Ah, the small business headaches. I heard of many over the years, now I get the full experience! Back in the seat, baby! *woohoo*
Okay, so back to where I left off...
I'm done with all the dental surgeries, EKG's, MRI's, Chest imaging, 3x bloodwork, testing for Lyme disease (prevalent where I live), both Covid vaccines and booster shot, all out of the way for now. Done and done. No need for another full body tune up for maybe another 20yrs.
Then...
Booster fucked me up hard, because of the lupus. I had to put my cellphone under my pillow, because I thought I would have to call an ambulance for myself; it felt like I was going to DIE that night!
I was convulsing HARD, lower spine was in motherfucking PAIIIIN, teeth chattering and grinding hard, burned up so bad I had to rip my clothes off down to the underwear, then 20min. later, put them back on because now I was freezing, even under 3 heavy winter blankets, drenched in the sweats.
Had trouble breathing from congestion. I was in A LOT OF PHYSICAL FUCKING PAIN -so bad! My teeth hurt, my ocular orbit hurt, my thoughts hurt! So like an idiot, I downed 4 ibuprofen in a day.
Bone crunching pain (caused by body churning out white bloodcells in a short amount of time to fight infection) had now been replaced with a massive dose of gastritis! It was bad.
I was curled over, while standing. For hours. For days. Went on a diet that only toothless people can live on. Became terrified of oranges, coffee, anything with vinegar, anything fun...
I had to use an antacid called Famotidine, instead of Omeprazole, which is DR. (delayed release) Which kicks in after 4 days of use. Screw that. Relief! Now!
Nearly 2 weeks later, I can finally eat normally, but can never use Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen ever again, lest I risk ulcers. I will now endure shoulder pain, back pain, toothaches, headaches, and any other pain for the rest of my life to avoid the possibility of internal bleeding in the foreseeable future.
This one's not even my fault. Being neurodivergent means I hyperfocus on subjects one at a time.
Sometimes I try to look up things necessary to me at the time, then unintentionally branch off in multiple different directions. Before I know it, I have 256 open tabs on my tablet's browser. Good grief! Yes, it did make my computer crash.
Like a horse with blinders on, I chose to work endlessly in order to keep from straying off my tasks. That doesn't help either. I hyperfocus again, overwork, forget to take my medication, forget eating, forget to sleep enough. I was a mess for two weeks, exhausted and brainless. Didn't know whether I was coming or going. In a daze, to say the least.
So I chose to take a minor break, eat a plate of food and watch a youtube video. That's how I found out Betty White and Meatloaf died, jeez, what a rude awakening! Imagine reading nothing but website code for days, then get slapped with these sad news!
And seeing so much sad shit in the news amplifies all the garbage feelings. None of which is conducive to progress.
Wanted to file for the virtual business address. Emailed the company, who assured me I can do it in person. Show up, it's inside a Staples store, and two dudes working there in the printing dept. are clueless, then tell me some lady who is on a conference call is the only one in the entire store who can help me. They tell me to wait an hour.
I show up later, she tells me she doesn't do this here, and I have to do it online. I explain I was given the go-ahead from the company.
She is confused, tells me she'll confirm with the company, goes to the back room to pretend call them. (I was watching her, she had no idea she was within view) She comes back out not even a full 5 min. to tell me Yup, they said to do it online! Sorry! No Kim, you're not. And your show, much like your breath, stinks.
I had to wait 2 weeks to get my friend to give me a ride to this place,
(have no car since I'm home caring for my folks 24/hrs) and all for nothing. So much time lost on this little jaunt is frustrating. So now I gotta look for yet another service; it's complicated finding these addresses as they have varying zip codes/prices.
Update: The other services either charge more, or have no locations near me. Sucks. I went with the original and filed online. Did it yesterday; Feb. 3. They assured me I can go ahead and use this address on forms now. I'll make a separate post about this later.
Did you know?
There's also a major difference between a Virtual Business Address, and a Virtual Office. The difference?
The Office comes with Fax number + phone number + live person to handle phone calls. All for about $39.00/mo on top of the regular price of a VBA.
Most times these are unnecessary add-ons, unless you want to give the impression of a medium tier business without the brick and mortar setup.
How much will this cost me? One year will cost me around $120.00 but, that's only because the zip codes here are sky high. Paying annually got me 2 months free though.
If you live outside New York, real estate is generally cheaper and so is this cost, so shop around. I only got mine closer to my zip code because it's a short drive from my house.
Now I could've gotten one in New York City, as I am only required to live and work within the state. However, if I were to file a DBA (Doing Business As) then the price for filing within NYC would skyrocket by about $100 more. And for me to do in person pickups of my mail and packages would require me to take a taxi to the train station, and a round trip train ticket. That one-way ticket is now over $20.00 + $2.75 subway + $15.00 for a taxi, and multiply that by 2X. Eff that. For about $6 they mail you your snail mail, and for a little more, they ship you any packages you get, based on their weight. All these services do it that way.
Buying Office Supplies - only the ones I actually need
Getting organized is absolutely important when you have ADHD! With no organization regimen, we tend to wallow in a room full of garbage, because we have trouble 'starting'.
No joke, I'm struggling just to put together a game plan for beginning this venture. Wished I had a buddy or something to talk me though it, but alas, when you ghetto, you don't know any successful people who do important shit. You only know who to ask for weed, lol! I type this, as I just took some CBD oil for my joints.
So in the beginning of January, I set on a quest to purchase office supplies. I was about to head into Staples, but decided to go make a pit stop first at Dollar Tree next door.
GLAD I DID. Got 6 one-inch binders @ $1.25/ea. Staples had them for $5.99 each. And if those stripes are too fruity, I got a roll of blue painter's tape I can cover it with.
Also bought at Dollar Tree for
$1.25 each:
- File folders
- Index dividers
- Scented candles and lighter (can't open the window during the Winter/stale air gets the room stuffy/sometimes it be smelling like hoof and ass in here)
- A 2022 day journal
- 4 Scotch tapes (we run through them fast in this household)
- Set of 3 desk trays like the blue one above, to hold my mini stapler, Post-Its, eye drops, favorite gel pens. Before this haul, these items rolled all over my desk with me losing my mind, trying to find them.
- Bought a package of 12 gel pens at Costco, the nice kind, for $11.95. Black, and included like 3 in blue too. That red pen is super necessary for editing, and I bought it in a 2 pack from ebay. All our pens in our house are dried up ballpoint pens from years ago, usually from doctor's offices. Either they're totally dry, or leaking all over. As a result, I now have 3 black splotches from those old shitty pens on my brand new gray hoodie I cannot remove.
 |
Oxyclean only faded the spots :-(
|
Turned one of those binder into an 'Expenses' notebook. Hole punched some printer paper and index tabs,(bought my standard hole puncher years ago for $13.95) popped one in, and voilà ! Printed out receipts for all expenses purchased in the pursuit of growing this business, and ready to present for the write-off of tax purposes.
Here's one I turned into a 'To Do List'. I used to write on little bits of paper, but I tend to scribble off the page. My handwriting looks like a disturbed person, good lord. This is why I type everything. And my ADHD is the reason I write down every, single, thought.
 |
If it doesn't get written down, it disappears forever.
|
Bought a journal online, cost $18. This was for two reasons.
- One, I always need to jot down, lest I forget things. My ADHD has me such a mess in my head, that it's super easy to mess everything else in front of me, lose things, lose track of important calendar events and deadlines.
- Two, I fully intend on releasing my own journals, and needed to see a working prototype. I love the material made on this one, will seeek out where their supplier is.
 |
Came with free vinyl sticker. Great idea!
|
Fixing my business Facebook
Facebook
is notorious for putting people in 'Facebook jail' and so, to avoid
having my online presence blacked out for an undetermined date, I've set
up my author FB and my business FB as two separate, and distinct
accounts. If I created my label FB to my author FB and I get put into FB
jail, then both go out like burnt lightbulbs until FB comes around,
whenever that may be.
Screw that.
It took a while to figure it out, and there's no updated way to fix this.
Luckily I figured it out...I will make a separate post for this.
So
a while ago, I opened my FB author profile, back before they began
asking for phone numbers. Later on, I opened a separate FB for my
independent book publishing label, after they began asking for phone numbers.
Annoying, right?
And yet, FB wouldn't let me put in my
company's user name so the name reads as the title in the URL instead of 54903869548403 or whatever random digits they assign.
How stupid and pointless! And these clowns want my
advertising dollars? Get real!
I've
put up a tutorial on my Twitter and Instagram detailing what you have
to do, and it does require having two separate accounts with different
email/logins which you can later link up if you choose to.
DM me if you need help with this.
Designing my Logo
I
am incredibly indecisive, another reason I chose not to do art as a
career. It takes me days and weeks to make a decision on composition
alone, besides all other components, such as color, shadow, light
source, layering, which fonts do I use, filters, brushes, etc.
So
it took me 2 iterations to come up with my logo, then nearly 3 weeks to
choose an online font I wished to buy. Yes, you must buy these.
Fonts
have separate commercial licenses, so you must ask the author before you
purchase. If you intend on using as a logo, that license will cost more
than say, a commercial license for a POD store. (print on demand)
I had
to fire off emails, wait for slow responses, get murky answers. But I
finally settled on two fonts, both by the same designer, who I received
email confirmation that yes, I can use both for a logo. Best part?
They're free to use in any capacity. Woohoo!
Here's what that looks like:
Designing the Website
I bought two web templates, and they were both a bust. Originally I planned on buying more from the lady who made the one that I previously started off with on this site, but she started another business and her web design stuff seemed to go offline? Not sure, but she is hard to reach.
But running a business means I have no time to lose, so I went to search for elegant, affordable Blogger templates. Bought two sold through Gumroad. Uploaded them. Guess what? All the features they come with, barely work. Oh hey, no refunds! Terrific.
And after 2-3 weeks of trying to tweak this thing, this is what it looks like now:
The person who sold it to me wouldn't tell me how to turn the white background to black. It took me several days to really pour over all the code and find where to make the adjustment, using software called Notepad++, which allows you to write and edit HTML code.
This template was more complicated than the others I've used in the past because the author used something called "shortcodes", something I recently learned of. But it's such an unusable mess. I cannot tile a background, and I can't easily change the background color, even though it's supposed to be an easy feature.
The sidebar background is still white, and I thought it was supposed to be a responsive template, on mobile devices, it looks like lopsided shit. The header gets tossed all the way to the right.
Just trying to fix this I wasted nearly half this month. TIME WASTER.
I devoted far too much time into fixing an unfixable situation. Should've searched for better alternatives, but, we learn costly lessons here. Costly, because if I'm not making sales, it puts me in the red.
Finally the author said I could pick replacement templates, after I asked him why nothing works and can he fix it, since these templates come with some premium customer support. Guess he doesn't want to, since manually adjusting it is another side business for him, which he charges upwards of $500 or more. Dude, people who use Blogger are BROKE. If I'm gonna pay that much, i'd rather go get a subscription with Wordpress, good grief man, know your audience!
Well, I'm still waiting for him to deliver, but if not, I'll upload the previous template and call it a $20.00 loss.
Update: He let me pick out 2 more, and I recently redid the site/s all over again. (I have another site for something entirely different.) It was still difficult to tweak though. Because of Blogger's recent TOS changes, I am forced to shift over to Wordpress finally. More on that in the next post.
Replacing technology
And here's the unforeseen expenses...
- My HDMI splitter just died, I need a new one. I never even peeled the plastic off my current one, and it's not even a year old. Already bought two shitty ones, hello number three!
- And I need new accompanying cables. I assume this will top out upper $50.00 total.
- Guess what else? My micro SD card in my phone got corrupted! For no reason! Now I need a card reader I can attach to my computer, in order to recover the files. Another $10.00 to spend. *sigh*
 |
Actually spent $9.11 on it, close enough.
|
Also, my
computer has been giving me the blink of death, crashing, slowing
down...I wanted to wait after filing taxes to buy a replacement, so that
I can take the deduction for the following year, if it survives the
next few months. Fingers crossed.
Wasted so much time on problem solving
Spent nearly two weeks customizing these defective templates.
Waste of time.
Time management is CRUCIAL to running a business, something I'd forgotten since I haven't been in a working office environment for many years.
So I was foolishly beating myself up for not getting this thing up and running fast, when in fact, it was the other guy's fault for selling me a shoddy product. However, I must make a managerial decision over this snafu, and fast!
As the business owner, that responsibility falls squarely on my shoulders.
 |
I needed to hear that. Thanks Captain!
|
As an ADHD'er, I hyperfocused on fixing this one thing, completely blocking out the other aspects of this business that required more immediate attention.
I got mad at myself.
I felt like I was failing at something big in life again.
I lost perspective, and I lost sleep.
I was out of it, and snapping at all the wrong people.
I was half slurring my words, exhausted from lack of sleep, on 16hr. days, due to devoting far too much time on one thing, instead of moving to the next task.
I forgot the cardinal rule for running a smooth business, and that is, if there is no way to quickly fix the problem, cut your losses. Move to the next objective. Come back to this problem later with adjusted eyes, and relaxed health.
Time wasters are money wasters.
Everything has a cost. Labor has a cost. Time has a cost.
Those 2 weeks wasted on fixing that broken shit could've gone to refining and uploading product. That is something that makes money. This does not.
So to better evaluate this case, I've decided that, if the next two replacement templates don't work fast, I'm moving on with the previous template and making smaller adjustments to that one. I just need my platform in full working order, so that I can finally upload some product here, which I am way behind on as it is.
Update: They work slightly better, but not good enough for running a full site. Wordpress, here I come!
Breakdown of all the business' moving parts:
CEO - Responsible for overseeing all aspects of innovation, production, research and development, interviews, book launches
Office Admin - Keeps office running, includes phone calls, emails, shipping, receiving, setting calendar, appointments, orders, filings, coordinating and liasing with employees and vendors, misc.
Web Manager - Handles cyber security, server issues, website functionality, uploads, ecommerce, hosting, maintenance of all technology in and out of the office
Marketing Director - Handles promotions, ads, social media, events
Book keeper - Accounts payable and receivables. Keeps the books. Ledger that compiles gross/net revenue spreadsheets for taxation + documents expenses/ compiles receipts
Graphic designer - Designs logos, templates, merchandise, book covers, interior book design, mailers, flyers, packaging, web promotional materials included in newsletters, all social media banners and ads, web graphics
Writer - Writing ad copy for promotional materials and their social media, writing stories for the books
Yes, all of this is necessary for any business. This is bare minimum what it takes to run any business today.
And before many of you freak out, know that more than half of these obligations can be outsourced to anyone mildly competent on Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, PeoplePerHour, TopTal or any other work-for-hire platforms.
If you are bootstrapping this venture, it's necessary to keep your needs minimal in the beginning. This minimizes cost. Upgrade as you go along.
Dave from Kindlepreneur said sometime ago that you should form your homemade self publishing business once you have attained $2,000.00 USD in revenue.
So make the money first. That sounds like a good roundabout number to begin.
I began this jaunt with around $3210.00 which all came from stimulus money. Nearly half of this went to purchasing personal items, like shirts to replace the ones with holes. I have pants and shirts so worn in, if you hold up to the light, you see the fabric thinned and littered with many micro holes. It's pathetic. (haven't gone clothes shopping in 12 years)
The business expenses I've kept many of them low, by taking advantage of cheap goods, online sales, and Black Friday shopping events. Right now I am left with $1407.60. Of that figure, I have to capitalize my business, because the taxation department requires it. Otherwise they think you've set up a shell corporation to evade taxes. So, around 1K for that?
Why did I start my small business now?
A friend of mine once said "You'll never save enough money to have kids, so you may as well get started now."
I see starting a business in the same way.
You'll never have enough money.
You'l always be too tired,
too broke,
never in the 'right' mindset,
too busy,
too unsure of yourself,
you don't have enough resources,
you don't know any people in the game,
not enough time in the day...
The list goes on and on.
So you might as well start now anyway.
 |
Whatever it takes?! *shrugs*
|
Starting A Business When Family and Friends Are Against You
The main reason I began now was purely a financial one.
I've always been hungry for business, even as a kid. But I was raised by religiously devout people who demonized money and success, and prioritized being humble and below your means. It's why they never had any hurry or hunger for success the way I do. It gives way to the
Scarcity Mentality, and it is a very perturbed way of thinking, and to just break out of that mindset requires a radical approach, and sadly, many arguments.
But I'm just naturally built in with an entrepreneurial mindset, an overwhelming one, so my busy bee modality is basically, Help me, or get out of my way!
No, family and friends were not sure of my confidence, a few tried convincing me to just try harder to get a good job, and a good third went out of their way to tell me not to even try, because I'll fail, because it's been done...
*eyeroll*
And of course, the 'experts' touting their misguided advice. The broke-ass experts, hmm.
*2nd eyeroll*
Nobody takes advice on their investment portfolio from people in debt, so why take advice from people who are living paycheck-to-paycheck, with around $15,000 in credit card debt? Why would you listen to people who have never even started a business?
Get all that useless noise out of your head; eyes on the prize, baby!
Takes money to make money
It really does takes money to make money, and I never had any during the 12 years of being my parent's caretaker.
It's unpaid, exhaustive work, and it's 24/7 round-the-clock as emergencies arise.
Certainly not worth the free room and board, because any day of the week, I'd rather get paid to do this, and still have choices, and still have my own apartment again.
I like working, and earning my way in life.
I abhor the sloth lifestyle.
I need to keep busy, in a way that builds up to something significant in life.
So this arrangement, (which was supposed to be temporary) is not the greatest situation. No, it is not-
a tribute.
And they said!
Think of all, the reasons in the world, to never even start a business! Then I'll eat your soul!... j/k
So I'm always gonna be broke, depressed, blah blah, and the only thing that keeps moving forward is time.
What's gonna change for me tomorrow? My fortune? My popularity? My absent sunny disposition? No. A patch of white hair spreading beyond my temples every month? Three more white pubic hairs to match? You bet!
Well I'm much older, more tired now, less optimistic, and have less people in my corner cheering me on, so I got that going for me.
Fuck that, I'll be my own cheerleader!
And I ain't waiting around no more.
Starting...nnn-now.
How Much Money Did I Have To Begin My Small Business
So I checked my Paypal to see how many back royalties had gathered. And three year's worth of piddly amounts just pushed it that it was enough.
This time around, I finally qualified to file for income tax.
I had not had any income for a very long time, but I added up royalties from my former tshirt graphics side gig; a very abysmal number, think upper 40's, but it was enough for me to file.
That's $14.95 to file for income tax returns in late October, right before the cut-off for 2021. So it cost me $14.95 to file, got $3.00 back in refund from the State of New York, got $1400.00 in back stimulus, and a second stimulus later.
Jackpot!
Since I officially incorporated, I had to show the papers with the state seal to my family, since they didn't really believe me. So much for support! And with that, comes great responsibilities. Now I sharply divide my family time and business time. The calendar is already marked for book launches and forms to submit.
The biggest delay in everything I do, is the fact that I have zero "Executive Function" so, making big money decisions is extremely goddamn difficult. It can take me several days just to make one, solid decision. It's debilitating, and grating on my nerves.
Filling out forms
So these are the ones left to file, in order:
PS Form 1583 for virtual address (send Certified Mail)- FREEFile form 1338 for DBA (doing business as; send Certified Mail) and accompanying form 1515 to pay for it
- File Form SS-4 for EIN (tried to do this before, but the IRS website was down for maintenance for days) - FREE
- File Form 2553 for S-Corp status WITHIN 75 DAYS OF BUSINESS FORMATION (you must already have acquired your EIN)- FREE
Still have to have $1,000 squared away for infusing this company with capital, which you must do by law, and less than $300 socked away for web hosting, marketing, trademark and copyrights. As long as my crappy computer doesn't die, I'll be just above margin. Stay tuned.
