Now that I've got my bags designed and my samples and first run of bags completed, I'm working on securing manufacturing. I just don't have the time or capacity to do my own production for these bags, so I need to find a factory at which I can place orders. So when I have large numbers of bags being ordered by stores, I can get the orders filled in a small amount of time.
When vetting out a factory, there are a couple of important points to consider:
1. Belief in your own Company: First and foremost, you have to find a factory willing to work with you. Since I don't have hundreds of thousands (or even 10s of thousands, for that matter) of dollars of investment that I can pledge for my orders, I have to find factories that are set up to do small production runs and who believe that my initial orders are worth taking in the anticipation that in a year or so, I'll be placing and paying for larger runs as I expand. So I have to make sure that I communicate my plans to make this a viable business as it's my personal life and savings investment.
2. Communication: It's also important to find a factory rep who you can easily communicate with. As I have personally made all the samples thus far, I have to make sure I can give instructions clearly and easily so that I can get the product that I want from the factory, and that my rep can communicate my vision to the technicians on his/her end.
3. Quality of Work: Once the sample process begins, and I get back the initial factory sample, I'll make comments on where the seams are placed, how the trims are applied, and how the full bag is coming together. This is relatively subjective, as I know what I want it to look like, so I simply have to make sure that my vision has been communicated properly.
I have put together what is called a Tech Pack which includes all fabric and trim for the bag, a paper pattern to cut the pieces of the bag, and an original sample that I have already produced that the factory is to duplicate. Now it's a matter of sitting back and waiting for the sample and costing structure to come back from the factories I want to vet.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Work and Rewards
Now that it's officially summer time with gorgeous beach weather, I have to exercise restraint. I can see the beach from my living room window, so I can always assess whether it's a day I want to go outdoors while still in my pajamas. So I have to make sure that I am getting work done before I go out and play. I'm officially an adult and an entrepreneur, so I can't just blow off work all the time to hit the beach.
But, one of my issues with the corporate world is the lack of flexibility of schedules. I can't just ditch out on a good job with regular paychecks and benefits, and trade that for no guaranteed money, paying for my own insurance, and never taking any time for myself.
I haven't quite gotten into a groove or a system yet, but I have a checklist every day, and I have to make sure that I accomplish the list. And I either surf in the morning before work or in the afternoon after work. And since my commute is about 3 minutes, I can get to the beach quickly instead of an hour and a half after my work is finished.
I like to think that I am setting up my life to be lived on my terms. I suppose we all are. How do you cope with a work/play balance? Let me know in the comments.
But, one of my issues with the corporate world is the lack of flexibility of schedules. I can't just ditch out on a good job with regular paychecks and benefits, and trade that for no guaranteed money, paying for my own insurance, and never taking any time for myself.
I haven't quite gotten into a groove or a system yet, but I have a checklist every day, and I have to make sure that I accomplish the list. And I either surf in the morning before work or in the afternoon after work. And since my commute is about 3 minutes, I can get to the beach quickly instead of an hour and a half after my work is finished.
Business Sense: Articles of Publication
So, I got the Affidavits of Publication back from the Queens Chronicle and the NY Daily News. They testify that they published the announcement of the formation of my LLC. So I sent those off with a $50 check to the NY Department of State. And now I simply await whatever certificate comes back confirming that my LLC has been formed and recognized by the State of New York!
I'm on my way. I am amazed at how long this process has taken, but I think that they make it just complicated-seeming enough to keep people from doing it without a lawyer's assistance. Well, I got it all done without hiring an attorney, and I'm pretty proud of that.
So today, I am going to Capital One bank (they have no fees for checking accounts on small businesses), and I am starting a checking account for Scotty Fashion LLC. Now I just need to start making money to put into that account.
I'm on my way. I am amazed at how long this process has taken, but I think that they make it just complicated-seeming enough to keep people from doing it without a lawyer's assistance. Well, I got it all done without hiring an attorney, and I'm pretty proud of that.
So today, I am going to Capital One bank (they have no fees for checking accounts on small businesses), and I am starting a checking account for Scotty Fashion LLC. Now I just need to start making money to put into that account.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Scotty Bags Debut!
I have been all quiet on the blog front for the past few weeks because I've barely looked up from my sewing machine.
But alas, the fruits of my labor are ready. And the collection is made up of 3 styles.
The Louise Backpack (Retails for $64)
The Erica Tote Bag (Retails for $70)
The Karen Drawstring Tote (Retails for $80)
All three are made of durable water-resistant nylon ripstop fabric. The seams are all double-reinforced and sealed for extra durability.
I will have my basic website up and running in the next few weeks, but if you want to order one of these bags, you can always email me at bethany@scottyfashion.com.
And if you want to see them in person, stop by Boarders Surf Shop on the Boardwalk at 98th St. in Rockaway.
But alas, the fruits of my labor are ready. And the collection is made up of 3 styles.
The Louise Backpack (Retails for $64)
The Erica Tote Bag (Retails for $70)
The Karen Drawstring Tote (Retails for $80)
All three are made of durable water-resistant nylon ripstop fabric. The seams are all double-reinforced and sealed for extra durability.
I will have my basic website up and running in the next few weeks, but if you want to order one of these bags, you can always email me at bethany@scottyfashion.com.
And if you want to see them in person, stop by Boarders Surf Shop on the Boardwalk at 98th St. in Rockaway.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Creative Process: Research
Today I spent the day at my absolute favorite room in all of New York City. I hesitate to put this out for public viewing because it's still a really well-kept secret in the city where nothing good is ever kept a secret.
I can't remember how I found out about the Picture Collection, but I researched movie costumes there when I used to do that about 5 years ago. It's on the 3rd floor of the NY Public Library Mid-Manhattan Branch (not the famous building with the lions out front, but the circulation library across the street). Essentially, it is a 30 foot by 40 foot room of shelves. On the shelves sit expanding file folders filled with magazine pages and book pages either loose or mounted on heavyweight paper. These images are all sorted into files according to subject matter, and the files are in alphabetical order by subject matter.
For example, today I researched "surfing," and there were 4 overstuffed folders filled with images of surfers on the beach with surfboards, surfers riding waves, and any other surfing related images. For 3 hours, I sat just leafing through these images getting inspired. This was my favorite find:
I tried to figure out from which book it came, but that research turned up no answers. If anyone knows, let me know, because I'd really like to get this book with this picture of beach babes of the 1930s.
I can't remember how I found out about the Picture Collection, but I researched movie costumes there when I used to do that about 5 years ago. It's on the 3rd floor of the NY Public Library Mid-Manhattan Branch (not the famous building with the lions out front, but the circulation library across the street). Essentially, it is a 30 foot by 40 foot room of shelves. On the shelves sit expanding file folders filled with magazine pages and book pages either loose or mounted on heavyweight paper. These images are all sorted into files according to subject matter, and the files are in alphabetical order by subject matter.
For example, today I researched "surfing," and there were 4 overstuffed folders filled with images of surfers on the beach with surfboards, surfers riding waves, and any other surfing related images. For 3 hours, I sat just leafing through these images getting inspired. This was my favorite find:
I tried to figure out from which book it came, but that research turned up no answers. If anyone knows, let me know, because I'd really like to get this book with this picture of beach babes of the 1930s.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
The Hunt for Insurance: The Finale
About a month ago, I was sent a letter from Medicaid saying that they needed me to show up in person to give them some additional information like my passport proving my identity and some recently postmarked mail proving my address. The last page of the request for more information said, "Mail in enclosed envelope." There was no enclosed envelope. And the first page said that I had to appear in person; but there was no address at which to appear. And, to top it off, the 1-800 number on the header of the form wasn't functioning.
So I took to the internet. While you can find out anything about anything involving your favorite movie, celebrity gossip, or restaurant reviews on the internet in no time at all, you canNOT find a damned thing about Medicaid on the internet. I finally decided to call 311 (for non-New Yorkers, this is 911 for non-emergencies. You can report things that don't need emergency attention like noisy jackhammering at all hours of the night or bedbug infestations. You can also get transferred to state and city public services offices). So I get transferred to an automated message that gives me the address of the Queens County Medicaid Office. The next morning I head there.
As mentioned in my last post, the journey from one area of Queens to another is long. It takes me about 2 hours to get to the other side of Queens. I wait in a line for about half an hour. I show the woman at the desk my papers and tell her there were no instructions about where to go. She says, "This isn't from this office." I'm always very polite in these types of situations because I know from experience that being snotty will get me nowhere, and this woman ain't joking around. So I ask where am I supposed to go. She says, as if she has been talking to me far too long for her own liking, "Let me go check." She picks up my forms and a restaurant menu and walks back into a hallway for 15 minutes or so, comes back and tells me I need to go to Manhattan and gives me the address. Then she lectures me on coming four days before the deadline written on my form, "If you get something like this, you should respond immediately," which just annoys me because I figured I had until the deadline since they gave me that as a deadline. Dispirited at the prospect of an hour train ride into Manhattan, I don't even respond to her attempted lesson and I walk out.
Arriving in Manhattan, I locate the correct building from across the street. As I approach, there seems to be a large number of people exiting the building and congregating out front. I am in my own world at this point, and a security guard has to hold us his hands in front of me. When I zone back into what is going on, he says, "You can't go in there. The building is being evacuated." Before I have time to question, the two front doors open as two women exit and a billow of smoke that smells like burning plastic spills onto the street. I'm starting to think that this is God's way of telling me I shouldn't get Medicaid. Sheesh!
Since I can't get into the building at all on this day, I get lunch in the city and make my way to meet up with Jim at his work to drive to Vermont for the weekend, intent on getting back to the city early Monday morning.
On Monday, I go directly to the 5th floor where my dear friend at the Queens Office had instructed me to go. The woman at the desk there is really nice and tells me that I am in fact NOT in the right place. I have to go to a different floor in the same building. So I go there, and it's not the right place either. They send me to a building next door on ground floor with a glass facade and packed full of a snaking line of people. So I wait in a line for an hour and a half, I hand off my requirements to a very disinterested but efficient man, then I am on my way back home.
These events all occurred a little over a month ago. I have heard NOTHING from Medicaid since then. And since they are so hard to contact, there is no number to call in order to get information about my standing.
Figuring that I won't be getting Medicaid even though I jumped through all the hoops to prove that I qualify, I give up and sign up for COBRA.
COBRA is a federal act that requires employer coverage to continue until a suitable replacement is found. This is mainly to keep people from having a lapse in their coverage just because they switch jobs and their new employer doesn't start insurance until 3 or 6 months into their employment. I can get the same insurance I had at my last job for $349.59 a month. This is the best deal that I have seen thus far, and it covers me for 18 months as long as I pay the premium every month. And it's really good United Healthcare insurance.
So, now that I've sent off the check for my first premium, I will probably get a letter from Medicaid telling me that I double-qualify and that I can have free insurance for the rest of my life. Ugh! I guess I'll find out when that happens.
So I took to the internet. While you can find out anything about anything involving your favorite movie, celebrity gossip, or restaurant reviews on the internet in no time at all, you canNOT find a damned thing about Medicaid on the internet. I finally decided to call 311 (for non-New Yorkers, this is 911 for non-emergencies. You can report things that don't need emergency attention like noisy jackhammering at all hours of the night or bedbug infestations. You can also get transferred to state and city public services offices). So I get transferred to an automated message that gives me the address of the Queens County Medicaid Office. The next morning I head there.
As mentioned in my last post, the journey from one area of Queens to another is long. It takes me about 2 hours to get to the other side of Queens. I wait in a line for about half an hour. I show the woman at the desk my papers and tell her there were no instructions about where to go. She says, "This isn't from this office." I'm always very polite in these types of situations because I know from experience that being snotty will get me nowhere, and this woman ain't joking around. So I ask where am I supposed to go. She says, as if she has been talking to me far too long for her own liking, "Let me go check." She picks up my forms and a restaurant menu and walks back into a hallway for 15 minutes or so, comes back and tells me I need to go to Manhattan and gives me the address. Then she lectures me on coming four days before the deadline written on my form, "If you get something like this, you should respond immediately," which just annoys me because I figured I had until the deadline since they gave me that as a deadline. Dispirited at the prospect of an hour train ride into Manhattan, I don't even respond to her attempted lesson and I walk out.
Arriving in Manhattan, I locate the correct building from across the street. As I approach, there seems to be a large number of people exiting the building and congregating out front. I am in my own world at this point, and a security guard has to hold us his hands in front of me. When I zone back into what is going on, he says, "You can't go in there. The building is being evacuated." Before I have time to question, the two front doors open as two women exit and a billow of smoke that smells like burning plastic spills onto the street. I'm starting to think that this is God's way of telling me I shouldn't get Medicaid. Sheesh!
Since I can't get into the building at all on this day, I get lunch in the city and make my way to meet up with Jim at his work to drive to Vermont for the weekend, intent on getting back to the city early Monday morning.
On Monday, I go directly to the 5th floor where my dear friend at the Queens Office had instructed me to go. The woman at the desk there is really nice and tells me that I am in fact NOT in the right place. I have to go to a different floor in the same building. So I go there, and it's not the right place either. They send me to a building next door on ground floor with a glass facade and packed full of a snaking line of people. So I wait in a line for an hour and a half, I hand off my requirements to a very disinterested but efficient man, then I am on my way back home.
These events all occurred a little over a month ago. I have heard NOTHING from Medicaid since then. And since they are so hard to contact, there is no number to call in order to get information about my standing.
Figuring that I won't be getting Medicaid even though I jumped through all the hoops to prove that I qualify, I give up and sign up for COBRA.
COBRA is a federal act that requires employer coverage to continue until a suitable replacement is found. This is mainly to keep people from having a lapse in their coverage just because they switch jobs and their new employer doesn't start insurance until 3 or 6 months into their employment. I can get the same insurance I had at my last job for $349.59 a month. This is the best deal that I have seen thus far, and it covers me for 18 months as long as I pay the premium every month. And it's really good United Healthcare insurance.
So, now that I've sent off the check for my first premium, I will probably get a letter from Medicaid telling me that I double-qualify and that I can have free insurance for the rest of my life. Ugh! I guess I'll find out when that happens.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Business Sense: Forming an LLC Step 3
On April 4th, I set out for the Queens County Clerk. The fastest route according to HopStop was to take the AirTrain. New York residents and visitors who fly into JFK Airport know about this great contraption. You pay $5 to ride the AirTrain directly from the A train or the LIRR. Or in mine and Jim's case, from our free parking spot on the street in Howard Beach (Thank God for no alternate side parking!). Well, since the AirTrain goes direct to the terminals at JFK, you pay to get on the train, then get to the terminal and it was all well worth it. On your return from your travels, you pay $5 to exit the train, after riding it from baggage claim to the subway or your car. Well, I didn't really think about these easy-to-come-by facts, and set off on my journey via the AirTrain, paying my $5 entrance fee. For anyone who doesn't live in one of the
non-Manhattan boroughs of New York City, please note that getting just
5-10 miles away from your starting point via subway can take anywhere
from 45-120 minutes. It's a long haul even if you are getting somewhere
geographically close. So this AirTrain seemed like a short-cut, promising only 30 minutes of commute time. When I arrived at Jamaica Station, I walked toward the exit, and the turnstile insisted that I give my MetroCard to it for the $5 exit fee.
I keep my fiery Scottish temper on reserve for just these types of clear injustices. I ask the station attendant, "I have to pay $10 for a one-way ride on the AirTrain?" And the answer is a very flat, "Yes." So in order to get 10 minutes shaved off of my commute time, I have to spend $7.75 extra ($2.25 for a regular subway ticket or bus ride). I'm clearly annoyed, but obviously this is one of those injustices about which absolutely no one cares. Or everyone is too busy fumbling with their suitcases and just trying to get to their destinations to notice one more irritated moron on public transportation.
I didn't even give my reasons for traveling to the Queens County Clerk yet in this story, being sidetracked by my anger at the AirTrain's personal persecution of me. Well, in the state of New York, once an LLC has filed its Articles of Organization (which I did on February 28th, 2011), the County Clerk of whatever county in which the LLC is located will give a list of two newspapers. In the classified section of these two papers, the LLC must take out an ad announcing the intent to do business in the county. This ad must run for 6 consecutive weeks. After the ad has run, the newspaper will then send an Affidavit of Publication to the person responsible for the LLC, and then, once the Certificate of Publication is issued by the Department of State, the LLC is formed and can legally get sued by anyone. Optimistic, I know.
After some online research, New York seems to be the only state still requiring this step in their LLC formation. It's pretty annoying and doesn't seem to have any real benefit to anyone other than the newspaper who you have to pay for printing the ad. It's also very difficult to find information on this process online. Well, please don't be discouraged by that fact, as I almost was. The process is incredibly easy and doesn't even require legal expertise, as LegalZoom would like you to believe.
After the train ride, I handed the clerk my Filing Receipt (proving that I had filled out the necessary paperwork and paid the fee when I filed my Articles of Organization). She told me to wait in the lobby. Then she came out less than 2 minutes later with a photocopy with the contact numbers and addresses of two newspapers: The NY Daily News and The Queens Chronicle. So I took the paper, and off I went to ride the regular subway for $2.25 instead of the AirTrain.
I'd been putting off the process since April 4th. So for 8 business days, I have had the sheet of paper sitting next to my computer, and I've been scared of how daunting this process seems. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong in my procrastination.
I made one phone call each to the papers, sent an email each to the papers with the necessary information. And $311.94 (the NY Daily News rate) + $350 (The Queens Chronicle rate) = $661.94 later, I will have my ads running for the next six weeks, and then I'll be the proud recipient of some kind of certificate from the State Department saying that I can do lawful business in the Empire State.
I keep my fiery Scottish temper on reserve for just these types of clear injustices. I ask the station attendant, "I have to pay $10 for a one-way ride on the AirTrain?" And the answer is a very flat, "Yes." So in order to get 10 minutes shaved off of my commute time, I have to spend $7.75 extra ($2.25 for a regular subway ticket or bus ride). I'm clearly annoyed, but obviously this is one of those injustices about which absolutely no one cares. Or everyone is too busy fumbling with their suitcases and just trying to get to their destinations to notice one more irritated moron on public transportation.
I didn't even give my reasons for traveling to the Queens County Clerk yet in this story, being sidetracked by my anger at the AirTrain's personal persecution of me. Well, in the state of New York, once an LLC has filed its Articles of Organization (which I did on February 28th, 2011), the County Clerk of whatever county in which the LLC is located will give a list of two newspapers. In the classified section of these two papers, the LLC must take out an ad announcing the intent to do business in the county. This ad must run for 6 consecutive weeks. After the ad has run, the newspaper will then send an Affidavit of Publication to the person responsible for the LLC, and then, once the Certificate of Publication is issued by the Department of State, the LLC is formed and can legally get sued by anyone. Optimistic, I know.
After some online research, New York seems to be the only state still requiring this step in their LLC formation. It's pretty annoying and doesn't seem to have any real benefit to anyone other than the newspaper who you have to pay for printing the ad. It's also very difficult to find information on this process online. Well, please don't be discouraged by that fact, as I almost was. The process is incredibly easy and doesn't even require legal expertise, as LegalZoom would like you to believe.
After the train ride, I handed the clerk my Filing Receipt (proving that I had filled out the necessary paperwork and paid the fee when I filed my Articles of Organization). She told me to wait in the lobby. Then she came out less than 2 minutes later with a photocopy with the contact numbers and addresses of two newspapers: The NY Daily News and The Queens Chronicle. So I took the paper, and off I went to ride the regular subway for $2.25 instead of the AirTrain.
I'd been putting off the process since April 4th. So for 8 business days, I have had the sheet of paper sitting next to my computer, and I've been scared of how daunting this process seems. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong in my procrastination.
I made one phone call each to the papers, sent an email each to the papers with the necessary information. And $311.94 (the NY Daily News rate) + $350 (The Queens Chronicle rate) = $661.94 later, I will have my ads running for the next six weeks, and then I'll be the proud recipient of some kind of certificate from the State Department saying that I can do lawful business in the Empire State.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Business Sense: Logo in Progress
After a failed attempt to get Illustrator on my computer, I ended up getting an open source program called Inkscape for free from the internet. Inkscape works just like Illustrator, although I'm kind of rusty with the skills that were honed in college and my first job 6 years ago.
So, I set to work designing a logo. I desperately need business cards printed to hand out at a trade show I'm attending in a few weeks, so I had to speed through.
This is what is printed on my cards and what will be my logo for the time being. I'll work on the specifics and any alterations at a later date, but I'm happy with the start:
So, I set to work designing a logo. I desperately need business cards printed to hand out at a trade show I'm attending in a few weeks, so I had to speed through.
This is what is printed on my cards and what will be my logo for the time being. I'll work on the specifics and any alterations at a later date, but I'm happy with the start:
Business Sense: First Bag Sample
So after getting warmed up on my new machine, I made my first bag sample.
It is FAR from complete, and the proportions are not correct, and the fabric is just my sample canvas. So, essentially, it doesn't really look anything like what my actual bags will look like.
But here's a photo anyway:
It is FAR from complete, and the proportions are not correct, and the fabric is just my sample canvas. So, essentially, it doesn't really look anything like what my actual bags will look like.
But here's a photo anyway:
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