In Business part 5

 Goals.

I use this graphic a lot because it is so true.

It is also a reminder to keep an eye on the end goal, but celebrate the little successes along the way.

So, what was my 'goal' when I decided to become a professional weaver?

It was pretty vague.

Work creatively every day.  Set my own goals and schedules.  And that was pretty much it for long term planning.

How was I going to get there?  That's where those little interim goals come in.

First, learn how to weave!  At least well enough that I could reliably make cloth that would perform its intended function.  I knew that was going to take time and I gave myself two years to learn the process and begin to consider what kind of textiles to make.

By year 5 I wanted to be taking a booth at the local craft fair, which I managed to do.  In fact I did it in year 4 as I recall.  The first year was not a 'success' - financially - but it gave me the information I needed to fine tune my textiles and come back the following year with a better idea of what the market would find attractive enough to purchase.

My other 'goal' was to weave for 25 years, then teach for 25 years.  Instead I did both at the same time, pretty much.  It began with workshops in the region, then I worked at getting my name 'out there' by applying to regional conferences.  Once one hired me, others began to know my name and I was contacted by others.  Plus I would apply to conferences that put out calls to instructors to apply.  Each time I was rejected I knew that it wasn't a 'failure' on my part, just that I wasn't considered the 'right' person for that event, that time.  But also?  My name was getting out there into the weaving community.

Then I began writing articles.  Again, most were rejected, but eventually one was accepted.

And here's the thing.  I never let one rejection be the 'end'.

When I took the marketing course, one presenter said that when a salesperson is doing 'cold calls' the ratio is that 26 calls equals one sale.  His advice?  Put 26 pennies in one pocket (he was a guy, his pants *had* pockets) and for every call that was a null result, put one penny in your other pocket.  Then move on to the next with a fresh mind and a positive attitude.

When I would get a rejection letter, I would read it to see if there was any advice to be had, then...next.

As I worked my way to my ultimate goal, I tried to plan my next step in relationship to my big goal.  Would doing this thing be helpful?  Or was I willing to do it because it found it personally interesting?

Several local weavers were doing the Guild of Canadian Weaver master weaver certificate and kindly included me in their get togethers.  I began working on the tests as well, because I figured it was an accreditation that weavers would understand in a way that the college class in weaving I took would not.  Besides which, that one year intensive only just barely got me on my weaving feet - I still needed to learn a whole lot more before I could consider myself proficient, never mind a 'master'.

(I still have some trouble wearing the 'master' designation, although now that I'm old and cranky I'm beginning to find that 'mantle' more comfortable - in spite of *still* not knowing 'everything' about weaving.)

It didn't take long for me to realize that my goals could not be just the one prong - weaving.  I had to do all three - weave, write, teach - in order to bring in enough money to stay afloat.

About 10 years into my career, I was attending a house party, largely 'professional' folk with a few craftspeople like me.  At one point several of the men were standing around discussing how they were going to 'game the system' in order to reduce their tax burden.  Since they didn't shoo me away, I lingered on the edge of the group listening with some fascination about how they were going to 'hide' their income in order to pay less in taxes.

At that point I was bringing in a fairly steady income but I wouldn't call it a 'living'.  I wasn't making enough money to even pay income tax.  The discussion wound down and in the little satisfied silence as each man thought about how they were going to game the system in order to reduce their tax load, I said "Hmm, and here I am trying to earn enough money so that I get to pay taxes."  And walked away.

And thought about how the definition of 'success' can vary, depending on one's personal circumstances.

Some years later the government of Canada instituted a Goods and Sales Tax.  If your business made more than $30,000 in sales, you had to register and then collect and remit the GST.  That year was the first year I broke $30,000.00 in gross sales, so I had to register as a business, then collect and remit the taxes.  The next year at the craft fair, I posted a sign saying that I would be collecting the GST and received a lot of push back from customers.  "Well the *rest* of the vendors aren't collecting the tax, why are you????"

I would look them in the eye and say that I was a business and that part of being a business was collecting and remitting the tax.

One or two people tossed my things down and walked away, most just grumbled, a few actually got it and said nothing while I added in the GST.  I mean, I'd been charging PST from day one, because - as a business - I needed to collect the provincial sales tax, now I needed to collect the GST.

As a responsible citizen of this country it was my duty to abide by the rules and laws.  And even if I wasn't actually earning enough money to pay income tax, I could do my bit by collecting and remitting the sales taxes.  Because I also used the infrastructure, and someone has to pay for it.  I could do my part by participating at whatever level I was able.

And yes, by the end of my career, I was actually earning enough to pay income tax.  

It didn't happen right away.  And I worked damned hard to get there.  But as far as my rather vague goals went?  I succeeded.  

There were some things I never did accomplish, but in the end?  The sum of my career was successful, in spite of all the things I did without, that I could have done if I'd just gone and gotten a 'real' job.  And hated every second of it.  

Bottom line?  Get real with your goals.  Get real with your definition of 'success'.  There is more to life than accumulating more money, dodging paying your taxes.  

I chose to 'settle' for less income but chose a 'job' that I could find personal satisfaction in doing.  One where I could work creatively.  Share my love of textiles.  Hopefully help others find their own path, their own best practices.  And yes, I needed money, and I expected to get paid for what I did.  But making buckets of money was never my end goal.  Good thing, because I never did!  But I made enough.  And enough was enough.