Just Quit Blowing Money

Are You Blowing Money?

• Is blowing money a problem for you?
• If you have money do you feel you need to spend it?
• Do you continue to shop and shop and shop and shop?
• How many clothes, shoes, knick knacks, electronics, and grown-folks toys do you really need?
• If you shop just for something to do, then you are in the danger zone.  That means that your credit cards are (about) at the limit, that your closets are overflowing, your garage needs cleaning, and you can’t dust all the stuff you own quick enough.
• Do you have more things than you’ll ever need?
• Do you have several sizes of clothes (small, medium, and large)?
• Do you buy the latest “must have” things that you see advertised?
• Do you shop for stress relief?
• Are you spending money that could be better spent, saved, or even invested?
• Before you buy anything else, ask yourself what it will be worth at your next yard sale or if you will need to advertise it online FOR FREE just to get rid of it.

Do You Need To JUST QUIT Blowing Money?

Pop-Up Shop Saturday's

Being in business with a building has been an interesting experience.

Opening the shop on weekends for the past 6 months has been eye-opening.

It’s been my arts studio, a place for me to think, a place for me to un-think, a place for locals to get a cup of coffee, a counseling center, a fabulous place for the birds to find food, a place to wash my car, a place to be creative, a place to meet new people, a place to study human behavior, a place to listen to music….it’s been all these things for the last 6 months.  It has not however been a place that is self-sufficient financially.  I think I could stay here another 10 years and  no matter what I was “selling” it would not make much money.  Why?  Because it’s hard for me to figure out how retail stores make ANY real money. There is not enough margin in purchased stuff, and who wants stuff anyways?  Then for created stuff, as an artist I’ve learned over the years that no one is going to pay you as much money as a piece took you to make.  So, you have to be willing to part with it for less than it’s worth to you. So the best I think stores are doing is breaking even. There is SO much overhead cost and red-tape and taxes and on and on and on and on with a business with a building. It has definitely given me a new-found respect for those retail operations that actually make it….although retail stores are closing left and right.

So onto the real thing…the real mission…the real reason I am back in my hometown… it is to help other people get their ideas, businesses, art, crafts,  books, music OFF THE GROUND.  To do that I have to expand.  I have to find a way to open the other side of this building.  The other side is where my dad ran his barbershop for years. I want to bring back that “community  barbershop” experience for people.  I personally remember how thrilling it was to come to the barbershop and see members of the community inside talking, laughing and getting a needed service. I want this building to be the place to be on Saturdays in Hampton,VA.  I want it to be one of those places that you hear about and it’s on your list to visit.

My VISION  for The Richardson’s:

• We are the place in Hampton VA for creatives to gather, make money, start a business, and grow a business.
• People who are currently walking by the shop will find their creative centers and set up a pop-up shop to make needed money.
• Locals will be featured in national publications about getting their start at The Richardson’s.
• The Richardson’s will create and cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit in Phoebus VA.

As I sit here typing this, while at the shop, a couple just stopped their car  in the middle of Mercury Blvd  (a 45 mile per hr street) so the woman could take a picture of my chairs painted with the word LOVE.  Just a reminder to myself of what happened today.

So now…after almost 6 months being here I am finally ready to do a business plan.  I feel I now have enough of a feel for the place, the community, and the city.  Stay tuned…

 

Running A Brick and Mortar Business

Learning

• How can this be anything but a learning opportunity, if you’ve never done it before?  What I’ve learned:
• Turning the OPEN” sign on means absolutely nothing.  If it’s not Wal-Mart or a good restaurant, there aren’t going to be people waiting to come in.
• As the owner you have to focus early on…figure out the mission…stay focused on the vision.  If products and services don’t line up with the mission and vision don’t do it just to be doing something.  My vision is to create a space like a “barbershop” for creatives.  A place for the community to come, be productive and creative.
• You have to block out the noise all around you.  Meditation has served me well.  
• The location of your business is important but not as important as the products and services you offer.  I’m on a main road in town, but I’d need some outdoor event or product displayed to get people going 45 miles per hour to stop and notice.
• When I stay focused on where I was when I was “wishing” I was home, “wishing” I had a space for my art, “wishing” I was a business owner is the best place for me to draw from. When you are in the REALITY of owning a business and just focusing on all the hard work you can lose the excitement if you focus just on the REALITY of the day. You have to stay grounded in the fact that your “wish”, your “dream” it CAME TRUE. Don’t let up on THAT reality, because many people won’t have the opportunity to know what this feels like.

People

• People who are benefactors have always shown up in my life when I needed them.  Now is no different.  It’s people who have been business owners, are business owners that are giving me tips and ideas.  Giving me contacts and planting seeds.  Gotta love those people and now that I have the business ownership experience (especially retail)  I get it.  If you’ve never done this…you don’t know…but you don’t know you don’t know.
• Struggling people. Many people are deeply in the struggle. “Life’s a struggle”.  They can’t see or hear non-struggle talk.  I get it.  I’ve been there in the struggle mindset, but I don’t feel like life’s a struggle anymore…and it isn’t. I read a bumper sticker the other day….Don’t delay your joy….I loved that.
• People waiting.  Waiting to see how things turn out.  Hopeful for me, but not willing to help or support, just watching and waiting.
• People supporting.  Doing more than asking but following up.  Showing up.  I think about these people and wonder if they know that I ALREADY know what this venture will be.  I don’t know HOW it will get there, or even WHEN, but I can see it morphing like compound interest….slowly then WOW.   I’m actually enjoying this down time, feeling like “I’ve got space to breathe”, solitude in the space, making it my space, getting out the kinks.  It’s not going to last, this place is going to be busy, full of people.  It will be like the “barbershop” or all the people just showing up to my house at 1215 when I was growing up…it was “The Richardson’s”.  Bringing that back.

Planning

• This is the first business idea that I did not do A BUNCH of PAPER PLANNING for. Good thing because it would have been a waste of time.
• Now that I’ve been in it for a couple of months I have a better idea of what I want to do/need to do.  First thing I need is HELP.  I’m going to try to get summer help (possible with a program for Newport News youths) to help with:

Marketing

• Canvassing the community with information about the shop and what we offer
• Website Development – Research WordPress templates, populate website and mobile
• Social Media Management – Facebook Page Development; Twitter Account Management
• Blog – Update blog with postings…have many blogs for many years now.
• Survey Research – Research and email possible buyers for all the workplace research I’ve been gathering from this blog for four years now.  There are some buyer’s out there…just have to find them.

Retail

• Gift shop retail operation
• Cash register programming and operation
• Pricing items
• Maintaining inventory

Craft Design

• Base and back painting for artwork

Workshops

• Helping set-up for workshops
• Creating flyers
• Posting events on Facebook
• Posting events on Eventbrite

Reading Room

• Organizing Books
• Maintaining reading room

So, if I can get this help during the summer I will feel like the car (business) that I have on the road is better manufactured for the long haul and then I can hire one person to keep it running properly.  I can see that.

Life Style

• Expect not to get much sleep.  Just work around that for now.
• Walk. Not just for health reasons but for helping you plan and un-think.
• Eating Healthy. Actually forget eating and just juice, it’s easier and you get all the nutrients you need. There is no time to plan meals….ha…I think about the billionaire guy  I met and think he -was -on-to-something.

 

The Richardson's Is Open For Business

No one could have told me what is was like to open a real business.  What it would take to open the door.  What it was like to have a soft opening. No one could have told me.

I have started many “businesses” but never one with a building.  This is different.  It’s real.

Maybe someone reading this might have started a business before but not with a building to open. When you do open a business that doesn’t have a building attached one of the first things you do is design and order business cards.  Let me say my business cards came in the day before we opened. It was one of the last things I had time to do.

Business Plans are great on paper but things don’t always go according to that plan. Things feel organic. You can plan all you want but when the rubber hits the road things don’t go according to plan.

We had a great opening weekend. Family and friends came out and supported us. Everyone loved the sign the we were told we could not put up. Don’t ever believe it when people tell you that you can’t do something…even if it is starting a business with a building.

Don't Believe The Hype...

 

See the above sign…I was told that I couldn’t get the letters off of it and even if I did get the letters off that it would then be hard to get the adhesive off and that the letters were probably so baked on it wasn’t worth the effort.

If you have a wooden sign with stick-on letters…don’t believe the hype.  Now it took me some research to figure it out, but figure it out I did.  It also took HOURS to get the letters, the adhesive and the imprint off, but it’s gone and ready for a new sign… THE RICHARDSON’S.

When opening a business as it is in life… if there is a will then there is a way.  

Don’t believe it when people tell you a bunch of hype. 

Keep moving forward.

 

Getting The Keys...Starting a Business

Starting a business is HARD.  It is A LOT of work. It is A LOT of red tape and wondering if things are going to work out and come together in time.

I said I would blog about this: 1. So I could document the process; 2. So it can help others who want to start a business and 3.  To serve as a reminder of how far I’ve come.  So, here is what it took to get these keys:

Step#1: Formed the business as a LLC for liability purposes.  This was as easy as going on the State Corporation Commissions website and completing the information electronically.  Paying the $100 and getting the Certificate of Organization and Articles of Organization.  It is the Articles of Organization that everyone will need to see.

Step#2: Getting the Employer Identification Number or EIN was harder.  At first it seemed like it was going to be as easy as getting the LLC established.  Not so.  First, you can do it on-line BUT with my first attempt I went through most of the screens only to get a message back that you could only do it during the hours the IRS has agents working 7 a.m. – 10 p.m.  It didn’t give me that message until I was half way thru the online forms.  So, do it during those hours.

I waited until the next day and tried it again.  I get thru all of the screens and then got a  NOPE we can’t help you online and they gave me a 101 CODE and a phone number to call (keep that number because it is hard to find it again).  This is where it got red-tape-y.  I called that number, was on hold about 20 minutes, got an agent, gave her the code and she told me that I couldn’t apply on-line because the name of my business was too common.  I needed to either mail (4-5 week turnaround) or fax (4-5 day turnaround) a paper form SS-4 along with the Articles of Organization for the LLC.  Of course I chose the fax option.  Now, with the fax option they want to FAX the EIN number back to you.  I don’t have a fax machine…who does anymore???…so you have to call them back in 4-5 days to get the EIN number over the phone. Red Tape.

Step #3 Getting a bank account.  They want the Articles of Organization and a LTR 147 C from the IRS with the EIN number on it.  Of course I didn’t have the 147 C because I didn’t have a fax number, so I called the IRS back, waited 30 minutes asked the agent to fax the form to the bank’s fax number.  I opened the bank account. I ordered Business Checks.  I got information about Merchants Services to compare it to using Square.  Yet to be determined.

Step #4 Reviewing the Lease. Depending on the complexity of the lease I would recommend you get a lawyer to review it for you.  I happen to have worked in purchasing for 15 years on and off again, so I have read many legal documents, terms and conditions and felt comfortable with it. If you don’t have this experience, get a lawyer.

Step #5 Getting Business Insurance.  I had already been told that with 3 or more employees you need Worker’s Comp. and since it’s only me for now, I was good on that end.  You do however need Comprehensive, Building and Contents insurance.  Apparently $1M comp and $100K building is standard and then for retail something called Plate Glass Insurance is needed.  There were loads of other add-on’s like Terrorism Protection which was only $2 additional per year (I got that since I’m now living in a military town…NASA Langley, AirForce, Army…all of that is here)  I didn’t get a lot of the other add-ons.

Step #6 Insurance Certificate.  Your landlord might ask for that. You get it from the Insurance Company.

Step #7 Business License. If you’re in a building you have to go to zoning first.  Once zoning gives the okay then you can get the business license. The tax rate will depend on what type of business that you are starting.  The business license itself is about $50.00.

I worked on all of the above during the month of January, in order to get the keys…

 

 

New Year, New Venture

How many people want to start their own business?  Many do.

How many actually open their own business?  Some do.

How many succeed in small business. Few do.

After many years of creating business plans, buying business cards, “talking” about starting a business I’m finally going to open a brick and mortar business. It’s not just any building, it’s the same building that my father ran a local barber shop for 40 years. It’s like a dream come true. Walking in the building after all these years was magical for me.

As I sit here over the holiday’s I can still hear my father telling me: “If you know what you want, it’s already there.”   I know that building is it; I know that local artisan concept is it; I know that giving back to the local community is it. It’s almost like there is a pent-up need and the timing is right.  Time will tell.  No matter.  It will be a place that I want to go, a place I want to create and shop and be.  I’ll more than likely be documenting my journey on this blog as I transition to a business owner.

The Richardson’s 512 E. Mercury Blvd. Hampton, VA

Creative Space and Gift Shop

How the space looks today 12/16

Why Not Basic Income?

“It’s something new…That will never happen…We’ve never done anything like that before…People need to work…People will be lazy…You shouldn’t get anything for free.”  On and on it goes….

If I did not get survey entries DAILY from people SUFFERING in jobs for one reason or another I would not know the extent of the problem.

People want to be creative and productive. They want to be happy.  They want to just  live.  They want to see their families. They want to use their greatest talents and skills. Mostly people just want to do something they love doing AND be – able – to – eat. That is not too much to ask.  It’s not. It is a reasonable request and getting a basic income could help make that a reality.   At a minimum it’s something to be considered. 

Today, May 1^st is Basic Income Day and I will be tweeting out survey entries throughout the day so those in tweeter land can see that there is a WORLDWIDE need for a fix.

The below is the ThunderClap for Basic Income Day. — It’s a great read with great reference resources and a call to action.

What would you do with a monthly salary, separate and in addition to any other salary, but earned as a right of citizenship and sufficient for you to meet your most basic needs for life? That’s basic income, and that’s what Basic Income Day is about in recognition of the 21st century.

Popularly known as May Day or Labour Day, May 1st has long been a day to internationally recognize the contributions of the global labor movement and its many struggles and achievements over the years. However, where unions once empowered labor and gave us the 40-hour week and the 8-hour day, globalization and advances in technology have severely eroded the ability of unions to effect change.

As automation of the workplace continues to the tune of potentially eliminating half of all current jobs by 2033, and in addition eroding any sense of financial security or consumer buying power through the growth of part-time jobs, low-paid work, temp labor, gig labor, freelancing, and zero-hour contracts, unconditional basic incomerepresents the ability to empower all labor on an individual basis. A newly gained ability to say “No” to any and all employers would have an undeniable effect on individual bargaining power. That means greater sharing of profits and higher wages, better hours and workplace conditions, more benefits, etc.

The achievement of basic income would be the achievement of a new voluntary contract on more equal footing between employer and employee, including the empowerment of the employee to become their own employer by UBI’s functioning as venture capital for the people. It would mean a new age of greater equality, innovation,productivity, and entrepreneurship, where all are finally free to pursue the goals they wish to pursue, and all work could be recognized for its societal value, instead of only paid work as it stands now. Isn’t it time we started recognizing all the important labor going unpaid?

Even Andy Stern, former President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in a forthcoming book explains how basic income is the future of the labor movement, and the policy we must all together now strive for in the 21st century. It’s an idea whose time has come.

So what can you do?

There are many ways to support the idea and to help grow the movement for Basic Income. For one, take part in Basic Income Day by supporting this Thunderclap and by changing your profile photos and sharing basic income content across all social media networks on May 1st. Last year we reached 700,000 people. This year, let’s reach over 1 million!

In Switzerland there will be over 100 robots protesting with the demand for humans to let them do their work. Other robots all over the world are encouraged to join in with their own local robot protests.

What else can you do any day of the year?

• Sign a petition
• Join your national advocacy group
• Spread the message on Social Media – Add #Basicincome to your posts and also add the hashtag to your profile photos
• Study and discuss it – Share Basic Income news with your friends and family and start local meetup groups
• Contact Politicians or the Media – Start to demand it and they will start to listen
• Donate to GiveDirectly to help fund the world’s largest universal basic income experiment so far

Join the growing global movement to create an income floor for everyone.

This is the century of technological emancipation from labor itself. We made it. We’re here. We need only actually embrace it. Unemployment is not something to fear. It is something to welcome.

Without basic income, on the 1st of May we celebrate Human Labour Day.

With basic income, tomorrow we celebrate Machine Labour Day.

How To Control Your Spending

It’s been a month since I posted the 3 things post and one of the three things that I decided to try for the month of October 2012 was only spending three times a week.

It worked like a charm.

At first it was a challenge because I was used to spending whenever I wanted to.

I decided to spend ONLY on Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s.

How It Worked Out

Friday’s seemed to be the hardest because  you have to plan for your weekend starting on Thursday.

The way I decided to do it was that as long as I had “cash money” then I could spend that on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday or Sunday, but I could not debit, charge, go to the bank (it’s been a long time since I’ve done that!) on any other day except Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Fridays’ ended up being very busy indeed.  I’d go grocery shopping, get gas for the weekend, make sure I had enough money for any entertainment or craft shows over the weekend.

For example, if I needed anything like a belt (which I still need) I committed to doing that type of need/want shopping on Friday’s only.  By Monday, I’d make sure I had enough gas to last until Wednesday, and Wednesday until Friday.

I paid all bills –  credit card payments, auto, mortgage, utilities on Friday’s.

The thing that made this really work was that I was “batching” all of this spending (or as I view it now consuming verses producing) that had pre-occupied EVERY day.

What a complete waste of time that seems to me after this month.

On Tuesday, Thursday’s and the weekend I could focus on other things. That has really increased my productivity with my business ideas, crafts, art, housework, house repairs, yard work, ect.

Also,  another benefit has been that I have totally cut out eating out.  I have had lunch out a couple of times during the week only because the place I go is like going to “Cheers”   – they know my name, my usual order and it’s only $4 –  so it’s like a little treat.  Other than my $4 meal, eating out just didn’t fit into the schedule.  Needless to say, my cooking skills have vastly improved AND I’ve lost weight…you can’t beat that as a benefit.

So…if you are looking for a way to get your spending under control use the Power of 3 – only spend three days a week.

Give it a try…if you do and it works for you too…then get in touch with me and let me know…Good Luck!

Just Quit Shopping

“I don’t care nothing about a sale.  If you spend all your money just because something is on sale you won’t have the money when you really need it. “

~James Harvey Richardson

 

How do you Just Quit Shopping?

It’s hard if you’ve been doing it for years because it has become a part of your lifestyle.

How many people do you see “just looking” at the mall and stores? 

They go around the entire store “just looking”.

What are they looking for? 

They are looking for a bargain, of course.

How could it possibly be a bargain if you really don’t need it?

How many conversations can be overheard about how cheap that item was and how it was found for 50% off and another 20% off of that?  Who cares?  That’s 100% of your money that you could have used in a more productive way.

How many people go through the buy it, try it, and take it back to the store routine? 

The next time you go through this cycle, ask yourself why you’re living like this.  Now you have wasted your time “just looking” and your money buying something you knew you didn’t need.  You now have to make another trip to the store to take back whatever it was that you didn’t need in the first place.

Yes, you’ll get your money back, but doesn’t this seem like a waste of time and energy?

If you MUST go to the stores, then go to the stores.  Keep on “just looking.”  Get a basket, and fill it with the items you want to buy.  Try on the clothes and shoes and enjoy the “process” of shopping.

Then, one by one, look at everything in your basket, and ask yourself four questions:

1. Do I need this?
2. Do I have something else like this?
3. Can I afford this?

Then, one by one, put the items back that are in your cart, and walk out of the store.

Make a habit of telling yourself that, no matter what, you will not buy anything the first time you see it.

If there was something in that basket that you just must have, then go back and get it the next day.  That will be your pact with yourself.  Don’t ask them to hold it for you, either.  Just put it back, and don’t hide it so you are the only one to find it later.    If you even remember you wanted it, and it’s there the next day, then buy it.  You probably won’t even remember the next day.

Think about all the  time you spend–wasted time–“just looking” at stuff you don’t need and can’t afford.

What Else Could You Be Doing With Your Time?

  Do you want a degree? 

Do you want to have a hobby?

Have you always wanted to know more about antiques? 

Do you want to rebuild that car?

Do you want to own your own business? 

If you add up your time “just looking,” you would have time to do things that might really matter to your life.

Do You Need to Just Quit Shopping?

Just Quit Savings Account

 

You know how you’ve always been told to save for a rainy day? 

Financially maybe your rainy day is already here. 

In order to Just Quit somethings in life  (like your job) you’ll need some savings to hold you over until you figure it out.

 Sometimes you just can’t figure it out in the place you’re at. 

There is just too much static,

too much noise,

too much chaos

to figure it out. 

You need to take a hiatus,

lay yourself off,

move on,

and get on with it.

So where are your raining day funds?

Many of us may not have any money saved, it’s sad, but it’s  true.

If you still have a job (be grateful first) then start planning.

If you are on this job and you are NOT at the suicide or harming someone else stage,

then start your

“Just Quit Savings Account”

Save enough money for at least six months of basic expenses.

I know how impossible this may sound, but it’s possible.

You might have to get creative.  Figure out ALL the pockets of money you have.

Determine what basic expenses are for you.

Basic expenses do not include having cable television,

eating out whenever you want,

or having both a cell phone and a land line.

You’ll have to cut back!

Basic expenses are just that:

basic living expenses like housing, eating (cooking), and transportation expenses.

Categorize your expenses into two categories:

the necessary and the optional

Eliminate the optional expenses.

For the necessary expenses you’ll need to determine if you can reduce them any further.

Can you change your phone service company or phone options to save money?

Just keep your options open to ways to save money and reduce expenses.

These basic expenses are what you’ll need to begin to save for.

Stop charging on your credit cards

(Yes, I know that will be hard for some, because it might be what’s making ends meet)

Stop buying all that junk that is only junk if  you had to sell it later on.

 Your Just Quit Power

The more money you have, the more Just Quit power you have.

That day when you know any day of your choosing,

you can walk into your boss’s office and say,

“I’m leaving, I’m resigning, I’m Outta Here”

is a beautiful day.

It’s even more wonderful when you can take some “me” time to try to figure it out before you start your next venture.

Start Your Just Quit Saving Account today

…even if it’s just $5 week!