Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Details, Details
While working to open my new business (selling cobalt glass through my new website), I feel like I'm drowning in details. I've had to create a whole new list of usernames and passwords. I've had a million little tiny decisions to make (seems that way anyway - blue safety paper checks or recycled paper, pink packing peanuts or green, high-strengh packing tape or temperature-proof tape, Peachtree Accounting or Quickbooks, and on and on and on). Together, all of these little decisions, along with the big ones, will make my business into what it will be. And it will be like no other business on earth.
And hopefully it will be very successful. If it isn't at first, I'll make the necessary changes to be sure that it is.
Starting out in a rabbitry - or even maintaining one - involves a lot of decisions, too. Will you water with crocks or bottles or a watering system? Will you breed in the winter? Will you breed in the summer? How tall should your carriers be? Should I make or buy cages? And much, much more.
Sometimes when I make a decision - whether for my glass business or rabbits - I just choose what appeals to me more. I like recycled or biodegradable peanuts best because it suits my beliefs and personality. I use a watering system because it suits my lifestyle and the time I have available for barn chores more.
Sometimes when I make a decision I find out what more experienced people do. My in-laws have a similar business, so I asked them what they thought of using shredded paper for packing glass in (it turns out it doesn't work well). I probably saved myself a lot of headache there by asking someone with more experience. When I had problems breeding does, I asked a number of experienced breeders about that and watched breeders table breeding. I'm sure I would never have thought of some of those techniques on my own.
Sometimes when I make a decision I have to go to some sort of authority for direction. Do I need a federal tax ID number? (No, I'm a sole proprietor with no employees.) Do I need a state tax ID number? (Yes, I have to pay sales taxes on sales delivered to Virginia.) Can I clip a junior's teeth, let them grow out, and then show him later on? Yes. We had to go to ARBA for that answer, though.
There are many details to our hobby. You constantly have to make decisions. Sometimes you can just use your own judgment. Sometimes you need to ask someone with more experience. And sometimes you must go to the authority for the right answer.
Knowing which is which is more important than arriving at an answer.
Laurie ¶ 11:28 AM
And hopefully it will be very successful. If it isn't at first, I'll make the necessary changes to be sure that it is.
Starting out in a rabbitry - or even maintaining one - involves a lot of decisions, too. Will you water with crocks or bottles or a watering system? Will you breed in the winter? Will you breed in the summer? How tall should your carriers be? Should I make or buy cages? And much, much more.
Sometimes when I make a decision - whether for my glass business or rabbits - I just choose what appeals to me more. I like recycled or biodegradable peanuts best because it suits my beliefs and personality. I use a watering system because it suits my lifestyle and the time I have available for barn chores more.
Sometimes when I make a decision I find out what more experienced people do. My in-laws have a similar business, so I asked them what they thought of using shredded paper for packing glass in (it turns out it doesn't work well). I probably saved myself a lot of headache there by asking someone with more experience. When I had problems breeding does, I asked a number of experienced breeders about that and watched breeders table breeding. I'm sure I would never have thought of some of those techniques on my own.
Sometimes when I make a decision I have to go to some sort of authority for direction. Do I need a federal tax ID number? (No, I'm a sole proprietor with no employees.) Do I need a state tax ID number? (Yes, I have to pay sales taxes on sales delivered to Virginia.) Can I clip a junior's teeth, let them grow out, and then show him later on? Yes. We had to go to ARBA for that answer, though.
There are many details to our hobby. You constantly have to make decisions. Sometimes you can just use your own judgment. Sometimes you need to ask someone with more experience. And sometimes you must go to the authority for the right answer.
Knowing which is which is more important than arriving at an answer.
Laurie ¶ 11:28 AM
