  13. magnets for wedding promotion
  14. new business cards [500]
  15. frequent shopper cards [250]
  16. halloween banner
  17. halloween postcards [100]
  18. halloween rackcards [50]
  19. 2 Totes with my company logo
  20. baby magnets to promote photography
  21. holiday postcards [100]
  22. birthday postcards[100]
  23. formal invitations to grand opening [10]
I may be missing things…but get REAL! This stuff is HIGH quality at that!  I’ll add photos if I remember.
That’s all 🙂

Re-Grand Opening!

The Day has come and I will be opening the brand new location of our gallery tomorrow morning. I am a bit unnerved as if I feel there is so much more to get done. Once again a lot of issues outside of myself have come up with this opening. I recieved my permit from City of Annapolis with awesome timing but my other permit has yet to arrive. I’ll have to keep an eye out for it at my location since the postman has yet to understand where I live. Verizon has created such a nightmare for me and I never wish to be in business with them again. Due to their failure to provide, I’ll be without internet/phone line for my opening. Fortunately – if all goes well, I will have access to WiFi but it will still create an issue of no credit cards for opening weekend. Luckily enough – the new barbershop has his own ATM – so that will be nice. I’ll be weary of taking checks – as they may be faulty. I’ll have to take down CC #s anyways. I think Ive picked an outfit for tomorrow but kind of mad at myself for not taking the time to go find something new and cute. Im aiming to give myself enough time in the morning but I dont see that happening. I want to wake up early and go by my parents house, grab a few things, stop in the store for a bit to go over some things then go to my hair appointment and head back to my house to have them drop me off at my shop. SO MUCH back and forth but its what needs to be done. So I will do it.

 

Im hoping tomorrow goes well. Most of me feels that it will but then other parts feels maybe it wont. Will everything be tagged? Will people like what’s in my shop? Will any of my friends come by or just wait to drink afterwards? How about my family….most relatives cant make it – not even my brother. That leaves my sister and my parents….who knows I guess. Jimmy is going to be working for the first portion of my opening – which is fine. Im glad he’ll be making some money and keeping busy. Just sucks because I know he’ll be tired from work then taking his car to the shop….which means, maybe he’ll be irritated or annoyed by the time he arrives. Will I be bummed that he’s missing my opening? Kinda like last time….he came on time [kinda] but left a lot. Then day 2 – he went to NYC and hurt his back. I dont want to seem needy…so I wont say much. At least his sister, Jenn, is in town. She’s been my real back bone through all of this. Im grateful to have someone like her in my life and by my side.

It sucks having to keep a part time job just to know I can support having this business – it sucks as far as picking store hours and deciding what hours to keep at work – alongside of knowing my car lease ends in about 15 days – and then I have to see if I can afford a scooter or just borrow Jimmys car. Which sucks cause I am not one to want to be dependent. Fortunately enough- his new job – gives him a work van. ALl in all – things can work out. It just sucks knowing that its not the way I would want:
I wish: I had my own car, that I could afford payments, insurance and gas. No need of a parttime job – had all the free time to be in the shop with no worries. Provide for my ownself, dogs and Jimmy via my business and photography. Be engaged and know I am with the right person. Have my family be there when full support is needed. Spent an hour or two each day at the gym.

Reality: I lease a car through my Dad – and could never afford payments/insurance – only gas. I NEED a parttime – just to survive with the business…barely even my own self. Which is why I have to hope this business takes off well. Jimmy is still super afraid of commitment – although our relationship has grown so intensely – Its a great feeling. My family is there when they can be in all ways possible in others. They mean well – and its selfish of me to want their free time. Im very emotional and vulnerable and I need people. Im a slacker and make excuses and put silly things before important ones.

 

At the end of the day – I need to realize I am a lot more fortunate than others are. I need to see the good in myself and more importantly, other people. I need to remind myself this business isnt a selfish thing – yet something to help others who are so talented/creative/gifted – who need an outlet, need to be understood and liked. I need to Thank God – for giving me the opportunity to express myself. I need to love Jimmy with all my heart and know that one day it will come together – if its supposed to. I need to be grateful to my family – no matter how insane we all are. I love them and couldnt be me without them.

Im scared. Im happy. Im sad. Im depressed. Im ecstatic….all at once. Ive cried myself to sleep a lot lately…but its because Im letting go of fears and moving forward.

 

Thanks be to God.

Landlord Issues

I consider myself a pretty fair person. I consider myself a smart person. I also consider myself someone to not be *#$ed with.

In May – I decided to notify my landlord via Blackberry that I had decided to seek out  the venture that was offerred. In June — I emailed my landlord again, explaining why this move was going to be needed and my decision to do so – also including as  much gratitude as possible. He wrote back and explained he required 30 days notice to terminiate lease. Which wasnt a problem because I had told him in May. And once again in June.

Not long after — he began to fret. Claiming I could not be trusted.

OKAY HOLD ON.

A girl who paid EVERY rent on time if not EARLY – was someone not to be trusted?!!? A girl who has contacted or notified asap if anything was needed/wrong/etc?!?!

GIVE ME A #$*#ing break.

He claimed I wasnt going to pay rent anymore. [[Which I did keep paying of course]]  He claimed that I wasnt going to stick by my word [[why the (#$# wouldnt I??)

I grew extremely upset with his accusations. This of course – turned into him threatening to take me to court if I ended the lease early.

OKAY SORRY BUDDY BOY…but you are an idiot. First off – you agree that with 30 days notice, I can break it. Then, you print out a lease for me to sign in October of 2010 and it clearly states NOTHING about ending the term early – such as withholding my security deposit or having me make up for what was not rented [ie. August – October rent if a new tenant was not found].

A lawyer who said this off the books — claims this would be called “MUTE in CONTRACT” since it is not mentioned nor covered.

Days went by without hearing a peep from this guy. I continued to packup and move out. In my emails – I stated I would put the place back to the original condition — which I had taken photos of. It was stained gross carpets and white walls. Simple. The weekend of 4th of July — I painted all 5 walls that I had painted and made sure they were perfectly covered.  Before that happened — He emails me claiming Im not going to paint the walls back. WHY THE FUCK WOULD I PAINT YOUR WALLS AND NOT RETURN IT TO ITS ORIGINAL CONDITION?! Are you ****ting me?!

What made me more mad about this entire situation – is being treated like a young, ignorant kid. Im an adult. I can read. I wouldn’t take someones personal property and change it all — knowing you have a deposit under my name — and NOT put it back to where it was.

Regardless – the walls were painted. In the process of the move, however, the box lifter had placed a half dollar size hole into the wall. This of course was blown into “YOU RUINED A WALL!!” OMG go get laid you pathetic ass. I didnt “ruin” a wall. I damaged it by accident….I feel as if I was going to purposely damage the property — Id do it in a more profound way other than a small hole by the entrance of the building.

This continued….on and on. While he cried like a big @*##%.

Don’t get me wrong — I may sound completely okay – but for that entire month – I was a wreck. I cried all the time, I could barely eat or drink without it making me sick, I was moody, my nerves were up….mainly because I felt untrusted and for nothing. I felt misunderstood because he was stubborn. He made me feel degraded being a young woman but in his eyes a pathetic child. I worked hard at making enough money to pay my rent there, I thought I had made it clear as to why I was ending my lease. It wasnt because of money or I didnt like him – it was a business decision. I needed this……

But I stood firm. I contacted numerous lawyers to get their opinions. I ended up writing a Thank You note – with a typed letter, a check, and the keys to the property. We’ll see where this goes.

Summer Time Update

I slacked off on keeping everyone updated on my business venture….I’ll keep it short and sweet for this one, but ill probably break it down into numerous blogs after this!

December — we kicked off with a bang. We made great sales and our name got out there fast. I added more artists by the time the New Year sprung along. A few pages of doubt seemed to cross over some faces – due to the location of the space. I reminded myself it was just a jumpstart — and we’d make it through. If not, then I knew this was not going to be worth it. We added a photo studio portion — The Unknown You. George Herlth – one of my artists – became the main photographer. I took care of the business aspect.

January — I got my own camera and began venturing into the PinUp portion of photography. We held numerous events to bring people in since the cold winter days dont call for street wandering/shopping. It worked. We made great money once again and it helped us survive. We got a lot of new people in the door through this and in retrospect, they purchased items. We had a few people who had just simply heard of the place and wanted to check it out. Some days felt so pointless sitting up in the studio – alone – for hours. But, it was something that needed to be done.

February — I attempted implementing the kids days but it wasnt AS successful as I would have wanted but we did have people show up. We included photos and book readings. We didnt profit from the event but it still got people in the door which is what counts. We continued with the girl photo events which increased interest! We held a hotel photo marathon which was a sold out success as well.

March — We began filming various commercials for the studio since no one else was willing since we were not in business long enough. My boyfriend Jimmy directed most of them. Most were really cool and funny. It didn’t bring anyone new in the door but it was worth the laughs. We did one for Valentine’s Day and another for St. Patty’s Day. Our second Kids Day was not as successful. No kids — but a few adults came by.

April — Well. I was beginning to get excited with the weather but giving up hope as far as getting more people in the door. CHANGE..yes…change is what was needed. So I took out some artists and added newer ones into the mix. Most new artists gave me the look of doubt due to the location and parking aspect. At the end of the day….parking in downtown Annapolis will always suck. it will always impact business and it will always be a waste of money for visitors and residents.

May — here it was. Mother’s Day. I got the offer of investment to move my studio into a store space. I attempted to keep a cool…but a week later. I was writing my landlord an email explaining the situation and searching all of downtown Annapolis for a new location. I had found it. Now….to figure out if I could move, when I could do it and what made the most sense…..nerves began piling up and the stress I had felt nearly 7 months ago had risen back up inside of me.

June — This was it. I had met with the new landlord. Everything checked out but I didnt jump the gun. I sent an email to my artists explaining the venture and offering them free rent for two months as a gratitude exchange. I was happy nearly 70% off them stuck it out with me through it all. Granted – most are friends/family who are displaying but then there are some who never met me until this all began. I appreciated them – without them, Id be no where. I didnt begin packing or anything too soon….I couldnt assume this was all going to work out. I had reviewed my lease and no clause stated I couldnt move out or cancel the lease. That eased my mind….kind of….by the end of the month – I signed the papers, got my keys, put the deposits down and took a deep breath. On the last day of the month – 7 of us boxed up EVERYTHING and began moving………

 

We did it!

Opening night came and went….and nearly 3 weeks later…here we are. Its insane. Everything went very well. We worked right up to our doors opening! It was a crazy adventure. A lot of tears and some fights with my family/Jimmy arose cause of all my tension. I was just so nervous and wanted things to be so perfect. I had to remind myself nearly every day not to syke myself out and to actually enjoy opening night. For the most part I accomplished that. Its amazing to have such huge support from my artists. They were all so happy and helpful. It was great being able to meet all these people.

I had some challenging issues up to opening day. Theyre was an issue with zoning – which was fixed thanks to my landlord. Then there was a bigger issue with my merchant account. That was fixed thanks to Sonja’s beau. I was so nervous though.Luckily – my family pulled through for me. They helped me set up the entire store. It looked fantastic!

We had Emily Wilson from Whats Up magazine stopped in to take note of the evening. We had a marine come to support the toys for tots. we collected a good amount of toys. that made happy that we could help! especially as soon as we opened. its important to remember everyone – especially at the holidays. when all the magazines and newspapers – tvs/radios are full of christmas “sales” and songs..and yet…those less fortunate cant enjoy it. How unfair is that?? I hope we made someones christmas’ fantastic!

I saw a lot of friends and family I havent seen in months or years – I enjoyed it!! It felt great that we were all getting together to share my new venture. It meant a lot…seriously. What an intense feeling this weekend was. It was hard for me to fully communicate that though but I cant believe we made it! TO MAKE IT EVEN BETTER! – We got our sign changed! I was sooo happy about that! Now people can at least identify with us!

🙂

3 days left!

Wow. Wow. Wow. This month has flown by. Its really crazy. Am I stressing?? Not completely. Is everything going smoothly? Not really. Here’s the update.

 

If you are going to get a merchant account – dont go with Mercury. They suck. They wanna withhold 9 GRAND! of my profits til they let me see a dime. WTF is that?! Tsk tsk. Im going to either not go with them or nix Credit Cards — which is something I dont want to do. Mainly because thats a huge selling point. But…it is what it is. I’ll find a way through it. Fortunately – my POS accessories arrived today — even though I may not need the swipe anymore. We’ll see how that goes. Cross your fingers!

I got to meet George and his selling partner from Backfin Studio and Faith [author] — they were all awesome. Alina came to do her magic again and got amazing photos of everyones stuff! SHe’s amazing — It felt great to walk into the studio and have a warm hot chocolate waiting for me. She’s fantastic!

Thanks to Jimmy – nearly all the artwork is now hung up. Ive got a lot of returns to make tomorrow [Marshalls, Ikea, and Michaels] Aye ye ye. So….in the past few days…Ive had soem stresses. UPS is one of my biggest – the guy dropped off 1 of 2 boxes from Target – which had me in a FRANTIC frenzy…basically cursing out the customer service rep [oh yea – super professional right lol] Hey – cant blame a girl – Ive got a lot riding on things going smoothly!

Just as I got the guy to send me a new package — UPS walked in. FIGURES. So, Im guna reject the package and get my refund from Target although I still have a desk. Hehe. Sneaky but whatever.

Dad helped me out immensely this past weekend. He decided to help me with items from Ikea, Michaels and Staples. Jimmy’s been spending most of his time with me at the studio – cleaning out the clutter and extra items. The wall space is getting overwhelmed fast – mainly because we are keeping an entire wall empty due to holiday photos. So after this weekend – we’ll have a whole wall to use.

I have a lot to figure out with my merchant stuff….it sucks that I have to work tomorrow and Wednesday morning — which would be the ideal time to go to the bank — Ive got meetings tomorrow and Wednesday after work with artists. AYE! Not enough time in a day.

Thankfully…I have off Thursday. I will be taking a shower, making my legs silky and smooth, getting my hair done and putting on my party dress — its almost here. IM WAITING…..but super nervous…..

I think Im more worried of how my artists will accept it all — but, it feels great to have such awesome support from everyone. AHHHHHHHHHHHH

10 day countdown – UPDATES!

SO..I have slacked MAJORLY on keeping you all updated on here lotshappening! so much happening. let me  start where I left off..

 

With 10 days to go…we’ve accomplished a lot but have so much to do! Ive done ag reat job with Vlogs…which I will post up soon!

 

  • All 3 rooms are painted and ready to go!
  • Hardwood floors have arrived in our main room and look fantastic!
  • We’ve added at least 20 artists since my last blog post
  • We have been featured in two articles on patch.com [search Historic Annapolis and Broadneck]
  • We’ve added a FLASH website – the official page launches this week!
  • We’ve added an official store blog – unknownartist-annapolis.blogspot.com
  • Fixtures are being built and moved in daily!!
  • Tons of help from artists,my family & Jimmy [[[many many thanks!]]]
  • LOts of shopping trips to Ikea, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Home Depot and more.
  • Tons of craigslist hunting – got some great pieces
  • At least 15 meetings since I last wrote you — and still counting.
  • We now have WIFI [Fios] in our store!
  • On Dec 13th the Capital Newspaper is coming in to do a feature article!
  • Ladies Night got even better — aside frmo drinking and networking — we are having aDOVE chocolate host & a scentcy rep!
  • Alina has been snapping photos of items for me to post on the website
  • Our sports section is in the midst of being built and prepared!
  • LOTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS happening!!!!

Excitement from Others!

Everyones buzzing…here’s some proof!

Ontheflip Side The Unknown Artist www.the-unknownartist.com will launch it’s Grand Opening on December 2, 2010. There will be festivities, friends and funky creations.

Come out and join us!! Annapolis City will be celebrating Midnight Madness www.annapolismidnightmadness.com as well.

November 12 at 10:06pm · · · Share

Great rates for the winter time! If you’re in need of any type of shooting, let me know and we can discuss as I’m in need of cash now 🙂 Also, December 2nd I have an opening at Theunk Artist (The Unknown Artist) in Annapolis! It’s a great gallery opening up featuring a bunch of talented artists! Check it out the opening is from 6-12!

November 13 at 9:42pm · · · Remove Tag

An article featuring the new gallery/boutique “the Unknown Artist” and features two of my past looks:)

 

historicannapolis.patch.com

Celebrate and Shop for Gifts on Thursday, Dec. 2.

Saturday at 1:06pm · · · · Share

  •  

    Katharina Görlitz likes this.
    •  

      Katharina Görlitz how can i see your collection? it doesnt work… 

      Yesterday at 2:22pm ·
    •  

      Cat Reinheimer double click on the blue letters then the pics on the right….or just look in my album cat reinheimer collection….the pics are in there too 

      21 hours ago ·

My work is published….article and pics of “the Unknown Artist”

historicannapolis.patch.com

Celebrate and Shop for Gifts on Thursday, Dec. 2.

Yesterday at 9:16am · · · Share

COME AND SUPPORT ME DEC 2 at THE NEW ARTIST GALLERY : 99 cathedral STREET ANNAPOLIS MD FROM 6PM-12 MIDNIGHT!
THERE WILL BE MANY ARTIST SELLING THERE PRODUCTS THERE! AT “THE UNKNOWN ARTIST!
PLEASE ALSO SHARE THIS PAGE WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILIES.

19 hours ago · ·

Check out this article about The Unknown Artist Gallery, opening soon in Annapolis, MD. The “Midnight Madness” grand opening is Thursday, December 2, 2010. Among other wonderful artist creations, you’ll find items from SKCreations, LLC!

 

historicannapolis.patch.com

Celebrate and Shop for Gifts on Thursday, Dec. 2.

20 minutes ago · · · Share



Going to meet the owner of a new local art gallery called the Unknown Artist. She’s going to prepare me to sell my prints in her gallery. Woot!!

about an hour ago · ·

Days 23-20

Videos Days 26-24