The "bidness" of Business Plans....

Wow...my head is spinning. It's been literally years since I have had to do any kind of "homework" or researching for that matter. Many of you know and still others don't know that I am a disabled artist. I really don't want to capitalize on that term either so I'll not go into the details of why. However, I have been blessed with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation for those disabled people that really do want to work. Me being one of them. I have been chosen as a recipient of DVR's help to start my studio business but in order to do so I have to put in my amount of work on a business plan which is fair enough. I really don't have a problem with that at all...but wow...scary thing that!! I got so many projected numbers and new definitions like business torts, leasehold agreements, legal structure.... and sales tax and percentages that I can deduct from my expenses all swimming around my head. Its enough to make anyone dizzy! Who honestly thought that a polymer clay business would need to have any kind of liability insurance especially if no one comes to your home based studio?? Really, our only real liability is whether the sculpt breaks on the way to the customer during shipping and then it should be covered by the cost of insurance thru the shipping provider!  Then the questions that beg to be asked like...do I really need a logo and a tagline?? IS that something that is really going to help my business on the internet?? Honestly I can't ever remember seeing another sculptors page have either, other then banners, really. Do I really need to carry an attorney and an accountant?? According to them...yep. I can see having an accountant do my yearly taxes but the rest I can handle on my own with payment vouchers and Quick books. Do I really need to carry an insurance policy for a home based business? Okay I can see this one too in case of fire or a catastrophe where you lose all of your tools, inventory and supplies. So I won't contest that one. Hopefully there is a renters insurance plan out there that will cover that part too.

Then there is the target marketing for the audience. How do you explain that for a new business?? That one really has me stumped. I mean there are collectors of dolls, sculpts, fantasy art etc. They are all the target market. Me thinks I am going to have to pull the ol' thesaurus out to embellish that to be a long enough definition for the business plan. LOL.

I guess in the end more then anything most of it depends on your writing and "wowing" skills. Let's hope I can wow the heck out of them!!

The Inner Demon Contest.

Well, for a long time I have wanted to get into sculpting the uglies of the bunch. I feel I am better suited for that then for the pretty fairies and such. They just don't usually fit my style unless they are more natural looking in appearance. Like they live on the forest floor. :)

Then I started getting into a bunch of stuff in my personal life and was just searching my soul for many answers to many questions I've had along the way. I think we all do this from time to time. I was struggling with quite a few things for awhile and suddenly it hit me. I needed to use my know-how to rid myself of my inner demons. I was seeing a therapist at the time who thought that was a horrible idea. I see it as it's not going to hurt anything more then talk therapy might already do. but...with not feeling well and a surgery I went through (not to mention all the pain I had to live with before the surgery)...the idea just kind of stalled.

UNTILLLLLL....ODA put up their inner demon contest of which I almost didn't make...thank goodness that they changed the enter date so I, as well as a few others could still join. AHA!! Yes, that was the answer I was looking for. I knew that it would get me going on that project and kick me into high gear with it. Sure...there are some freaking AWESOME prizes a person could win and that would be great and all....but now I am so into it, that's not what I am even thinking about. It's interesting to see what my inner demon looks like. Well, one of them anyhow out of about 2500. (Kidding) Of course I had an idea of what she looked like while I was sketching her out...but wow...she is emerging with such emotion now.  This one is my main demon. It wakes me up in the morning...or afternoon, depending on how I feel. It's what drives me...it gets me out of bed, well most days. It's the only thing that I feel actually "protects" me from becoming a victim again. So while this demon is not pretty (as some would be...like a seductress...etc)....and she is so sad and misunderstood and her aches and pains and complaints fall on deaf ears....I think I will keep her around for awhile. I might be purging some of her bad sides but I need to keep her around for her good ones until I learn how to deal with things better on my own. She is that nasty toned voice or that strong arm that occasionally emerges when someone says or does something to me that I don't feel is a correct way to handle such a situation. She is the one that makes me re-coil when I feel danger is near. She's also the one that has the nicotine habit...and the caffeine habit...and the one that collects all the precious little odds and ends for my studio that I may never use...and lets it pile high on my table and desk. LOL.

There is a kicker to all of this and I am hoping that I will be able to work it all out. There is another sculpt that goes with this one. It's a two parter. For me, its very emotional and I hope to express that to the audience. I hope to be able to invoke the same pain that I feel with all of this, yet not project it on to anyone else. I can't give anymore details then that...sorry. Otherwise I would be giving it all away. But I am sincerely grateful to Eneida and Tenderspirit for the opportunity of this contest. And for everything Tenderspirit has done for me. Thanks Ladies. :)